The Naughty List (The Naughty List #1)(27)
Author: Suzanne Young

“Come on,” he whispered playfully. “I’ll let you win.”

Well, now that was condescending. “You wouldn’t need to let me, Christian. I would beat you fair and square.”

He laughed. “Fair and square? You are too cute. Seriously. I can’t get enough of you.”

I blinked quickly.

“Come play with me,” he said, opening my door. “One round.”

Did I have a choice? How odd would it look if we just left? I paused, trying to think of the possibly horrific outcomes that could come from this. But there wasn’t time to think it through. I was the captain, and I was the one responsible for the tough decisions.

I took a breath. “Just one game,” I said.

Christian held out his hand to me, but I looked at him like he’d lost his marbles. I certainly wasn’t going to hold his hand. This wasn’t a date and never would be. I was Aiden’s girl.

My stomach turned. I just wished I knew where Aiden was.

Christian tried to win at miniature golf, but he had seriously underestimated my ball-sinking skills. He also found it hilarious when I told him that. But he was polite. Sweet, even. And his friend Colton seemed to warm to cheerleaders, especially dark-haired ones named Leona. But I didn’t forget that he had a girlfriend from a rival school, and I made sure Leona didn’t forget either.

At some point, one game turned into two. It was nearly one in the morning when we walked back to my car, Leona giggling with Colton behind me. The night had been fun. Completely unethical, but fun. We paused at my car.

“Thanks for hanging out, Tessa,” Christian said, stopping to stand directly in front of me. His cologne was carrying in the wind, and it smelled really fresh. Clean. Aiden didn’t bother with cologne; he smelled more athletic.

“Well,” I said, darting a warning glance at Leona as she paused alarmingly close to Colton. She nodded knowingly and dropped her eyes. I turned back to Christian. “We’ve got to jet. I’ll see you at school on Monday.”

He chuckled. “You’re not going to your boyfriend’s party tomorrow?”

Sweet tea and honey! I’d forgotten again. “No, I’ll be there.”

“Cool,” Christian said. “Then I’ll see you there.”

My face was burning with both embarrassment and shame. And just then, Christian leaned toward me. Like toward my mouth!

I dodged quickly, trying not to make a complete spectacle, but in my haste, I head-butted Christian in the jaw.

“Ow,” we said at the same time. I put my palm against my forehead, and he covered his mouth. Leona burst out laughing from the other side of the car.

“You’re a violent little thing, Tessa.” He laughed and dropped his hand, running his eyes slowly up and down my body. “I say you ditch your jock and come wrestle with me sometime.” He winked.

“You can’t always be good, right?”

I squeaked. Did he just tell me to break up with Aiden? Ew, did he just ask to wrestle with me? Without another word, I scrambled into the driver’s seat and slammed the door.

Leona got in too, adjusting her glasses and turning to me with a smirk. “He’s still staring,” she sang. “He’s, like, obsessed with you or something.”

“Shoot. This was a really bad idea. We’ll have to reschedule this mission for tomorrow night.”

“Wait. Do you think he knows we’re SOS?” Her face was worried.

“Let’s hope not.”

Ignoring Christian, still standing outside my window, I started my car and pulled quickly out of the parking lot, squealing my tires.

I dropped Leona off at her grandmother’s, and when I got home, the house was dark. My parents must still be at the club.

I felt lonely. I’d been hoping to sit down and talk with my dad while we had milk and cookies, but he wasn’t here. I needed advice. I wanted him to tell me that I had nothing to worry about.

At 2 a.m., my cell rang. I reached over to pluck it off my side table, but I didn’t recognize the number. I squashed my panic and answered.

“Hello?” Please don’t be Christian.

“Hi, baby,” Aiden said in a deep, tender voice.

I exhaled, pulling the phone into my sheets as I curled up with it, comforted by Aiden’s sound. I’d missed the snot out of him.

“Where are you?” I asked, bringing my blankets up under my chin. My chest was aching. I was so confused by our recent lack of cuddle time.

He chuckled. “I’m at your front door.”

I smiled, my stomach knotting with excitement. “Really?”

“Yeah, really. Now come let me in.”

I squealed and then clicked off the call. Throwing back my sheets, I jumped out of bed and tossed my cell on it before dashing through the house barefoot.

I paused in front of my wood front door and then took a deep breath and swung it open. My face immediately brightened. There he was, leaning his long body against my door frame, his hair a mess of blond tangles. He was in a pair of jeans with a dark green sweater, making his eyes more noticeable than usual. He looked … fantastic.

“Hi,” he said in that low, sexy voice.

“Hi.”

We stood for a minute, staring at each other. My body was tingling, wanting him, but I knew that we should probably talk first. A breeze blew past him from outside. I twitched my nose.

“Are … are you wearing cologne?” I asked.

He grinned. “Uh, yeah. Why?”

“You don’t wear cologne.”

“I do sometimes.”

“No. You don’t.”

Aiden furrowed his brow, pushing off the door to step inside the house, his dress shoes making a different noise on the tile than his sneakers normally did. He paused in front of me and looked down.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, studying my face.

“Where were you?”

Aiden turned and shut the door, then came back and reached out to push my hair over my shoulder before resting his hand there.

“Darren was dealing with some shit. I went over to help him out.”

“Wearing cologne?”

Aiden stepped back from me, looking a little annoyed. “Tess, are you pissed at me or something? What’s with the cologne? Do you not like it?”

My fingers trembled. Aiden never got annoyed with me. I was … losing it a little. It was SOS. It was making me suspicious of my sweetie. But I knew better. Aiden would never hurt me. He wasn’t like those other guys.

“I’m sorry,” I said, swallowing hard and walking up to slide my arms around his waist. I laid my head against his chest but felt uneasy when he didn’t squeeze me the way I’d expected him to. “Whose phone do you have?” I asked.