Chapters (42)
- TITLE PAGE
- COPYRIGHT PAGE
- DEDICATION PAGE
- CONTENTS
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
“You really don’t know how you look to people, do you?” Tegan and Laney Fisher were staring at his chest. Jillian Flemming and Alexis Campbell were staring at his face. And the guys were all kind of sizing him up, like they wondered if he was as much of a BAMF as they’d heard.
Malachi looked down at his jeans and white thermal shirt and frowned. “Raphael said this was what people wore. He told me that I would blend in. You should have said something if—”
I leaned my head into his shoulder, working hard not to crack up and sneaking in the opportunity to inhale his scent. “It’s not your clothes, my friend. Look, don’t worry about it; all right? You’re just kind of mysterious to them. If you’re ready to answer a bunch of questions about where you come from and what it’s like there, I’m fine with going over to sit with them.”
Malachi’s eyes darted over to Tegan’s table. “That boy, the one named Aden, is in my physical education class.”
When he saw Malachi looking, Aden stood up and made this exaggerated get-over-here wave. All eyes at that table were on us.
“Holy cow, dude, I do believe Aden Matthews is bro-crushing on you,” I said with a laugh. “At least he has good taste. Look—we’ve got to go over there now.”
Malachi gave the empty table in the corner a look full of longing. “Is that an order?”
I nodded solemnly. “It’s in the high school code of conduct, clause H-twenty-three-point-one-five, that if the two most popular people in school invite you to their table, you have to answer their summons. Plus, it will increase your pain tolerance.”
Malachi’s expression told me he actually thought there might be such a code. “Very well, then.”
As we approached the table, Aden and Tegan scooted down, and Ian and a couple of other guys made way on the other side. Levi, another of their close friends, moved around the end of the table to sit next to Jillian, his girlfriend. I ended up sandwiched between Ian and Malachi. They were built similarly, with lean hips and broad shoulders, leaving plenty of room for my ass but no room for the rest of me. I wondered if I might drown in testosterone and Axe body spray before I finished my sandwich.