“I know what she needs.” Alex’s voice cut through the rest and made me jump. I hadn’t even realized he’d joined our little group until he was standing right next to me. “She should come to Holly’s party this weekend. Everyone will be there and it’s a lot easier to meet people at a party than in classes, right?”
He draped his arm over my shoulders and its sudden weight made me stiffen. Not because I was scared of Alex. I wasn’t. He might be a player, or whatever, but he’d never been anything but nice to me.
I stiffened because I could have sworn I heard Cooper’s growl.
Cooper had been running interference between me and Alex all week. I wasn’t delusional. I didn’t think I was so very irresistible to guys that Alex was head over heels in love with me or anything. We’d still barely even spoken except for the occasional ‘hey, how are you’ in between classes.
Honestly, I’d started to suspect that Alex was just trying to get close to me as some sort of game. Like, right now, for example. I got the sense that his arm around my shoulders was more to piss off Cooper than anything else. Or at least claim me as his until he inevitably grew bored of me.
For that reason alone, I tried to shrug him off. He didn’t seem to notice, his arm a heavy weight, trapping me by his side.
“That’s a great idea.” Colette turned to Ethan. “We should go too and you can introduce her to your friends.”
My stomach churned at the thought of a party. Lame as it might sound, I’d never been to one before. I had no idea what I was supposed to wear or say or do. In theory it sounded like a good idea but after a week of feeling like an outsider and pasting a smile on my face, all I wanted to do was curl up on my couch and veg out with Netflix.
I opened my mouth to protest but before I could say anything, Cooper beat me to it. “She’s not going to a party.”
Alex’s arm was rudely shoved off of me as Cooper grabbed my arm and tugged me away.
I blinked up at him and I didn’t have to look around to know that everyone else was gawking as well.
Cooper was a quiet guy. None of the dancers here had ever heard him say more than a few monosyllabic responses. I wasn’t even sure the football team had heard him say much more than that either.
So for him to chime in right now, well it was shocking.
It was also...infuriating.
The heat that surged through me had nothing to do with embarrassment or the fact that Cooper was holding onto me like I was his very own rag doll that he could tote around at will.
No, I was burning with anger.
“Outside,” I snapped through gritted teeth.
He stared down at me in surprise. I had no doubt the entire classroom was watching with openmouthed shock as well. But that was exactly why I needed some privacy.
I jabbed a finger toward the door. “In the hallway. Right now.”
I heard whispers following us but I ignored them all, not stopping until we were in the deserted hallway. I whipped around to face him, refusing to cower even though he towered over me. “What do you think you’re doing?”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
I deepened my voice as low as it would go. “She’s not going to a party.” I widened my eyes. “What was that? Did you hear yourself just now?” I planted my hands on my hips when he didn’t immediately answer. “Trenton asked you to look out for me. Fine. Great. I get it.” I leaned forward, getting a weird surge of satisfaction as his jaw clenched and his nostrils flared.
He felt something.
Good. Sometimes it felt like he was a brick wall surrounding me—my very own prison with just as many feelings.
“He might have asked you to look out for me, but I am not your babysitting charge,” I said. I held up a hand and started ticking off points. “I’m not your prisoner, or your problem, or your little sister.”
My heavy breathing was the only sound in the hallway and the space between us suddenly felt way too small. I stumbled back a step but that didn’t stop this feeling that the air had grown ten times thicker and the gravity between us a million times stronger.
His gaze was fierce, his eyes intense and filled with more emotions than I’d ever seen there before. So many emotions that it was impossible to pick one out. He was impossible to read.
“I’m not your little sister,” I said again, this time without the anger and on a loud exhale as I tried to calm my breathing.
His lips twitched, just the tiniest bit, but I caught it. “Trust me, I know.”
I blinked. What did that mean? Before I could ask, the moment was over, the emotions were gone and that implacable cold look was back in his eyes. “I only want to protect you, Eve. I’m just trying to help.”
I let out a huff of humorless laughter, hating the fact that my anger was fading fast. Worse? This horrible sadness was taking its place, making my throat feel too thick and my limbs feel heavy.
“You want to help me,” I said with a shake of my head. The rush of adrenaline that had come with the anger was fading, leaving me feeling weak and weary. “Like how you’ve been ‘helping me’ at school?”
He stared at me for a long moment.
I had to clamp my lips together to keep from saying more. Let him speak for once. I forced myself to stand still and silent until he did.
He let out a sigh of exasperation and ran a hand through his hair. “I promised Trenton, Eve. So tell me, what do you need? How can I help?”
I didn’t know whether to laugh or scream. “What do I need?” Where to begin? My laugh sounded bitter and bordered on hysterical. “How about going back in time and paying off my tuition so I don’t have to walk away from my dream of being a ballerina—”
“If you need money—”
“Don’t.” I held up a hand. “I am not a charity case.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“If you want to help how about you give me enough space to make friends? Or maybe even find a boyfriend?”
That muscle in his jaw twitched again and something in my belly clenched in response. The air seemed to quiver with tension between us and for the first time in my life I didn’t back away from it. I leaned into it instead. A reckless sensation made my hands shake as I tilted my head to the side. “What do you think, Cooper? Can you help me find a boyfriend?”
The silence was deafening. His tenseness, his glower...it should have been terrifying. But it wasn’t. It was...exhilarating. The intensity in his eyes as he watched me, the way he practically hummed with suppression, like at any second the dam would break and he would...what?
Kiss me?
Ha! Hardly. But the thought was there and it took hold. My gaze dropped to his lips, my heart tripped over itself in my chest.
“Are you guys coming?” Bianca’s voice cut through the tense silence and I turned to see her head poking through the doorway as she glared at us.
I let out a long shaky exhale and walked toward the door. As I passed Cooper, I told him, “Whether you like it or not...I’m going to that party.”
Chapter 4
Cooper
I dreaded the weekends. They consisted of two days when I didn’t have school, didn’t have practice, and didn’t have the academy. Which meant the only thing I did have was time at home. Time to sit around my ridiculously quiet house and stare at the barren walls that surrounded me.