The Way to Game the Walk of Shame(9)

I expected her to explode, but to my surprise, Taylor just bit her lower lip and turned away from him. Her cheeks burned, but she still didn’t say anything in response to the jerks around her.

This was a far cry from the girl I’d danced with at the party. And especially from the one who woke up in my bed yesterday. That girl smacked my jaw and made me swear not to tell anyone about what happened. Not that I could have if I wanted to. But the point was that that girl was fierce. My jaw still ached.

Her hands clenched and unclenched, but she still didn’t say anything. Suddenly, Taylor looked up, and our eyes met across the room. Pursing her lips together, she lifted her chin and looked away. Her face was still red, but she looked a little scared. Not of the guys around her, but of … something.

Something in me snapped, and I automatically grabbed Aaron’s arm, ready to beat the crap out of those guys.

I had barely taken three steps forward when Carly whipped around in her seat and glared them down, despite the fact that they were all twice her size and could probably squash her like a bug. “Oh yeah, Todd? If you want to talk about fronts, why don’t you tell everyone again how you wet the bed until you were twelve? How many mattresses did your parents have to throw out before you finally learned how to use the toilet?”

Todd’s face grew blotchy. But she didn’t even bat an eye and continued to stare at him. Hell, she even leaned up so she could be more in his face.

To my surprise, he muttered something low under his breath and jerked his body away to storm off. His cronies snickered behind their fists and followed.

Taylor slumped forward onto the table and whispered something to Carly. She just snorted in response. “Don’t worry about it. I guess now that he can use the big-boy potty, he thinks he’s all badass,” Carly said, not even bothering to lower her voice.

I couldn’t help laughing. Man, if anyone was a badass, it was Carly. Right now I kind of wanted to go over there and give her a hug. And Taylor, too. But judging by the way she was glaring at me now, she’d probably scratch my eyes out if I tried.

Seriously, I just didn’t understand that girl.

Carly waved at me as Taylor dragged her past us through the doorway. I turned my head to watch them leave.

Aaron pulled his arm out of my grasp and crossed his arms. He had a goofy look on his face. “Interesting.”

“What?”

“Nothing, it’s just interesting. So that’s why you don’t want to tell me anything? ’Cause you have a thing for her?”

I gaped at him. “That’s stupid—I don’t know what you’re—” This time I was the one to chase Aaron down as we walked to our lockers. “Are you kidding me?”

He stooped down to tug on his combination lock. “Hey, it’s cool if you do. The Ice Queen’s not as hot as the girls you usually date, but she still ranks pretty high. I mean, talk about untouchable.”

Of all the crazy things Aaron was saying, the fact that he kept calling her the Ice Queen irritated me the most for some reason. “Her name’s Taylor.”

“Oh, I guess you two are on a first-name basis now that you’re so close, huh?” he said with a wink. “Anything else you want to tell me about her?”

There was a loud bang as someone slammed a locker shut. Aaron glanced past me and froze. His eyes grew wider with each second. I followed his gaze and saw Taylor standing behind us with crossed arms and a huge scowl on her face. Perfect.

With a cough, he bounced upright with the agility of a bullfrog just as the bell rang. He shook his head until his dark hair covered his eyes, shielding himself from her wrath. For a big guy, Aaron was always uncomfortable around angry women. And the one in front of us was so pissed, I wouldn’t be surprised if her ears started steaming. “Er, I’ll leave you two alone. I’ll see you in PE, Evan.”

I nodded, although I couldn’t help feeling as though he were ditching me at my own execution. The traitor. I crouched down to shut his locker for him.

When Aaron followed the moving crowd and turned the corner, Taylor shoved my right shoulder. Hard. My left hand shot back to hit the ground so I wouldn’t fall on my ass. “Hey! What was that for?”

She glanced around, but the hall was already more than half empty. The few people who lingered were slowly moving away, already pulling out their phones to text about our sweet encounter. “Why didn’t you say anything? Now he really thinks something happened between us,” she hissed.

I stared up at the bumpy white ceiling. Damn, this really wasn’t my day. “I tried. You could see that he doesn’t believe me.”

She snorted and rolled her eyes upward. “It didn’t look like you were trying that hard. I guess you can’t help it. With your reputation, no wonder nobody believes anything you say.”

Being called a liar was one of the less offensive things anyone could call me. Hell, it was more like a fact.

When it was obvious that Taylor wasn’t going to leave anytime soon, I sighed and plopped on the ground to get comfortable. I leaned against Aaron’s closed locker, one leg pulled up against my chest, and crossed my arms around my left knee. “Probably. So tell me again, how many people believed you when you told them what happened?” I asked with a raised eyebrow, already knowing the answer.

Her mouth opened and closed, but nothing came out. Instead she chewed on her lower lip and turned away. “Never mind. Sorry, you’re right.” She rubbed both sides of her forehead. “It’s been a really long day. Not to mention I have to get a new phone now because I lost—”