The Romeo Club

C.C. cleared his throat and I caught his eye over Rex’s arm. ‘Don’t you dare.’ I mouthed when I realized he was ready to say something. He held his hands up and spun away from us.

“Trust me, there’s no other guy. You’re it,” I said, turning my attention back to Rex.

He grinned. “Well, if there was somebody trying to move in on my territory, I might have to kick their ass.”

But even I noticed his gaze drift to the new and improved Nerd Herd as if to warn them off.

Great, nothing like a little territory marking. Seriously, I wasn’t a piece of property or something. With that, he bent down and gave me a peck on the lips. One way or another, I had to handle things better. And I better go tell Mr. Braxon I’d joined the Science Club, just to be safe.

***

Kenadi passed the soccer ball to me as we raced toward the goal. I dribbled it, then took a shot from the back post. The ball sailed in.

“Woot, that’s my girl.” Kenadi pumped her fist, while I did a celebratory booty dance.

As we made our way back to the line to await our next turn, I told Kenadi about my run-in with Rex and also helping Trey talk to Portia.

“Speaking of Trey, I know I said it last night, but I think it needs repeating. You’re spending a lot of time with him. Not to mention, nearly every conversation we’ve had in the last week has revolved around him.”

My cheeks burned. I leaned down and pretended to pick mud out of my cleats. “He’s my friend. I want to help him out.”

“Right. And you bought him a shirt when you’re trying to save for your prom dress?”

“I—it was a cute shirt. Not to mention it was on sale. You know me and sales, I can’t pass up a good deal.” I stood straight and wiped my dirty fingers on my practice shorts.

“Okay, I’ll give you that. But I still think there’s more going on here than you’re letting on.”

“Denson, Green, get on the line, you’re next.” Coach blew her whistle.

We raced down the field once more. Kenadi was wrong. I mean, Trey’s cute. But he’d been one of my best friends since we were toddlers. No way would I jeopardize that. Not to mention Rex. Hot. Senior. Sex God of the entire school. Okay, I didn’t really know if he was a Sex God, because we hadn’t done it. But still. Who would give that up?

Chapter 10

Rex rolled the window down and cranked the music in his jeep. I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. Sunglasses rested on top of his head. He sang along with the country song, his forearms flexing as he gripped the steering wheel. When we came to a stop sign, he shifted his gaze to mine.

“What are you looking at?” He smiled.

I chuckled. “The scenery.”

“Oh, so now I’m just a piece of scenery.” He reached over and tickled my side.

With a shriek, I attempted to move closer to my door. “No. You’ll make me pee my pants.”

A car behind us honked, urging Rex to go. Once again, he clutched a hold of the wheel. “You’re so lucky I’m driving right now.”

Ten minutes later, we parked in my driveway and Rex turned off the vehicle.

“Thanks for the ride home. You know, I probably owe you like a million dollars in gas money by now.” I hefted up my soccer bag with my gear in it.

He caught my arm. “You don’t owe me anything. You’re my girl. Besides, I like driving you home.”

“I know. I just feel bad because I’m kind of out of the way.”

“You’re never out of my way.” He inched closer, cupping my chin in his hand. “So, I thought maybe I could come in for a while and hang out with you.”

“Actually, I’ve gotta shower then work on that project with the Nerd Herd.”

His face fell and he sat back in his seat. Crap. I was the worst girlfriend ever. Problem was, he couldn’t find out about TRC. Rex might be a good boyfriend, but he wasn’t exactly the nicest person when it came to other people outside of our crowd.

“I guess I’ll see you around then.”

As I sat there, the guilt sank in. We’d barely spent any time together in the last week or two. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt his feelings. “You know what, never mind. I’ll just tell the guys we can work on it later.”

We climbed from the vehicle and he snagged me around the waist then dumped me over his shoulder like a sack of basketballs. “I knew you’d see it my way.”

I swatted his back. “Only because you gave me puppy dog eyes. You know I can’t resist them.”

When we got inside, he set me down. “I think the game’s on. We might be able to catch the last couple innings.”

“Sounds good. You can go turn it on, while I run down and let the guys know we’ll be starting our stuff later tonight.”

His lips brushed my cheek. The scent of his cologne intoxicated me. “If you want, I can help you. I know I’m not in the Science Club, but I’m sure I could do something useful.”

“No. It’s fine. Really. I’ll be back in two seconds.”

The Nerd Herd glanced up when I barged into the family. “About time,” C.C. said. “We’ve been here for twenty minutes already.”

“Sorry. Um—Rex kind of came home with me. I might need a little bit longer.” I chewed my bottom lip.

“How long are we talking?” Kevin rubbed his face.