For as nervous as she’d been, asking Mark the cafeteria guy on a date had actually been really easy. He’d basically done it for her. The second she’d asked what he was doing after work, he was asking her if she wanted to hang out.
Bam.
Easy as pie. It was almost like Dora had planned it this way, AJ thought as she walked out of the school side-by-side with Mark. It was like it was meant to be. So why did she feel so depressed?
She jingled the spare car keys in her hand and tried to pay attention to whatever Mark was saying. Turning, she watched him for a second. He was cute. Blonde, still had kind of a tan from the summer, even though it was the first of November. And he was friendly. Always smiling, laughing. He was a really nice guy.
“Yeah, but you said you like baseball, right? Well, you could come see one of my games in the spring. It’s not like the big leagues, of course. But the triple A games are really fun. Beer and hotdogs. And you’d get to see me play.” He blushed, as if he’d said too much. “Not that, you know, that would matter a ton to you. It’s not like I’m the best one on the team or anything. I’m doing it more for the fun. And for all my buddies on my team. I don’t have any illusions I’ll make it to the majors. I just – wow – okay, I’m jabbering. I do this sometimes. It’s just that you’re really pretty. And I’ve wanted to go out with you for a while. And now that we’re actually headed out I’m ruining it by talking your ear off. Chill out, Mark!” He shook his head and covered his eyes with one hand for just a beat. “Yikes,” he muttered to himself.
What the hell was wrong with her? Why couldn’t she love somebody like this? Nice. Sweet. Charming. Why did she have to be daydreaming about a twisted, aloof scowl? Dark, pained eyes. Ugh.
“You’re doing great, Mark,” she assured him, laying a hand on his arm for just a second. It wasn’t his fault that he didn’t stir anything inside her. That the only person on earth who ever heated her up was completely bricked away from the world. It wasn’t Mark’s fault that AJ only got wet for a grumpy Belarusian bear shifter who saw her as a sister. So fucked up.
AJ turned her face up to the sun. It was unseasonably warm, at about 50 degrees. The sun was bright and cheery. She didn’t even need a coat over her sweater dress. Although she may not have minded the extra cover, considering she could feel Mark’s eyes trying to burn a hole right through her clothes.
It shouldn’t bother her, right? It should give her a thrill. Feel like a compliment. A first step. It certainly shouldn’t vaguely feel like she was cheating on a certain somebody.
AJ paused and scanned the parking lot. Where had Dora said she was gonna park her car?
She jingled her keys in one hand, went up on her tiptoes to see over a crowd of people dispersing into the lot. And nearly swallowed her tongue.
Like something out of a movie, there was Anton. He leaned against the side of her truck, his hands jammed in the pockets of his battered jeans, a worn, flannel button-up open at the neck. He wore mirrored aviators, reflecting the world back away from him, one ankle crossed over the other. The sun slanted down over him, turning his ash brown hair a hundred shades of mahogany.
The students in the parking lot were either goggling at him, if they were into dudes, or giving him a wide berth if they weren’t. He looked like the Belarusian James Dean, scowling at the world and not giving a fuck.
The world seemed to move in slow motion and then in hyperspeed as the breath backed up in her chest.
He was so goddamn beautiful. With his five-o’clock shadow and his tight, scowling mouth. Jesus. He towered over the students who scuttled through the parking lot.
Even though she couldn’t see through his silvered sunglasses, AJ felt the second - the exact second - that he spotted her. She knew because her stomach pulled tight and her panties went instantly wet.
Basically the same reaction she got whenever she was within 100 feet of him.
“AJ? You alright?” Mark asked from beside her. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
She shook the cobwebs out of her head. She kind of felt like she had. Anton never picked her up from school. Or hung around with her. Why was he here?
And what the hell was she gonna do with Mark now that Anton was liquefying her panties from twenty paces?
She knew she’d promised the girls that she would take Mark on a date. But there was no fucking way she was gonna let this guy third wheel alone time between her and Anton. Not that she thought anything would happen. But still. Come on.
They were still ten or so feet away from Anton and he smirked as he watched her fumble with her words. He wasn’t walking over to them. Like he knew she would come to him. Smug asshole.
He was right.
AJ stumbled toward him, well aware that Mark was following behind. “Yeah, I’m fine, Mark. I just didn’t expect to see my…” Now they were right in front of Anton and she was forced to find a word to define his place in her life. Friend? Not really. Savior? Maybe, but that had been a decade ago. Lover? Yeah, right. Dream on, AJ. “Brother,” she finally choked out.
Anton’s face went hard but his eyebrows raised up above his sunglasses.
“Um. Mark, this is Anton. Anton, this is Mark.”
“Oh, cool. I didn’t know you had siblings. Nice to meet you, man.” Mark held out his hand to Anton, but Anton completely ignored it. Ignored Mark.
His lips tightened into a thin line. “Get in car, Autumn.”
He was the only person who ever called her Autumn. Usually it gave her a little thrill. But right now, it bothered the crap out of her. Suddenly her desire to be alone with Anton dissolved in the heat of wanting to annoy him. How dare he order her around, call her by her full name like she was a child? If he was gonna treat her like a little sister, then she was gonna go ahead and treat him like a brother.
“Do you need a ride somewhere, Anton? Because Mark and I were just gonna-”
“Da pabačennia, Mark,” Anton snapped, his eyes never leaving AJ’s.
“Um. What?” Mark asked, looking back and forth between the two sets of glowering eyes before him. He suddenly had the feeling he was missing something.
Anton finally turned to Mark. He slowly, menacingly, raised his sunglasses. Mark had to force himself not to take a step back from what he saw there. Rage. Rage about to come out of the cage. Jesus, this guy was whacked.
“Goodbye, Mark,” Anton translated slowly, enunciating each syllable.
“Yeah, uh.” Mark did step back now, his hands in his pockets. “Seems like you guys are busy. So, uh, another time then, AJ.”
AJ’s mouth dropped open as she looked at Mark’s traitorous, retreating back. What the hell? He’d been wanting to ask her out for a long time and then he turns tail the second Anton frowns at him? Damn it. Not that she wanted to go on a date with him, really. But she was suddenly so irritated at Anton that she wouldn’t have minded giving Mark a ride home.
“Get in car, Autumn,” Anton repeated, opening the passenger side door for her in a way that was more threatening than chivalrous. There was definitely an unspoken ‘or else’ somewhere in that gesture.
AJ fought herself not to throw her hands up in frustration. Because even that, the unstoppable, rude ass bossiness, got her wet. Her body was a flipping masochist.
AJ tossed her bag onto the floor of the truck and slammed her way into the passenger seat. He had to be kidding with all this. She hadn’t asked him to come pick her up, had she? No. And now he was all angry and scaring her date away?
She crossed her arms over her chest and stared out the window as he pulled smoothly out of the parking lot. He rolled the windows down and kicked the truck into gear. The wind tossed her hair all around and whipped the smell of him across the car. The world whizzed past, reflected in his sunglasses, the breeze tugging at his short hair and billowing up one of the sleeves of his shirt.
Part of her, the part that didn’t care about tomorrow, could almost pretend that he’d picked her up from school because he loved her. Because he wanted to be near her. And now he was driving them off somewhere they could be alone. He was driving them away from the setting sun, off somewhere he would lay her down, make her beg, show her everything she’d ever wondered about.
The seatbelt was tight across his chest and his wrist, casual on top of the steering wheel, was twice the size of hers. Everything about him, from the chest hair peeking out of the open part of his button-up, to the scowl on his face, was just so male. She shifted against her seat.
This was so ridiculous. She was certain she was giving herself away. That she was acting like a middle schooler with a crush. But. God. Those boots. Half laced and competently working the pedals.
He’d been rude, she reminded herself. She was not going to watch his big, handsome hand on the stick shift. She was not going to smell his outdoorsy scent. She was mad at him. Sort of.
Crap.
She was already melting. Just being this close to him. She was like an ice cube next to a forest fire. She never stood a chance.