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Chapter Four
The rest of my week passes without incident really. Except for Maths, my classes aren’t too bad. Michael and I are paired together in English for a project so it gives us an excuse to hang out, which is ideal as we both agreed we shouldn’t be seen to be too friendly with one another. I discover I have some combination of princesses in every class, but so far they’ve ignored me, and I’m okay with that. It allows me to observe and learn. The granite mountain continues to flirt relentlessly in Chemistry and Biology, but won’t tell me his name and hasn’t asked me out. I saw Thorn in my English class too, but he didn’t speak to me. I’m not even sure if we’re still on for our date on Saturday.
Friday night, I stand in front of my wardrobe, stressing over what “beachy shit” might be. Especially at 7 in the morning! What the hell? It’s just wrong to be getting up at that time on a weekend, never mind being up and ready and out by then! It was kinda putting me off the whole idea of dating Thorn. As I have no idea what we’ll be doing, I sling a towel in a bag, add some squash, a book and some snacks. I opt to wear my bikini in the morning with my jeans, hoodie and flip flops. That way, I feel like I have all the bases covered. The forecast for the weekend may be nice, but one, I don’t trust the weatherman and two, it’s freaking October, and it’ll be cold no matter how sunny it is! Once I’m all set, I get ready for bed and enjoy my early night with a good book. The last thing I do before turning off the light to get to sleep is set my alarm for six-thirty - it actually pains me to do it.
Saturday dawns, and I have to resist the urge to throw my phone across the room when the alarm goes off. I drag myself up, drain a glass of ice-cold orange juice, quickly scoff down some coco pops - yeah I have the eating habits of a seven-year-old - and get ready. I plait my long hair all the way down my back so that it’s out of the way for whatever we end up doing, then I pull on my oversized Hollister hoodie. They seriously make the softest hoodies, I wish I could live in them. Once I’m ready, I head down to the main entrance to wait for Thorn. Surprisingly, there are quite a few people up and about, though they’re mostly grabbing breakfast in their PJs.
I hear a horn blasting and suspect that might be him, so I head outside and down the steps. Sure enough, a large yellow and black Jeep Wrangler is pulling up, horn still blaring. I struggle to suppress a smile; as annoying as the horn is, I love the car. The driver’s window rolls down, and Thorn sticks his head out, grinning at me. The other windows go down, and I see that the car is full; the granite mountain sits in the front seat and two guys I don’t know are in the back. My smile falls, and I frown. What’s going on? I cross my arms over my chest and ask Thorn precisely that.
“We’re gate crashing your date,” one of the guys in the back says.
“Thorn?”
“Yeah sorry, Princess.” He shrugs sheepishly, and I get the feeling he’s not telling me the whole story. “I couldn’t tell them no. I don’t want them here any more than you do.”
“I don’t date boys whose names I don’t know and who don’t have the courage to ask me out themselves.” I’m being stubborn right now, but I’m a bit miffed at the mountain man for not asking me out. I’m also mostly annoyed because my date is being hijacked and I was actually looking forward to it.
“Awww come on, Princess, if you get in the car the guys will introduce themselves...” I don’t move. There’s no way I’m giving in that easily. “I made you hot chocolate, with cream and sprinkles and shit.” Ok, I’m wavering. “It’s in a Harry Potter travel mug... which you can keep.”
Damn it, my resolve crumbles like a soggy biscuit dipped in tea, and I race around the car and wrench open the front passenger door. Granite mountain grins down at me from the height of the vehicle. “Move.” I bark at him.
“No way, get in the back.”
“No.” I actually stomp my foot, how embarrassing. “You move. This is my date, and you’re an unwanted spectator, so you sit in the back,” I insist.
“Have you seen the size of me, Little Bird? I’ll never fit.”
“Good. You can sit in the middle too, just for pissing me off at stupid o’clock on a Saturday.”
The mountain turns to Thorn with a “Dude?” but Thorn has my back. He chuckles and replies, “What the Princess wants...” which causes the mountain to sigh. He undoes his seatbelt and lets it fly back into place. Climbing out of the car, he barges past me and flings open the back door.
“Move.” This time he barks at one of the guys in the back seat, but before he can comply, I tell him to stay put. He can climb over. It’ll serve the arrogant ass right. Thorn’s shaking with barely contained laughter at this point, so I figure I haven’t gone too far. I watch as the mountain struggles to climb over the guy in the back and wedges himself into the tiny middle seat between them. He looks so utterly ridiculous that my laugh breaks free, and when he scowls at me, he looks so much like a sulky naughty boy that tears roll down my cheeks. He actually looks so uncomfortable that for a moment I feel bad - especially for the other two guys who didn’t bet on being a mountain sandwich today - but then I remind myself that I don’t know who they are and they’re gatecrashing my date, so I don’t feel too bad.
I clamber up into the Jeep and shut the door. Once I’m done, I turn to Thorn, hand outstretched, and say, “Chocolate, please.” The please was challenging to get out. I’m not a morning person. He chuckles and hands over the Harry Potter mug. I take a sip cautiously, but it’s the perfect temperature, so I take a second bigger drink. A groan escapes my lips. It’s seriously the best hot chocolate I’ve ever tasted, which I tell Thorn. “Okay, now this, this was worth getting out of bed for. Where’s it from?”
“I made it.”
“What did you use?”
“Not telling you. It’s part of my secret plan to get followup dates with you; get you addicted to my chocolate, so you have to keep coming back for more.”
“So basically, you put crack in my drink?”
He chuckles. “Something like that. Belt up, we need to get this show on the road.”
He reaches for the gear stick but my hand shoots out to stop him. The second I place my hand over his a jolt of energy transfers between us. His eyes go wide as he stares at me. “Wait! Who are these guys? I don’t ride in cars with strangers, really.”
I turn to face the three guys in the back and now that I’m looking at them more closely I realise the two new guys I’ve seen in a couple of my classes. The guy to my left clears his throat.
“I’m Jax Jackson.”
“Cute.” He grins and thanks me. “I meant your name.” He smiles wider and thanks me again.
Seriously though, cute is not a word that should be used to describe this guy. His deep caramel skin tone reflects the early morning light, highlighting strong cheekbones, a long straight nose and luscious full lips. His eyes are a deep espresso colour that’s so dark they could almost be black. It’s seriously intense. There’s a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips, but due to his eyes, it lacks warmth.
I shiver slightly and turn to the guy on my right, ignoring the petulant mountain sulking in the middle. He introduces himself as Ace, and I detect a foreign lilt to his mellifluous voice. His speech is smooth and deep and has a soft honey tone to it. I smile at him warmly and introduce myself.
Ace is beautiful. Perhaps that’s not the most traditional way to describe a guy, but he truly is. He has golden tanned skin, a square jaw with sculpted stubble and short light goldish-brown hair which is slicked up in the front. He has pale, violet eyes that are unusual and striking. The coolness of his eyes is offset by his warm, infectious smile. I instantly like this guy. He didn’t even complain when the granite mountain clambered all over him.
