“Out of the way,” she said to the kids standing around gawking. “We got places to be.” She trailed her fingers over the perfect paintwork and grinned at me over the roof. “Open it already! This is the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“You like cars?” I asked, hitting a button on my keys. The locks slid down without a noise.
“I like this car!” she practically sang. She slipped into the passenger seat as I got behind the wheel and started the engine.
Jagger’s eyes were huge. “Leather seats! Oh my God, they’re so soft. Put the top down!”
That was the last thing I wanted to do, but I was also kind of digging her excitement. She’d been so kind to me today. It was a kick to see someone enjoy this car in a way I never had. I’d never thought about how nice the seats were. Or how it was pretty cool to be able to take the top down and let the late summer breeze blow through my hair. I hit another button, and the roof cranked to life, folding back above our heads.
Jagger bounced excitedly on her seat, like a toddler, impatient to go to McDonald’s.
I laughed at her, then pulled the gearshift into reverse and glanced over my shoulder to check it was safe to back out.
A large body landed in my back seat, and I yelped, slamming my foot down on the brake automatically.
Banjo gave me a lopsided grin. “Told you I’d see you around. This wasn’t exactly what I meant, but hey, I’ll take it. Man, these seats are like butter.”
My brain short-circuited while I tried to form words. Eventually, I stuttered, “Wh…what are you doing?” I couldn’t quite look him in the eye. Not after last night when I’d practically thrown myself at him. That was suddenly mortifyingly embarrassing.
“Getting a lift?” he asked cheekily.
“Could have asked!”
“But you would have said no.”
“You don’t know that.” He was right. I would have, to save myself further embarrassment. Being this close to him was stirring things inside me that I needed to keep a lid on. Especially since we weren’t alone.
“Lacey, can I get a lift in your sexy-as-fuck car?”
“No!”
“See?” He grinned. “That’s why I didn’t ask!”
It was hard to keep a straight face. He was so cute with all that blond hair flopping in his eye, his smile full of mischief.
I guided the gearshift back into park. “Banjo. Get out of my car.”
“Lacey. Go out with me.”
Jagger let out a gasp from the passenger seat and then clapped her hands with glee. “Well, this just got interesting!”
I shot her a glare. “Not interesting. He’s joking.”
“No, I’m not.”
Jagger slapped me on the arm. “What are you doing?” she hissed. “He’s the hottest guy in school and the freaking quarterback. If he asks, you say yes!”
Banjo was like a rooster preening in the sun.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” another voice said. Rafe appeared on Jagger’s side of the car. “Look at you right now, Banjo. You’re fucking ridiculous. Your ego is so big I could stroke it from out here.”
Banjo grinned at him. “Come on, we all know it’s not my ego you want to stroke.”
My eyes widened. But Rafe just dumped his backpack on the ground and hoisted himself over the side of the car. He landed beside Banjo, and the two of them launched into a full-blown tussle.
“Oh my God, stop!” I yelled. How the hell had I gone from wanting nobody to see my car, to three people inside it, two who seemed to be about to launch into a fistfight? I leaned as far away from the rumbling guys as I could. “Should we get someone?” I yelped to Jagger.
She waved her hand, like it was no big deal. “Got my money on Rafe!”
Banjo paused. “Hey!”
She shrugged. “What?”
“I don’t understand what’s happening right now,” I squealed, cringing away from the two boys to avoid a wayward elbow.
The two guys eventually settled down, shoving each other into opposite corners of the car, matching grins on their faces, both breathing a little harder than they had been.
“You two done now?” I asked.
Banjo gave me an impish grin. “Sorry, pretty girl. We got carried away. I wasn’t hurting him.”
Rafe rolled his eyes while he straightened his shirt. “Like you could.”
“What the fuck is going on here?”
All four of us flinched, and when I looked in the direction of the voice, I fully expected to see a teacher standing there. That’s how much authority that statement had held. Though in hindsight, the use of ‘fuck’ probably should have given it away. This might have been Saint View, but I still doubted teachers were in the habit of dropping F-bombs. Even if it was after hours.
Colt’s black eyes raked over the scene, taking in Jagger in the front seat, Banjo and Rafe in the back. Finally, his gaze landed on me. I didn’t think it possible, but I could have sworn his eyes hardened further.
“Quit fucking around and let’s go,” he said to Banjo and Rafe. “Leave the princess alone.”
I bristled at his tone. “I’m not a princess.”
He raised one dark eyebrow. “No? Do you see anyone else around here driving a seventy-five thousand dollar car?”
“Colt—” Banjo started.
Colt cut him off. “I said, let’s go.”
There was a shuffle from the back seat, and Rafe got out, grabbing his backpack from the ground.
Banjo followed more reluctantly. “What the fuck is up your ass today?”
Colt didn’t answer. A shiver rolled down my spine. There was a power in him that I found intriguing.
But it also pissed me off that he thought so highly of himself. My fingers clenched around the steering wheel. “You don’t get to judge me.”
Jagger sucked in a tiny breath beside me. She shook her head ever so slightly.
“Untouchable,” she said beneath her breath.
Colt bent down, leaning in until we were eye to eye. “You should listen to your friend there, princess. I do whatever I want around here. If I want to judge you, then there isn’t a thing you can do about it. Is there?”
Then he ran one finger down the side of my face, starting at my temple and tracing his way along my jaw.
I knew a power play when I saw one. He expected me to back down. To flinch away.
I wouldn’t. Not now, on day one. Not ever. It took more than a handsome face who overestimated his importance to intimidate me.
So instead, I got closer. I got so close our faces were less than an inch apart. If I’d been across the parking lot and seen a guy and a girl this close, I would have assumed they were going in for a kiss. My body flushed with heat at the thought, even as I fought to keep my anger under control.
I knew what he expected.
I wasn’t going to give it to him.
“The pauper bows to the princess, Colt. You’d do well to remember that.”
And with that, I threw the car into reverse once more, slammed my foot on the gas, and shot us out of the parking space. The three guys scrambled to get out of my way, but my gaze never left Colt’s. I put the car into drive and hightailed it out of the parking lot, tires screeching, back end fishtailing, leaving the three boys behind in a cloud of black smoke.