MJ pulls out a smoke, balancing it between her blood red lips. “We’re not on school grounds.”
“What do you mean?”
“The school sold this chunk of land and these out buildings a few years ago.” She steps under a broken down wire fence, holding it up for me to cross under.
“So we’re trespassing?”
“If you want to get technical about it.”
“Gee, that makes me feel so much better.”
“Just shut up and come on.” She pulls me by the sleeve behind her.
We reach a giant barn that looks like it’s on the verge of collapsing. The wood is rotting in more places than not and the moonlight streams in through the many nooks and crannies of the unstable structure.
Against my better judgment I follow MJ inside, crouching under a boarded up doorway.
The barn is one big open space, the ceiling crisscrossed with rough beams. A string of bare light bulbs hangs from the center of the ceiling. It’s more crowded inside the barn than I thought it’d be. And warmer too. People huddle together in groups talking. Both classes are here, along with about a dozen other faces I don’t recognize.
There are a few guys sparring in the corner to warm up. I spot Dane and Drake, the buff identical twins in my grade. They are both shirtless, taking jabs at each other. The atmosphere around us is sexy and dangerous, and unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.
Once inside, I instantly lose MJ. She’s no doubt off to scope out the crowd. I’m sure she’ll resurface soon with a run-down of the karate hotties.
I spot Colt in the center of the fighting ring that’s been set up in the middle of the barn. He’s talking to a group of guys I don’t recognize. They must be from the karate school. He catches my eye and excuses himself from the group, heading my way.
Crap. I scan the barn, searching for MJ, not wanting to get sucked into a conversation with Colt after skipping his class earlier. But she’s nowhere to be found.
Colt walks up, shirtless, wearing dark jeans, looking like sex on a stick. Lord help me. “Hey Beckett.” His deep voice rolls over me.
“Mr. Palmer.”
He rolls his eyes.
“So what are you doing out here?” He leans against the wall next to me. “This doesn’t seem like your scene.”
I continue watching the crowd in front of us, which takes a massive amount of concentration with him so close, and did I mention shirtless? “How do you know what my scene is?”
He nods. “Fair.”
I’m torn between blowing him off completely and apologizing for skipping class. My manners win out. “Sorry about missing class.”
“It’s cool. Just don’t make a habit of it.” He takes a swig of his beer. “Otherwise I’ll have to start acting like an actual teacher and that’ll just piss me off.”
“Taylor!” MJ shouts. “There you are.” She walks over to Colt and I like I was the one that deserted her.
“You gotta hit this.” She holds out a silver flask.
“What’s in it?” I can’t believe everyone is blatantly drinking in front of Colt. But then again, I remember that he’s underage too and has a bottle of beer dangling from his hand. I sniff the flask. “It smells like puke.”
She grabs it and wipes the opening with the hem of her shirt. “Oh, that’s just because Sara puked and then took a swig.”
“I’ll pass.”
She shrugs. “Suit yourself.”
Colt laughs softly under his breath, watching MJ stalk away. “Everything turn out okay with your…female issues?” he asks once she’s gone.
“Oh, that. Yeah, it…turned out to be nothing. I guess I’m just overly cautious.”
He nods, smiling. “Nothing wrong with that. I appreciate a lady who takes care of things.” His eyes linger on me, giving me the urge to push my knees together. But I stand my ground. “Seriously, though,” he continues, looking more concerned than necessary. “I’m glad to hear everything’s okay.”
I laugh out loud, despite my best efforts at being polite. “Oh no.” I wag my finger at him. “You need not worry yourself over such matters.”
“Touché.” He tips his beer to me, then drains the rest of the bottle.
“You looked like you came over here with a purpose. Are we still on for defense lessons in the morning?” As much as I complain about him, I’d be crushed if Colt didn’t want to train me anymore. It’s a sick reaction that I don’t even want to examine.
“Of course.”
He turns to face me and I can’t help but allow myself to sneak a peek. His lean, toned abs and chest are quite simply edible. I can literally see each hard muscle on his body they are so well defined and his hair is a tousled mess. He looks like he could have rolled out of bed with that hair – and probably did. And I find myself wondering which girl he was with this time.
“I wanted to talk to you.” He smirks at my visual inspection, clearly loving the attention.
Crap. I pull my eyes back up to his and frown. I can’t regard him as coolly as I want when my eyes are glued to his bare chest. I turn away and look out across the barn. “About what?” I manage to sound uninterested and aloof. I mentally high-five myself.
“You,” he says with complete confidence.
I laugh. “I’m too smart to be seduced by you, Colt.”
“We’ll see.”
My stomach twists in a knot and I blush feverishly. Is he remembering that kiss like I am?
He chuckles, then steps into within my line of sight once again. “Do I make you nervous?”
I scoff. “No.” My body screams yes!
He chuckles again, clearly not believing me. I know the pulse jumping in my neck and my pink flushed cheeks are a dead giveaway. Stupid hormones.
I get the feeling we’re being watched and spot a few girls from across the barn eyeing me. They assess me with casual annoyance. When they whisper to one another, I can imagine they are wondering what he sees in me. I’m just as clueless. Everything about Colt draws attention, from his looks to his confidence, even the way he moves. Everything about me doesn’t.
I curl my hands into fists and turn to him, standing mere inches from his face. “I know it’s hard to believe –with your over inflated ego and all – but not every girl likes you, okay?”
He laughs again. “We’ll see.”
I roll my eyes. “Bye Colt.” I turn and walk away.
I make my way over to Logan and MJ, my heart still pounding in anger at Colt. My reactions to him are strange. I know I shouldn’t let him get to me like that, but I’m finding it increasingly difficult to be around him.
We watch the guys who are fighting tonight huddle in the corner. I turn to Logan. “You don’t participate?”
“Fuck that.” He rolls his eyes. “I don’t subscribe to their testosterone fueled display of masculinity. It’s like, boys, why don’t we just get out a ruler and see who’s the bigger man.”
I flush at his rant. “Oh-kay then.”
I sit down next to Logan and MJ on stacked hay bales that line the center of the barn, giving the fighters a wide berth. We watch the guys in the corner as the others take seats all around us. Colt stands over with the fighters. My stomach plummets.
“Colt’s fighting tonight?” I ask.
“He’s the main event.” MJ says.
Oh.
I watch Colt as he prepares for his fight, and allow myself a more thorough inspection of his body. Everyone’s eyeing the fighters, taking bets, talking about height differences, weight, so it’s only natural that I should inspect the goods too. In the moonlight streaming in through the slats in the barn, I admire his broad shoulders and sculpted pecs leading down to six-pack abs and lean hips. To put it mildly, he won the genetic lottery.