Gina grinned and added a cool, “We know.”
I still couldn’t speak. In my head, I was screaming,We’re the bomb!!!
Jake’s gaze flickered over my shoulder and his smile flattened into a straight line. “Alright, ladies, see you later.”
His hand slid from mine, up my arm to my bicep where he squeezed gently. He leaned in closer so that his lips were just a breath away from my ear. “Don’t forget to find me after my set.”
“Okay,” I whispered, barely recognizing the breathless tone to my voice.
Then he was gone. He slipped into the crowd of students still pushing toward their next class and I was too nervous to turn around and watch him leave.
“God, you turn into such a pile of goo whenever he’s around,” Gina laughed. “I’m embarrassed for you.”
I dropped my face into my hands and felt the heat of my face. “It’s so pathetic.”
“You’re kickass, Carmichael. You can’t let him get to you.”
“Let who get to you?” That came from a deep, familiar voice behind me.
I whirled on Troy. “Are you following me now?”
His eyes narrowed. “No. I go this way to my next class.”
Forgetting about my humiliation over Jake, I cocked my hip and dropped my hand on it. “Then why aren’t you still going?”
“Yikes,” he murmured. “Are you always this uptight?” When I only glared at him, he turned to Gina. “Is she always this uptight?”
I felt Gina’s curious stare but I refused to look at her. “I’m starting to think my friend is afraid of the entire male species.”
My head snapped Gina’s direction and I stuck my tongue out at her. It seemed appropriate.
When I turned back to Troy, he was grinning at me. “I can see that. She’s definitely jumpy around me.”
“Not because I’m scared of you.”
He bent down so we were at eye level for a brief moment. “Or so you’d like me to believe.”
I rolled my eyes so hard my head moved. “What do you want, Cameron? I have things to do.”
“Like the Battle of the Bands?” The humor disappeared from his expression and he glared at me impatiently. “That’s why you can’t work on our project tonight? Lame.”
“Not lame,” I growled. “Totally dyno.”
It was his turn to roll his eyes. “Well, you have time before, right? We can work on it then.”
“No,” I huffed impatiently. “We have to get ready.”
“And get there,” Gina added.
“How long does it take you to get ready?” Troy’s eyes were only on me. “Black, more black, paint your eyes black. Done. Five minutes tops.”
Something burned in the back of my throat and it tasted regretfully like embarrassment. Of course, to someone like Troy, my “look” would be nothing but a bunch of black slapped together. He didn’t get that it was a statement. Or that I happened to like the way I looked. All he saw was a social misfit that didn’t care about anything.
“Go away, Troy. At this point I’m willing to take the zero.”
He ran a frustrated hand through his perfectly Clydesdale hair. “Why are you being so difficult?”
“Personality flaw.” I let out a sigh, remorse niggling in the pit of my stomach. He looked so innocent compared to me. So preppy in contrast to my deadly.
