Free Into the Deep 01 by Samantha Young

at his locker. I’d walked right by him with barely a nod.
    I was starting to worry the assholery of Brett Thomas and his goons was getting to Jake. They still hadn’t let up, and it wasn’t just about me. Jake’s dad, Logan, had caused some controversy opening up his law firm and poaching clients from Ed Brackett—Brett’s uncle. Ed was a fairly quiet and reserved guy, the complete opposite of his brother-in-law, so any difficulties Jake’s dad was having originated with Trenton Thomas. Rumor had it he was making “idle threats” to anyone who was thinking about taking their business from Ed to Logan Caplin.
    Most of the time I loved Lanton, but sometimes I really hated living in such a small town.
    I felt bad for Jake’s dad and I hated that Brett was being such a pain in Jake’s ass, but that didn’t excuse him from befuddling the hell out of me, so when Jake winked at me, I raised one very unimpressed eyebrow.
    “Charlotte?” Mrs. Tate’s dry tone brought my gaze to her. She looked pointedly at Jake and then back to me. “Any thoughts?”
    How about … you’ve known me my whole life so why do you never call me Charley?
    “Well?”
    I sighed and leaned back in my chair. “Honestly, I found the whole thing a little angst-ridden for my liking.”
    My classmates tittered and Mrs. Tate frowned. “You found Jane Austen angst-ridden ?”
    Apparently Tate thought I was wrong. Oh, well. “There are a lot of misunderstandings that could’ve been cleared up if they’d just talked to one another. The whole thing with Edward and Elinor was exhausting. If he’d just admitted he loved her and broke off his stupid secret engagement to whatshername, Elinor wouldn’t have had to go through all the emotional crap she went through. I mean, she’s very gracious and all, but she spent a good part of that novel pining for a man and she didn’t even know if he felt the same way about her. Edward was a nice guy, but he needed a swift kick to the behind.”
    Mrs. Tate crossed her arms, unimpressed. “Charlotte, we’re talking about an entirely different time period, culture, and class system. I think the situation is a lot more complicated than that.”
    Okay, so maybe I was projecting.
    The bell rang before I could respond and chairs immediately scraped back as the students hurried to get the hell out.
    I was stuffing my books in my bag when a shadow fell over my desk. Glancing up sharply, my eyes met Jake’s determined gaze. “What is it?” I frowned, recognizing mischief there. “What are you doing?”
    “Clearing up an obvious misunderstanding.”
    “What are—”
    I didn’t even get the rest of the question out before Jake pulled me up out of my seat, wrapped a tight hand around my nape, and crushed my mouth beneath his.
    Shock soon gave way to sheer delight as his talented mouth moved over mine. I sighed and his tongue slipped past my lips and tangled gently with mine. My fingers curled around his T-shirt as the taste and smell of him overwhelmed me. My skin was hot from the deep, wet kiss, and my body screamed “wow!”
    Who knew a kiss could be like that?
    The whooping and whistling finally wrenched me out of my fog and I remembered with burning cheeks that there were still kids in the classroom. I pushed gently against Jake and he released me, our faces close as we fought to catch our breath. He squeezed my neck again and grinned at me. “Epic.”
    I laughed, embarrassed but thrilled. He didn’t need to know that though. “Cheesy.”
    “Epic.”
    “Okay, that’s enough.” Mrs. Tate came into my eyeline and I flushed harder. “Jake, let Charley go.”
    I blinked at her use of my nickname but as Jake moved away, I saw that he had caused a miracle. Mrs. Tate was fighting a smile. She thought he was charming.
    With no more show, the students slowly filtered out of the class. Jake pulled on his backpack and held out a hand to me, a cocky smile wide across his face. “Coming?”
    I took his