Free Deadly Crush (Deadly Trilogy, Book 1) by Ashley Stoyanoff

of empty cars with
only a few stragglers rushing into the school.
    “We need your car back,” Marcy said, as we
both began to sprint across the parking lot.
    The hallways were packed with students
rushing to their lockers, or darting into homerooms.   Marcy and I quickly parted, both mumbling ‘ See you ,’ before taking off to our
lockers.
    Dominic’s locker was only a few down from
mine, and I heard his laughter even before I rounded the corner and he came
into view.   He was leaning against the
wall of metal, with Aidan and they were laughing.   Laughing!
    I was stunned, gawking at them.   Aidan was the first to notice me, and he
smiled and winked at me.   The way he
looked at me was as if we shared a secret.   And darn it, but those pesky butterflies started to wake up in my
stomach.   What was it about this guy that
made my nerves all jumpy?   He was cute,
he had helped me out, but really, this was a bit ridiculous.   I wasn’t, and would not become, one of those
boy crazy girls just because a boy winked at me, even if he did have a
knee-melting smile.
    Aidan hadn’t shaved.   That was the very first thing I noticed after
getting over the shock of seeing him acting all buddy-buddy with Dominic.   He was in dark blue jeans and a deep green
hoodie that almost looked black.   His
hair was messy, not in a messy style, but just messy, flipping up at the
sides.   Everything about him, the way he
held himself, the way he dressed, said that he didn’t care what people
thought.   And that alone made him, well,
it made him seriously attractive.   I
loved confidence, and he emitted it like a tidal wave.
    I snapped my mouth shut, realizing that my
jaw had started to drop, and steeled myself, letting the thick doors within me
slam shut, sealing off my emotions.   It
was something my father had taught me.   ‘ Just imagine big doors, honey,’ he had
said.   ‘ And when you want to hide, just pull them closed.’
    It worked for about two seconds.
    All the doors were sealed tight.   I took a deep breath, gripped my travel mug a
bit tighter, and I started down the hallway again toward my locker, focusing on
my footfalls instead of staring at them.   I could figure out why they were suddenly friends later.
    I focused on walking, counting the tiles as
I went.   Anything for a
distraction.   I didn’t get
far.   A pair of bright red heels came
into my line of vision and I looked up.   Erika.   The black leggings and a
black, frilly empire cut shirt made her look extra-thin.   Her pouty lips were painted to match her
shoes, which, personally, I thought seemed like way too much effort for school,
and her jet-black hair fell straight over her shoulders.
    “I’m only going to tell you this once,”
Erika said, drumming her fingernails on her hips.   “Stay away from them.”
    My eyebrows lifted so high it felt as if
they were in the middle of my forehead.   I didn’t have to ask who she was talking about.   It was clear by the way she stood in front of
Dominic and Aidan, as if she was trying to block them from my view.   “And if I don’t?” I asked, with a strangled
laugh.   I don’t know what made me say it,
but it came out before I could stop it.
    She made a tsk sound and wagged her finger from side to side.   “It’s really not up for debate, Jade.   I know you’ve been sneaking around, trying to
get Dom’s attention.   And I saw you
checking out Aidan.   They’re mine.   Both of them.”
    Erika held my stare and she looked …
threatened, as if I was standing in her way and all she had to do was knock me
over and the prize would be hers.   And
that was confusing as all hell.   Out of
the corner of my eye, I noticed that Aidan was watching me intently with a half
smirk and curious eyes, and Dominic, well, Dominic looked as if he was about to
burst out laughing.   I couldn’t say if it
was at me, or at Erika.   His eyes were
darting too quickly between us to really tell.
    I