| |
Elli’s looking hot as hell in her white jeans as English rolls around. We’re working on our projects and I’m hoping Jonah’s ass won’t show up so I can spend the whole class talking to her. Plus, she looks about ready to punch Eric if he so much as opens his mouth. The dude really pissed her off. I just want to distract her and give her something to take her mind off it. I reach out for her bare arm.
Fuck! Did I really just do that? Did I really just tap Elli on the shoulder? What is this, fourth grade? She looks about as nervous as I am and I wonder what she’ll even say. I take a deep breath before I start to talk. Were her eyes always so blue?
“If you’re not busy tonight, we should hang out.” It comes out casually like I completely meant it as no big deal, exactly how I was hoping it would sound.
“Um.” She purses her glossy pink pout and I lose every word in my head. Seriously, how did I miss those sexy lips? She’s not wearing much makeup today and I want to compliment her on it but I don’t know how without sounding creepy AF.
I’m starting to lose my nerve. It really looks like she’s gonna say no and I think about backtracking. I’ve never really done this before. Usually we’re at the same party, have a little fun and never speak again. That’s what gets me into trouble.
She looks up at me. “I have to go home and change first, would you mind picking me up there?”
She’s blushing. Score!
“What’s wrong with what you have on?” I laugh. “You look fine. Great.” I’m pretty sure I corrected that one in time.
Her hair’s up so I can see a good portion of her upper back in that blue tanktop she’s wearing. Every single thing this girl wears looks phenomenal down to the crisscross white heels that make her a good three inches taller than she already was. How did she even get her feet into those badboys? Her teal green toenail polish makes me smile for a second before she speaks again.
“This is strictly a school, practice, straight home outfit. I have something picked out for tonight.”
Did I just hear that right? It sounded like she was flirting with me and judging by the nervous tapping she’s doing with her foot she knows I caught on.
“You look amazing right now.” Whoa, smooth Jagger, that’s why the girls love you. Usually I don’t mean it but right now I’d say I do. “I’ll pick you up at 6:30?” It comes out more like a question than I intended but I continue, “pizza and a movie?”
“Sounds perfect.”
Sure does, coming from her mouth. Again, she presses her lips together but this time I barely notice, all I can think about is her sweet little voice calling out my name in bed. Do I tell her I thought about her all weekend? Nah, then it would make her think I conjured up images of her laying naked on my bed, my guitar draped over her body. Not that I pictured that. Okay, I did and it kept me going all weekend. I didn’t even have to hook up with those chicks Friday night. Doesn’t mean I didn’t though.
Jonah walks in and sits down, oblivious to the fact that he’s 10 minutes late to class. Mr. Beardsley doesn’t say anything. If Elli weren’t here maybe I would have tried it too, it’s so easy with Beardsley. She shoots him a look and I keep hoping she’ll turn those sexy, crystal blue eyes back to me. It’s no use. She’s determined to get this project done so she doesn’t have to work with Eric anymore. Can’t blame the girl, not after he royally dissed her at the fundraiser. If he didn’t like her back he could have just told her instead of everyone on the team. My fingers trail down her arm as I pull myself away. Her skin is so soft it makes me want to wrap her up in a blanket and never let her off my couch. And I do not cuddle.
Ok, project, you’re working with Jonah, remember? He’s finally unscrewed himself from Morgan’s barely covered ass. She probably just asked him to do her work for her and I’m sure the idiot said yes after he took one look at her in a pretty much see through white shirt. Never gonna happen, even if she is wearing the sluttiest shorts and tall boots combo ever.
I look back at Elli one last time and I’m fascinated by her bright purple nail polish. Scrawled across her left hand is her name, little star over the i, heart on her thumb. My eyes wander to her right hand and I see a J on her other thumb. My heart pounds like I’m running laps. I can’t see the rest of it, her hands are gripping the desk as she tries not to smack Eric. Jagger? Elli loves Jagger? For some reason I’m hoping.
She turns around and catches me staring, I swear she does, but she doesn’t seem to mind. She gives me a cute little wave and I’m actually disappointed that her right hand says Jenna. Jagger wouldn’t even fit on her fingers you idiot, six letters, not five. Why am I disappointed? I haven’t even gotten her naked.
*****
I’ll admit that I barely make it through practice. Laps are a lot harder when I’m trying not to stare at Elli. Not to mention Morgan and Jonah’s little sister, Elli’s apparent lover. It makes me wonder if they’ve ever experimented or if Morgan could talk her into it.
“Are you coming out to eat with us?” Morgan asks Elli as I’m coming up behind them on my final lap. I can’t wait for this to be over.
“Nah, I’ve got plans.”
“Big important plans?” Morgan whines.
Elli nods her head vigorously, looking straight at me.
“Fine.” Morgan tosses her blonde hair over her shoulder and turns her back on Elli. She’s staring right at me. “What about you?”
“What about me?” I pretend not to know what she’s talking about and turn to run backwards.
“Coming out to Helen’s with us tonight?”
Helen’s is like an institution around here, the best home cooking in town, if you’re into that sort of thing. Like Elli, I’d rather have pizza. “Nah, I’ve got big important plans.”
Morgan looks exasperated. She didn’t put it together but I wink at Elli just to tease her. Her face turns red instantly. Damn, she’s so fucking cute I just want to corrupt her. I wonder what she’s gonna wear tonight that will make what she has on look like it doesn’t belong on a date. Shit! A date? Seriously, when did I become this dude?
Coach seems to be riding us extra hard so I’m pretty happy when he blows the final whistle. All I want to do is give Elli a hug before I limp home to take a shower. I don’t see her wanting to be covered in my sweat though. There’s a time and place for that, maybe later in my bedroom.
She waves as she climbs into the car with Jonah, Jenna and their pops. I swore I heard her call him Dad at the game but today she calls him Tristan. The girls look alike, same bright blue eyes, same sexy little bodies. Not that you can see Jenna’s in the baggy white t-shirt it looks like she stole from her dad. Such a shame to waste her glory years in something that’s not skintight or at least see through like Morgan.
Eric, Marc and Brewski pile into my truck. Remind me to clean the trash and bottles out before I pick up Elli, especially the condom wrappers. Somehow I doubt she’d be into that. Not to mention it smells like the inside of my gym bag right now.
“You sure you can’t hang out?” Eric asks and immediately I start shaking my head.
“I’ve got plans,” I say for what must be the tenth time today. Why aren’t they getting it?
“Tell me it’s with that hot redhead from Bridgemont?” Brewski slurs, already into his practice bag stash.
I shake my head. I should just tell them I’m going out with Elli but I wanna see how it goes before I start advertising it around town. Jagger doesn’t do dates, especially not with chicks from our school. Yeah, I’ve nailed skanks that I later realize go to Eastlake, like that time I hooked up with Morgan over the summer only to find her sitting across from me in homeroom at the beginning of sophomore year. Oops. Jagger Greeley meet Morgan Hall. Morgan who until that summer had been chubby and brunette with braces and glasses. I don’t know if Zach knows about that. I’m sure as hell not saying anything. I don’t want to lose my place as co-captain because of it.
“Give her a hard spank from Marc, whoever the naughty slut is.”
Great, now I’m going to have to work that mental image out before I see her. They better not find out about this because I don’t want them imagining her that way. Half of me knows she’s not like that and the rest of me hopes like hell that she is, even if just for tonight.
“One on each cheek from the Marc man!”
He might be the only one of them who’s gotten laid but I can’t see it happening again if he keeps acting the way he does. The other two have never even seen a naked chick. Eric probably blew his only chance when Elli overheard him talking shit. No girl is gonna go near him when they hear what he said about a nice girl like her.
“What if she’s ugly?”
“Eric, come on, it’s Jagger. She ain’t ugly.”
They all know I don’t associate myself with ugly chicks. She can be anything except ugly. I’m equal opportunity. I’ve bagged skinny chicks and chubsters, tall, short, big boobs, no boobs, doesn’t matter. Now all I can think about is Elli like none of those girls ever existed.