Page 69 of The Cheerleader is Off Limits

“One minute, you act like you want me,” I whisper. “Then the next, you act like you’re not into me. Or like I’ve imagined what’s going on between us.”

“I think it’s pretty fucking obvious that I want you. My body can still want you when every other part of me knows I can’t.I shouldn’t.”

“Well, you’re giving me whiplash.”

His narrowed eyes lock on mine, and they are hard and way too intense to be considered appropriate. “Messaging me on Saturday was over the line. You know what the boundaries are, yet you’re hell-bent on crossing them.”

“You surely had no problem crossing them with me. I wasn’t talking to myself, you know.”

“Because you make me so fucking reckless,” he mutters before sitting back in his chair with his hand over his eyes.

It feels like the air is shifting between us. Like we know we’re in this impossible situation and know what we shouldn’t do, yet we can’t stop.

“I know you’re pissed, but… have you been thinking about me at all?”

“What do you think?”

“I think I’d like a straight answer.”

“Yes, okay. Is that what you want from me? I can’t stop thinking about you. You’re in the back of my mind all. Day. Long. Sometimes I’m angry with you. Sometimes I’m thinking about those nights we had… sometimes I’m thinking about how I stupidly thought this was different and how it all blew up in my fucking face,” he says, and I wince at the harshness of his words even though I know I deserve them. “But mostly, I’m thinking about how gorgeous you look every day and how it takes everything out of me to keep my eyes off you during class.”

My heart pounds in my chest. This is the worst place to have this conversation, but I didn’t want to break this bubble of honesty we were in. “I’ve been thinking about you too,” I respond.“And how much I hate that you hate me.”

His jaw tightens in response. “I don’t hate you.” He shakes his head before rubbing a hand over his jaw. “But it doesn’t matter. None of this matters because we can’t do anything. It’s not appropriate, and I would get in so much trouble.”I bite my bottom lip, a movement that catches his attention because his eyes flit directly to my lips. “What I wouldn’t give to fucking kiss you again. I think about kissing you all the fucking time.”

“Me too,” I murmur before the bell starts to ring, letting me know that I’m late for my next classagain.

“And yeah, I’m fucking jealous. I hate that they can… have you when I fucking want you.”

“Who said I want anyone else?”

“I can’t have you either.”

I look toward the open door. “Can we talk later?”

“Detention,” he murmurs, and I tilt my head to the side.

“What?” I ask confused.

“Detention. Today after school.”

What the fuck?“You’re giving me detention?”

“I’m running it today before I have practice.”

“And you think in a room full of people who also have detention is the time for us to talk?”

“Trust me. Three fifteen, room 204, do not be late,” he says before looking back down at his paper as if he’s dismissing me.

CHAPTER 16

SLOANE

Room 204

I stare at the words and numbers in block letters on the door's glass window. A curtain has been lowered behind it, blocking anyone from seeing into the class, and when I push open the door, I notice the room is empty, save for River sitting at the desk in the front of the room. I close the door behind me. “Am I the first one here?”

“Last,” he tells me, and I frown in confusion. “I sent everyone home.”