Page 25 of Disobedient Pawn

Smirking, I rubbed the back of my neck. If she only knew that it was her distracting me. “There is a really good possibility.”

“Great.” She stepped out, and I was quick to match her stride.

“Are you sure you don’t want to get changed first?”

Ren shot me a look. “I would if I had another uniform. The school is waiting on a shipment to come in. I guess it’s late. I didn’t own any white school shirts and didn’t buy any before coming here.” We walked into the quiet cafeteria. “I would’ve had to know where I was going for that to happen,” she muttered, which piqued my curiosity.

“I could lend ya one of mine,” I offered, loving the idea of her in my clothes. It was a hot fucking fantasy, and I just liked the idea for some reason. “Ya just need to come to my room for a minute.” She shook her head no. What was it about her stubbornness that was such a fucking turn-on? I wanted to rip the stained shirt off of her so she’d be forced to take mine, but I had a feeling she’d pull on a garbage bag first. If there weren’t a half dozen cameras in the cafeteria, I might have been tempted to give it a shot just to test my theory.

Ren took an apple and a muffin from the various baskets before heading to the coffee station. I liked that she didn’t look the apples all over and didn’t worry about reading the little card stating the calories in the muffin. I smirked as she dumped three sugars and two creams into her coffee and made a note to make it perfect for next time.

“You not getting anything,” she asked.

“No, we leave for a meet today, and I have a strict diet leading up to a competition.”

“What time is that?”

“Heading out right after school. It goes all weekend, but tonight's first round of preliminary heats start at six.”

“Meet. Isn’t that swimming? I thought you played lacrosse.”

“I do. I’m on the swim and the lacrosse team.” Normally, I didn’t give a shit what anyone thought about my athleticism, but I was nervous for her reply.

“That’s a lot of training, very impressive. Is that why your marks suffer,” she asked, her voice even, and yet it felt like a slap. My back straightened, and I rolled out the tension from my shoulders.

“No, they suffer because I don’t care.” Ren’s eyes narrowed into a harsh glare. It was unsettling and turned me on at the same time. “I mean, I didn’t care until doing this tutoring with you,” I corrected and winked at her.

“Mhmm.”

As we sat down, I couldn’t remember ever being in here so early. A handful of people were reading and working on laptops, while a few slept with their heads on the table. I yawned, staring at those peacefully sleeping.

“Wake the fuck up! Ya all have detention,” I screamed and smiled as everyone, including Ren, jumped.

“Fuck Myles,” one of the guys from my lacrosse team grumbled, making me smirk.

“What the hell was that for,” Ren asked.

My shoulders lifted lazily. “If I can’t be sleeping, then they can’t be sleeping.”

Ren was gripping her shirt so tight that her knuckles were bright white. I wasn’t sure if she realized it as she held on, her breathing much faster than normal.

“Are ya okay?” I pointedly looked to where her hand was.

“Yeah, of course. You just scared me. That seems to be your MO today, and…oh no, did you invite him?” Ren’s voice was exasperated as she looked over my shoulder.

“Who?” Shifting around, I spotted Blake smiling as he strutted over to the coffee stand. Of all the guys in this school, Blake had welcomed me first with open arms to the group. But he was a total show-off and walked around like he was a famous rock star or something. The fucker had no reason to be in here other than the bet and to fuck with me. He knew we’d be here. I made the mistake of telling him before the bet was made. Stupid.

He pretended to spot us and wave as I grumbled under my breath. “No, I didn’t invite Blake.”

“Is he going to be a distraction?”

“Most likely.”

Ren’s eyes searched my face and then sighed. “Then he can’t say,” she said just as Blake flopped down beside me.

“Hello, hello, hello,” Blake said.

“What the fuck, do you think you’re Matthew McConaughey or something?” I growled and glared at my friend, who continued to smile at me.