Pierced Love Read Free Page B

I’m not sure what to think of them.
    These guys don’t even know me, there’s absolutely no reason for me to freak out or panic just because I’m in the same pizzeria.
    I can do this. This is the place where I will start to be Zar again…not the freak.
    I take a deep breath in and let it all out. Okay, I’m good.
    Taking a bite of my brick oven pizza I continue to watch the guys interact with one another.
    Some of them are wearing mesh shorts and tee shirts whereas a few of the others have on khaki shorts with school polos.
    I overhear them talking about practice and how they’re all going to kill it once the season starts in a few months. I can only assume they are basketball players; they do have the build for it.
    As I’m watching them talk and bicker amongst each another, one of the guys catches my eye. I’ve never been the type of girl to approach a guy, for obvious reasons, but one day I want to be the girl that grabs the attention of a guy.
    I continue to eat my pizza and watch the people come and go from the restaurant. A few times I look to the back and watch the guys. This one just keeps pulling my gaze to him. I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about him. I can’t put my finger on it, but something makes me want to know more.
    This is such an odd feeling for me, I rarely ever want someone else to look at me, but with him…I want him to see me.
    My phone starts to ring and I quickly dig into my bag to find it. Ugh! It’s mom again and I really don’t feel like talking about why I’m not home yet. I hit the ignore button and send her another text letting her know that I’m okay and will be home in about an hour.
    I guess I better clean up here and get back to Des Moines. I need to work through some reading for classes tomorrow and I still have a hike to get back home. Picking up my plate and cup, I walk on over to the trash and throw my stuff out.
    As I turn to head back to my table I run smack into a hard body.
    Shit!
    “Oh sorry…I wasn’t paying attention…sorry,” I stutter.
    “Hey, it’s cool. No worries, really. I kind of did creep up on you,” he says with a smile.
    Oh my god, that smile, it’s doing things to me that I’ve never felt before. The emotions coursing through my body are crazy weird. He’s not running from me or making cruel comments. In fact, his hand is still on the swell of my back and it feels good.
    “Well, thanks for not cursing me out,” I say staring into his piercing green eyes.
    “Doll, really, it’s okay.”
    “L.C., let’s go dude,” a voice says from behind us.
    I move to the side to get out of his way and walk back over to my table. Grabbing up my messenger tote, I slide in my chair and make my way to the door.
    I glance back at the hard body I just felt through every nerve of my being. He’s still looking in my direction with a smile of confusion.
    I’m embarrassed.
    I’m feeling like a klutz.
    I’m in awe of this stranger.
    I need to get the hell out of here and fast. Walking with a quick pace I make it back to my bug and hop in. Forty-two minutes I’ll be home and in the comfort of my room.
    Taking in a deep breath, I chant to myself…I can do this.
     

This year school started on a Wednesday and lucky for me, Thursday and Friday go by pretty quickly. I had to suffer through a few jabs in the back and comments made in my direction, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be for my senior year.
    It still kills me that my peers can be so cruel and hateful. The thoughts of next summer are the only things that keep me strong and sane. If I could just settle my nerves and keep my heart from bursting out of my chest, I might just be able to make it through this school year alive.
    Over the past two days my mind kept going back to the guy from the pizzeria, L.C. I still haven’t figured out why he’s sticking to me like he is, but there’s something about the way he looked at me. The thought that he could have seen