Welcome to New Haven (39 page)

Football, cricket, rugby, shorts, Alex’s shorts, no shirt, muscle, strong, sexy, ripped…’
 

Holly was getting hot right down to her lady parts.
 
She needed to get out of there or put some blinkers on at least!
 

“Holly are you ok?” asked Riss. “You’ve gone all red.”

“Yeah like you’ve been running.” Said Kayla. Dev was trying not to laugh.
 

“She’s fine.” She said. “Alex just winked at her.” What followed was “oooh” and “Awwwww” and that was that as the girls went into a boy talk frenzy and Holly couldn’t keep up. Her phone vibrated in her pocket.

A: Sorry I couldn’t resist.

H: For?

A: Winking at you.

Maybe he hadn’t meant it the way Holly had wished he had.
 
Maybe he was apologising for turning her into a hot mess.

H: No worries.
 
I heard you using
my
line again.

A: You heard me?

That confused Holly.
 
If he thought she hadn’t heard, why look at her as if her was sharing a joke?

H: Yes. Didn’t you know I did?

A: No.

H: Oh. I thought you did.

A: You think that’s why I winked at you?

H: Well…yes.

Holly looked over at Alex. He shook his head slowly and smiled.
 
Holly’s lips parted in shock.

He wanted to wink at me! And not because of our joke.
Holly felt very uncomfortable in her chair.

Alex’s jeans were getting so tight it was difficult to sit still.
 
Holly thought he winked at her because of a private joke.
 
Her face when he told he it wasn’t.
 
He wanted to kiss her so bad.
 
Every minute, every second, it was getting hard and harder to resist doing so.

She may not take kindly to me just grabbing her and feasting on her luscious lips.
Oh shit! Tighter!

Holly’s legs were tight around him. So were her arms.
 
He could feel her breasts pressing against his chest.
 

“Alex, for fuck’s sake man!” Said Kyle.
 

“What?!”
 

“Pick your chin up before somebody trips on it.”
 

“Or slips on the drool” added Ryan.
 

“Shut up.” Alex said, making the guys laugh.
 

“I’d never thought I’d see the day that Alex got hit by the love bug.” Said Kyle, shaking his head.

“What are you going to do instead?” Kayla asked when they went to Phys.Ed.
 

“I’ll have to use the gym.” Holly replied.
 

Due to the rain, Holly wouldn’t be running outside.
 
She also knew that the guys used the gym, and she was probably going to pass out if she saw Alex exercising.
 
The girls went to the pool area, and Holly went to the gym.

She plugged in her earphones into her phone and zipped it into her pocket.
 
She got onto the cross trainer and started on a steady pace to warm up.
 

Holly didn’t notice other people coming into the gym as she used the piece of equipment the furthest away and facing the window. She was in a world of her own that Alex was in too.
 
Together…on a beach…
 

Holly felt one of her earbuds come out.
 

“Hi there, friend.” Said Alex.
 

Holly jumped, lost her grip, her footing, and fell.
 

Alex’s reflexes were fast, and he caught her around the waist as she fell backwards.
 

“Whoa!” He said as he righted her but didn’t let go.
 

“Alex! You nearly gave me a heart attack!” she squealed.
 

“I didn’t mean to scare you, I’m sorry.” He said, his lips twitching as if he were holding back a smile.
 

They stared at each other for a few seconds before Holly found her vocal chords again.
 

“Um…it’s ok. I’m ok.”
 

Alex slowly removed his hands from her waist, and Holly felt the loss immediately, and wanted it back.
 

“You sure?” He asked, still looking into her eyes.
 
Holly thought she saw Alex blushing.
She
sure was.
 

“Yes…thanks.” She replied.
 

“What’s going on here?” asked Ben as he walked over.
 

“Looks cozy.” Said Kyle.
 
The guys had come to see what was going on. Plus, the gym coach didn’t like students hanging about, so they intervened before anybody was told off.
 

“I gave Holly a fright.” Said Alex.
 

“I fell.”
 

“We saw.” Ben said with a smirk.
 

Alex could hear a double meaning in Ben’s tone, but he wasn’t about to bring it up in front of Holly, or the others.
 

“I best get back to it then.” Holly said as she stepped back up onto the cross trainer.
 

Alex wouldn’t be able to see her, from where they were training, but he wouldn’t be able to workout if he could. He could still feel her on his hands, and he wanted to hold her again.
 
He felt himself make a move towards Holly when Ben steered him away.
 

“Us too.” He said to Holly as he was physically pushing Alex in the direction of the weights area.
 
Kyle was chuckling under his breath when they met up with Ryan who was already warming up.

“I see things are going well.” Said Ben when they were out of earshot of Holly.
 

“So far.”
 
Alex smiled.
 

“So you’re getting along?” asked Ryan.
 

“Yeah.
 
By text anyway.”
 

“Ah yes. ‘Verbally challenged.” Ben said and Alex just smirked.
 

“Only with Alex.” Kyle said, batting his eyes, which made Ryan and Ben laugh.
 

“Let’s just train.” Alex said as he shook his head.
 

Things
were
looking up.
 
All he needed to do now was to keep their communication up so she would feel more comfortable with him.
 
She hadn’t lost her words when he frightened her.
 
Probably because he had.
 

Alex smiled as he thought of Holly in his arms, again.

Ryan approached Holly outside the changing area after Phys.Ed.
 

“Hey, Holly. Got a minute?” He asked.
 

Alex stopped and wondered what was happening and what Ryan wanted. He was going to try to walk with Holly as they left school, but now Ryan was messing that up.

“Sure,” Holly said.
 
“Dev, I’ll see you later ok?”
 

“Yep. Four o’clock” Dev replied.
 
“Come on Alex, let’s go.”
 
Alex started to walk away.
 

“What do you think he wants?” He asked Dev.
 

“Oh probably to see whether she was still Ok after Saturday.” Dev suggested.
 

“Oh yeah, probably.”
 
Maybe Dev was right and he just wanted to make sure she was ok and she still forgave him.
 

Alex was slowly coming around, but the image of Holly under the water wouldn’t leave his mind.

Holly walked with Ryan until they were out of the way of the mass of bodies trying to exit the building.
 

“What’s up?” She asked.
 

“I wanted to ask you for your help.
 
I know it’s a bit stupid considering I almost drowned you.”
 

“Ryan, stop” she interrupted. “That wouldn’t have happened. Forgotten. Now, what do you need help with?”

“There’s a girl I like.” He said.
 

“Yeah?”
 

“I want to ask her out, but I don’t want to be just ‘hey, wanna go on a date?’ I want to make it memorable.”
 

“Do I know her?” Holly asked, trying to keep a straight face.
 

“You know you do.” He snorted.
 

“Ok. So what do you have in mind?”
 

“I want to show her that I’m not afraid to make an ass of myself.”
 

“That’s good because you have no problems any other time.”
 

“That hurts Hol.” He said with a hand on his chest.
 

“Whatever, divvie” she laughed. They chatted for a little longer before Holly had to leave. They arranged to meet up again on Friday, for free period, to finalise some details and to set everything in motion.

Chapter 14

H: Outside. Ready?

D: Yep. Just grabbing my bag.

Holly had pulled up outside Dev’s house to pick her up.
 
They were studying, and they were staying away from their houses.
 
Holly’s because the workmen were finishing up and removing their tools and her parents had guests, Dev’s because Alex was there and Holly’s nerves couldn’t take any more of his insane gorgeousness.

Dev came out of the house with Alex and Ben behind her.
 

As Holly looked towards the door, Alex stood leaning on the door frame to his right and Ben had his back leaning against the door frame to the left.
 
It was like looking at a pair of male fitness models waiting for their next shoot.
 

Alex shot her his sinful smile, dripping with his own personal brand of sexiness that hit her right where it mattered and Holly was dumbstruck again.
 

“Hi Hol, let’s go.” Dev said as she closed her door.
 

The girls waved to the boys, and they returned the gesture.

Dev beamed at Holly.
 

“So.” Dev began as she turned in her seat. “Things have gotten ‘chatty’ between you and Alex.”
 

“Only by text.” Holly replied.
 
“My spoken responses are still awkward.”
 

“That’ll come, I’m sure.” Said Dev.
 
“Now, why didn’t you want to study at your place? Alex could’ve dropped me.”
 

“My parents are having some work friends over.
 
Those things annoy me.
 
All of the ‘This is Holly, Holly this is blah blah. It’s not like I’m going to sit there and start chatting to them.”
 

“I
totally
understand.” Dev nodded her head and she started to tell Holly about the last ‘dinner’ they had with guests.
 

“Seriously, my Mom introduced a woman called Charlotte and she spent almost the entire time drooling over Alex.”
 

Holly frowned.

“Sorry, Hol.
 
She was thirty-five too.
 
My Mom mentioned that we were in high school and only just turned seventeen. I think she hoped it would deter her, but it didn’t.” Dev had her lips pursed in distaste as she told Holly the story.
 

“What happened then?” asked Holly with irritation in her voice.
 
She didn’t care that she sounded territorial over Alex. Dev knew how she felt and didn’t need to hide it.
 

“Alex and I excused ourselves.
 
Later on, we heard our Mom telling her that her behaviour towards her son was inappropriate. She told her to leave and by the sounds of it, she wanted to beat the crap out of her.”
 

“Good” Holly almost growled.
 
If anybody tried it with Alex, she’d want to beat the crap out of them too.
 

“Yeah, I know! We knew she was angry because she started to shout and curse in Spanish.
 
She was a scaaary woman!”
 

Holly liked Evie. She was so sweet and was always nice to her, always having a warm smile and a glint in her eye.
 

She so knows.
At least she wasn’t chasing me away with a bat.
 

“The workmen are removing their equipment today.” Holly told Dev.
 

“So your room’s going to be finished?”
 

“It is,
and
we didn’t pay a penny for that room to be fitted.” Holly smiled.
 

“Did you show them?” Dev asked.
 

The workmen who had been talking and elbowing each other every time they saw Holly, had gotten into trouble.
 
Holly had shown the site manager footage of their behaviour, on her tablet, whilst the guys were still there.
 
They didn’t know that there was CCTV footage of them leering at Holly and, with her being seventeen, they would get into serious trouble for it.
 

Holly and her parents had been apologised to, before Holly left to get Dev, and the construction and fitting of the room were done free of charge.
 

“So what’s going to happen to them now?” asked Dev.
 

“I don’t know, but from the look of horror on their managers’ face, I don’t think they’ll be given any work for a while.”
 

“Good”
 

Holly’s phone beeped as they pulled into the library parking lot.
 
It was Alex and Holly smiled.
 

A: Asegurarse de que mi hermana te enseña algo utilizable.

Holly showed it to Dev for a translation.
 

“It says ‘make sure my sister teaches you something usable’” Holly laughed as Dev scowled.
 

“Tell him some of the words I taught you.
 
Put them in a sentence.
 
That’ll shut him up.”