Page 51 of Disobedient Pawn

“It’s easier to study this way.” Pulling my notes and textbook across the table, I turned them for her to look at. She gave me a wary glance, and I wanted to kiss her until the look disappeared.

Being this close was definitely a bad idea. She popped another piece of muffin into her mouth, and I watched her lips move as I wondered what they would feel like. The soft scent of her cherry shampoo had me shifting closer as she concentrated on the books.

“Your notes are great. All your formulas and answers are correct except this one graph.” She tapped the page and then pulled a pencil out of her updo and made the correction. I smirked when I noticed she still had another pencil in her hair like a fashion statement, even though I knew it was practical. She didn’t wear makeup or try to dress up the uniform with her own flare like other girls.

“You forgot to answer part c. Suppose the curve y = f(x) has tangent line y = 2x + 3 at the point x = 2. So true or false, f(2) = 7?” I tore my eyes away from staring at her face to focus on what she was talking about.

“The answer is true.”

She smiled, and my breath caught in my throat as she looked at me. Our eyes locked from inches away, and all I could hear was my blood pumping through my body as my heart pounded like a drum. It felt like the air was charged between us.

I loved that her eyes were unsure, yet they flicked down to my lips like she was silently asking me to kiss her. At least, that was what I was hoping for. As I leaned in a little closer, she looked away and shivered.

“Myles, what are you doing?” Ren’s voice was shaky, but she didn’t sprint off or punch me.

“I wanted to get a closer look at this,” I whispered, running my thumb down the patch of freckles that looked like a constellation on her neck. “They remind me of something.”

“Phoenix,” she said, her voice soft and breathy. Goosebumps rose as I continued to caress her skin.

“What’s that,” I asked, purposely letting my breath fan her neck and loving it when she shivered. I caught sight of her hands clenching into fists on the table like she was trying to fight the reaction, and I smirked. I wanted her as undone as she made me feel. Nothing stopped the thought of her. Not work, not practice, not hanging with the guys. From the moment she got out of the car the other night, she was all I thought about. When I closed my eyes, I could almost smell the sweet scent of cherry blossoms and feel her soft skin under my fingers.

“The…” Ren paused and cleared her throat, which made me smile. “The freckles…they are the shape of the constellation Phoenix.”

She was right. It did look like that. My ma would’ve loved that. She’d always been into nature and the stars. “I love the stars. When I was ten, my ma got me a fancy telescope for my birthday. My da thought it was a stupid gift for a boy, but I still have it, and it might be nerdy, but I take it out when there are going to be shooting stars.”

“I like that,” Ren said and turned her head to look at me. She was so close that our lips were almost touching, and I wasn’t even sure why, but I wanted her to make the first move. “Can I ask a favor?”

“Anything.”

“I need to go shopping tonight for the party on Saturday at Sacred Heart Academy. Would you take me shopping?”

“Ya trust getting into a car with me again?” I smirked and then laughed as she glared.

“No more racing.”

“Scouts honor.” I held up my fingers.

“I think that’s the peace symbol,” she said and smiled. It took everything in me not to lean in the last inch and kiss her.

“I’d be happy to take you, but under one condition. No one else comes, and you have dinner with me. Whatever you want, burger and fries or a five-course meal, I’ll take you wherever you want to go.”

Ren nibbled her bottom lip, a habit I found way too enticing. “Please don’t do that, Snowflake. It makes me want to drag ya to a dark room and devour that mouth of yours.” Ren’s cheeks flamed a bright red, and I loved that I was finally getting a big reaction from her. My heart was going wild.

“Fine, I’ll do dinner, but it’s not a date. I don’t date guys that plan on using me and tossing me aside.” All the flirting from her stopped like she’d just slammed a door in my face. She turned away, looking at my calculus that I’d forgotten about.

“Who says I plan on doing any of that?”

She wasn’t wrong. I didn’t normally date. In fact, I couldn’t remember an actual girlfriend of any kind. What was the point when I’d been told from the time I could walk that I’d be forced into an arranged marriage? I at least knew who I was supposed to marry, unlike Nash and Liam. I’d met her before we left Ireland to be closer to the Colliers, and she was a fine enough lass, I suppose, but it was the premise of the thing. I wanted to choose someone I genuinely connected with, someone I couldn’t live without, not someone I settled for.

Although Ren was making me want to test the waters, and who knew, maybe my father would love her and cancel the stupid arrangement. One could hope.

Ren didn’t bother to look up as she checked off each equation I got right and made little notes beside the ones I didn’t.

“Myles, I know who you are and what you are. I know what you all are.” I lifted a brow, not exactly sure what she was talking about, and figured it was better to stay quiet. Her hand moved quickly, the pencil she used as accurate and sharp as her mind. “You’re all players, and I’m not talking about sports.”

She flicked the page and continued. “I have been through too much to let myself fall for that crap. So if you were only taking me tonight because you thought you could check off another box in your little black book….” She looked up at me, and her eyes held so much pain that it was shocking. “Then I will find someone else.”

I opened my mouth to ask what had happened to her when I heard the front door, and a moment later, Nash wandered in.