Ava

Maci barked out a laugh. "God I wish, can you imagine if all the men in this town looked like the three of them? I don't know if all the ovaries could take it."

I picked my head up off of the desk and frowned at her. "Three?"

"You haven't met Arsen yet." She sighed dreamily. I gave her a blank stare in return.

"Arsen is Jax's best friend." She explained. "And he's just as gorgeous. I mean, their whole friend group is just... ugh... but Arsen is just... ugh." I gave her a skeptical look as she threw her head back exaggeratedly. I didn't see how it was possible anyone could be on Jax's level of perfection. The girl sitting in front of us spun around.

"Are you talking about Jax?" She asked eagerly.

"Hey Kate. Yea, Ava here just met Jax and Adonis for the first time." Maci motioned to me.

"Adonis gives me the creeps." she said, shivering to make her point clear. I frowned, because I hadn't gotten that vibe from him at all. He'd seemed playful and friendly, even though I had been too mortified to really talk to him. "Did Jax give you that damned crooked smile?" She directed at me.

"Uhh..."

"Of course he did, look at you. You still have that 'deer in headlights' look."

"Umm..."

"It's okay honey," she said, flapping her hand in my direction. "You're new. You'll get your turn with him soon enough." She returned her attention to Maci as I stared at her stupidly. "Rumor has it; him, Brandy Right, and Rose Campbell have plans to have a threesome after school today."

Maci let out a thrilled little gasp.

I couldn't explain it, it shouldn't have mattered to me. I had just met the guy. But for some reason, the thought of him touching someone else made my chest ache. I swallowed the lump that had suddenly formed in my throat.

"Should you really be talking about their private business like that?" I asked quietly.

Kate turned to me with a little smile. "It's not like he was being secretive about it when he set the whole thing up with Brandy in the middle of class earlier."

I bit the inside of my cheek.

"Besides, everyone knows what a man-whore Jax is." She shrugged. I looked down at my bag as I pulled out the supplies I would need for this class. I didn't want my emotions to show on my face like they -annoyingly- so often did.

I shouldn't feel this way. He was a stranger. And I was just some new girl. I must have imagined the crazy intense connection between us earlier. I shoved the feelings down and put on a blank expression.

"So, he sleeps around a lot?" I asked, trying to seem mildly curious and unconcerned. Brandon tried to hide a snort.

"'A lot' is an understatement." He laughed. I held back a wince as my heart clenched painfully.

Honestly, what the fuck was wrong with me today? Why should I care what, or who a complete stranger sleeps with on their own free time?

"People place bets on how many girls he's going to sleep with by graduation." Kate continued.

I hummed in response, not wanting to hear anymore about him, I already felt stupid enough. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Brandon watching me curiously.

"I used to think maybe he was just lonely," Kate said, "but he's told so many people how he never wants to get tied down with just one girl. That one wouldn't be enough to satisfy him. He doesn't even use, or let girls use pet names with him. He says he doesn't want them to think it means anything more and lead them on."

I bit my lip and stared down at my text book. If she could just stop talking about him now, that'd be great.

She sighed. "But he just makes it impossible to hate him for it." I quirked an eyebrow at her. "He's just so kind and gentlemanly, and smart. Ugh, like he's the total package."

"Honestly," Maci cut in, "I'm team Arsen. He's just so... I dunno, faultless."

My curiosity got the best of me. "How so?" I asked.

She grinned at me. "First of all, he's gorgeous. And he's Jax's best friend, but his complete opposite. He doesn't date, he doesn't sleep around. Girls throw themselves at him all the time but he just politely declines. Like no girl has ever been able to really catch his eye, even if they claim they have. I think the last time he's even talked to a girl seriously was back in high school. And he's so nice! And he has this cute little, shy smile-"

"Hello class, hope everyone had a good weekend." The professor said, interrupting Maci as he entered the room. I relaxed into my seat, letting my shoulders slouch as the girls turned their focus to the front of the room. Brandon waved at me to catch my attention.

"You ok?" He mouthed at me silently. Too quickly, I nodded my head and averted my eyes back to the professor, who was handing back a test from last week.

Honestly, had I really thought I had any chance with Jax? He was way out of my league. He was probably just being friendly earlier, out of pity for the new girl.

Tears pricked the corners of my eyes and I blinked quickly, pushing them back.

Could you get jet lagged from train travel? That had to explain why I felt so stupidly emotional. I had just gotten over my period a week ago so that couldn't be it. I shook my head and opened my text book, doing my best to get Jax out of my head for the rest of the class.

I wasn't successful, and by the time the bell rang I was just annoyed.

Screw Jax. Had he used his charm on me, just to try to get on my good side, to possibly sleep with him later? Was I that gullible?

Well, I wasn't just one more conquest for him to overcome.

Screw the fact that I was in the middle of the longest dry spell I'd ever had.

And screw that just by the look of him, it'd probably be the best sex of my life.

No. I steeled myself mentally. Jax Hadley would have no more effect on me from this moment on.

Maci looped her arm through mine and Brandon fell into step behind us as she led us toward the cafeteria. They were chatting about something, but I was so lost in my thoughts that I wasn't paying attention to what they were saying.

Maci pushed open a door and led us into a stairwell, pulling her arm out of mine so we could walk down the stairs normally.

"What do you think, Ava?" Brandon asked.

"Huh?" I turned to look at him.

I immediately regretted it, as I bumped into someone, causing me to trip.

I heard Maci gasp as the uneasy sensation of falling filled my stomach. The stairs were suddenly, very quickly coming towards my face. I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for impact when an arm wrapped around my waist, catching me before I hit them.

I lost my breath as another burst of energy shot through me, much like it had when I shook Jax's hand earlier. The strangers arm had caught me right where my midriff showed, and everywhere our skin touched, it felt like sparks were dancing across my skin. When I opened my eyes, I was met with a wide pair of gorgeous hazel ones.

His hand tightened slightly, his fingertips gripping my hip more firmly, and I couldn't help the small, involuntary gasp that left my lips.

Between the overwhelming combination of the adrenaline rush from almost eating the stairs, and the crazy energy running from this mans skin into mine, I felt breathless.

After way too long of a moment of me staring at him, mouth agape, I cleared my throat and stepped backwards, out of his arm that was still lightly wrapped around my waist.

He tilted his head curiously, his mesmerizing eyes scanning me up and down as he took a step back. He was gorgeous. Tousled, medium length chocolate brown hair complimented his tanned skin tone so well, and I chastised myself for imagining what those strands would feel like running through my fingers.

Everything about him was just, perfectly... handsome. From his strong jaw, to the dark stubble that shadowed his face. His nose was slightly crooked, almost as if it had been broken at one point and didn't heal correctly. But somehow, it fit him perfectly. One little freckle sat by the corner of his mouth and I so badly wanted to reach out and touch it.

He blinked several times, and I noticed just how long and dark his eyelashes were.

"Ahem..." Tyler cleared his throat, stepping up another step to stand beside me on the landing. I took the moment to compose myself the best I could. When had he gotten here?

"Arsen, this is Ava Faulkner." Tyler said, throwing his arm over my shoulder and grinning at him. "She just transferred here from Philly."

So this was Arsen. I could see now what Maci had been talking about. His eyes narrowed at Tyler's arm slung over my shoulder before returning his gaze to me.

"Ava." He smiled, his deep voice rumbling as my name passed his lips. I shivered involuntarily, feeling the all too familiar heat climb in my cheeks.

"It's nice to meet you." He drawled, holding out his hand for me to shake. I looked down at it warily before looking back up to him. He was watching me patiently with slightly narrowed eyes, almost as if he knew exactly what I was thinking.

He bit down on his lip slightly as he grinned, a slightly hopeful look in his eyes.

Goddess, he was absolutely adorable.

I took a deep breath and clasped his hand in mine, trying not to jump when the energy shot up my arm again. I probably looked crazy, but I found that I didn't care as his grin grew into a wide smile, showing all his perfectly straight, white teeth.

Ok, so he could definitely feel it too.

I grinned at him nervously. "It's nice to meet you too, Arsen." I said lightly, trying to hide the fact that there were butterflies running rampant in my stomach right now. Arsen's pupils dilated when I spoke, just like Jax's had.

What was up with these dudes and their freaky eyes?

Arsen opened his mouth to say something just as his phone started to ring. He grunted in annoyance and he reached into his pocket for the phone. When he looked down at the screen his face fell. He glanced between me and the phone a few times, like it was an important call he couldn't miss, but he didn't want to take it.

He groaned and nodded at the four of us, his eyes lingering on me for a moment longer.

"I'm sorry, I have to take this." He said glumly, before he turned to continue walking up the stairs. "I'll see you guys later." He mumbled to us before holding the phone up to his ear.

"Oh, we are definitely going to talk about that." Maci murmured in my ear as she nudged me to continue walking.

"This had better be fuckin' good," I heard Arsen growl into his phone. "I just...." I strained to hear the rest of his sentence but his voice was drowned out by the din of the other students as we got farther away.

We made it to the cafeteria and Maci steered me toward the table we had been sitting at this morning. Dean and Dylan were already there.

"Guys!" Maci practically shouted as we sat down. They turned to look at her with wide eyes when they saw her excitement. "Arsen just totally pulled a white knight move and saved Ava from breaking her nose, then hardcore checked her out."

"Arsen Riley?" Dylan asked, a mischievous smile forming on his lips. I felt my face turning warm as he looked at me.

"Do you know anyone else named 'Arsen'?" Maci scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Are you sure?" Dean asked, shoving his sandwich into his mouth, before quickly waving his hands in front of me guiltily. "No offense Ava, like, you're totally hot, but Arsen doesn't check anyone out. Honestly, I was sure for awhile that he was asexual.... or gay."

"I wish." Brandon muttered, making everyone at the table chuckle.

"Nah, dude." Tyler said to Dean, shaking his head. "Just because he doesn't ogle them like a creep the way you do, doesn't mean he's not into girls. Sorry that's the only way you know how."

I laughed as Dean spluttered out in his own defense, spitting little bits of food onto the table.

"He used to be way more of a player when we played hockey together." Tyler continued, looking between us, "but we were also young then. He's more... reserved now."

"He plays hockey?" I asked out of curiosity, my interest piqued. Hockey was one of my favorite sports. One of my only real regrets about transferring to Texas had been that I wouldn't be able to go to every Flyers home game anymore.

"Well, he did when we were younger. His dad made him quit the team when he.. um... when his grades started slipping." He said. "It's a shame, he was our best forward."

"Have you guys been friends long?" I asked, trying to act nonchalant, even though I desperately wanted to wring him like a sponge to squeeze every drop of information about Arsen that I could out of him.

"Yup." Tyler smiled, "he's one of my oldest friends. We've known each other since elementary school. He's the one that first got me in to hockey and football and stuff."

"Aww." I mused, running down the mental list of questions I had about him.

"Yea, he's a really good guy." He said, giving me a pointed look. I felt my cheeks turn warm at his clear indication.

"Anyways..." Dean interjected, uninterested in Arsen's paragon of virtue or sportsmanship. "It's also gotta be hard to hit on girls when your best friend has slept with most of the female student body."

I felt my smile fall, having forgotten all about Jax.

"Let's go get some food." Brandon murmured to me while the other four began to hash out Jax's sex life.

I nodded gratefully and followed him to the small food stalls.

"You sure you're ok?" Brandon asked as I picked out a pre-wrapped sandwich.

"Yea," I replied, raising an eyebrow at him. "Why wouldn't I be?"

He shrugged. "Couldn't help but notice you kinda getting bummed out when they were talking about Jax."

"How perceptive of you." I deadpanned, grabbing an iced tea before scanning my items at the register.

I finished paying and waited as he rang up his pizza. Glancing around the cafeteria, I could see a few faces I recognized from my earlier classes. Thankfully, none of them were the specific ones that scattered my thoughts with just a single grin.

"Ava." Brandon said, his tone serious. I turned to look at him again. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I think you should stay away from Jax."

I blinked several times, feeling like I was being chastised by my parents.

"Thanks dad," I said sarcastically, "I'll keep that in mind."

He rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean." I started walking back towards the table and he jogged a few paces to catch up with me. "Listen, I've only known him since freshmen year, but the dude's bed is like a rotating door of chicks. I just- I dunno, I think you're better than that. I don't want to see you get hurt."

It was my turn to roll my eyes.

"Believe it or not," I muttered as we got closer to the table. "I have no intentions on ever getting involved with him, ok?" I narrowed my eyes at him. "I'm fully capable of deciding that for myself anyways."

"I'm sorry." He mumbled as we reached the table. "I just-"

I sat down and started asking Maci about the fashion classes she was taking, ending all further conversation about Jax that Brandon might have had planned.

——————————————————————————

Guysssss, I'm in the process of writing the ending chapters of this book and I am seriously ✨EMOTIONAL✨. Like I hope you guys love it cuz it's all I've been thinking about for like three days. I still have the whole middle part to get through but I've got lots of ideas.

Anyways, I hope you guys are enjoying. Please please don't forget to comment and vote?

Xx mandabrandie