Chapter 5

I felt Jeff’s thigh brush against mine and my eyes widened as I realized I had been staring at him.Fuck.That was twice in one day I had been caught staring at a man.And this was Jeff

My face heated as I cleared my throat.He was obviously asking me to bail him out.I tuned in just in time to catch Lily’s last words.

“…so maybe when you get off,I could meet you there?”She twisted her hair with her fingers,and it looked like she was trying to puff out her lips.I didn’t understand why girls did that.What was sexy about duck lips?

His leg pressed harder against mine and I finally jumped in.“Jeff,don’t forget,you promised your mom you would come straight home since you have to leave so early in the morning.”

He turned to me with such relief,I almost laughed out loud.“Damn!I forgot.Thanks for reminding me.”He shrugged.“Sorry,Lily.Completely forgot I can’t go anywhere tonight.”

She pouted and her shoulders slumped.“Okay.Maybe another time?”Her voice,though quieter,sounded hopeful.

“Maybe…”he answered,his eyes on the table.

She beamed as she grabbed her tray and headed to her normal table.

Jeff blew out his breath as she left.“Thanks,Aaron.”

I shrugged.“Seriously,Jeff,she is really into you.Why don’t you ask her out and get it over with?”

He leaned his elbows on the table and let his head fall into his hands.“You know I’m not interested in her like that.”

“Then who areyou interested in?”I teased,knowing he wouldn’t tell me.

He turned and glared at me.“Really?Again?I told you to drop it.”

My smile widened.“You know I can’t do that.I have to make sure the girl my best friend picked is good enough for him!”

His lips tugged into a reluctant smile.“I’m still not going to tell you.”

“Fine,”I huffed,“then just give me a hint.Like,what color are her eyes?”

He squinted,probably trying to decide if he should answer me or not.

“Seriously?You can’t tell me the color of her eyes?If you really like her,then you should at least know that.”

“Of course I know what color they are!”

“Then what?You think I can figure out your secret crush?At most,it will just eliminate some of the girls.”I rolled my eyes.He was being so mysterious.

“Fine,”he groaned,“I’ll give you the eye color,but that’s it!”Jeff sighed and raked his fingers through his hair,letting the longer locks fall from his fingers.

I wondered if his hair felt as silky as it looked…wait,what?I shook my head,pushing the thought from my mind as I waited for his answer.In recent weeks,I had become fascinated by Jeff’s hair and had to constantly fight the urge to touch it.

He closed his own eyes as if picturing hers and a little smile played on his lips.“They are brown and sort of golden with some flecks of green in them.I guess you would say hazel.They’re beautiful.Sometimes they look almost green,when the light hits them just right.And sometimes,when…when…she’s…concentrating or doing something intense,they look golden.Like honey.”His eyes fluttered open and he stared straight into mine.“Happy?”

Damn.Not really.When he was talking about her,his voice was gentle,deep…like just thinking about her made him happy.I had never felt that way about anyone.Yeah,I lusted after Russell Adams,but so did half the school.Jeff spoke about someone he really cared about.Maybe even loved.

My stomach rolled and I broke our gaze so I could stare at the table.“Yeah,got it.Hazel.Thanks,”I muttered as I grabbed my can of Dew and took a swig.

The bell rang,signaling we had only five minutes to get to our next classes,so we dumped our trash into the large containers by the doors and headed into the hall.

“Later,”I said,turning to go the opposite direction.

“Hey,um,actually…”He looked at his feet for a second.“Um,can we talk after work tonight?”

“Sure.”I cocked my head.“Are you okay?”

“Yeah,uh,well,there’s just something I need to talk about.”Jeff looked everywhere but at me and seemed really nervous.

I gripped his shoulder.“Sure.Whatever it is,don’t sweat it.Okay?”

He grinned and nodded before we took off for our own classes.I slipped into the boy’s bathroom,pleased to find I was the only one in there.I hated when some of the guys hid out to skip class,although I had been guilty of it at least once.For some reason,the teachers never looked inside this bathroom.

As I washed my hands with the school’s hideously floral soap,I checked myself in the mirror and sighed.While Jeff had been lucky enough to be over six-feet tall,I had stopped growing at five-eight.This year,I had cut my mass of dark blonde hair into something more stylish,and so far I liked it.Keeping it pretty short on the sides sure made it easy to dry and take care of in the morning.The top was a little longer and I combed it forward before tousling it and making it stand up a little.Honestly,it took me a few days to figure out how to style it.

I straightened my shoulders.Yeah,I was never going to be ruggedly handsome,or even sexy.Petite.Lithe.Somewhat toned because Jeff dragged me out running about four mornings a week.

Hazel eyes.Petite facial features.Dimples in both cheeks that I hated.

The bell rang and I cursed for wasting time admiring myself in the mirror.Well,“critiquing”was probably a better word for it,but whatever.I was late to physics.Again.Crap.I pushed open the door and ran down the hall.Mr.Bracket hated tardiness.