Chapter 1

ONE YEAR EARLIER

Mia Halloway walked through the cafeteria at lunchtime on Friday with her completely unappetizing looking tray. She slid into a seat at the table with the rest of the cheer team and said, “Mm...Shepherd’s Pie.” Stacey Stuart laughed and rubbed her belly before saying, “Jesus! I wish I would have gone the hot lunch route today.”

Mia looked over in front of her friend. Her turkey sandwich on rye, celery and carrot sticks and peanut butter cup looked almost good enough to steal.

“Yeah, I’ll bet,” Mia said, rolling her eyes.

“Hey did anyone go to Tina Lewis’s party last Saturday?” Jessica Ross, the captain of the cheer squad asked.

Three of the girls nodded. Mia hadn’t gone. She had attended a fundraiser with her parents that her mother was in charge of. She hated those things normally––but Asher Fury had been there, so that one had been worth it. “Why aren’t any of you talking about it?” Jessica asked. That was a good question, Mia thought. Cheerleaders were notorious gossips. Stacey and another girl named Hannah looked at each other and shrugged just as Lauren Hall asked, “What should we be talking about? Freddy and Becca?”

Mia was close enough to Stacey to feel her foot dart over and kick Lauren in the shin. Stacey was giving their other friend an almost imperceptible shake of her head. “What about Freddy and Becca?” Jessica asked. Freddy and Jessica had been ‘together’ since eighth grade. Now that they were seniors, Freddy suddenly thought maybe they should take a break for the rest of the school year and as he had put it, ‘explore other options.’ Jessica was furious about it.

“Oh…um…”

“Spill it!” she ordered the sophomore who suddenly looked like she wished she was anywhere but there.

“I don’t know anything,” Lauren said.

“Was Freddy with Becca?”

“They were talking.––”

“Lauren! Just tell me!” Jessica was one of those girls that everyone in high school wanted to be friends with. She was gorgeous, popular and her father owned a good deal of land in the county so she also had plenty of money. Lauren had become a cheerleader strictly to try and increase her social status. Jessica intimidated the hell out of her.

“They were making out!” Lauren blurted out. Jessica’s eyes flashed with anger as she turned to Stacey and Hannah.

“Really? You weren’t going to tell me?”

“Well.––We thought since you were broken up…” Stacey started. Jessica had already switched her focus. Becca Green was sitting at a table across the cafeteria, by the window with her best friend Megan. Jessica suddenly stood up, reached over and picked up Mia’s tray and started walking towards Becca.

“Shit! She’s going to throw the Shepherd’s pie on her!” Hannah said. Mia cringed as she watched the drama unfold. Jessica, dressed prettily in her cheer uniform in honour of that night’s upcoming football game, stormed over to Becca’s table and without saying a word, dumped the Shepherd’s pie on the other girl’s head. Becca screamed and chaos ensued. Not wanting to get caught up in the circus, Mia made a discreet exit out the back door of the cafeteria––where she spotted Asher Fury. He was sitting on one of the benches underneath the trees in the courtyard.

“Hey Mia.” He smiled at her and everything inside of her melted.

Mia had known Asher most of her life. He was after all her brother’s best friend. She always had a crush on him, but just over this past summer she had noticed he seemed to reciprocate those feelings. Saturday night at the fundraiser had been the first time she had really spent anytime alone with him. They had taken a walk along the backside of the country club and talked. Her parents disliked his parents and they always hated the fact that Asher and her brother Travis had been friends for years. Travis didn’t care what they thought, but Mia had always been a ‘good girl’ and listened to what they told her––until now. That night at the country club Asher had kissed her underneath the stars and she hadn’t been able to think about anything else since. She had been distracted by that kiss the entire week and she hadn’t gotten anything done in her math or history classed because Asher sat two rows away from her in both classes. Every time she looked at him, he was looking at her with those sexy green eyes and smiling. Mia felt tingles in places in her body that she barely knew existed before.

“Hi Asher. What are you doing out here?”

He jerked his head back towards the cafeteria and said, “Too much drama in there for me. Have a seat.”

She smiled and sat down next to him. Her stomach was a bundle of nerves. He was wearing his green and white ‘Game-day’ jersey with number ‘11’ on the back, and a pair of blue jeans that hugged his muscular legs. His brown hair always looked slightly mussed like he spent a lot of time dragging his fingers through it. She thought that was much sexier than the guys who spent hours and dumped countless products on their hair. His jersey fit around his biceps snugly and she couldn’t help but notice how nicely his body had developed since last year.

“That’s funny,” she said, “I left for the exact same reason. Jessica just dumped my lunch over Becca’s head.”

He laughed. His full lips framed his perfectly straight white teeth and Mia’s thoughts went back to that kiss.––His mind must have been in the same place because suddenly his face was serious and he said, “I’ve been thinking about you lately.”

“You have?”

He grinned and she watched as his pupils dilated and darkened, as he said, “Yeah, I have. A lot.”

Mia smiled and nodded her agreement. “I’ve been thinking about you too.”

He reached over and slid her hand off her lap. His hand was large and warm and chills ran up her arm and down her spine. He leaned in close to her face and Mia felt his warm breath graze her skin. She almost moaned out loud. He whispered, “Mia. I really want to kiss you right now. Would that be okay?”

Mia could hardly breathe with him so close. She was able to nod though and he didn’t waste any time sliding his warm, soft lips across hers. He pressed his full lips across hers slowly, bit her bottom lip softly before sliding his tongue out and pressing it against the seam of her mouth. She let her mouth fall open and gave his tongue full access to her mouth. She dragged her hands up his biceps and squeezed his hard muscles before she slid her arms up and wrapped them around his neck. She felt the heat of his palm as he pressed his hand against her lower back and pulled her tighter into his body. She melded into his chest as they kissed, and became completely oblivious to their surroundings. They kissed until they heard the distinct sound of someone clearing their throat. Reluctantly, they pulled apart and looked up at the intruder. It was Mr. Souza, their math teacher.

He cocked an eyebrow and said, “I don’t believe we allow public displays of affection on school grounds these days.”

Mia felt her face flush. Asher only grinned. “Sorry, Mr. Souza,” Mia whispered and then sat up straight.

Souza turned his disapproving look at Asher. “I don’t hear you apologizing son.”

Asher laughed. “I can’t even pretend to be sorry,” he said. Mia’s body filled with a warm rush as Mr. Souza squinted his eyes and said, “Keep it off school grounds.”

“Yes sir,” they both said. Once he was gone, Asher chuckled again and Mia giggled. The bell rang and Asher stood up and offered her his hand. She took it and he pulled her to her feet. Giving her that intense, green eyed stare again he palmed the back of his neck. “Have dinner with me after the game tonight?”

Mia nodded. “Yes. I’d like that.” He leaned in and gave her another quick peck on the lips before leaving her standing there, trembling and out of breath.