Free Shift (The Disciples' Daughters #2) by Drew Elyse Page B

managed to get the counselor to put me in the same lunch period as her, but within the first month, Ash never actually went to the damn cafeteria.
    The first couple days, she said she had to change part of her schedule so she was going to her counselor, but wasn’t getting in because too many people were in there. It sucked, but I believed her. Then, it was meeting with a teacher about doing some independent study. Then, it was needing to be in the library. I told her I would go to the library with her, but she insisted she needed to work and I should hang out in the cafeteria and meet people. Yeah, because I’d rather meet people than be with her. God, she was so clueless sometimes.
    That day, I finally put my foot down. While I walked her to English, her last class before lunch, I stopped her.
    “Today, you’re coming to lunch and you’re sitting with me,” I told her.
    If she thought I missed the way she bit her lip, she was crazy. I knew her. I could read her nerves like a neon sign. “I really need to do more work in the library.”
    “Ash, school just started. How much work can you have?”
    “I just have a little more,” she kept trying.
    “Okay, we can go after school. Library’s open. We’ll stay until you’re done and then I’ll drive you home.” I was going to corner her if I had to. I didn’t know whether she was just uncomfortable around that many people because she was so shy or it was something more, but she needed to start talking.
    “My dad doesn’t know I’ll be staying.”
    “I’ll call him after school to let him know while you head to the library.”
    I watched her realize she wasn’t getting out of it. Then, in a resigned tone that prickled me, she said, “Okay.”
    I reached up to stroke her soft cheek, wishing I could kiss her like I wanted to.
    Soon.
    When the bell rang at the end of the period, I booked it over to her locker. I wasn’t about to let her sneak off once I finally got her to agree to come to lunch. When she looked my way from stashing her morning books, it was clear she knew what I was doing. Like I cared. Ash knew me as well as I knew her. I wasn’t trying to be sneaky. I threw two of my books into her locker even as she rolled her eyes.
    She shut her locker and without hesitation, I grabbed her hand and led us to the cafeteria. I felt Ash look my way when I held onto her hand through the halls. It wasn’t new for me to be touching her in whatever way I could, but I’d never had much of an opportunity at school. Eyes moved our way and I loved the attention. Ash was mine, even if she didn’t know it yet. I wanted that to be clear to everyone.
    When we made it into the lunchroom and through the line of shit food, I got a sense of unease at the way Ash inched into me. I carried a tray with our food on it and she seemed to be trying to disappear into my side. I led her through the room, hoping she’d adjust on her own. Ash hid herself a lot. She always had. I preferred to see if she would come out of her shell without me pushing the issue, and sometimes it worked, but not always. She was who she was. Her shyness was a part of her.
    I sat us at the end of the table I’d been at for the last couple weeks. Some of the guys I met in auto shop the first few days were there. A couple of the guys were jocks, so it was kind of a hub of activity.
    I got chin lifts and a couple greetings. I returned them, and said, “Guys, this is my girl, Ash.”
    The guys sent welcomes her way and she offered a shy smile. I smirked at her. She had no idea how appealing that smile was. They were all going to want her, but they were shit out of luck.
    We were eating and I was actually getting Ash to talk to me even though there were plenty of people she didn’t know nearby. She was telling me about a paper she had to write for English when a catty voice piped in next to us.
    “Well, isn’t this a surprise. Ashlynn with a table full of guys. You’re right at home, aren’t you?”
    I