The Naughty List (The Naughty List #1)(10)
Author: Suzanne Young

Aiden’s mouth dropped open. “That’s not like you. You’re like a little ball of sunshine. Always. And I mean always. What could you be sad about?” Aiden leaned over to kiss my shoulder, making my stomach flutter. “I’m here, aren’t I?”

Indeed, he was here. I had no reason to be sad. After all, I wasn’t the one being cheated on. But Darren had been the third adulterer this week, and his indiscretion had totally messed with our lunchtime seating arrangements. I glanced at the empty seat between Kira and Izzie and sighed.

Darren might not have been the first cheater, but he was the first one that we hadn’t discovered on our own—and that worried me. Because up until now, SOS had been foolproof.

Why were all of these boys going horny? And why did I feel worried when my relationship was healthy?

“We’re okay, aren’t we?” Aiden murmured into the sleeve of my shirt.

My eyes snapped to his. He never asked questions like that! Aiden was pure confidence.

“What? Why wouldn’t we be?” I asked, searching his face when he pulled back. His skin was smooth and tan as he widened his green eyes at me.

“Nothing,” he said quickly, shaking his head and wrapping both arms around my waist to pull me into him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean anything by that.”

“Hey, Tess,” Leona called from the end of the table. “I meant to ask you about the new lollipop in your history class. I heard he is oh, so lickable.”

“Ladies,” Aiden said, letting me go and pushing away his lunch tray, looking nauseous. “Please don’t talk about the men of the school like lollipops. Especially to my girlfriend.”

Leona giggled and winked at me from behind her glasses. “By the way,” she said as she stood up from the table. “The new boy has a sister, and she’s in my algebra class. A real bitch, if you ask me.”

“Language,” I tsked.

“Sorry. But she is.” Leona shrugged, backing up toward the lunch line. “She told Ms. Kellan that she didn’t ‘do’ word problems. Total pout face. And no accessories!”

I adored Leona, but maybe she didn’t understand that being the new kids at school was probably difficult for Christian and his sister, especially if they’d just moved. I mean, sure, using the word do on purpose was sort of tactless, but—

“Psst,” Kira interrupted, touching at the corners of her mouth with a paper napkin. “Hottie alert.” She darted an excited glance over my shoulder. I was glad she was working on her observation skills. They’d come in handy on missions.

Aiden cleared his throat and grabbed his tray back from the middle of the table to pick at the salad. He probably wasn’t interested in hearing about hot guys. Although I knew that no one was cuter than my sweetie. With that blond hair and those lean muscles, he—

“Tessa?” a soft voice asked.

There was a twinge of irritation, but I recovered quickly and spun around. Christian. Of course. Only this time, he had company: a small, attractive girl with long, straight blond hair and full lips. Her face, however, was pulled into a scowl. At least it was until she noticed my boyfriend. Then her pretty face perked up. Hm. She was checking him out.

“Hello again, Christian,” I said, bringing my gaze back to him. I felt Aiden turn around in his seat. I looked sideways at him and he was relaxed, lounging against the table and picking at his fingernails.

Christian took another step closer and smiled at me. “I was wondering if we could join you?” His dark eyes were framed perfectly by his lashes, making his stare intense yet … vulnerable.

My heart sank. He was probably embarrassed that he had to ask to sit with us. I couldn’t stand to see someone looking so lonely. “Sure,” I said politely. “You can sit with us.”

Kira let out an excited squeak as Aiden shifted next to me and turned back to the table, still picking at his nails. I watched as the blond girl stared at my boyfriend’s dropped head and made her way around to the seat across from him, between Kira and Izzie. She didn’t have the same laid-back clothing style as her brother. No, she was more provocative. Or as Leona liked to call it, “slutty”—too-short skirt, low-cut tank top. I swallowed hard. When she finally met my gaze, she smiled-close-mouthed.

“Oh,” Christian said, sitting down on the other side of me. “This is my sister, Chloe.” He motioned toward her, and she rolled her big brown eyes, as if she didn’t like the formal introduction.

Never one to forget my manners, I immediately stretched my hand over the table to her. Just because Leona had a harsh opinion of her didn’t mean … wait. Chloe looked at me for a second, almost as if the thought of taking my hand repulsed her. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

But then she reached out and took my palm in her cool one. She might have thought I hadn’t noticed her side glance at Aiden. But I had.

I turned to him, and he was still messing with his fingers, not paying attention. What was with him and his nails? I knocked my knee into his, and he looked up at me, surprised.

“What?”

“Nails,” I reminded him. The kid bit his nails to a ridiculous length and then chewed on his cuticles. It was sort of disgusting. I’d tried to give him a manicure, but, well, we never got very far. He always ended up offering to do me instead.

“Sorry, baby,” he said, dropping his hands into his lap. “Maybe you can buff them out for me later.” He looked sideways at me.

I crossed my legs to control the tingling between them. His stare was devious.

“We’ll see.” I couldn’t help but smile. I loved the snot out of him.

“It’s so fun meeting new people,” Izzie said happily to Christian as she chewed on the stick of her corn dog. “I think it’s really cultural and stuff.”

She was sweet. The only redhead in the school that wore the uniform. It was good to have diversity.

Kira cleared her throat and smiled until her dimples were deeply set in her cheeks. “I’m Kira.” She reached over the table to Christian, holding out her hand as if she expected him to kiss it.

He chuckled and instead turned it and shook it. Kira’s brilliant expression faded briefly, but then she turned to Chloe and smiled again.

“So you’re a sophomore?” Kira asked her enthusiastically. She was really great at staying perky.

“Yep. And you’re a cheerleader?” There was that tone again. The same one Christian had this morning. Had they been attacked by a roaming band of cheerleaders when they were younger? What was with the hostility?