Puck'd

Chapter 6

Marlowe

"Lowe, are you even listening to me?"

I close my locker and turn to face Hadley.  "Honestly? Not really. Natalie is not going to get my spot on the pyramid. I stopped listening to you as soon as you said it might happen."

I pick up my backpack from the ground and throw a strap over my shoulder, then step around her to show her that I'm done talking about it.

In reality, I stopped listening to her because my mind had slipped away to thinking about this past weekend. I couldn't get Jonah and the kiss at the party out of my head.

I never thought much about Chris when we had pretended to date and my thoughts about Damien had only made me feel shame, nerves and nausea. And okay, thinking about Jonah kind of gives me feelings of nerves and nausea too but it's a different sort of kind. I don't dread the idea of him getting into my space again.

I crave it.

And yet, when I dropped him off at Aunt Alice's and he leaned toward me, I panicked. I turned my face away and gave him a quick hug and then promptly explained, "Guess I'll see you Tuesday. Bye Puck!"

He hesitated for a moment, searching my face with a slightly confused expression, then he grinned at me and nodded his head. "Yeah, I'll see you then, MJ. Looking forward to it."

He got out of the car and walked backwards toward the house, smiling and waving at me while I drove off like the scaredy cat I was.

And I don't even know what I'm scared of!

It felt incredible when he kissed me, and the way he slowly backed me into the door and pressed into me was just enough to get my heart racing without making me worried that he was going to turn into someone like Damien. And the way he had been concerned about Ronnie being too drunk...

He is so sweet, so sexy, so caring.

Which I guess answers my question about what I'm so scared of because, in the end, he is still a hockey player. And hockey always comes first to hockey players.

Which is fine, really. I get it. Not necessarily the hockey part, but I put everything I have in me towards getting a scholarship. I work hard to get excellent grades, I'm an important member of the cheer team, and this year, I'm thinking of running for class president.

So it shouldn't—it doesn't matter that Jonah might as well be a prince charming in a fairy tale. That's just my teenage hormones lapping up the attention. There's no harm in that. We both know this agreement of ours isn't going anywhere important. So as much as I'm looking forward to seeing him again, I know it doesn't actually matter. I could go through this whole first week without—

My train of thought is interrupted when two large hands gently clap down on my shoulders. I turn my head to look behind me, ready to give whatever jock has his hands on me a piece of my mind, and am met with the smiling eyes of Jonah McCallum.

"Hi," he greets me with a wide smile. "I found you," he explains cheerfully, "I was worried I'd go through the day without getting my eyes on you again."

"Awww," Hadley gushes and nudges my side with her elbow.

"Hey Hadley," Puck greets her with a friendly smile. "You mind if I steal MJ from you for the morning? I was going to see if she had time to show me to my first class."

"You should have gotten a package that includes a diagram of the school," I mutter, even as Hadley eagerly shakes her head.

"I don't mind at all, Puck. I'm sure Lowe... Did you just call her MJ?"