Free Everything: A Singed Wings Novel by Erin Noelle

obviously thought I was a cheating asshole, but I hadn’t known of any possible way to explain everything to her right then. Not to mention, I was so fucking surprised to see her standing in the front of the classroom I couldn’t think straight. Stunned stupid, nothing made sense. I just couldn’t stop staring at her.
    She was even more beautiful than I remembered. How that was possible, I had no idea. Even mad as shit, refusing to look at me, she was so fucking gorgeous, and I couldn’t help but remember how soft and silky her skin was, how she squirmed under my touch, begged me to put my mouth on her.
    Naturally, Jayla had caught me staring at Belle, though she thought I was just being a typical-teenage guy and ogling some hot teacher. But after class, she’d decided to act like a spoiled-ass bitch and spouted off some shit about never realizing what’s right in front of me. The problem with that was I knew exactly what was in front of me, and I wasn’t fucking interested. It was what had been convenient, and if that made me a dickhead, then whatever. She’d known the game before she asked to play.
    I had bigger shit to deal with, like the whole Belle-was-now-my-teacher and Mr.-Carroll-was-trying-to-steal-my-girl hurdles. I’d be damned if Jayla was gonna cause me any more problems; she could find another dude to latch her greedy claws into.
    Pulling up in the gravel parking lot in front of the old-warehouse-turned-bar, I was relieved to see that neither my dad’s car nor bike was there. As much as I loved my old man, I really didn’t feel like talking to him right now. He could read me like a book. I wasn’t sure if it was father’s intuition or what, but he always knew when I was frustrated or agitated with something. And even though he usually offered up advice that was spot-on, I couldn’t tell him about Belle. Not yet. I needed some time to figure out what the fuck I was supposed to do.
    And I needed to talk to her.
    But first, playing some pool and darts with my friends would help chill me out. Then, once I was calm, I’d probably have a jam session on my guitar, where I could sort through my thoughts a bit more rationally. Mom always told us growing up, “Don’t make promises when you’re happy or decisions when you’re mad,” and I usually didn’t give into my impulses. Except when I’m around Belle.
     

     
    AN HOUR AND three games of pool later, my mood hadn’t improved at all. Billy and Scott hadn’t shut up about all the parties they’d been to over the holiday break, and though they were careful not to mention Ashlynn’s name, I knew by the stories they were telling and who was involved that she’d been right there in the middle of it all. Several times I had to bite my tongue not to go off on them, but I reminded myself it wasn’t their fault if my sister acted like an idiot. As long as neither of them ever touched her, our friendship would be just fine.
    While the two of them were in the middle of a game and Scott was droning on about some girl he’d supposedly hooked up with, I made a quick bathroom stop then went by the office to say hi to my uncle, but he was on a phone call, so I let him be. Zigzagging through the restaurant portion of the pub to get back to the pool tables, I rejoined my friends just in time to hear Scott ask Billy, “Dude, tell me you got an eyeful of the new Art History teacher today?”
    Immediately, my entire body tensed and the hair on the back of my neck stood up straight. I might not have said anything about the party talk, but there was no way in hell I could keep quiet through this.
    “Nah, man, I never saw her, but I heard from some of the guys she’s hot,” Billy replied, after knocking the five-ball in the corner pocket. He looked up and tipped his chin at me, a sly grin spread across his face. “But I know this assclown here has her for sixth period. What’d you think, Templeton? Was she what everyone made her out to be?”
    I shrugged,