One Week of Summer Read Free Page B

as far as his stomach before it resumed its unhurried pace.
    His abs were the kind which graced the covers of fitness magazines; they were lean and toned and they made my pulse jump unexpectedly. 
    His hands rested just below his waist, pushing down the band on the top of his shorts and exposing the rigid line of his hip bone.
    Sexy.
    Never before had I understood the meaning of the word so completely.
    A slow, creeping heat carried up my own body as I examined his.
    The balls of my feet tingled.  Goosebumps rose on my legs, clashing distinctly with the warmth between them.
    Oh! The little gasp in my mind very nearly escaped from my mouth too.
    The man lifted one of his hands off his hip, and my eyes followed it up as it found its way to his mess of sandy-blonde hair.  I watched it give his locks a yank, then finally, I turned my attention to his face.
    And I froze.
    He wasn’t a stranger at all.
    His chiseled jaw.  His amber-flecked eyes.  His curved lips.
    I’d seen them before.  Yearbook photos.  Halls of fame.  I knew him because everybody knew him.
    Theodore Kimball Marcus.
    The guy who saved me was Teekay M., the playboy, swim-star drop-out who once owned the keys to the kingdom that was my high school.
    And my knees threatened to give way once more.
     

2)
     
    “Whoa, whoa!” He grabbed my arm and held me up as he made the exclamation.
    His hand seared an invisible imprint into my skin and I started to shake.
    “I have to go,” I gasped.
    “Go where?”
    “Home.”
    “You live close?”
    I opened my mouth to answer, then closed it again as I realized there was no recognition on Teekay’s face.  None whatsoever.
    Of course he doesn’t know you, I chastised myself. The guy whom everyone knows doesn’t need to know everyone in return.
    And really, why would he?  We’d had no overlap at the school.  I’d transferred to Collingwood High the year after he’d left.  I’d still been wrapped up in my father’s death and by the time I caught up to who Teekay was, he was more like a legend than a real person.  Because that’s the way high school is.  Bright or dark, it burns out quickly. 
    And, I reminded myself, as bright as Teekay was – as dark as I was – that part of our lives was over.
    He seemed very real now, though.
    I let out a little breath. “Yes. No. For now, yes.”
    A little smile touched one corner of his mouth. “Are you being deliberately evasive? Or are you going for sexy and mysterious?”
    My cheeks warmed up. “Neither.”
    “You sure about that, darlin’?”
    There was that endearment again, spoken in the slightest bit of a deliberate drawl.  It made the heat spread from my cheeks to the rest of my face and I stumbled over my reply. 
    “No. Yes, I mean. I should go. Really.”
    “I don’t think so.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I mean…going anywhere alone seems like a bad choice. And while I’m all for bad choices in my own life, when it comes to pretty girls like you…” He raised an eyebrow.
    My eyes widened. And this time, my silence was pure speechlessness.
    He was flirting with me.
    I was almost sure of it.
    And for the life of me, I had no idea why.
    “What’s your name?” he asked.
    “M-m-maggie,” I stammered.
    “Hi, Maggie. I’m Teekay.”
    I bit down on my lip to keep from saying that I already knew.  He wasn’t done speaking anyway.
    “Let me ask you something, Maggie. Did you do something to upset Kirby and the rest of the fuck-wad foursome?”
    I shook my head. “No.”
    “No,” Teekay repeated. “Now let me tell you something, Maggie. It’s not going to take long for Delia and Ennia to figure out that I lied to them and that their dad has no interest in where they are or what they’re up to. They’re going to be mad and they’re not going to be able to take it out on me. Who do you think they’re going to look for?”
    He was right.  They’d seek me out.  It wouldn’t be the first time I was ambushed by a group of