The Flirting Games (The Flirting Series - Young Adult) (8 page)

“Granted,” he whispered, as he bent
his head and brushed his lips across hers. Then he lifted his head, giving her
a chance to escape if she wanted.

She didn’t want to. She didn’t move;
just continued to look at him, waiting.

“God, Ellie,” he groaned. “You have
no idea what you do to me.” He put his arms around her and bent his head again.
She opened her mouth and he kissed her deeply.

She felt like she had been waiting
forever for his kiss. All those weeks of flirting and games, all leading to
this one moment.

Her heart beat wildly, her brain
turned to mush and every bone in her body was yearning to get even closer to
him.

His hands snaked under her jumper
and explored the bare flesh it found there. She murmured in pleasure and her
own hands sought out the belt of his jeans. She began to tug it open, still
kissing him passionately. She wanted, needed, more. Abruptly Nate pushed away
from her.

“No, love,” he said gently. “Not
like this; not for you and me.”

Ellie was completely lost. Dazed by
lust and confused by emotion. Didn’t he want her? Wasn’t he trying to seduce
her? Had he just called her his love?

Nate leaned against the wall and did
his jeans and belt back up. Then he put one finger under her chin, tilting her
head up to look him in the eye.

“You and me, we’re going to take it
slow, okay?” he said firmly. She nodded.

“But you’re my girl from now on. No
dating other boys, got it?”

He did want her! Ellie felt giddy
with relief and flushed with confidence.

“I’ll think about it,” she said
cheekily.

He growled from deep in his chest as
he pinned her back against the wall.

“You wretch. You’ve been leading me
a merry dance for weeks. You are the most annoying, disrespectful, irritating
little minx, but lord help me I love every maddening inch of you!”

“You love me?” She was shocked.

“Yes I do! And I’ll pummel to bits
any other man you touch, is that clear Miss Parkhurst?”

Her eyes filled with happiness. She
would have plenty of time later to enjoy testing that statement as well as his
patience levels, but first she had to kiss him a whole lot more.

Telling him she loved him back could
wait a little while too, she giggled to herself. And as her arms snaked back
around his neck, Ellie and Nate locked together in a kiss that said more than
any words.

It was the first day of the
Christmas Holidays and the front drive was full of cars as parents arrived to
pick up their children.

Flora stepped out of the front door
and then quickly darted behind a pillar as she noticed Gabriel standing over to
her left talking on his phone. She crept round the pillar to get a bit closer
and overhear what he was saying.

“But Vanessa, we only had three days
together as it was.” He spoke crossly. “I’m flying out to you in Paris and it
was supposed to be just the two of us for New Year’s Eve. In the most romantic
city in the world and now you want us to go to a party with your friends?” He
paused for a few moments, listening. “Yes, actually, I do mind. So in fact I’m
coming all the way there for just one proper night together?” He paused again.
“No, I do not want you to pay for my flights!” He sounded outraged.

He started to pace away from the
door and, though Flora longed to hear more, she knew he would see her if she
tried to follow. Instead she hugged herself with the thought that it sounded as
though Gabriel and Vanessa were having problems. She hoped it didn’t make her a
bad person, but how was she ever going to get Gabriel unless he broke up with
his girlfriend?

Flora looked around for Ellie. She
would love her feedback on what she had heard. Ellie had been trying to help
her get noticed by Gabriel, but so far there hadn’t been much opportunity. She
finally spotted Ellie in the courtyard and rolled her eyes. Nate Naverly was
wrapped around her friend as usual and they were totally oblivious to the rest
of the world. It seemed to Flora like Ellie and Nate had spent most of the last
month kissing non-stop. She decided to leave them to set the world on fire by themselves;
after all, Nate was supposed to be leaving at three and her own mother wasn’t
due to collect her until five.

Her mom and Travis were catching a
taxi from the airport to get her and then they were going straight back there
and getting a plane to Bordeaux, where they were all going to stay in a massive
chateau with some friends of Travis for Christmas. She couldn’t wait to see her
mom again and tell her all about Compass Court.

Though she was already looking
forward to coming back after the Christmas break and starting her campaign to
become the next girlfriend of the hottest guy in the whole school.

***

Jack Parkhurst parked his car at the
front of the school and pulled his suitcase off the back seat. It felt weird to
be coming back to Compass Court to stay for two weeks over the Christmas
holidays.

Rose and Toby’s parents were working
undercover somewhere in Brazil and so his cousins had been going to come to
their house over the holidays, but his own dad was also apparently unable to
leave work except on Christmas Day. As a Captain in the Army he was preparing
some soldiers who were reporting to The Middle East just after New Year and now
it seemed that he was going over there with them for their first month.

Jack’s mother had of course said she
didn’t mind having all five children to stay over the holidays on her own and
that she would lay on Christmas, but it was Jack who put his foot down. He knew
that she wouldn’t want to be apart from his dad for his last two weeks in this
country.

Compass Court allowed pupils to stay
over the holidays. It was generally for the pupils who had come to the school
from other countries and couldn’t always go back and forth, but people stayed
for a variety of reasons. Usually other family members had to put up in the
large hotel in Oakworth Village down the road, but the school had made an
exception for Jack as an ex-pupil.

Though his mother had never said
anything, Jack knew she was scared and worried about his father going back to
The Middle East, so he had informed her that he had discussed it with the
others and they were all happy to stay at school over the holidays and that he
would be staying there too, but that he expected both her and their father to
join them at the school for Christmas Dinner.

His mother was such a gentle person
that she had been quite overwhelmed by Jack taking charge and had given in
after only a small fight. Jack was sure that he and Alex, Ellie, Rose and Toby
would have a great time wherever they were.

He stopped to watch the ebb and flow
of parents; it was a scene that never really changed. There was young Jasper
Clements, looking embarrassed as his mother openly cried and hugged him. Next
along was Brenner climbing in to the mud-spattered ancient Vauxhall Corsa,
looking moody and embarrassed for a different reason. His father was chatting
up some of the mothers and wearing a dirty torn jacket held together with black
masking tape. You would never guess to look at him that he was actually Lord
Wentworth and owned half of Gloucestershire.

Then his eyes stopped to rest on the
shiny blonde hair of Sophie Jones. She seemed lit up by the sunshine, wearing a
short dress that showed far too much leg as usual and her large blue eyes were
looking straight at him. He found his feet starting in her direction.

Sophie looked skittish, like she
might bolt off at any moment. Jack walked over slowly; half of him wanted her
to disappear in the other direction, save him from having to make this effort.
He felt awkward. It wasn’t a feeling he was used to. He told himself that he
needed to apologize again. That he needed to get back on friendly terms with
her because she was a close friend of Rose. He was also painfully aware that he
really should have called her after what happened between them. He wasn’t the
type to shy away from something that needed doing, but in truth he had no idea
how to handle Sophie.

He found her to be a bundle of
contradiction. She was loud and confident in a group, yet quiet and sensitive
on her own with him. She came across as cynical and experienced in the ways of
the world, but he had learned first hand that she was as innocent and naïve as
a baby bird learning to fly. She merrily jumped without looking first, then
seemed terrified by the drop.

“Hi.” He stopped in front of her.

“Hello, Jack. How nice to see you.”
She sounded over polite and strained, yet her eyes were full of hope. He felt
his stomach dip. She still had feelings for him. How did he tell her to move
on? Did he even really want her to? He told himself that he a selfish pig
because deep down he wanted her to wait for him. To stay just as she was for a
few years until maybe one day… No, he wanted her to stop thinking about him and
have a great time. But perhaps she could do it in a longer skirt so that other
guys would stop looking at her legs!

“Sophie…” He had no idea what to
say. “I think I should apologize again.”

Her eyes flashed with a hint of
anger, but she didn’t say anything. He ran his hand through his hair.

“I shouldn’t have taken advantage of
you.”

“You didn’t. I mean I wanted you
to.” She didn’t voice the thought that she still wanted him to.

She had sensed him before she had
even seen him. It was like a radar inside her when he was near. She had known
he would be here today, but despite lying awake half the night coming up with
clever things to say, now that he was here she could barely stop herself from
throwing her arms around him and begging him to hold her once again.

“Are you seeing anyone?” Jack
mentally slapped himself. Why on earth had he asked that?

She shook her head. “Are you?”

“Umm, yeah, two or three girls at
Uni. Nothing serious, you know. I don’t want a steady girlfriend.” There, he’d
said it. So why did he feel like it was the wrong thing?

“Do you still have my number?”
Sophie couldn’t believe she had so little pride as to ask, but she had wondered
every day for six long months.

“Yes.”

“Then call me some time. Or text me.
I’ve got to go. Goodbye, Jack.” She forced herself away and over to her
parents’ car that had just pulled up. She didn’t look back. She leaned in the
car window to kiss her mother and then climbed into the back seat.

They were about a mile down the road
when her phone beeped.

That was all it said. But she could
hardly restrain herself from bursting into tears of happiness. It was Jack’s
way of giving her his phone number. She re-read it a hundred times on the long
journey home. Now if only she could think up the perfect witty reply…

Keep reading for a sneak preview of
Book Two in the Flirting Series: More Flirting Games

Book Two of The Flirting Games Series will be
out soon, if you would like to be kept informed whenever new books are released
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Book Two in The Flirting Series

Rose Falcon is staying at Boarding School over
the Christmas holidays whilst her parents are working abroad. The only problem:
Leo Flanagan is also staying. There’s some bad history between her family and
his, and her parents told her to keep her distance from him. The trouble is
that after he kisses her she can’t stay away. The attraction between them seems
to be spiraling out of control. Can they keep their relationship a secret? Can
they even make it work with so many obstacles? And what is the deal between Leo
and the beautiful Diana? Rose battles with both her conscience and her desire.

Also more of your favorite characters from Book
One.

Sneak Preview of More Flirting Games

Boys, boys, boys! That’s all Sophie
and Grace seemed to talk about this year. Maybe throw in a little gossip,
clothes, magazines and make-up. But otherwise it was boys. Boys they might like
and the boy band they definitely liked, boys they knew and boys they wanted to
know. School came a very poor second.

Rose Falcon was really enjoying
being back at school this year. The summer had been great but her parents were
always working and she had missed the girls. She and her younger brother Toby
had spent three weeks of the holidays with her cousins, Jack, Alex and Ellie,
but she had been on the phone almost every day to Sophie or Grace or both.

She supposed that officially Alex was her best
friend. Even though they were cousins, they had been born only days apart and
had been close their whole lives, but at 16 she had found that she and Alex had
started to drift apart slightly. They were both in the same year at Compass
Court Boarding School and both in the same Schoolhouse, West Tower, but this
year she just seemed to be hanging out a lot more with Sophie and Grace and
seeing less of Alex.