Mom sighs. “If you need anything at all, call me.”
“Mom, I’ll be fine. Trust me.”
She’s always been overprotective of me. Probably because it’s only her and me.
Giving her a reassuring smile, I hop out of the car and shut the door behind me, and then I walk up to the school doors.
I immediately scan the crowds of people, looking for Charlotte, my best friend.
There.
I bolt up the stairs and reach for the door handle, but before I grab it, it slams open, knocking me backward off the top of the stairs.
My hair rushes forward from my fall, and I brace for impact.
But the pain never comes. Strong arms catch me, one arm under mine and the other under my knees. My body freezes midair.
I exhale sharply at the impact. And when I glance up, embarrassment hits me all over again.
The most gorgeous golden-hazel eyes peer down at me, and luscious, full lips open and laugh. And holy shit, Alec Kostelecky is carrying me right now.
“Are you okay?” He smiles, and my stomach flutters.
Everyone knows who Alec is, our town’s shining hockey star, destined for the NHL. He is all every girl talks about.
And right now, he is holding me in his arms.
I nod my head, maybe a little too violently. “Yes. Thank you.”
He smiles again, which damn near gives me a heart attack. He adjusts me in his arms before saying, “I’m Alec. And you are?”
Instead of saying my name, I say the first word that comes to mind, “Clumsy.”
My cheeks redden even more.
His smile fills out, revealing the cutest dimple in his left cheek. “Just Clumsy? No last name?”
His finger twitches, and it dawns on me that he is still holding me in his arms in front of our school. I wiggle a bit to signal him to put me down, but he doesn’t let go. Instead, he tightens his grip.
“You can put me down, you know?” I glance to the ground, my heart hammering in my chest.
He laughs, and I feel it reverberate through his body and into mine. “I know. Maybe I just don’t want to yet.”
My chest tingles with his words. “You don’t even know me. Yet you’re just going to stand here and hold me?” I laugh.
Before I know it, he’s moving, heading to the double-door entrance to our school. Someone opens the door for us, and Alec walks right through it with me in his arms.
Everyone stares at us as we pass them, every single girl and almost every guy.
Alec finally speaks when we walk into the main hallway by the office. “Where’s your first class?”
I all but laugh in his face, but then his hazel eyes glance down to my blue ones, and laughing is the furthest thought from my mind. “English 101 with Effertz. Room 110.”
His dimple makes an appearance again as he picks up his pace and turns down a new hallway. “I happen to know just where that is. Because it’s my first class too.”
What in the hell is happening?
Alec slows to a stop and just stands there, looking into my eyes. His fingers loosen their hold as he lowers me to the ground. “This is our stop.”
I avoid meeting the eyes of the students who I’m sure are all looking our way. Alec gestures for me to walk past him into the room. I step forward and am a little shocked when I see the desks. In place of the traditional desks are tables that sit two.
I veer left and stop at the first table, expecting Alec to find a seat at the back of the class. But when I pull one of the chairs out, Alec pulls out the other.
Oh, this is not going to end well.
When I settle into my seat, Alec leans over—too close—making goose bumps spread their way from my ear down my neck. “So, Clumsy, what’s your real name?”
I stick my hand out, and when he takes it, I swear I feel a shock.
“I’m Laura. Laura Young.”
