Maverick (Maverick Academy Series) (17 page)

Rosco and Ellie immediately hit the dance floor
, and were swallowed up. Rory noticed her gang of tall boys standing in one corner and headed in their direction, while Whit walked toward the buffet and punch bowl. As she ambled in that direction, she looked over the costumes of the people close by. Most of the girls had veered toward costumes that were tight and brief, while the guys wore anything from Sponge Bob to Spiderman. When she was almost to the punchbowl, a guy dressed up like a boxer stepped right in front of her. Whit couldn’t see his face since his back was to her, but he was wearing a pair of red boxing shorts with a red hooded robe and black shoes. Even from the back, Whit could tell he was built and hot. She started to circle around him when he turned straight into her. Whit pushed back from the very hard, muscular chest and looked up into Nolan’s face.

Her
eyes wandered over Nolan’s shirtless body and she wondered if there was drool dripping from the corner of her mouth. He looked like the perfect male specimen. Her eyes finally made it to his face again, to find that he was grinning at her. Obviously he’d caught her checking out his body. Whit blushed and started to turn away, but Nolan stepped to the side blocking her.

“Well, hello there
, Little Red Riding Hood,” he said as his eyes drifted from her red shoes to the ringlets in her hair. He grinned at her but it seemed a little forced.

“Hey Nolan,” Whit responded simply, her brain fried
by the hormones rushing through her body. No one should look that good shirtless. Before she could utter another word, arms slipped around Nolan’s waist from behind. Blond hair peaked over his shoulder, and a giggle escaped from the owner of the arms. Nolan glanced back at the girl and whispered something that caused the girl to blush profusely. Whit started to feel like a voyeur watching the intimacy of the moment. She turned away from the couple and slid through the throngs of dancers to the punch bowl. Feeling a bit disappointed that her moment with Nolan had been interrupted, she shook her head and reminded herself that they were interrupted by his date.

She got
a cup of punch and moved to where Rory was holding court with her various guys. Keeping her eyes on her target, Whit moved quickly through the crowd of dancers. Suddenly she felt someone slam into her from behind, and before she could right herself, the punch she carried slopped down the bodice of her costume. Whit heard an apology thrown her direction, but didn’t look back. Of course these things just tended to happen to her. She looked over the stain, and decided it wasn’t that bad. Thank goodness she had already drunk half the punch in her cup. She faced Rory again and continued her journey, praying that nothing else would happen before she got to her friend.

Finally she succeeded in crossing the dance floor to
the group. She leaned against the wall behind them, trying to recover, and silently listened to their conversation, which centered on some type of competition that would soon start at Maverick. Entering into the discussion midway, she didn’t really understand what the competition was about, but she noticed that Rory and all the guys huddled around were very interested in participating. Whit started to tug Rory’s arm to ask for more information when she felt someone breathe in her ear.

“Be careful of the wolves, Little Red,” said a whispered voice.

Goosebumps appeared on her arms. She knew that voice. It was the sexy boxer. She immediately wondered where he had left his date. Whit chose to ignore his comment just to see what his reaction would be. She secretly hoped that he would whisper something else into her ear or just keep standing really close. And she didn’t have to wait long for the next question.

“Dance with me?” he whispered.

Before she cou
ld answer, Nolan was pulling her onto the packed dance floor. A slow song had just started, and he slipped his arms around her waist and tugged her closer. Whit placed her hands on his shoulders before glancing up into his face.

“
You’re beautiful,” he blurted. Then he blushed like he hadn’t meant to say anything. Whit’s cheeks also reddened, but she pulled herself together and complimented his costume to fill the awkward moment. Then her brain started working again.

“So, where’s your date?”

“She’s dancing with one of her friends, which was good since I wanted to dance with you,” he explained with a flirty grin and a squeeze to her waist.

The
dance floor was so crowded that other couples nudged against them several times. Nolan pulled Whit tight against his body to avoid any contact with the people around them. They were so close that she could lean her head on his shoulder. She knew he had a date, but she wanted to stay in his arms for the rest of the night, she thought. Without thinking about it, her fingers started sifting through the hair on the back of his neck. She thought she heard a quiet moan and glanced up to find his eyes shut. His eyes opened and drifted over her face until they came to rest on her mouth. He slowly tilted his head down to hers. She could feel his breath on her lips and knew he was about to kiss her. She shut her eyes and –

“What the hell is going on here?”

Whit snapped her eyes open as someone grabbed her arm painfully and spun her around. She came face to face with a blond she instantly recognized as Nolan’s date.

“We were just dancing Olivia. Calm down,” Nolan replied evenly.
He glanced at Whit and winked before hooking his arm around his date’s waist and pulling her into his body to finish the dance.

Whit was completely thrown. Had that
really just happened? Had she went from almost kissing Nolan to standing alone, watching him dance with another girl? Before she could move, she saw Nolan mouth something to her over the blond’s shoulder. It looked like ‘sorry,’ but at that point, Whit didn’t care. What a jerk! And to think she had allowed herself to like him even with his reputation. She had hoped there was more to him, but she’d been wrong. If she could just get back to her friends, they’d get her mind off that jerk.

Once Whit found Ellie and Rory, the dance became tolerable again. She danced with a few
of the guys she was friends with: Mark, Christopher, and Tavis, and tried to forget the incident with Nolan, though it burned her up that he would treat her that way. She caught a few glimpses of him and his date huddled together intimately, and had to turn away before they caught her scowling at them.

As the dance came to a close, the girls spread the word through their group of friends about the get
-together in the television room. The lights flickered, signaling the last dance of the night, and Whit leaned her shoulder against the wall, listening to Rory flirt with a vampire named Troy. She felt a little bad eavesdropping on their conversation, but didn’t move away since the dance was all but over.

“Sorry,” a whispered voice said from behind her.
She instantly knew it was Nolan, but wasn’t feeling particular friendly, so she ignored him.

“Look
, I know I’m an asshole,” he continued when she didn’t respond.

Whit looked over her shoulder, hoping she appeared indifferent
. “Yeah, I guess you are.” Then without another look in his direction, she headed for the doors of the cafeteria.

She almost made it
, too. But he captured her hand before she slipped out and pulled her behind one of the many serving areas in the cafeteria, which were supposed to be off limits.

“Look I’m sorry,” he said
tensely. “I didn’t mean for that to happen.”

She growled to herself.
This night just kept getting better and better. First he’d tossed her aside for another girl, and now he was apologizing. Whit was pissed and confused. She didn’t want to forgive him, but it was hard when he was half naked and supremely attractive.

“Forget it. It’s not important
,” she answered sharply while trying to avoid looking at his body.

“But
… but I like you,” he whispered desperately.

She looked at him for a moment and
sighed. “That’s nice. But I don’t like scumbags.” She turned and hurried away before he could see the tears in her eyes.

Chapter 17

After the debacle at the dance, Whit tried to avoid Nolan as much as possible, but he was determined to gain her forgiveness. She told Ellie and Rory what happened and both girls blocked or intercepted him whenever possible. There were times though she had to tolerate his presence, like in Biology, where they were lab partners, but she worked hard not to let him back in. He had apologized about fifty times and tried to use his charm to get her to like him again. He didn’t seem to understand why she didn’t want to be around him. He didn’t grasp the fact that he’d hurt her. And as far as his confession about liking her, she believed that actions spoke louder than words, and he hadn’t changed a bit. He still flirted with everything female, and she’d seen him with different girls all week. Her heart though, didn’t seem to understand, and pounded whenever he was near.

If only she could’ve
had a vision about him, so she would’ve known to stay away. Not that she’d needed a vision. What was she thinking? She knew he was a man-ho, and had let him charm her. She had been such an idiot.

On top of that whole situation, Mrs. McFaddin had talked with Whit after Mind a few days
earlier, expressing her disappointment in the level of concentration Whit was applying to developing her skills. Whit knew she needed to focus on controlling the dreams more, but they had slacked off a bit since the playground vision and she had wanted a break. She tried to explain that to Mrs. McFaddin, but clearly that was just an excuse for laziness, according to the teacher.

To relieve some of her stress, Whit called Mona to gripe and complain.
Mona offered some comfort and support, but ultimately agreed with Mrs. McFaddin. She told Whit she really needed to work harder at getting her ability under control.

Finally
she reached the breaking point. It was a Friday and had started off pretty well. She’d scored a 97 on a math test and her English teacher had complimented the creative writing assignment she turned it. To top it all off, in History of Specials they were finally focusing on vampires instead of the Redeemers. Thank goodness. Those Redeemer guys scared the shit out of her, but learning about the vamps was really interesting. She was actually enjoying the day.

B
iology was when the day took a downward turn.

Whit got into class early
so she pulled out her latest Stephen King novel and started to read to pass the time. Before she knew it, a familiar muscular body settled into the seat beside her. She turned her body away and focused on the book. She tried to concentrate, but could feel him looking at her. Why couldn’t he just stop? It had been almost a week since the dance and she wasn’t cracking. Why wouldn’t he just give up? Then she understood. She was a challenge. He was used to girls flinging themselves at him, not ignoring him and running away. He was even more intrigued now than he had been.

As the silence continued, Whit started to feel like a bitch.
Maybe a week of avoidance was enough. She knew she didn’t want to like him and certainly didn’t want to be involved with him, so it didn’t make sense to make herself more intriguing. She wasn’t going to let him in, and talking to him wasn’t as dangerous now that she’d decided on that. Maybe it’d be best to let her bitterness go, not that she would forget the type of guy he was. She could be nice and distant at the same time. It’d take less energy, that was for sure. By trying to get over it, she could move on and not feel so angry all the time.

She placed her book on the table in front of her and turned to face him.
Before he could speak, she just blurted out her new plan of action. “Okay, here’s what I think. I don’t want to waste my energy being angry with you, so I’m getting over it. When I have to, I’ll endure your company and be nice. That’s it, though. Outside of class, I don’t want to be around you. You have no respect for girls or their feelings. All you care about is yourself and getting what you want from them. That’s not the type of person I want to be friends with, much less anything else.”

Whit watched and waited for Nolan to react.
When he just sat there in silence, she peeked at him from the corner of her eye. His mouth was puckered like he was thinking.

Mr. Shepherd
came in before Nolan could respond, if he was going to, and immediately started giving notes. The man did love to lecture, that was for sure. Whit gave her undivided attention over to the Biology teacher and tried to forget the guy sitting less than a foot away.

Unexpectedly
, Nolan slid a scrap of paper onto her notebook. She quickly read the hastily scribbled note and felt like her head might explode. The note jokingly said that he didn’t realize she could be such a bitch. She shot him a look of hatred, then went back to taking notes.

At the end of class,
she just wanted to get away from him. Whit’s seat at their table was against the wall, though, while Nolan’s was next to the aisle, effectively blocking her exit. She stood beside his chair and glared at him until he finally faced her. Then he just looked at her, saying nothing.

Whit’s anger was getting explosive and sh
e knew if she didn’t escape soon, she would start yelling. The longer they stood looking at each other, the hotter her rage got. If the sneer on his face was any indication, he was upset too. She went to push past him, only to have him slam her up against the wall. Whit glanced around the classroom for Mr. Shepherd, but he was gone and the room was empty. She should have felt fear, but she didn’t. She knew he wouldn’t physically hurt her. The fact was that she was getting turned on by this aggressive side of Nolan and she absolutely hated it. Lord have mercy, he was hot. Nolan lowered his head so close, she could feel his breath on her cheek.