Getting to Her: A Sapphire Falls BONUS Novella Read Free

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