Or the six-pack that lay under that deceptively baggy T-shirt.
Or the tattoo I’d only caught the lower edge of once when he’d lifted his shirt high enough for whatever reason.
Or his striking eyes that could’ve been lighthouses luring me to the rocks instead of away from them.
Or the dark golden skin that made me wonder if he tasted as warm as he looked.
Right. Uh, yeah, I didn’t need to think about any of that.
The point—if I’d had one—was that Cal hit me like a tractor beam out of nowhere, one I couldn’t get away from. No matter how his sexy body struck me in new ways of dumbfounded, all he had to do was open his mouth, and our same ole bickering renewed. How would we ever get the school to stop fighting if we couldn’t be civil for thirty seconds?
The answer to that was even more forced proximity, apparently.
School resumed on Monday, but it would be far from a return to normal. I was called right out of homeroom and into the boys’ counselor’s office. My curiosity ended with Cal sitting in one of the two chairs in front of Trent Wright’s desk.
“Fucking perfect,” I muttered and fell into the available seat.
“Watch the attitude, Jack,” Trent said.
Ourcounselorwas nothing more than some recent grad with a psychology degree. He was young enough he had probably convinced the school he could relate to the students while he practiced what he’d learned, and that made us guinea pigs.
Cal glanced in my direction, then leaned as far away from me as the chair would allow.
“Hope you boys took the time during detention last week to reflect on how your actions, intended or not, influence those around you.”
When neither of us said anything, Trent went on. “The faculty heard rumors of more pranks being planned. I know neither of you want to be expelled, so I went out on a limb and convinced Principal Woodson that you two aren’t instigating all of this between the teams. However, to keep him convinced, you both’re being enrolled in mandatory visits to my office.”
“What?” Cal shot up. “No.Wedon’t need counseling sessions. Why not counsel the school if everyone knows it’s not us?”
Had that been an accidentally nice thing to say about me? As if he realized he had spoken for me in a positive light, he jerked hisgaze to me, then back to Trent as he shuffled farther right in his chair. I hid my chuckle. Cal wasn’t a small guy, and there was no extra room in that seat. As the starting running back, he was just over six feet, like me, and built for burst speed from the line and longevity. Jesus, I bet he had stamina—
“Watch it, Cal.” Trent’s bite had me redirecting my near constant anger at him. I needed an outlet that wasn’t Cal, anyway, so what better place than the school’s counselor. “This isn’t negotiable. You two will have joint sessions on Mondays for an hour after school, and on Wednesdays in place of your study periods.”
“We have practice on Mondays,” I said. And because I couldn’t have Cal thinking I was on his side about anything, I added, “Besides, I’ve been through therapy before. I’m good, thanks.”
Cal turned to face me. Not that I was watching him, but his eyes on me were always too heavy and uncomfortably warm. What got up his ass now? That I was aware of his practice schedule or that I’d admitted to going through therapy?
Shit. WhyhadI admitted either of those things?
Trent snorted as if he knew how much we hated being here already and got some sick pleasure out of it. “Coach Sullivan is aware you’ll be late, Cal, but you, Jack, will need to make arrangements with the FC.”
With Hickory Bend being a small town, Coach Hayes was associated with our football club, and working around practice probably wouldn’t be an issue, but that wasn’t the point.
“This is bullshit, Trent. We aren’t the ones with the problem,” Cal said.
“No?” Trent gestured one hand at each of us. “Look at yourselves right now.”
For fuck’s sake. I was leaning left as far as he was leaning right. The corner of his mouth quirked, and I straightened in my chair at the same time he did.
We were still far enough I shouldn’t feel his body heat, but just those few inches made me so much more aware of him. The wavelengths bouncing between us had intensified and thickened in the smaller gap, pinging like mini lightning strikes.
I loved and hated it.
“This is happening, gentlemen. The faculty is aware and will be watching you both closely. You’ve been volunteered for the Athletic Leadership Camp next month. Any projects, group study, or joint homework assignments will have you paired together. Anything that comes up requiring two students help out”—Trent flicked a finger between us—“it will be you two.”
“For how long?” I asked. This would be more torture than they knew. Fuckers.
Trent shrugged. “That’s up to you. The school is tired of this rivalry. You can try to fake it to get out of this sooner, but just know we’ll be watching.” He waved his hand toward the door in a dismissive manner. “Get to class.”
