Lost in the Moment (A Savioe Family Novel) (8 page)

Charles shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. She wasn’t at her locker after class.”

Beau pulled out his
mobile and typed out a quick text. Jess spoke up when she took the seat beside Roxy. “She’s eating with Angie and them today.”

“Oh.” Roxy bit her lip
frowning. “How does she know them?”

Jess pulled out a stack of change from her pocket and started counting it. “They’re in her French class. She sent me a text to let me know that she’s going with them and that she might see us here.”

“I hope she’s careful. Angie is a bitch.” Roxy muttered resting her head on Luke’s shoulder.

Beau clapped me on the back and sat next to me. “I’ve been thinking about it. It’s
kinda cool that you did that for Marie this morning. Even though we both know you didn’t have to.”

“It’s not a problem.” I leaned against the table with my elbows.

“What’d you do?” Roxy asked tilting her head to the side.

“He gave her a ride to school, chèr.” Luke answered before placing their order.

Jess snickered under her breath. “Oh, I bet she loved that.”

“Jess! Shush!” Roxy chastised shoving the ginger’s arm.

“What? Oh yeah. Shit, I’m sorry.” Jess looked at the pile of change and then at the menu beside the table before placing her order.

“What are you two talking about?” Charles asked
putting down his graphic novel.

Jess looked at Roxy who shook her head no
before she turned back to Charles. “I cannot say. If you want to know ask your sister.”

Beau nudged me
and nodded over to the menu. “What do you want?”

“I’m good.” I seriously doubt I’d be able to eat anything today. My stomach wa
s still full from this morning. I looked around the Drive In that was just staring to fill up and spotted Marie walking to the table in the middle of the eating area. “There’s your sister.”

Beau l
ooked over at them and made a noise that sounded like a snort. I turned my attention back to her. She sat in between the two brunettes with a shy smile on her face. She had her legs crossed at the ankles and angled toward the side of the metal seat. Her fingers played with the hem of her skirt as she pulled it down. My lips turned down in a slight frown when a few guys joined them at the table.

“Who are they?” I asked Beau
, nodding to the newcomers.

His lip curled in a snarl. “Scott, Jackson, Payne and Jacob, all but Jackson are starters on the team.”

“Oh really.” I mumbled under my breath.

Jess looked over to us with recognition on her face. “Oooh, I’ve read about them! That Jackson is a freaky dude.”

Roxy nudged her again with a scowl on her face. “Jess!”

“What! They’re in the book. Here let me show you.” Jess reached into her
knapsack and pulled out a tattered composition book. She skimmed a few pages and held it out to me. “See right there. Jackson. He is currently in third place with nine hundred and fifty points. His last entry was four months ago, when he hooked up with Delaney B. from a town in Montgomery County. She was a college student who liked to have her hair pulled, use handcuffs and a spreader bar. Whatever that is.”

“How’d you get this?” I asked as I read over the list of his conquests. She grabbed it out of my hand before I flipped the page.

“I have my ways.” She put it back in her bag.

Beau sat to my left immobile. He cleared his throat and quietly asked her. “Jess,
just how detailed is that?”

She looked up at him
startled for a moment then turned redder than her hair. “Well, this one is tame in comparison to the actual spreadsheet and attachments I have on my computer at home. I get updates weekly from a certain source that includes everything from video footage to simple pictures, for each entry in here. Since I’m kinda ole’ school when it comes to things. I wrote everything down in this book. It’s a great insurance policy, especially if Bus tries anything else with Roxy. From what Marie said, because of a few names on his list, he can be brought up on statutory rape charges.”

Beau swallowed hard and clenched his
jaw. “Marie has read it?”

Jess frowned, her brows drawing together in a deep v. “I don’t think so.”

Beau ran a hand over his face. “So you know?”

She smirked at him. “Yup.”

“Does anyone else?” He hesitantly asked. She took a deep breath and shook her head no. He exhaled a sigh of relief. “Good.”

I glanced back over to Marie at the other table. She had he
r head ducked down as she brushed a piece of her hair behind her ear. Her cheeks turned pink as a blush settled over her cheeks. The blonde guy in a blue polo shirt leaned in toward her and whispered something in her ear that caused her to giggle and turn a shade redder.

I narrowed my eyes at him. He needed to move out of her personal space. I nudged the somber Beau. “Which one is the one next to your sister?”

He looked over to the table and grunted. “Jackson.”

“And you’re okay with him that close to her?” I asked incredulously.

“No I’m not. I just know that if I say anything to her about it she’ll do the exact opposite and get hurt.” He paid the waitress for his food.

I sat there in shock and looked at the other two Savioes. “What about you two? Aren’t you going to do something about it?”

Charles shook his head. “I’m with Beau on this one.”

Luke shrugged. “I’ll talk to her after school about it. I know if I did it now she’d get embarrassed.”

Roxy lifted her sculpted eyebrow at me. “It bothers me too. But I can’t go over there without starting more drama thanks to Angie.” She tapped her fingernail against her lips before she smiled. “You could always do it. That way she won’t feel embarrassed and those bitches won’t start something. Plus since everyone is leery of you anyway if they see you talking to her they just might leave her alone.”

I stood up and walked over to the table just as I heard Jess whisper to Roxy. “You know that might start another little rumor right?”

“Oh, that they’re an item? You think so? Hmm, they’ll definitely leave her alone if that happens.” Roxy whispered back.

I shook my head
at those two and continued my trek to the table. I wonder if that’s true. I know that people think I’m a big badass and I’ve heard some of the rumors about me that supposedly confirmed it, but I never thought anyone took them seriously. The ginger at the table spotted me first. Her eyes widened in shock and quickly nudged the brunette to her right. Hmm, I think I’ll test their little theory. With both of the girls at the table staring at me, I knelt down next to Marie’s ear making it look like I was nuzzling it, placed my hand on the table in front of her and whispered low enough for only Marie to hear. “Hello, pet. Why don’t you come over here and join us for a second. Jess has some information about your little blonde friend here that you should really hear.”

I heard her sharp intake of breath seconds before her head spun around to look at me
. Nose to nose with her, I had to stop myself from leaning in to taste her lips. “Come on, pet.”

She let out a breath and I caught a hint of mint chocolate on it. “Drez.”

“The one and only.” I got down on bended knee beside her and placed my arm around her waist. “Who are your friends, luv?”

She blushed hard and
stammered out. “Angie, Madison and Keegan.”

“A pleasure to meet you three. Do you mind if I take her away? It’ll only be for a few minutes.”
I turned toward Angie as I asked before looking back at Marie to wink at her. “Maybe longer if I’m lucky enough.”

“Go ahead.”
Angie managed to get out in between her sputtering.

I had Marie on her feet and heading over to our table before polo shirt even realized she was gone. When we got far enough away from them, she smacked my arm. “What the hell was that about?”

“What? I was just having a bit of fun with them. Well and testing out a little theory.” I slung my arm over her shoulders and whispered in her ear. “Does it bother you?”

“What theory? And kinda.” She breathed out in a soft voice that immediately made my balls clench in desire.

“That if those jock gits think you are with me they’ll leave you alone and out of that book of theirs.” I admitted as we got to the table.

Beau shook his head at me. “I didn’t even think about that
.”

“Wait what? What have I missed?” Marie asked stiffly.

I sat down at the table and pulled her down on my lap. In for a penny in for a pound, I might as well really try to sell it for that table. “See Mr. Polo Shirt is in that book with Bus. He is currently in third according to Jess and is looking for someone to put him over the top.”

Her face dropped a little. “
Hunter is in the book?”

Beau nodded. “Yeah. There are nine total that are participating in the book. Right, Jess?”

Jess sat there dumfounded as she stared at us. Roxy answered for her. “Yeah. Do you really think this will work, Beau?”

He looked over at us and scratched behind his ear. “Yeah. I think it
might.” He looked me directly in the eyes. “We need to talk later.”

“No problem.”

                            *****

After lunch right before Auto shop, Beau cornered me
in the hall. He grabbed my shirt and slammed me against the wall. My eyes widened in shock. “Whoa! What the fuck man!” I shouted and pushed him off me.

“This thing with Marie had better not end up with her hurt. I just found out from Luke that she already has a bit of a crush on you. This….” He waved his hand in front of him. “This scheme
or whatever we decide for it to be just might break her heart. If that happens, if by some chance you end up stomping it in the ground, I will kill you.”

He glared at me one last time before he walked down t
he hall and rounded the corner. What the fuck? If this was going to be that much of a big deal, we’ll just end it. Hell, I’m just doing this so his sister didn’t end up in some git’s point spread. There is no point in threatening anyone. I brushed off my shirt and walked into class, when the rest of his rant hit me. My eyes enlarged in surprise.
Marie has a crush on me.

             
                                          *****

Marie

I was sitting on Drez’s lap.
That was the only thought circling in my head since lunch. When we got back to school, Angie, Madison and Keegan kept questioning me about it.

“When did you two get together?”

“How long has it been going on?”

“Is he good in bed?”

I told them the only thing I could. That I had no idea and that I was just as clueless as they were. They seemed to buy that. Though the whole thought of possibly pretending to date Drez, just to keep me out of the book, was overwhelming. I mean I could see where it would help, but I could seriously get attached and things could go extremely bad. Getting my heart crushed was not on my to do list. My eyes enlarged in horror over that. Yeah, we need to set up some rules or something. If I even go through with it.

The final bell rang snapping me out of my stupor.
I picked up my books and shoved them in my bag. The other kids filtered out of the door as I stood there for a minute still trying to wrap my head around what was happening. I slung my bag over my shoulder and headed out to the locker banks to grab what I needed for homework.

“Marie!” Angie greeted me at my locker. “So we were talking it over and we want you to come to a sleepover Friday at my house. Please tell me you can go?”

“I think I should be able to make it. I have to check just to make sure though.” I leaned against my locker and bit my lip as I thought it over.

“Sweet! I’ll give you all the details tomorrow. Au revoir.” She tried to say but it came out like ‘Are reeve war.’

“Laters.” I watched her walk off and let out a big sigh. I opened my locker, put my books in and grabbed the stuff I needed to take home with me. I was going to talk to Beau about this. The more it ran through my mind the more aggravated I became. I cannot do this. Just as I closed my locker and put my bag over my shoulder, an arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me against a solid chest. I squealed and spun around in the arms that encased me.

Drez stood there keeping m
e trapped in his embrace with a shit-eating grin on his face. My heart still pumping from fear now doubled its rhythm from being so close to him. A faint tingling settled in my lower abdomen. I smacked his chest and grumbled at him. “Don’t do that. You scared the life out of me!”

He raised an eyebrow at me and pulled me tighter
as he leaned down to whisper in my ear. “I’m sorry, pet. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

His lips grazed my ear sending goosebumps rippling over my body.
I closed my eyes and rested my head against his chest biting my lip. This was not happening. I tried to suppress the sensations that swirled in me as I forced my breathing to return to normal. I placed my hands on his chest and looked up at him. He looked smug and incredibly delicious. I swallowed hard as I leaned up close to his ear. His heart pounded a bit erratically under my hand. I heard his breath catch as my breath teased the sensitive skin as I whispered. “Let go of me. I can’t do this.” I leaned back down and stared up at him.