Free Laney by Joann I. Martin Sowles Page A

Sexy, Ripe, and Tempting. Ugh! There I go again. I squeezed my eyes shut, focusing on shutting up my inner perv.

    “I really don’t know much about cars, but I love the classics,” he said and it helped me silence the pervert living in my head.

    “What do you mean by ‘classic?’ This car looks brand new.”

    “No, not this one; it’s a remake. My first car was ‘74 Challenger. I only had it a couple of years. When they came out with the new ones, I had to have one.” He was rubbing the steering wheel affectionately.

    A couple of years? He didn’t look like he was even old enough to be driving that long. “How old are you?” I asked skeptically.

    “Twenty-two. Why? Is that too old for you?” he said playfully, flashing me his amazing half-smile.

    I smiled back, feeling warmth starting to sting my cheeks again. I tore my eyes away from him and stared out the window. Hell no, he wasn’t too old for me!

    “How old are you?” His voice was still playful, full of humor now.

    I bit my bottom lip. I didn’t want him to think I was a baby or that I was too young for him. “I’ll be nineteen next month.”

    “I see,” he responded, still playfully.

    “Too young for you?” I asked, trying to make it sound like I was joking.

    “Nope, just a number.” I glanced at him and his smile was lingering.

    Sweet!

    Class was the same as before, my attention wandering away from the lecture and inadvertently focusing on Oliver. Astronomy held my attention a little more than the rest; but, in English, I had no clue what was going on. I was sure Kiera could catch me up later.

    I received a text from Kiera. Her next class was cancelled, so she would be meeting me by the tree. Man! Now I had to share my alone time with Oliver with her.

    Oliver and I walked over to our tree. I giggled to myself at the thought of “our tree” and he looked at me quizzically. Had I giggled out loud?

    We were sitting there quietly watching the squirrels run by, leaning against the tree, just close enough that my body was getting little waves of excitement running through it. I was munching on my grapes—grapes seemed safe; nothing got stuck in your teeth with grapes—and Oliver was sipping on his water bottle when Kiera showed up. She plopped down facing us and started jabbering immediately about the coming events of that night. I had been trying not to think about it because, when I did, I got a knot in my stomach and I had the strangest feeling running through me that I assumed was nerves. Then she brought up Ashton—Jackass Ashton—and I groaned.

    “You guys don’t like him?” Oliver asked. Perceptive boy, this one.

    “He’s really arrogant and, honestly, not the brightest,” I offered.

    “He has a thing for Laney.” Kiera seemed to be laying it all out there. I gave her the dirtiest look I could manage. She cringed away a little and gave me an “I’m sorry” smile. Oliver, on the other hand, sat up board-straight and was as still as a statue. Very odd .

    I shot Kiera another dirty look, but she was focused, eyes wide, on silent Statue Boy next to me. I followed her stare. Blood was dribbling out the corner of his mouth.

    “Oliver, you’re bleeding!” I exclaimed. I was rather surprised that he hadn’t noticed. “Does your water bottle have a sharp edge?” I joked, trying to be lighthearted. I didn’t think it was working. He was still totally motionless.

    “No, it’s my teeth,” he said almost absently. He quickly returned back to himself—well, almost. His tone seemed a little off. “I bit my tongue,” he said, wiping the blood off with the back of his hand and onto his jeans. “Did I get it?” I wanted to lick it off him. Holy crap! Where the hell did that come from? NASTY!

    “Yes,” I responded, still disgusted with myself. His tone was really off. It was almost frightening, like when your parent—well, aunt, in my case—was mad at something you had done and you were just waiting for