Page 37 of Lines

His smell—subtle and not overwhelming like most guys—is manly and fresh. It reminds me of some herbs or something. I’m not sure exactly what, but it’s stuck in my room, another reminder that he was here. A boy was in my room, something that hasn’t happened before and I didn’t think it would. But it did.

I will probably never be able to take Jane Austen's book in my hand ever again and chocolate chip cookies with cherries and almonds will always remind me of the way he kissed me.

I catch my finger tracing my bottom lip. It isn't the first time I caught myself doing that this evening. I can't stop thinking about it, about the way he kissed me, and how the boy who kissed me had nothing to do with the boy I’ve known my whole life.

It’s like there are two people in his body. But, that is exactly what I shouldn't let myself forget. There are two of them. No matter how passionate, sweet, and tempting his kisses can be, he isn't always like that.

He is a King.

King of school.

King of ice.

And King of his own life.

So I do the only reasonable thing, I turn around and urge my way to sleep. Nothing good can come from daydreaming, or in this case, night dreaming of the boy with piercing blue eyes.

Derek

For the next week, I ignore her. It isn’t even that hard, or so I like to tell myself.

Coach loves to keep our schedule intense so we don’t do stupid things, like party too much, not that that ever stopped us before. He likes to believe in his methods, and we like to keep him thinking what makes him happy. If he isn’t happy with something, he becomes an even bigger dick than usual during the practice.

So, like a good minion, I get up in the morning, do my workout in the gym, ignoring Sanders as much as I can. We both keep to our truce, but it’s a fragile deal. I go to my classes, and afterward, we have practice in the rink—drills and scrimmage—after which I stay alone to do a few more laps around the ice and practice my shooting before finally taking my shower and going home.

Only to repeat it all the next day. After a while, I start to feel like a robot.

That doesn’t mean I don’t see her. We have classes together after all. But even if we didn’t, I would find a reason to look for her in the hallways and cafeteria. She’s still sitting with the Sanders twins for lunch, and as much as I want to go there and tell him to go to hell and stay away from her, I need to cool off and think of a game plan.

She thinks we aren’t right for each other, that I can’t change, so I’ll show her she’s wrong.

“Daydreaming again, aren’t we?” Drew lowers his tray to the table and slides in the chair next to mine.

“Just thinking,” I reply, throwing a fry in my mouth.

“About who?” I shoot him an annoyed look, but he just laughs at my exasperation. “You know, the annual senior sleepover is coming next weekend.”

“So?” I pick at my food disinterestedly while keeping an eye at her table. She’s laughing. Like really laughing. I can imagine the sound of it in my head—light, resonant, and filled with happiness. And it’s at something he said. It makes me green with envy. I want her to laugh with me. I want to be the one to make her laugh, to make her smile.

“So you can go to her house, offer to take her to school, and then plant your sleeping bag right next to hers. If you are lucky maybe she’ll let you hold her hand—the closest thing you’ll come to getting into her granny panties.”

At the last remark, he laughs loudly, like he just said the funniest freaking joke in the last decade.

“Sometimes you can be a real prick, Hill,” I snap, standing up. I so don’t have the patience to deal with him being a jackass right now.

“Ohh, come on! It was a joke,” he yells after me. “Can’t you even take a joke anymore?”

I roll my eyes at him, and without looking back at my friend, get out of there.

* * *

Andrew’s words don’t leave my mind no matter how much I tell myself they are stupid. Hell, he is stupid. The only thing he knows about girls is how to fuck them. He is the ultimate love 'em and leave 'em kind of guy.

Why does he even care so much about all of this? What does he get from messing with me about Amelia and being a prick to her?

I know he has his issues with girls. After all he’s been through with their gender, how his mom treated him, the guy’s allowed to have some issues. I really pity the girl who falls for him. But not because of his popularity, athlete status, or money, but really falls in love with the guy hiding behind all of that crap. It is easy to love people on the outside, loving all the deep, dark parts of someone, that… that’s hard.

“Derek, dinner’s ready in a few!” Dad yells from downstairs.

---