Colby

"I don't know what's gotten into you, but I like it," Cole breathes into my ear. He takes my lobe gently between his teeth, and I shiver.

Sweet Moses, this boy is electricity personified...

"I just felt like surprising you," I say, averting my eyes and returning to my senses. I feel a little embarrassed. Truth be told, it's kinda hard getting back in the game.

"I like this sort of surprise," he grins, pinning me against the shower wall of the girl's locker room. He seems as into this as I am. We have the room to ourselves since it's technically my gym period. Nobody was required to dress out today since student council requested help prepping for the assembly, so I thought I'd take advantage of the situation.

"Are you ever gonna let me take you on a real date?" he whispers, dropping kisses along the length of my collarbone.

There it is. I've been trying to avoid this conversation for a while now. It's nothing against him at all. In fact, I like him a lot more than I ever thought I could. Even with the whole alpha male façade he puts on.

"Are you trying to make an honest woman out of me?" I giggle. I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him, hoping to change the subject.

"It's just one date, Colby," he says against my lips. "I feel like we're sneaking around, and I don't really get why." He pulls away slightly, looking me in the eye. "If it's because you want Wyatt, all you have to do is say so, and I'll back off."

"It's not because of Wyatt," I say, perhaps too quickly. Nothing will ever be with Wyatt again. There's no point in hoping for it, or missing how it used to be. Cole's eyes are filled with concern or disappointment, I'm not sure which.

"I like you. A lot," Cole begins cautiously, twirling the end of my ponytail around his finger. "I don't know why you've been so weird about what's going on between us, but I need to know how to proceed here. You either want to try something or you don't, and I've never been a fan of being strung along."

There's a certain vulnerability in the way he's just expressed himself. Like maybe he's been hurt too, or at least is scared he could be.

"You know it's just one date before the entire school labels us C-squared," I smirk, rolling my eyes. Cole simply grins that breathtaking, heartbreaking smile that's all him.

"Would that really be so bad?" he says seductively before placing feather light kisses up the length of my neck.

Okay, it worked. I've missed this. I've desperately missed having someone to be close to. Admittedly, I wasn't thrilled with the prospect of dating Cole, but the more time I spend with him, the more I genuinely like him.

"One date," I concede, fisting his shirt with both hands. "But only if you promise to do that thing you just did."

"Whatever are you talking about, Colby?" he says, cocking his head to the side. He traces his lips over the line of my jaw up to the hollow beneath my ear where he whispers. "I think your friends are watching us."

Cheers and whistles echo through the locker room. Cole pulls away from me, just inches from my face. At first, his expression is somewhat bewildered, as I'm sure my own must be. Then he begins to shake with laughter. It's infectious, and I'm laughing along with him, burying my face in his chest.

...

"Flag stealing will not be tolerated this year," Avalon continues in her shrill, piercing tone.

"Shut up!" someone shouts from the stands. This is followed by snickers from the rest of the student body. An undeterred Avalon continues blabbering, imperious and willfully oblivious.

"I know that it has been a tradition for many years," she barks, eyeing the football team with vehement disdain. "But if it happens, I've been informed by the school faculty that anyone involved will be met with consequences should their insubordination be discovered."

"Suck it Avalon!" another annoyed classmate bellows. This only seems to encourage her. She grips the podium firmly, eyes wild. This announcement is certain to be earth-shattering. Everyone waits with bated breath for her next statement, all of us on the edges of our seats.

"Now, as all of you know, the school has been taking steps to provide healthier lunches for its students..."

Aaaand exhale. I hate assemblies. I also think I was mistaken—the entire gym wasn't waiting with bated breath. Everyone simply died. Of boredom.

"We will be replacing the snacks in the vending machines with more health-conscious options," she drones on.

Blah blah. Transfats blah.

"Maybe if she followed her own stupid trans fat rules she wouldn't be twenty pounds overweight," Lana snaps.

"Someone's a bit hangry," Morgan teases.

"And maybe if you didn't eat the whole box of hundred cal packs, you wouldn't have to 'diet' all the time," Wynn adds venomously, finger quotes and all.

"What rat crawled up your cranky ass?" Lana says, scowling pointedly in Wynn's direction.

Really though, what's with the hostility?

"I'm not cranky, I just get tired of your obsession with dieting," Wynonna growls. "You are quite literally on some new diet kick every week, and what does it do? Nothing. You start the diet skinny and end it skinny. Why torture us every day talking about it?"

Morgan snickers, earning herself a jab in the rib from Lana's pointy elbow.

"How 'bout we talk about what's important right now," Morgan suggests calmly, no doubt attempting to diffuse the situation. "What was up with that C-squared make out sesh we were all lucky enough to walk in on?"

"I mean, he's cute." I shrug, shifting uncomfortably and feeling at a loss under all the scrutiny. All eyes are on me...especially Wynn's.

"That's it?" Wynona bites. Looks like I'm next on the hit list.

"You keep stringing him along, and it's total crap," she continues. "Everyone knows you're still in love with Wyatt, so why are you wasting his time? You're being really selfish, especially after the way he defended you with the whole Greg thing."

I stare at her dumbfounded, my jaw lounging somewhere on the ground. Lana and Morgan are both gaping at her as well, so at least I'm not alone in my shock.

"What in the eff did B do to you?" Morgan spits, jumping to my aid. I manage to scrape my jaw off the floor, but I'm still totally blown away by her attack.

"I just think she should consider someone other than herself for once," she says, rising to her feet. She straightens her toga and casts one more dark look in my direction before making her way down the bleachers, where Coach Castillo stops her. He says something to her that I can't make out, and I see her clutching dramatically at her stomach. Faking cramps.

"I can't believe you let her get away with that!" Lana begins, but her almost rant is cut short.

Mrs. Crawford's announcing that it's time for the captain and co-captain of the cheer squad to place the laurel wreaths upon the new senior football players. Since Wynn just had her little pissy fit, I guess it'll just be me.

I make my way down the bleachers and across the gym to the football team, all the while wondering where this stupid tradition came from anyway.

"And now, Colby Byers, Senior, and captain of our Raider cheer squad, will adorn our boys with their laurel wreaths," Coach Castillo says with his arm outstretched toward me in introduction. "May they bring you luck at tomorrow's game, as they do every year."

So that's the tradition.

I take the box of wreaths, which is much heavier than I'd anticipated. I place the first one, resting it atop Austin Cross's head. He smiles, bowing his head, so I move on to the next guy, and the next.

This would have gone much quicker with Wynn, but she probably would've chewed one of their faces off, and our team would be down a player.

I reach Cole after a couple more guys, placing a wreath on his head. I smile, and he grins wickedly.

He pulls me into him unexpectedly and kisses me with so much passion that I don't think hundreds of people should be watching! The entire gym erupts with cheers.

Cole pulls away chuckling, running his thumb over my cheek. Oh, is he pleased with himself. He leans in for another kiss, and I respond automatically. When we come up for air, the gym is in hysterics, people laughing, cheering, chanting.

I'm all smiles until my eyes meet Wyatt's. He holds my gaze for only a moment before he looks away...to stare at the floor.