TALIA'S POV He raised his brow, looking confused like he was trying to process everything before saying, “What’s there about New York to talk about?”I was stupid, really stupid, no doubt about that. I didn’t want to talk about New York. Honestly, I had decided to bury that memory so deep it would never have a reason to come back up again.“Hmmm,” I trailed off, trying to find the right words. I was dumb, and I can admit that. The real problem is that whenever Maxton mentions that girl Aaliyah, my brain goes crazy. I get so jealous that I start blurting out the most unnecessary stuff just to fill the silence. “I don’t know, I was thinking maybe we could just talk about it and maybe I could apologize for…”“There’s nothing to talk about concerning New York,” Maxton said casually, turning his attention back to his phone as he scrolled through it. “You already said it yourself. Whatever happened in New York was just temporary fun, and you were right.” He paused, then looked up
TALIA'S POVI cleared my throat as I sat down next to Maxton, trying so hard to stop my mind from wandering, but like a shameless tease, I couldn’t help noticing a few things.His biceps were right there in front of me, muscles flexing with every small move. The veins running down his arms sent my thoughts spinning, dragging me back to the filthy nights we had in New York.“So, where do we start?” he asked, snapping me out of the dirty thoughts trying to take over my head. “What part don’t you get?” he asked again. I blinked quickly and said,“This.” I flipped my textbook to the chapter and said, “I have been having trouble with this.” He nodded and took the book from my hand.“Well, this is easy,” he said, writing a few notes down. But instead of focusing on what he wrote, all I could think about was his scent; warm, addictive, and so close it made it hard to think straight.His hair, his face, God, he looked even hotter when he was focused. And those biceps, those damn biceps, they
TALIA'S POV “Break into Steve’s house tonight,” I muttered as I checked my wristwatch. I had just gotten home and it was only 7 pm.This was risky, but Kyle said it was our only shot at finding out a thing or two about Steve.He said Steve keeps a computer in his room and gets extra cranky when anyone touches it, which made Kyle think he’s hiding something. If I could get my hands on that computer, I might finally get some answers.My heart raced. I already imagine the layout; the back window, the porch light, Kyle's flashlight, the code he would try, and the smell of Steve's cologne that always lingered. I rubbed my palms and counted steps. There was no turning back.Kyle also said tonight was perfect, Steve won’t be home. He plans to crash at one of his flings’ places, so it will be easier to break in.“Maxton,” I muttered under my breath, suddenly remembering I had an appointment with him. The break-in was set for around 12 a.m. and Maxton had said he would tutor me
TALIA'S POV“So, what’s the update? Did you talk to Emily?” Deej asked as I walked down the hallway. She popped up beside me out of nowhere.I stopped in my tracks and looked at her. She made a face and said, “Judging from your expression, I am guessing you did, and it didn’t go well.” I just nodded and kept walking while she sighed and scratched the back of her head.“I heard Maxton got suspended after fighting with the football team. He didn’t want the whole hockey team punished, so he took the blame for everything,” she said, and I nodded again as we walked.I let out a sigh and said, “The final exams are coming up soon, and we can finally get out of this dump called school and move on to something better.” I paused before adding, “but that Steve guy still has to go down. Did you know he and Zeke used to be best friends?”Deej looked at me, confused. “They were?” she asked, tilting her head to the side. “I mean, they were on the same football team, but I didn’t know the
Talia's Pov“I am not afraid of you, Steve. I am not,” I said with my head held high as I glared at him, refusing to let myself be intimidated by his tactics.He let out a small smile as if my words were amusing, stepped back a little and then added, “let’s see how long it takes before that little confidence of yours breaks into pieces.” He walked out of the classroom leaving me alone in there. I let out a sigh, my eyes traveling to piles of dirty undies on my table. I grimaced, trying hard to control myself from gagging. I picked them up by the tips of my fingers, walked towards the empty trash can and dumped them. Everyone laughed, but I ignored them. I went back to my seat, settled down, whipped out my phone and plugged my headphones in, blasting the music at full volume, a desperate attempt to get rid of my classmate's derogatory comments and annoyingly painful laughter.Two classes later, I was heading to the library in search of the devil herself; “Emily”. If she wasn’t in the
TALIA'S POV“What?” Maxton asked, staring directly at me. For a moment, it looked like he was trying to process what I had just said. He tilted his head slightly to the side, studying me with that intense gaze of his.Fuck, fuck, fuck! Why did I say that? That was definitely not the right thing to say. I scratched my head awkwardly, trying to recover.“Uhmm” was all that came out of my mouth. Great. Just great. I should have stayed in my room, maybe studied a bit before bed but no, I had to walk right into this mess and embarrass myself in front of Maxton.I had only stepped out to check if he was okay, even though I knew I probably shouldn’t have. I had just reached his door when he came out and said he was heading to Aaliyah’s.And of course, hearing Aaliyah’s name sparked that stupid jealousy I didn’t even know I was holding in. It was ridiculous.Her name was like a time bomb, it made me do the most ridiculous things imaginable. At that point, I felt like I was losing my mind, com