Free Playing with Fire by Emily Blake Page B

accident. This one would not be.
    â€œWhat’s so funny?”
    Zoey slapped her laptop shut and looked up, prepared to tell the person standing over her to bug off. Then she saw him. He was in college, for sure. Longish hair, vintage jeans, V-neck, easy smile. Totally hot.
    â€œAre you Zoey?” he asked without waiting for an answer to his first question. Zoey nodded dumbly and the guy sat down. “Jeremy.” He held out his hand, and Zoey shook it. Usually she felt dumb shaking hands. But with Jeremy it was okay. His hand was big and warm—not sweatyor anything, just warm. She felt a tingle make its way up her arm.
    â€œAre you the tutor?” Zoey asked. She was planning to say “my dad’s” tutor but didn’t. It wasn’t this guy’s fault her dad was so lame, right? Besides, his good looks were putting her in a forgiving mood.
    Jeremy smiled, revealing perfect teeth and dimples. “You got it,” he said. “So what do we need to work on?”
    How are you at revenge? Zoey thought. Aloud she said, “Nothing really. It’s not like I’m failing. My dad’s just afraid I’m going to get kicked out again.” She hoped that sounded kind of cool.
    â€œAgain?” Jeremy didn’t miss a trick.
    â€œFifth time,” Zoey confessed. She wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was the dimples.
    â€œHuh,” Jeremy said, giving Zoey a once-over, then leaning in to study her face. “Cutting class?”
    It was a good guess. She had been cutting, kind of. But that wasn’t the reason she’d been expelled…this time. For a split second she considered telling him the whole story. Then her sense returned. “Let’s just say I was the one who got burned and leave it at that.” Zoey hoped thatwould be the end of it. Luckily Jeremy was too smart to press further. Instead he offered to get her something to go with her coffee.
    â€œSo how is it being home?” Jeremy asked when he returned with a macchiato and a brownie to share. “How are you doing?”
    Zoey swallowed hard and shrugged. Jeremy was the first person who had asked her that since she’d arrived home. “Not great,” Zoey confessed, surprising herself. What was it about this guy that made her jaw flap? “I mean, my brother is acting weird. We used to be close but now we barely speak. My dad is running for Congress, so he’s even more uptight than usual. And the only person I hang out with is this girl, Alison Rose, who’s—”
    â€œWait. You mean Helen Rose’s daughter?” Jeremy’s already big eyes grew bigger. “Wow.” He pushed his thick, dark hair off his forehead and held a handful of it for a minute like she had just told him something amazing.
    â€œYeah, that Alison Rose.” Zoey sat back and looked at Jeremy in silence. He didn’t seem like the stupid starstruck type. What was his deal?
    â€œI, uh, my mom loves Helen Rose stuff,”Jeremy said quickly, dropping his hand. “You should see my dorm room—everything Helen. But you were saying…”
    â€œWell, Alison and I were supertight in fifth grade—”
    â€œSo, what’s she like?” Jeremy interrupted. He took a sip of his drink and wiped the steamed milk foam off his lip before leaning even closer.
    Zoey was not sure how much she wanted to reveal about Alison or why Jeremy wanted to know. Was he out for the Rose gossip? She had to reel it in a bit. “You know, she’s like, a…girl,” she said. She was about to say Alison was “normal,” but that was far from the truth. No one in Alison’s family was “normal.” Nor was Jeremy’s interest in Alison. “So how do you like Silver Spring? You just here for school?” Zoey changed the subject.
    Jeremy seemed to understand immediately. “Yeah. School.” He nodded. “And as for Silver Spring…it’s got