Getting to Her: A Sapphire Falls BONUS Novella (2 page)

He pulled another bale closer to the truck’s tailgate and then heaved it into the bed. God, he’d rather be running. “It was fine. I was just screwing around.”

“With
Hailey
?” Tucker asked. “You’ve got balls. You’re lucky
she
wasn’t the one to punch you.”

Ty couldn’t help but grin at that. He’d love to see Hailey that riled up. He knew that if he could get her
that
mad, it would mean something. Emotion. Reaction. That’s what he wanted. She wasn’t immune to him completely. For one, he saw the look in her eyes when he told her she looked beautiful or when he said she’d nailed her solo in the school musical. For another, he’d been lip to lip with her that afternoon. There had been nothing one-sided about that kiss.

An intense wave of
hell yeah
swept through him.

He’d like to say that she would never think of punching him, that she liked him too much. But he wasn’t sure that was true. She liked him. But she might punch him if it served her purposes. One thing he knew for certain—Hailey Conner had every intention of staying on top, in charge and unruffled.

Which made him want to ruffle her all the more.

“Don’t worry about me and Hailey,” he told his brothers. “We’re fine.”

“You’re playing with fire there,” Travis said with a chuckle.

“I think you mean ice,” Tucker said. “Even the guys who’ve dated her say she’s always cool. If you know what I mean.”

Ty dropped the bale he held and had Tucker up against the side of TJ’s truck in the blink of an eye. “Don’t talk about her like that.”

Tucker’s eyes widened, not in intimidation, but rather total surprise.

“Knock that shit off,” TJ said.

Travis pulled Ty back. “Jesus, Ty.”

“You actually like her,” Tucker said. “How’d that happen?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ty asked, glaring at his brother.

“You hardly know her. Right? I mean, you haven’t hung out with her. You haven’t…” Tucker trailed off and he narrowed his eyes. “You haven’t hooked up with her, have you?”

Ty felt his frown deepen. “That’s such a stretch of the imagination?” he asked, regretting it immediately. It made it sound as if that was the only way a guy would like Hailey, and it also clued-in his brothers that he might want more from her than a little flirtation to drive her boyfriend nuts.

“Well,” Tucker said, watching Ty carefully. “From what I hear from the other guys who have, you might want to grab some mittens or a scarf before you go in.”

Ty got to Tucker before Travis got to Ty. He shoved Tucker against the truck again. “Shut your fucking mouth.”

Tucker looked far too interested and not nearly scared enough, even with Ty’s forearm across his chest, keeping him against the hot metal behind him.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Tuck said, shaking his head.

Travis pulled Ty off, shoving him back hard. “What’s your problem today?”

“I don’t like what’s coming out of Tucker’s mouth,” Ty said.

“Well, that’s not exactly brand-new,” Travis said dryly.

“I don’t like what’s coming out of yours, either,” Tuck said, rubbing his chest absently where Ty had pinned him. “Fuck, you have a real thing for Hailey? Of all the girls in this town? Of all the girls who think you’re so cute and sweet and whatever?” Tucker rolled his eyes. “Why her? Why do you care?”

“You’re being an asshole,” Ty said. “No matter who the girl is, you’re talking about stuff you don’t know.”

Tucker nodded. “Okay, true enough. But I’ve got friends who—”

Ty lunged but Travis caught him this time. “Enough!” He looked at Tucker. “Jesus. Why are you picking this fight? You never talk like that.”

“I’m just testing Ty,” Tucker said, narrowing his eyes. “Wanted to see how deep in he is.”

TJ jumped out of the back of the truck. “I’m surrounded by idiots,” he muttered. He clapped his gloved hands together. “Okay. Tucker, shut the fuck up. Even if Ty is messed up over Hailey, you don’t even joke about girls like that. Travis, let go of Ty. If Tucker’s going to run his mouth, he deserves to have Ty in his face. Ty, if you want her, go get her. But don’t antagonize her boyfriend or your brother over it. Now everybody get back to work.”

They did, but Ty felt tense and surly as he and Tucker headed to the east pasture to clear out some dead bushes and brush. He wasn’t tense because of Tucker. He and Tuck were fine. He should have expected his brother to say something and Tucker absolutely had expected Ty to shove him around for it.

His tension was because of what TJ had said.

If you want her, go get her
.

As if it was that easy.

If only.

Or was it?

He knew that he was getting to her slowly. She was thinking about him, no doubt. She anticipated their little meetings in the hallway, he knew. She lingered by her locker more often now than she used to and she didn’t surround herself with her minions all the time. It was like she was giving him chances to talk to her.

He threw the dry, brittle brush on the pile for burning while in the back of his mind was the niggling thought
I don’t want it to be easy
.

Hailey Conner was gorgeous. Ty had done a lot of kissing and making out, but he hadn’t had sex yet. Not for lack of opportunity or knowledge. None of his brothers were saints. Ty knew all about women and sex. He’d heard the talk, seen magazines, seen movies. And he’d done…a lot. He’d had a hand job, a blow job, he’d gotten a girl off. But he hadn’t actually had sex. So, he wanted Hailey, there was no question. But part of the flirtation was that he knew she was going to keep saying no for a while. She was a challenge—just how Ty liked it. He didn’t like anything that came to him too easily.

And he had some practicing to do before he got Hailey naked.

He knew it would happen. Eventually. But he fully intended to wow her when the time came.

As expected, Sapphire Falls won the big game. As expected, Mark was the star. Hailey sat on the end of the bleachers, waiting for him to get done in the locker room. Other fans still milled around, including parents and other girlfriends. But Hailey sat alone. And pretended she didn’t care.

She noticed Ty Bennett across the gym and smiled before she caught herself. Ty was one of the few athletic guys in Sapphire Falls who didn’t play basketball. Not because he wasn’t good but because he didn’t do team sports. Ty liked to be in the spotlight, so he excelled at sports where he could take all the glory for himself. He was a cross-country and track-and-field star already, having gone to State in his events as a freshman.

She watched Ty as he talked to Megan Baker. Correction, he was flirting with Megan Baker. Hailey wasn’t sure that he was necessarily doing it on purpose. Ty couldn’t really help flirting. Maybe they were just talking. Just because he was grinning at her and had just said something to make her laugh didn’t mean they were flirting. Ty was a funny guy. And Megan was really pretty. She had dark curly hair and a quick smile. She was short and curvy. Bubbly. Friendly. The complete opposite of Hailey.

Hailey frowned.

Then Ty reached up and tucked Megan’s hair behind her ear.

Hailey sat up straighter. Now
that
was flirting. What was he doing flirting with a girl the complete opposite of Hailey?

The door to the locker room banged open and Hailey’s attention was pulled to the cluster of basketball players that spilled out, laughing and shouting, clearly still high on their win. She smiled and stood as she saw Mark. He looked at her across the gym and raised a hand. She waved back.

Okay, Mark was a big basketball star. He was one of the best-looking guys in school. He was a senior, on his way to play basketball in college next year, and he was a great kisser.

Her gaze skittered to Ty again.

Dammit. Why did he have to kiss her? No, why did he have to be
good
at it? The kiss would have been okay if it had sucked, if it had made her recoil. But no. She’d wanted to pull him even closer and press up against him. And worse—way, way worse—she’d sensed that he’d been holding back. That he’d wanted to push her against the wall, and take over the kiss.

She wasn’t sure how she knew that—or if it was even true. He was a sophomore. Fifteen years old. Sure, he’d dated a couple of girls, but they were young too. There was no way Ty would be the aggressor in a relationship with Hailey. She was older, more experienced. Even with the guys her age, she called the shots. She was intimidating—on purpose—and that meant she got to be in charge. A guy wouldn’t dare start things with her and think
he
was going to boss
her
around.

Just the way she liked it.

She liked having control. That meant she was the one who got to say yes or no. Of course, anyone in any relationship should get to say yes or no. But it was even more important in her relationships that she feel in control. At school, she was the queen. In charge. Fully capable in the eyes of her subjects.

Because at home, she had no control.

Her stepmother ran everything and constantly pointed out, to Hailey and to her father, that Hailey wasn’t capable of anything important. Angela put Hailey down in every way, from how she wore her hair to the way she’d organized the Student Council cakewalk at halftime during this very basketball game.

Hailey could do nothing right in the eyes of her father and stepmother, so at school, she worked exceedingly hard to do
everything
right—or, at least, to convince everyone she was doing everything right.

A cool, bitchy, I’m-better-than-you vibe was a huge part of that.

That same vibe would have likely kept most guys away. But she was also tall, thin, and blond with great boobs.

And guys were simple.

Their love of boobs overrode their dislike of bitchy every time.

Her frosty attitude simply kept those guys from thinking they were in charge in any way.

But Ty…he was different. Not only did he keep doing things she told him not to—notes and Hershey’s Kisses in her locker, flirtatious winks in the hallways, compliments whenever they were together—but he seemed amused by her holier-than-thou attitude rather than intimidated.

Which made him very attractive to her.

And also meant that she couldn’t let him too close.

If she couldn’t boss him around as the Ice Queen from afar, how could she ever convince him that she was capable and confident up close?

Most guys didn’t care enough to delve deep. They didn’t notice her moments of vulnerability before she covered them. They didn’t ask questions about her stepmother. They didn’t sense changes in her voice when they were on the phone and things were tense at home.

She had the strange feeling that Ty would.

Or maybe it was just that she
wanted
to be close to Ty, to show him the insecure, imperfect side of her and have him assure her that she was amazing and beautiful and everything he wanted anyway.

Because Ty was two things no other guy had been with her—persistent and romantic.

She wasn’t a sexual virgin, but she was an in-love virgin.

Ty made her think about things like that.

Which made him very dangerous.

“Hailey.”

She turned back to the pack of basketball players and, at the front, Mark.

“Hi.” She slipped off the bleachers and gave him a big smile. They’d go out and grab some pizza or they’d go back to his house and watch a movie and she’d forget all about Ty. And Ty flirting with Megan. And Ty flirting with
her
. And that she was a little jealous of Ty flirting with Megan.

“Hey, we’re gonna go celebrate the win.” Mark gave her a big grin.

But Mark’s grin didn’t make her tingly like Ty’s smiles did.

Dammit.

“Okay, I’m ready to go,” she said, pulling the thin strap of her purse onto her shoulder.

“Oh.” Mark glanced at the guys. “Actually, we were just gonna make it the team tonight. Bonding. You know.”

Hailey glanced at the other guys, but none of them met her gaze directly.

Uh-huh. Intimidated. Enough to not want her around for pizza.

It occurred to her that she and Mark spent a lot of time alone. She’d always liked that. If she spent too much time with the other students, they might start to see that she wasn’t so badass after all. And the illusion of badassery was the key to her success. She kept them at arm’s length and convinced them she was great at everything and she took down anyone who dared question her right to be in charge.

She had two girlfriends who were her right and left hands when it came to maintaining the illusion. But they were more like henchmen than friends. They didn’t get close either and were content to bask in the spotlight around Hailey. She didn’t have them over to the house because Angela loved nothing more than an audience to point out Hailey’s shortcomings to, especially if that audience was under the impression Hailey was good at something. She didn’t hang out at
their
houses because she might be tempted to start taking about herself and spill some secrets. They only hung out in public, the diner or the Stop—the pizza and ice cream shop/ gas station—or the pool or at river parties.