“This school sure has a lot of fine looking women,” he said, grazing their bodies up and down, making them stick out their chests even further.
“Have some self respect, girls,” Adam responded disapprovingly.
“Excuse me, but do you guys mind taking your mating ritual elsewhere? Thanks,” I said bluntly, hoping they would notice my irritation.
Jeremy only grinned, amused by my comment, “I look forward to seeing more of you ladies.” He gave them a spine-tingling smile that even I felt trickle down. Damn, he's good looking.
“Bye,” they all said, sugar coating their voices. The girl who had taken initiative eyed me, clearly annoyed that I had interrupted her flirting session. They slowly made their way out, turning to wave goodbye before exiting. Jeremy gave them another heart-stopping smile.
“I think the girl on the left just melted,” I joked. He shrugged, uncaring. “Oh, please,” I continued, “like you don't enjoy looking the way you do, seeing the effect you have on girls. You love it.”
“You think so, huh? Anything else you care to tell me about myself?” He smirked, leaning forward, a little too eager to hear my response.
“You're not that hard to figure out,” I stated, “You grew up in New York City, where kids grow up faster, experience things quicker than most kids our age. You found early on your looks get you noticed, so you use that to your advantage. A better grade from a teacher, male or female,” I winked, “A free meal from a waitress.”
“Or waiter,” he winked back.
“Right.” I loved how easy he was to joke around with. “Once you got to the right age, you also realized how easy it was to get girls; what smile or look affected them the most; how easy it was to make them putty in your hands.”
“That's not bad. You're missing a few things, but not bad. Okay, now it's my turn,” he paused for dramatic effect. “Your parents divorced at a young age, leaving you feeling bitter and deprived which later turned into teen angst. You keep to yourself, viewing high school as lame and those who accompany it even more so. Which is sad because I bet you might enjoy yourself more if you loosened up.”
“I can see you think highly of me.”
“It wasn't my intention to offend you.”
“You didn't. There is only one person's opinion I care about.”
A girl cleared her throat next to us. I assumed it would be another doting fan, but was surprised to see Haley there.
“Sorry to interrupt, I thought you'd be alone,” her eyes darted to Jeremy, I'm sure analyzing what he was doing with me. “Sandra just texted me to remind us we have dentist appointments after school, and my dad will pick us up out front.”
“Is she one of the parents who contributed to your angst and sorrowful gray eyes?” Jeremy joked looking directly at me.
Haley eyed him so fiercely that a blind man would have cowered. “You're kind of a jerk, you know that? I know everyone in this school is worshiping you at your feet because you can dress yourself and apply hair gel correctly, but I'm not seeing the appeal.” She stormed off.
“What was that about?”
“My parents are dead,” I replied flatly.
All color drained from his face. “I guess that does make me a jerk. I'm really sorry.”
I hated the look of pity people gave me over my parents. I just prayed he didn't follow up with “that must have been so hard on you,” that was my least favorite.
“It's fine, it happened a long time ago.”
“I mean, I'm sorry because I assume you live with your cousin now. No wonder you avoid people. If I had to be around 'legally blonde' twenty-four-seven I'd welcome the sanctuary of the library too.”
That was the first response I had actually liked. His eyes clearly showed the remorse he felt for my loss, but he wasn't expecting me to reminisce about the pain I suffered, was still suffering, and would always suffer.
We continued talking the rest of break and I couldn’t help but notice how relaxed I was with him, as though we'd been friends for years. At one point he reached over and touched my hand. I noticed Adam wince, but he remained silent. Seeing Adam respond to our touch sent more of a thrill through my body than having Jeremy’s hand actually touch mine. Adam's whole body relaxed when Jeremy finally got up to leave.
“When do you want to get together for the assignment?” Jeremy asked.
“Are you busy Sunday?”
“Nope. I'll come by around two?”
I wrote down my address for him and he left.
“Couldn't you have met somewhere?” Adam finally spoke up, seeming irritated.
“I guess, but this way we don't have to worry about any interruptions.”