Chapter 9

I’m going stir crazy. My mother handed me a bunch of ridiculously boring books that I have to read for English class. No one actually reads them, and she knows it. We all just look up summaries and write our reports on those. But I guess I read them now. It’s the only form of entertainment available to me.

I stare into Emilia’s room and she looks just as frustrated as I do. She’s seated at her desk, facing me. Her hair is loose and she hasn’t changed out of her favorite pajamas in days now. She too was handed the books on her own required reading list, and she looks just as bored as I probably do. I grab a sheet of paper and write on it with large letters before pressing it to my window. It reads I’m bored.

I hold it up until she finally notices. Emilia looks at it and grins. She gets up from her desk and comes back with a stack of paper in her hands. She writes out a message and holds it up to her window.

Me too. It’s your fault.

I grin wryly and grab another sheet of paper. I’ll never live this one down. The police getting involved is a first for us, and we’ve both had to listen to my mom’s endless berating. I know. Lesson learned. Should we play a game?

What lesson? Yes, sure, she holds up. I look away. I know what she wants me to say. She’s stuck on the idea of me and Jennifer. I know she blames me for getting with that airhead, and I know that she’s right. Me getting with Jennifer is exactly what got us into trouble, but part of me is hoping it’s more than that. Part of me is hoping she might be feeling a little jealous.

For being promiscuous. Let’s play hangman.

Emilia laughs, her face transforming. She looks beautiful when she laughs and my heart feels a little funny.

Wow. You learned a new word. Impressive. I’ll start.

I roll my eyes. My grades are just as good as hers, and if things go to plan, I’ll be able to get at least a partial academic scholarship, and if I’m really lucky, a partial football scholarship on top of it. Woodstock is too small of a town to get a full-ride football scholarship, though that won’t stop me from trying.

Emilia draws out the game and I guess the letters. It only takes me a couple of minutes to figure out what the words are, and I feel myself blush. This freaking Minx. I regret telling her I’m a virgin. I’m not sure that knowledge is safe in her little hands.

Virgin Mary, I write out, guessing the words correctly. I stick the paper to my window with force and Emilia starts laughing again.

There you go. Taught you an analogy, she replies. I glare at her and look away, my cheeks burning.

I storm into my bathroom in an effort to hide from her. It’s the only place she can’t see from her bedroom. I should’ve just closed my curtains, but I don’t want her to know how flustered I feel. I’m annoyed and embarrassed while I undress — I shouldn’t have told her. She’ll never ever let me live this down. No one knows I’m still a virgin. There are plenty of rumors circulating about me, and I’ve never bothered to correct them. They all just added to my notoriety. There are a bunch of girls I’ve made out with at house parties that Asher and I have attended, and for some reason many of them claim to have slept with me when they definitely haven’t. I don’t know why they do it, and I don’t particularly care either, or at least I didn’t. Not until I realized my Minx looks down on me for it.

I stand underneath the shower and lean back against the wall. My hands automatically wrap around my erection. Recently I’ve been getting hard just thinking about Emilia and there doesn’t seem to be anything I can do about it. Even when I’m mad at her and she annoys me, she still makes me hard. She can’t ever find out because she’d freaking murder me if she realized. I’ve become a pro at hiding it from her. More often than not, I have my boner pressed up against my waistband to hide it. Lately I’m nearly always hard around her, though. It’s getting more and more difficult to hide just how attracted I am to her. I guess it’s a blessing that she’s so damn clueless. I’m pretty sure even Kate suspects how I feel, and she’s only slightly less obtuse.

I stroke myself and imagine it’s Emilia’s hands instead of mine. It only takes me a minute to come and I feel guilty straight away. She’d probably feel disgusted if she knew what I was doing. I shouldn’t be thinking of her like that, but I just can’t help myself. No matter how hard I try, my thoughts always go back to her.

I walk out of the shower with my towel wrapped around my hips. I spot some movement from Emilia’s window and peek into her room. She’s standing just out of view, but her bright red pajama sleeve is giving her away. She’s being a peeping tom, huh?

I think back to her choice of words during our game and scowl. I don’t bother getting dressed and lock my door before dropping onto my bed. From this angle, I can see her standing by her window clearly, but she seems convinced that she’s well hidden.

Very well. Let’s show her I’m not a complete freaking virgin. I close my eyes, running a hand over my chest and down my body. I tug my towel loose but keep it in place. I’m hard again, but I’m nervous. I don’t know what she’ll think of me if I do this. I don’t know how far to take this.

I slip my hand underneath the towel and take a quick, subtle peek at Emilia. She’s still standing by the window and she’s watching me with open lips. I smile to myself and tug a little more of my towel away. I palm myself and pump my fist up and down slowly. Knowing that she’s watching me makes it all so much hotter. I just came in the shower, but I know I won’t last long this time either.

Emilia moves closer, as though she wants to see better, not realizing that she’s now in full view. I grin and tug the towel away entirely, giving her a show. I increase the pace and throw my arm over my face as I come, hiding my expression from her. My entire body jerks and I make a mess of my stomach. I wipe it away quickly, scared that it might disgust Emilia. I take a quick peek to find her standing in front of her window, her cheeks flushed and her eyes dark. I stand up and she snaps out of it, hiding herself in a rush. My little Minx enjoyed that show, it seems. I guess this week of suspension won’t be so boring after all.