A couple of songs into their set, Lowe sang about “being lost in the shallows” and as soon as the lyrics were out of his mouth, my gaze instantly flicked to Jake.
My breath got caught in a painful ball in my throat as my eyes met his.
He wasn’t watching the band. He was watching me.
I shuttered my gaze, ignoring the rushing of blood in my ears, and turned back to concentrate on the band. I couldn’t, though. Not even Lowe’s hot voice could distract me from Jake and the memory of us.
I squirmed uncomfortably for the rest of the set, almost grateful when Lowe murmured into the mic, “You’ve been listening to The Stolen. Thanks, and have a good night.” He smiled over at me as the crowd erupted into applause and whistles, and I smiled back, almost begging him with that look to come over and once again take my mind off Jake Caplin.
Chapter Six
“So,” Mrs. Tate, our English teacher, switched off the television. “Now that you’ve all supposedly read the book and we’ve watched the film, I can ask what you think. We’ve not got a lot of time left, so just briefly. First thoughts?”
I looked around, waiting for a classmate to let their opinion be known. Most of the guys appeared to have fallen asleep watching the movie. Except Jake. I caught his eye as I turned my head to the right. He’d asked Nikki Wells to move from the seat across from me in the next aisle and of course she’d said yes, grinning up at him like he was the Second Coming.
I’d been on three dates with Jake, and we hung out a lot at school. Everyone thought we were together, but I still wasn’t sure. Despite the mysterious feeling of deep connection between us, I didn’t know quite how to take it that the biggest player in our class hadn’t seen fit to kiss me yet. Friday night he’d taken me out and not made so much as a move. Now, Monday morning, I’d seen what appeared to be him flirting with a senior girl at his locker. I’d walked right by him with barely a nod.
I was starting to worry the ass**lery of Brett Thomas and his goons was getting to Jake. They still hadn’t let up, and it wasn’t just about me. Jake’s dad, Logan, had caused some controversy opening up his law firm and poaching clients from Ed Brackett—Brett’s uncle. Ed was a fairly quiet and reserved guy, the complete opposite of his brother-in-law, so any difficulties Jake’s dad was having originated with Trenton Thomas. Rumor had it he was making “idle threats” to anyone who was thinking about taking their business from Ed to Logan Caplin.
Most of the time I loved Lanton, but sometimes I really hated living in such a small town.
I felt bad for Jake’s dad and I hated that Brett was being such a pain in Jake’s ass, but that didn’t excuse him from befuddling the hell out of me, so when Jake winked at me, I raised one very unimpressed eyebrow.
“Charlotte?” Mrs. Tate’s dry tone brought my gaze to her. She looked pointedly at Jake and then back to me. “Any thoughts?”
How about … you’ve known me my whole life so why do you never call me Charley?
“Well?”
I sighed and leaned back in my chair. “Honestly, I found the whole thing a little angst-ridden for my liking.”
My classmates tittered and Mrs. Tate frowned. “You found Jane Austen angst-ridden?”
Apparently Tate thought I was wrong. Oh, well. “There are a lot of misunderstandings that could’ve been cleared up if they’d just talked to one another. The whole thing with Edward and Elinor was exhausting. If he’d just admitted he loved her and broke off his stupid secret engagement to whatshername, Elinor wouldn’t have had to go through all the emotional crap she went through. I mean, she’s very gracious and all, but she spent a good part of that novel pining for a man and she didn’t even know if he felt the same way about her. Edward was a nice guy, but he needed a swift kick to the behind.”
Mrs. Tate crossed her arms, unimpressed. “Charlotte, we’re talking about an entirely different time period, culture, and class system. I think the situation is a lot more complicated than that.”
Okay, so maybe I was projecting.
The bell rang before I could respond and chairs immediately scraped back as the students hurried to get the hell out.
I was stuffing my books in my bag when a shadow fell over my desk. Glancing up sharply, my eyes met Jake’s determined gaze. “What is it?” I frowned, recognizing mischief there. “What are you doing?”
“Clearing up an obvious misunderstanding.”
“What are—”
I didn’t even get the rest of the question out before Jake pulled me up out of my seat, wrapped a tight hand around my nape, and crushed my mouth beneath his.
Shock soon gave way to sheer delight as his talented mouth moved over mine. I sighed and his tongue slipped past my lips and tangled gently with mine. My fingers curled around his T-shirt as the taste and smell of him overwhelmed me. My skin was hot from the deep, wet kiss, and my body screamed “wow!”
Who knew a kiss could be like that?
The whooping and whistling finally wrenched me out of my fog and I remembered with burning cheeks that there were still kids in the classroom. I pushed gently against Jake and he released me, our faces close as we fought to catch our breath. He squeezed my neck again and grinned at me. “Epic.”
I laughed, embarrassed but thrilled. He didn’t need to know that though. “Cheesy.”
“Epic.”
“Okay, that’s enough.” Mrs. Tate came into my eyeline and I flushed harder. “Jake, let Charley go.”
I blinked at her use of my nickname but as Jake moved away, I saw that he had caused a miracle. Mrs. Tate was fighting a smile. She thought he was charming.
With no more show, the students slowly filtered out of the class. Jake pulled on his backpack and held out a hand to me, a cocky smile wide across his face. “Coming?”
I took his hand.
“Jacob, if you kiss another student in my class again, I will give you detention,” Mrs. Tate warned softly, her lips curled up at the corner.
Jake pulled me closer as we walked by her. “Won’t happen again, Mrs. T.”
Mrs. T? It was decided. Jacob Caplin could probably get away with murder.
Out in the hall, I could see news had traveled fast about Jake’s little classroom exhibition. All eyes were on us as he walked me to my locker. Before I could open it, Jake maneuvered me so I had my back to it and he leaned into me, his arms above my head, caging me in.
“So our first kiss was very, very public,” I murmured, unable to tear my eyes from his warm ones.