My Wolf’s Bane(14)

John’s brows rose. “Gina and your boyfriend let you go?”

I shrugged, barely containing my joy.

Maya glanced over at them, then gave me a grin. “They seem just fine without you.”

A moment later, proving once again I was powerless against Zack’s pull, my line of vision adjusted a fraction to include him. And suddenly he was watching me. Damn. Caught ogling again.

Twisting around, I let my hair form a barrier between us. But I could feel the energy emanating from him, like a beam coming straight for me. Just as I snuck another peek at him from under my lashes, he rose, emptied his tray and left. I wondered where he was going when he still had most of lunch period left. Well, good. With him gone, I could enjoy my meal with my real friends.

After lunch, Daniel walked me to English Lit. Near the entrance of my class, he leaned in. He didn’t smell like his usual self. There was something extra. Perfume? It was all over him and reminded me of Gina.

“We’ve barely seen each other for days.” He moved closer. I automatically backed against the wall and he caged me in with his arms. “After school, want to go for coffee or something?”

No, I didn’t want to go anywhere with him. But I needed him to stick around so I could dump him.

“I’ll see you after school.” I ducked under his arm, making my getaway. Thankfully, Daniel and I didn’t have any classes together. We probably wouldn’t cross paths again until school was over.

Several desks away from Zack, I took my seat and swiveled toward the door, so Zack could only see my back. The bell rang.

“Everyone face the board, please. Autumn,” Mr. Farajian boomed.

Zack chuckled softly and my cheeks heated. Lifting my chin, I aimed it at the teacher and managed to get through the entire period without glancing at Zack. Keeping my mind on my studies was a different matter entirely.

There had to be someone I could talk to about my strange new abilities. Maya’s mom maybe? Except super-human powers were kind of a big deal and what if she talked to my parents?

When the bell rang again, I rose and moved around my desk. With my eyes anywhere but on Zack, I darted into the aisle. When he bumped into me, my step faltered and I lost my balance. His hands shot to my shoulders to steady me and I spun around.

His hands moved to my hips. “Falling for me again? It’s either that or I give you vertigo,” he said softly, a smile playing on his lips.

My gaze dropped to his mouth, then lower. Zack had a dimple in his chin. A very sexy dimple.

“I…” I what? The pressure of his thumb at my hip bone turned my brain into soup and I couldn’t squeak out even one syllable.

“Are you okay?” A frown marred his forehead.

“Yeah, sure.”

The lines over his brows disappeared and he shook his head as if wiping away cobwebs. “You should get going, don’t you think? Daniel’s probably waiting for you.” He smirked, then dropped his hands. “That one’s a keeper, huh?”

My brain engaged and I returned his smirk. “And you’re so much cooler?” I turned and headed to my next class.

Once I rounded the corner, I exhaled, sure I didn’t sense Zack close by. I couldn’t think about how I knew when he was near. Couldn’t think about a lot of things right now. I just needed to watch where I went and how fast I moved, especially where Zack was concerned.

After my last class, I stopped at my locker. As I rooted around for the books to take home, I felt thick arms wrap around my waist, lips nuzzling the back of my neck.

“You ready to go to Bill’s Bean and Brew? We’re due for some quality time together,” Daniel whispered in my ear.

No, I wasn’t ready for that at all. But it would give me the perfect opportunity to end things. That is, if we actually made it to the coffee shop and not some deserted road for quality time. But since I really wanted to have that talk with him, I’d take what I could get and fend him off.

“I’ll meet you outside.” I shoved my books back in the locker and faced him, fully expecting to dodge him when he swooped. Instead, he flashed me that same sweet smile he used to give me before we started dating. Too bad the sweetness wouldn’t last.

Daniel took off. I turned to follow when I noticed Zack sauntering toward me. Why couldn’t his locker be at the other end of the hallway?

Zack gave me a thumbs up, mouthing, “He’s a winner,” as he passed me.

I hated that Daniel was such a creep and Zack had judged me by that.

I needed to get this breakup on.

Sighing, I resumed the book search, loaded up my backpack and headed to Daniel’s car. Right outside the double doors, I saw Gina twisting her hair around her finger as she talked to Zack.