Page 49 of Wallflower

"Miss me, flower?" Dare interrupted, taking a seat right as the bell rang. "No need to answer. I'm sure you did."

Giving him a look, I leaned forward, whispering so the others wouldn't hear.

"Actually, I'm waiting for an apology," I said.

Leaning back toward me, he said, "For what?"

"Breaking your promise."

"What are you talking about?"

Leaning even closer, I hissed, "You said you wouldn't look, and then you totally did!"

Dare angled his body fully toward me and met my gaze straight on. "No, you told me not to turn around. That was all you said, and I did as you asked."

"But you—"

"I couldn't see anything anyway. The lights were off, and it was just your reflection."

I felt my lips turn down. "Really?"

He nodded, but a second later added, "And you know what? I should be the one asking for an apology. As far as looking goes, it's not like you have room to talk."

"Excuse me?"

"Are you going to pretend you weren't checking me out right before that?"

I stuttered. "B-but you undressed without any warning!"

"You could've looked away, and you didn't."

"Yes, okay, that's true, but…" I shook my head. "I thought you said you'd be good."

Dare's smile was slow, his gaze fixed on my face. "Never said I was a saint."

He gave me a quick once-over.

"You look good in my clothes by the way."

I couldn't believe he'd just said that.

Estelle cleared her throat, and I looked over to find her and Jovonte staring at the two of us like they were watching their favorite sitcom. Sitting back in my seat, I tried to act like everything was normal.

"So Dare, I was just telling Viola how much I like her shirt," she said, giving me a grin. "Blue is really her color. Don't you agree?"

Dare took his time answering. "Blue's good," he said finally. "But I'm thinkingblackmight look better against her skin."

My eyes shot to his at that.

So much for not seeing anything, I thought as a blush stole up my neck. I mean sure, I loved wearing black, half my wardrobe was probably black. But Dare was so obviously not referencing any of those clothes. My lacy black bra suddenly felt tighter, my skin feeling hotter, than it had moments before.

My temperature only grew as he threw me a wink.

Definitely not a saint, I thought.

When lunch came, I was ready to kick back and relax, hopefully lose myself in the book I'd brought to school. But before I could even open it, Tyson sat next to me and started talking.

"Hey Viola," Ty said. "I wanted to speak to you."

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