“Ryder?” I looked up at him and was about to ask through my erratic breathing when he caught me off guard and captured my face between his hands pressing his lips to mine. I froze for a second, not knowing what to do. Why was he kissing me? Was I supposed to kiss him back? Of course I was. I was his fake girlfriend, and I should act like it. I moulded my lips to his and moved them in sync. I could feel his smile as I slowly relaxed into him and the kiss, my breathing suddenly evening out.
Ryder’s hands travelled down my sides and came to rest on my hips. He pushed me back against the car. I began to panic that people could see me, so I quickly wrapped my arms around his neck to keep my face hidden a bit longer.
Ryder’s tongue traced along my lips slowly, making me gasp in surprise, allowing him in. Suddenly it dawned on me that I was kissing Ryder Jones. That was the one thing the entire female population—and some of the male—of this school dreamed about.
Ryder’s lips pressed harder against mine. His tongue slowly began exploring my mouth, and I’m sure I heard him groan. All thoughts and sounds of the crowd surrounding us were lost. Oh my God, I was kissing Ryder freaking Jones.
His fingertips traced a line from my hips around my lower back and then back across my stomach, leaving a burning trail in their wake. My heartbeat picked up, and I was sure he could feel it. Who knew kissing could feel like this? I tried not to think about how many other girls had felt his lips against theirs or his hands across their skin. If I thought about that, I would freak out again. We pulled apart when we heard the bell signal the beginning of class. Wow!
“Whoa!” Ryder smirked at me and licked his lips. “That was…”
“Terrible? I’m sorry. You caught me off guard,” I apologised and put my head down again, too embarrassed to look in his eyes knowing I was a terrible kisser.
“No. I was gonna say that was hot. Feel free to kiss me like that whenever you want. I can’t wait to get you into bed.” He chuckled at my obvious discomfort, my face heating up again. I slapped his chest, making him laugh harder.
“You’re a perv. Why did you kiss me anyway? Some warning would have been nice.” I brought my hands back down to my sides, and he leant against the car, blocking me from the view of a few students who were dragging behind.
“I’m your boyfriend. I have the right to kiss you whenever I want. And they were walking toward us. Just wait ’til they realise it was you I had pressed up against my car.” He laughed again.
The final bell sounded. Ryder looked around to see if the coast was clear.
“Let’s roll,” he said, grabbing my hand and dragging me toward the doors.
Chapter Seven
“We are going to be so late. I’ve never been late before,” I told him as we hurried down the corridor toward our homeroom, our feet pounding on the beige tiles. Honestly, what were the chances we would all get the same homeroom? I just hoped that I had no other classes with them.
“Better late than never. Come on. Run!” he said, pulling my hand harder. I stumbled along after him, laughing at nothing. I think my nerves had finally got the best of me. I was losing my mind. Ryder pulled me through a door and quickly came to a stop, which I was not expecting. I ran straight into his back, making him chuckle and me laugh even more.
I only stopped laughing because I heard someone clear their throat. We had just burst into a class full of students who were now staring at us. I squeezed the hand Ryder currently had wrapped around my own and reached up to grab his arm with my free hand for support. Eeeek! Everyone was looking and whispering.
“Mister Jones!” the teacher called out in a stern voice. I pressed closer to Ryder. “Is there a reason why you and Miss Mitchell are late and causing such a disruption?” He knew who I was straight away, even with new hair and sunglasses covering my face. The entire classroom turned to look at us. So that was Ryder’s big entrance—gaining everyone’s attention. No more hiding I guess.
“Ah, sorry, sir. Couldn’t keep my hands off my girl. I mean, look at her.” Smug bastard. He dragged me out from behind his back and threw his arm around my neck, pulling me close and pressing a kiss to the side of my head. There were a few murmurs of “hot” and “damn” and other stuff I couldn’t make out. I could feel my cheeks getting warm, and I wanted nothing more than to press myself into Ryder’s back again and hide. I thought I would die from embarrassment.
“Well, in future, I’d appreciate it if you could keep your hands to yourselves during school hours. Sit down, now!” Mr. Davis pointed to an empty table.
I clutched at the front of Ryder’s short-sleeved plaid shirt, which, by the way, had never looked better on anyone, especially when paired with his skinny jeans. When I looked up at him, too afraid to look at anyone else, I was expecting him to lead us over to the table Mr. Davis had told us to sit at, but instead, he directed us to a table directly in front of them.
I didn’t want to see anyone’s reactions, and I knew they were still staring, so I began fidgeting and focusing on the buttons of his shirt, not looking at anyone. A boy was sitting there already, but with one look from Ryder, he switched tables.
I reluctantly took a seat next to Ryder, who immediately threw his arm back around my neck and pulled me close so he could whisper in my ear.
“Don’t look so damn nervous. Relax. Hold my hand and let the fun begin,” he said quietly so no one could hear. I was a little worried about his idea of fun, but still I reached up to his hand hanging over my shoulder dangerously close to my chest and interlaced our fingers.
Ryder started absentmindedly tracing patterns on my leg with his other hand while the teacher called the attendance roll. I focused on the movements of his fingers so I could block out the whispers surrounding us. We were certainly going to be the most popular subject for the day.
I could feel Chace and Christina’s glares from behind us almost burning a hole into our backs.
The bell rang, and Ryder jumped out of his seat. Everyone seemed to be watching and waiting to see what he or we would do next.
“Come on, B. I’ll walk you to class. It’s on my way.” He smirked and held out his hand for me to take. I heard someone behind me gasp and someone else curse as I tried not to cringe at my nickname. It was them.