Romance: Young Adult Romance: The Perfect Game (A Highschool Football Romance) (Bad Boy Nerd New Adult Romance) (3 page)

Chapter Four

It wasn’t until after her last class that she heard back from him. He apologized for not responding right away. His cell phone was off during the morning because he had forgotten to charge it the night before and he’d been busy with his grandmother while it was plugged in. His afternoon classes were
over,
and he was ready to do some research with her.

She felt a flood of relief when she got his text and realized that
she
was thinking about him way more than she expected. She bit her bottom lip while responding to him. Bree, sitting next to her in class, noticed.

She leaned over and whispered, “Class is almost over, lover girl. Can’t that wait?”

Rachel
looked
at her through narrowed eyes but couldn’t help giggling. “Exactly what is that supposed to mean?”

Bree raised her eyebrows. “You two. We could tell last night something was brewing with you guys. I’m so glad you made up.”

Rachel giggled again. “I’m glad he took my apology with such grace. He’s
a nice guy
.”

“And smart, too. You can find them on the football field too, you know.”

“So I’ve noticed.”

“So are you going to meet with him later?”

“I plan on it. We’ll probably meet in the library and use the computers there.”

“You can use mine at the apartment if you want.”

“Yeah?”

“Sure.”

Rachel nodded. “I think I’ll meet him at the library first. There might be some research that requires looking in actual books.”

“No way.”

They both laughed.

“
Yes,
way. I want to look up a few things that I read in last month’s classes.”

“Surely you can find anything you want
online,
” Bree said just as the bell rang out for the end of the period. Both girls
shoved
their tablets, pens and worksheets in their backpacks and stood up.

Rachel shook her head.
“No, actually, some research is harder to do online because there are so many websites out there, and some information is bogus.”

“That’s true.”

“I know what books I want to look in. I’d probably have to pay to access them online.”

“Another good point. So will I see you at the apartment later then?”

“Sure.”

Bree smiled. “On second thought, let me just see what I can find to do. Give you guys some
…
quiet time
…
to study.”

They both laughed again and filed out of the classroom with the rest of the students.

“So I thought what we’d do…” Rachel dropped her bag on the floor next to the chair and looked up at Dallas. “Is search for a
couple of
books we can use, make some copies, put them on some poster board and use a laser pointer or a long pointer to explain what the phrases and terms mean.”

“That sounds good.” Dallas nodded, dropping his bag next to hers. “But they’re not all words that describe body parts and stuff. What do we do about the other words?”

“Like which one?” Rachel had her worksheet out in front of her, scanning the words they needed to use. “And do we have to do all of them?”

“I think so. I don’t know why Mr. Flynn would give us a list and then not have us do some of them. Besides, doesn’t it say something at the top of the list?” He came around to stand behind her and gazed down at the list over her shoulder. She was completely aware that he had moved so
close
to
her,
and her heart began to pound. She was afraid she was
blushing,
and the thought made her cheeks burn even more. She kept her head down so he couldn’t see. When he reached around to point at the writing at the top of her page, she thought she might faint.

“Look, it says we are to make visual references
and/or
display models of all pertinent words. What the heck is that supposed to mean? We have to decide which ones are the
pertinent
words?”

Rachel regained her composure to look at what he was
talking about
. She scanned the page. “I think he means these. See the asterisk next to these? They are the ones we make visual references about.”

“How can you tell?”

She turned her face up to
respond,
and they were close enough to kiss. He didn’t move back. Her breath caught in her throat. Her eyes moved from his eyes to his lips and
back
up to his eyes. “It’s…They are the only ones that can be displayed. The others are
…
in need of definition only.”

“Ok.” He breathed the word, staring into her eyes.

She
swallowed,
and he smiled. “So where do we start, Miss Goody-two-shoes?”

She looked back down and cleared her throat. “I want you to find this book.” She grabbed her bag, pulled out a notebook and jotted down two book titles. “And that one.” She looked up at him. “You know how to find books in the library?”

Dallas tilted his head, giving her a direct look. She blushed. “I’m sorry. I did it again, didn’t I?”

He tried to hide his amusement and leaned over to take the paper from her. When he did, his arm brushed
hers,
and she felt a jolt of electricity. “You’ll learn.” He murmured, putting his lips against her ear through her long soft hair. “I’m smarter than I look.” Her hair smelled like honey and milk. He breathed it in for just a second before turning away from her.

She watched him as he walked away, his eyes lifted up and looking at the numbers and letters on the sides of the aisles. She was impressed. He was in
really good
shape. She tore her eyes away from him and looked back down
to
the list of references she’d jotted down the day before. She had two books to find also. When she found
them,
and he found his, they would check them out and go to the apartment. The thought made her heart patter and her stomach turn over with nervousness. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to be alone with him so soon. She didn’t
really
know him.

But Bree did. She would know whether he was a trustworthy guy. She wouldn’t have suggested they use the apartment and say that she would stay away to give them alone time if she didn’t think it was a good idea and that Dallas could be trusted.

At that point, Rachel wasn’t worried. There wasn’t anything Dallas could do that would offend her
anyway
. He was charming and sweet. She was kind of hoping they might get closer
anyway
.

Closer but not too close.

She smiled as she walked up and down the aisles.

The books were spread on the floor
and on
the coffee table. Dallas was sitting on the couch, leaning over one of them, a pen in one hand and the other pointing at places in the book.

“You have the anatomy layout sheet?” He asked. Rachel was sitting on the floor with two books and her tablet, also making notes. Several pieces of poster board sat to one side, waiting to
be used
. Without speaking, she reached to the side, grabbed a paper and handed it up to him. She kept her eyes on her place in the book so she wouldn’t lose it but the words blurred in her eyes when she felt his hand brush against hers. She looked up at him. He was smiling at her.

“Thanks.” He said.

She smiled back at him. “You’re welcome.”

“How’s it coming along? We gonna do some cut outs or draw the pics?”

“Are you an artist? Because I’m not.”

“I’m not that good at drawing actually.” He admitted.

“Well, I can’t draw a stick figure. We’ll use cutouts and paste them on the poster board instead.”

“Makes me feel like a kid again. Using paste and cut outs.” He laughed.

She chuckled. “Yeah, well, it hasn’t been that long since we were kids.”

“I haven’t been a kid for a long time.”

“I bet your mom and dad would disagree with you about that.”

“You’re probably right about that.”

They smiled at each other in silence for a moment. Rachel couldn’t help giggling. She looked back down at the book to hide her embarrassment.

“Let’s take a break from this. Let’s get a drink or something.”

Rachel pushed herself up from the floor immediately. “You want a Coke?”

“Love one.” He responded, sitting back on the couch, stretching his arms out over it to the sides.

She hurried to the refrigerator and pulled the door open. When she leaned over to get two bottles out, she heard a low whistle.

She turned and looked over her shoulder at him, a smile covering her lips. “Was that you?” She asked.

“I sure hope so.” He said. “
Otherwise,
you got a ghost in
here,
and I’ve got competition.”

She laughed.

She went back and sat next to him on the couch, folding her legs under her and facing him. “So tell me how your grandmother is doing.” She said, taking the cap off her drink. She took a long drink. The Coke was
cool
and refreshing as it went down.

He did the same and then responded. “She’s doing good
actually
. As good as can be expected. Every time we think she’s taking a turn for the worse, she seems to bounce back.”

“I hope you don’t mind me asking about her.”

“No, not at all. I love my grandma. But she’s ready to go. She’s small and frail. And…you’ll like this
…she
’s a Christian, so she’s always talking about God and stuff, how she’s ready to go to her home in the sky.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“I’m sure you are.”

“Does that bother you?”

“Of course not!” He gave her a surprised but amused look. “Why would it bother me?”

“Just wondering. I like my church. I like to talk about stuff like that. Sometimes it bothers people.”

He shook his head. “She’s always been that way. So I’m familiar with it. It
doesn’t bother me
at all.”

“I’d like to meet her.”

“I’ll take you there sometime this week. Can’t wait too long. She’s ready to go even if her body keeps hanging on. Once her body is set to go, she will pass. Her mind is ready.”

“I’m glad you choose to take care of her.”

He shrugged. “Somebody has to help her. My aunt Lil comes to help sometimes too. She does all that intimate stuff a guy like me can’t do. You know, grandma might be
old,
but she deserves her dignity, right?”

“Right.” Rachel nodded.

“You know, you aren’t what I expected.”

“What do you mean?”

He reached out and brushed some of her blond hair from her cheek and ran the back of two fingers under her chin. “You’re a lot more relaxed than I thought you’d be.”

She smiled. “I’m just
a normal
person. I’m not a prude, you know. I just have my standards. Morals, you might say. Values.”

He nodded. “I get it. I do, too. But I’m glad Mr. Flynn put us together. It gave me time to meet the real you, not the
…
the
prude
I saw in class.”

She gasped and slapped his arm lightly. “I said I’m not a prude!”

He laughed and shrunk away from her dramatically. “Ow! Brute!”

She threw her head back, laughing and put up her fists like she was about to fight him. “I’ll take you!” She threatened him with a smile.

He came closer and grabbed her small fists in his hands, pulling her closer to him. They were inches away from each
other,
and she pulled in a sharp breath, looking up into his eyes.

“You will?” He
said softly
. “Because I gotta be honest. I would let you.”

“Would you?” She whispered.

He moved even closer, so that when he spoke, she could feel his breath on her lips. “I would.”

The next moment, he was kissing her. She moved into his arms and wrapped hers around his neck. Electricity ran through her and took her breath away.

When he pulled away from her, they locked eyes.

“You’re beautiful.” He whispered. “And smart. And…you’re awesome, Rachel. Please. Take me. I would love to be yours.”

“Oh, Dallas. I would love to be yours, too.
We are going to do so well on this project.”

They both laughed and were kissing again moments later, the first kisses of many to come.

*****

THE END