Lost in the Moment (A Savioe Family Novel) (27 page)

The past few weeks being with him have been the happiest of my life. He was always in my thoughts. I got butterflies in my stomach every time he walked in
to the room. I loved that I could make him smile and enjoy himself. Of course, the physical attraction was there but it paled in comparison to how attracted I was to his intellect and humor. How he was able to make me laugh so easily, feel like the most beautiful girl in the world and that he treated me like a woman.

I sucked in a deep breath at the realization.
Holy shit, I am in love with him.
I tossed him an alarmed look and swallowed hard. This was not supposed to happen. I thought I had steeled myself against that. My heart pounded in my chest as I started to give in to the rising panic.

H
e sent me a concerned glance, pulled over and stopped Grace a mile away from the school. He slung his arm over the steering wheel and turned to look at me those grey eyes burning with a mix of confusion and anxiety. “Talk to me, pet. What’s going on?”

I shook my head frantically at him.
“It’s nothing. Just.… I’m….” I looked into those eyes and lied. “I forgot my French homework at school yesterday.”

He brought his hand up to my cheek gently brushing his knuckles against it. Hi
s lips pulled together as he frowned. “You did that last night. It’s in your bag. Now tell me what’s really wrong?”

I shook my head at him and looked back out the window.
“It’s nothing.”

He turned off the car. “I’m not moving until you tell me what’
s wrong.”

“
Let it rest. I don’t want to talk about it.” Please take the hint and let me muddle through things on my own.

He held his hands up
, started Grace and signaled to get back on the road. When we were firmly back in traffic, he cleared his throat. “Do you want me to ring your brothers? Take you back home?”

“No.”

“Is this about Luke and Roxy?”

“Nope.”

He sighed running a hand through his hair. “Is this about Friday night?”

I snorted and shook my head at him keeping my gaze out the window. My leg started bouncing in my frustration. “No. It’s not. Though I am really glad one of us had enough sense to stop before we did something stupid. Gawd knows, I didn’t need my first time to be at a party
where I was so drunk I couldn’t think straight. It’s supposed to be with someone I love or at least care about.”

He sucked in a breath as his fingers tightened around the wheel. When we pulled into the parking lot and parked, he grabbed my arm before I could leave the car. “So you’re saying you don’t care about me?”

I gulped at the dead calm of his voice. “I never said that.”

“Yes, you did, pet.” He caught my gaze
. I saw the shimmer of hurt in those luminous depths. “What am I to you, Marie?”

“You’re my brother’s friend. That’s all you ever can be. All I will allow you to be.” I ducked my head
, squeezing my eyes shut. I needed to let him go for my own sake. I’ll just end up broken if I let this continue. I bit down on my cheek again to clear my senses and took a deep breath. “There is really no need for us to continue this charade. Roxy is allowed around Luke now and the football players are leaving me alone and out of the book.”

He released his grasp and sat back in shock. “What?”

“I’m done. I can’t continue this. Not after.… I’m sorry, Marcus.” I took his momentary shock as my perfect chance to escape. I pulled my bag tight over my shoulder and left the car. When I reached Roxy’s car I glanced back at him and brushed away a stray tear before continuing on my way to the commons.

             
                                          *****

Drez

What the hell just happened?
I sat back in shock and budding hurt. Did she really just call this off? My throat burned as it constricted. I slammed my palms against the dash in frustrated anger before jerking open the door to chase after her. This was far from over.

As I followed her wake, passing Roxy’s car and Beau’s truck, up the stairs to the bus loading area everyone around me seemed to sense my seething hostility and parted out of my way. If I wasn’t so intent on reaching her, I might
have laughed at how they acted.

How dare she d
o this to me!
Tell me that all I am is just a friend of her brothers to be looked over as a mere annoyance then acting as if she didn’t give a damn about me, when every action and response from her betrayed that. Her reaction in the car puzzled me though. What ever thought crossed her mind sent her into an almost full-blown panic attack.

I flung open the common doors causing them to bounce off the wall drawing everyone’s attention to me. I scanned the sea of startled faces. She was nowhere in sight. I stalked over to the Savioe’s normal table. Planting my hands on the end of it, I leaned forward and growled. “Where is Marie?”

Beau seemed taken aback before nodding to the restrooms. “She went to the bathroom. What’s going on?”

I clenched my jaw and pushed off the table, hissing out between my gritted teeth. “Ta.”

I spun around and marched over to the girl’s loo. I stormed inside. A group of freshman girls squealed in surprise. I went to each stall to see if she was in one completely ignoring the chatter behind me. Fuck, she’s not here.

The first bell rang adding to my frustration. Maybe I can catch her at her locker. I rushed out of there and made my way to the sophomore locker banks. As I rounded the corner, I spotted her putting
her books up and grabbing something out of the locker. My heart constricted. Before I could rationalize what I was going to say to her, I found myself beside her.

She looked up in shock. The whites of her eyes were slightly red indicating she had shed a few tears. My throat burned as my emotions took over. My eyes frantically searched her face for any clue as to w
hy she would do this. I lifted a shaky hand to her cheek. My voice was hoarse. “Marie?”

She closed her eyes, her bottom lip trembled as my palm settled on her face. I felt her jaw tense. “Marcus. Please go away.”

The breath sucked out of me as my heart stumbled. “Don’t.” I rested my forehead on hers. “Don’t do this.” I bent my head to brush my lips against hers.

She jerked away from me taking a step backward her arms firmly holding her books in front of her like a shield. “No. We’re done. I can’t….
Not anymore. Not now.” She shook her head at me and took off down the hall.

I stood the
re grasping air. My heart crumpled as a slow fog settled over me. This can’t be it. I ran a hand through my hair before I slammed her locker shut. “This is bollacks, Marie, and you fucking know it!” I punched her locker out of frustration leaving a dent from my now bruised knuckles.

“Mr. Dresden.” A voice sounded behind me.

Fuck. I looked over at the security guard and glared at him. He took a step back reaching for his belt and the pepper spray on it. “What?” I spat out.

“D-detention this afternoon for that little display.” His hand trembled as he reached for the white slips in his right breast pocket of his shirt. He quickly scribbled out the note and handed it to me.

I yanked it out of his hand, shoving it in my jeans pocket. I headed down the hall to my first period class, passing Scott, Hunter and a few of their teammates.

Hunter snickered low under his breath. “Guess she came to her senses after all.”

I stopped short sending him an angry glance. “What was that?”

Scott shook his head and held up his hands. “Nothing, brother. Just ignore him.”

Hunter took a step forward and gave me a sly grin. “I said, guess she came to her senses after all.”

He was nose to nose with me, puffing out his chest in an attempt at intimidation. All I saw was red. The bitter hostility of losing the only thing that I had cared about since my family passed came to a boil. I scantly narrowed my eyes at him
before I headbutted him with all the force my old mates had taught me. He staggered backward holding his nose. Blood gushed from under his clenched hand.

Bus pushed forward grabbing Hunter by the shoulders.
He looked over his at his teammates. “Are we going to let this asshole do that?”

“Bring it you balmy wanker.”
I growled at him as I braced myself for their attack.

Scott stepped in between us, his hands held up. “Hey. We need to chill out. We have a game Friday. Unless you want to get permanently benched, go ahead try to kick his ass. Jacob, take Hunter to the nurse get him patched up.
Payne, help me here.”

Scott and Payne grabbed hold of my arms and dragged me away from the scene into an
empty classroom. Scott looked out the small window in the door to keep an eye out.

Payne shook his head at me. “That was a stupid thing to do. He’s going to go crying to his dad now.
”

“I really couldn’t care less.” I muttered taking a seat on the edge of the desk.
My hand ached from hitting her locker. I glanced down at it and flexed to see if anything other than my heart was broken.

Scott turned around shaking his head. “Seriously, brother. There’s just so much we can do to keep you out of trouble.”

“Why bother?” I grumbled.

Payne looked over at Scott in exasperation before glancing back at me. His pale green eyes were serious. “Look, Drez. I’m going tell it to you straight. Beau asked us when you and Marie started dating to keep an eye out on you. Scott was supposed to keep Hunter entertained getting his attention off her and I was to make sure no one fucked with you.”

“Why would you agree to that?” I crossed my arms across my chest inadvertently flexing my biceps.

“We were hoping we’d be able to help Coach talk him into coming back to the team.” He said sitting on one of the desks.

Scott shrugged. “It worked. Beau starts Friday meaning Bus is now back on second string. Plus, we owe him. If we hadn’t done what we did he never would have left and none of that mess would have happened.”

“I assume you mean the Lacy and Teague thing?”
I asked watching them both nod their heads solemnly. I clenched my fist and let out a controlled breath. “Since I’m no longer with her, why continue?”

Scott’s look of disappointment and pity rocked me. Why the hell does he care? He cleared his throat. “Look, brother. We’ve come to think of you as another Savioe. Anything we’d do for Beau we’d do for you.
We’ve helped him even when he hasn’t asked for it.”

Payne nodded his head. “If you want we can find out why things…
. Well what happened between you two.”

I shook my head at them suddenly feeling a lump form in the back of my throat. “No thank you. She made it clear we’re over.”

“That’s bullshit!” Scott snorted. “You’re just going to give up? Not try to fight for her.”

“I thought you were English not French.” Payne joked.

I gave him a droll stare as the late bell rang. Should I fight for her? My heart roared yes. I closed my eyes tight pinching the bridge of my nose with my fingers. “See what you can find out then. I need to get going to class.”

Payne placed his hand on my should
er. “I’ll find out what I can.”

“We’ll walk with you so you don’t get another detention.” Scott opened the door.

                                                        *****

She skipped
having lunch with us and took a different route to her classes effectively cutting me out completely. I handed the teacher my slip for detention and sat down at an empty table by the doors. As soon as this was over, I planned to talk to her when I got home. Shit, how was this going to affect my living situation. If I couldn’t get back together with her, it would get very awkward there. I closed my eyes and rested my feet on the table.

“Did you two really split up?” Jess interrupted my thoughts placing her books on the table with a thunk.

I opened my eyes at her, removed my feet and leaned forward. “For now.”

“So it was her idea. Huh?
” She pulled out her mobile and started playing on it. “I take it you are not happy about that.”

I narrowed my eyes at the brassy redhead. “What do you think?”

“I think she’s lucky she split when she did. You could’ve fucked her world up.” She shrugged putting it back in her pocket.

“What the hell does that mean?”

“Look, people like us. Yeah, we don’t do relationships. We get what we want then leave. Marie is too good for something like that and she knows it.” She sat back sizing me up. “It’s not like you can’t replace her with someone else.”

My hand slapped the table causing her to jump. “Piss off, you slag. You know nothing about me. Marie is one of a kind. No one can replace her.”

She sat back, slung her arm over the back of her chair giving me a smug grin. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. You really do care about her. Otherwise you wouldn’t have reacted the way you did.”

“What?” I shook my head at the girl. How
does she know what I feel for Marie?