Page 2 of Tangled Up In You

Moving to another country on a whim, that is.

Sophie clutched a notebook to her chest as she eyed her new school. The concrete brick walls, the gunmetal lockers, and even the gray clouds visible through the overly optimistic skylights were a stark contrast to the open-air, sunny high school she’d left behind back in California.

She’d impulsively suggested to her parents that she move here to Dublin and they hadn’t thought twice about shipping her off to another country without even askingwhyshe’d want to leave her life and friends in Menlo Park. And so, here she was.

The student who’d reluctantly given her a quick tour had since left her on her own. She knew no one and had no choice now but to forge ahead in what was the equivalent of the junior year of high school.

A burst of laughter caught her attention. Down the hallway, a large group of kids stood in a circle around a clear ringleader, hanging onto his every word as he gestured wildly.

Sophie moved closer, wanting a better look at the boy who had captured everyone’s attention. His hair fell past his collar in an untamed mix of brown and amber waves. His required school uniform gray and blue striped tie was loose around his neck, the top button of his white shirt undone, and his gray trousers were slung low on his hips. His blue eyes were expressive, his jaw square and set off by a sensual mouth with lips that had an alluring “just kissed” rawness to them.

He wasn’t just good-looking, though. There was something about him that was absolutely magnetic.

As if pulled by his gravitational force, she took another step closer.

“How did you know the fella wasn’t about to take his car out, Gavin?” asked one of the onlookers.

“Well, I didn’t, did I?” he replied with a sly smile.

“You’re mental!” another kid said.

“The added risk is what makes the joyride that much better, anyway,” he continued, his brow arched. The crowd around him laughed. “So, we went out for about an hour or so, me and Seamus did. As we’re turning the corner to get the car back, I could just make out this figure under the streetlamp looking one way and then another wondering where in bleedin’ hell his car went. I take one look at Seamus and he gets me right away, pulling the most incredible move. He threw it straight into reverse and back we went right around the corner and out of sight.”

Sophie found herself as mesmerized as everyone else. This boy, Gavin, had an engaging way of telling his story, pausing for effect at just the right moment and making eye contact with various people as he spoke. The Irish lilt she’d encountered upon arrival had, predictably, charmed her. But there was something about Gavin’s inflections that affected her in a completely different way. His voice was ever so slightly raspy and entirely captivating. So much so, in fact, that she wasn’t even alarmed by the fact that he was talking about having stolen a car.

“Didn’t the sorry bastard see you then?” a girl asked.

Gavin hesitated, building anticipation. “He didn’t. What’s better, though, is he goes back inside long enough for us to park the thing back where we found it so, in the end, he was none the wiser. It was magic, I tell you. Seamus is a wizard at driving, don’t you know?”

The group erupted into laughter and cheers and it soon became clear that this Seamus had been among them but reluctant to take center stage. As Sophie noted the way Seamus’ cheeks turned crimson under the attention of congratulatory slaps on the back and handshakes, she sensed she was being watched in return.

Her stomach flipped the moment she met Gavin’s eyes. She expected him to do what most boys did and let his gaze fall over her body. But he didn’t do that. Instead, he simply held eye contact. Only, there was nothing simple about this connection. It was all-consuming. Everyone else faded away, and she felt like it was just the two of them in that hallway. How that was possible, she didn’t know. All she knew was that she couldn’t have broken their spell if she tried.

Finally, another boy, taller and with jet-black hair and deep blue eyes, threw his arm around Gavin’s neck and pulled him from the others.

She saw Gavin mouth something with a nod of his head in her direction. But she was so overwhelmed by the intensity of … whatever it was she’d just experienced that she didn’t sort out exactly what he’d said until she was seated in class, trying and failing to focus on the teacher at the whiteboard. And then it clicked.

Gorgeous.

That’s what Gavin had told his friend as he motioned to her.

With that realization, she couldn’t keep from smiling.

And wondering just when she might get to see him again.

Two classes later,Sophie’s new-girl nerves had mostly settled. The other kids were curious about her but nice and the teachers were welcoming without directing too much attention at her. She’d always done well in school and was enjoying the challenge of figuring out the expectations of her new classes. It had been the distraction she needed to keep from thinking about Gavin, the boy who had made such a wild impression on her with just a look.

And then the nerves were suddenly back when Gavin took a seat in the chair next to her as she was digging through her backpack for a pen before her next class started.

“Sophie Kavanaugh, is it?” he asked smoothly as if they were picking up a conversation that had only recently been interrupted.

How did he know her name? He must have asked around. That meant he was just as interested in her as she was in him. Her stomach did that flippy thing again as she sat up straight and met his gaze. He was leaning back in his chair, his legs spread wide. He looked comfortable and confident. And yet, he was watching her so intently that it once more felt like they were the only ones in the classroom. How did he do that?

“And here all the way from America?” he continued before she could utter a response to his first question.

So, he didn’t just know her name. He knew she was far from home. Word definitely traveled fast around here. Thrown by both his familiar manner and the information he had, she only nodded. It didn’t help that up close, he was even better looking than she’d thought before. He radiated a kind of energy that made her want to lean into him, to try to …absorbhim.

It was disorientating.

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