Page 71 of Disobedient Pawn

I arched my brow, and he looked away from my eyes and cleared his throat. “Blake, I don’t care if you are having sex with the entire cheer squad. What I do wonder about is why you’re trying to get up into my business when I’m clearly not who you’d choose to date or whatever it is you do?”

“Um…I like spending time with you. I had a lot of fun until I screwed up and was a dick about Myles.” He shrugged, and I wasn’t sure how to take what he said. Did he mean he liked hanging with me as if I was one of the guys or something more? See, this was why I didn’t date. Everything was always so confusing.

The only guy I’d ever been interested in was Rylan, the Captain of the school hockey team back home, and he acted like I didn’t exist. Getting a hello out of him was shocking unless he wanted something. A couple of times, he did have the gall to ask me to help him with an exam. He quickly forgot my name again after.

“Are you going to the party with Myles?”

“No, was I supposed to be?” I watched Blake’s expression closely, but he didn’t give anything away.

“I was just curious. You two seemed to be getting pretty close.”

“Your spies are lying to you,” I joked. Blake did have a layer of adorable under the cocky persona.

“I got this for you.” Blake reached down beside him and produced a beautifully wrapped box. The paper was blue with tiny little snowflakes all over it. I looked at the box and then up a Blake.

“Um…okay. Why?” At that moment, I realized that I didn’t trust anyone, and now I had the added worry about what each of them was capable of. I’d been suspicious of the bag of muffins from Myles, and now I wondered what the hell was going to crawl or slither out of this box.

Blake’s brows drew together as he mimicked me and then laughed. “Why are you staring at it like it might be a bomb?”

“I don’t trust anyone,” I said, and I hated that his eyes lost their humor as they studied my face. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“Just open it. I swear it’s nothing weird, strange, or gross.”

Glancing around, a few students had sat down and were talking, but I could tell they were watching to see what would happen next. I wiped my sweaty palms off on my kilt and gently ripped at the tape holding the paper in place. His wrapping job was really nice, which I admit was shocking. He didn’t strike me as the perfectly folded corners type when his shirt was always half untucked.

Getting the paper off, I lifted the lid on the box before moving the tissue out of the way. I recognized the pattern on the dress I loved from our day out shopping. As I ran my hand across the soft material, a smile played across my lips. I remembered him holding a bag and how he lied and said it was stuff for him. Or had he gone back? Either way, I wasn’t sure what to make of the sweet gift.

“You got this for me?”

Blake leaned closer, and I wiggled in my seat as a mass of fluttering started in my stomach. “I said I liked spending time with you, and I meant it. I thought maybe you’d like to wear it to the party tomorrow.” I opened my mouth, and he held up a hand to stop what I was going to say. “First, I’m not taking it back, so don’t ask. Second, there is no obligation to me or to wear it to the party. You saw it, and you liked it. I wanted to do something nice for you since you’re new, and…you seemed to need a smile. Don’t look so shocked, I can be a nice guy, and that is all there is to the gift.” He could really pull off the sad puppy look. He was looking at me from under his lashes with a slight pout to his lips. I could only imagine what his and Theo’s mother had to endure with the two of them.

Then again, I couldn’t picture Theo as the pouting type. He seemed more like the kid that would use big words you didn’t know he knew and give an argument that would make any lawyer proud.

Heat rushed to my face, and my throat constricted as I tried to swallow past the lump that had formed.

“Please put that away, Ms. Davies. Class is about to begin.”

I whipped my head around to see the classroom had filled up, and I hadn’t noticed Mr. Martelli was standing at the front of the room.

“Yes, of course. I’m so sorry.” It was hard to embarrass me, but I felt way out of my element, and as quickly as I could, I put the tissue paper back in the box with the pretty dress and set it on the floor.

Once class was underway, I scribbled on a piece of paper, feeling like I’d stepped back in time to my elementary school days as I held the note out to Blake under the table.

A little electric shock raced up my arm as Blake’s fingers brushed against mine. He smiled at me as he gave me a quick look and then quietly unfolded the paper under the desk.

Thank you. I love it.

Was all the note said, but Blake flipped the paper over and began writing back. I shouldn’t feel this giddy, but it was hard to contain my smile. The little voice in my mind kept chanting that this was a very bad idea.

Blake handed the note back, and as I gripped it, he wouldn’t let go. I glanced over at him as he ran his finger over mine, and my cheeks flamed hot as my pulse jumped. He finally let go, but his cheeky grin made me want a water bottle and a fan.

As stealthily as I could, I unfolded the paper while keeping my eyes on the board where Mr. Martelli was writing our newest assignment. I wasn’t paying attention to what he was writing. My mind just wouldn’t focus.

I smoothed it out on the desk, then froze as Mr. Martelli turned around. “I want you all to pick one person you admire to do this project. It can be someone living or deceased. They can be famous or a family member, but this is not a free pass assignment. I want to see a real effort to make these projects special. They should genuinely mean something to you.”

He turned back around to finish writing his notes, and I looked down at mine.

Will you go to the party with me? Just as friends if that is all you want.