Free Heartbreaker Hanson by Melanie Marks

And interested. So I searched and
searched—for nothing. But then—only moments later I heard him
whisper huskily in my ear, “If you don’t like being with them, don’t be with
them.”
    I
turned back to him and tried to act unruffled—poised, even. And like I
didn’t have a clue who he was talking about. I lifted an eyebrow, “Who?”
    “The
quarterback you have a crush on—and his girlfriend that is supposedly
your friend.”
    Whoa.
    How
did he know that stuff?
    I
gulped.
    The
dude knew me—somehow.
    I
mean, somehow Laurie—my “friend”—thought I was crushing on Ethan,
but this guy—this total heartbreaker that stomped on girls’ hearts
without even noticing—somehow he noticed this—me. My life.
    My
lips parted slightly. Then I gushed out (inanely), “Just stay out of my life,
Heartbreaker.”
    Rider
raised his eyebrows. Then he choked on a little laugh, “Heartbreaker?!”
    I
was ready to growl out something nasty. Just because he had me so flustered …
and also because he hurt me so bad—yeeears ago. And hadn’t talked to me
since. Well, until I got rid of my glasses and grieving “frump.” Suddenly, now
he bothered to walk clear across the hallway and shock my world.
    Yeah,
it pissed me off—especially because it had my heart pounding so hard. I
mean, what the—??
    I
opened my mouth to say something else as equally stupid as my “heartbreaker”
comment no doubt, but just then Ethan (Band-boy) was at my elbow.
    “Can
I walk you to class, Brooke?” he offered with a teasing smile, like he knew he
could—because he thought I had a “thing” for him too.
    Apparently
everyone thought that—except Rider. Apparently.
    ‘Cause
Rider just stared into my eyes and smirked slightly—like he knew the
whole, entire complicated truth.
    Then
he murmured around a small grin, “Who exactly is the heartbreaker?”

 
 
 
 
    CHAPTER 14

 
 
    In
the end I caved about going to Laurie’s birthday party. I decided it would be
easier to leave the party early claiming a splitting headache, than ditch the
whole thing altogether. I mean, it was her birthday ,
and she was my friend. Well, pretty much.
    My
brother gave me and some of his friends a ride to the party. He had gone over
earlier to set up for his band. When we got to Laurie’s the party was already
going strong. I found some of my semi-friends and started talking with them,
avoiding the birthday girl as long as possible.
    “You
made it!” Laurie snuck up on me from behind.
    Drew,
always the devoted boyfriend, stood beside her. They made the most beautiful
couple—Laurie and Drew—and I decided I hated them both very much.
Yes, a headache was not going to be hard to claim.
    “Why
were you guys so late?” Laurie sulked.
    Drew’s
eyes sparked. He looked beyond interested to hear my answer, but said nothing.
    ‘Are you still thinking about me a lot?’ I wanted to ask him, right here in front
of Laurie, while she was holding his hand and looking so complacent.
    But
I just shrugged, answering Laurie’s question. Because I’m not really a witch. I
just fantasize about it sometimes.
    I
answered with a shrug, “Nick had some things he had to do.”
    Actually,
Nick didn’t like Laurie. She got on his nerves, the way she would pout when she
didn’t get her way. He made fun of her a lot. In fact, he only agreed to play
at the party as a favor to Drew, and he was going to be leaving early to close
for some other party. We came late simply because Nick didn’t want to come
earlier.
    I
quickly changed the subject. “You look hot, Birthday Girl.” I gave her a tight hug.
    She
really did look beautiful, not that she didn’t always. She just looked
especially radiant tonight. Drew must
have given her quite a present before the party , I decided dryly. Though I
knew probably it was just that he’d given her his undivided attention all day.
I noticed that from afar, and wondered if that was his actual present to
her—his devoted