The Guys Are Props Club Read online

  Over the course of the day, I planned my way around campus, picking the routes less traveled. I found myself wishing I knew the rest of Sebastian’s schedule, so that I could at least take a guess at which buildings to avoid. It occurred to me that I didn’t know his major. Even that would have helped a little in deciding which roads to avoid.

  At lunch, I hurried into the food court for an early meal. I packed my food to go and sneaked it into the library to eat while I studied. I was nibbling on a corn dog when my phone buzzed with a text message.

  “I want to see you.”

  I stared at the screen and held my breath. I pressed my legs together as those simple words sent a sudden, sharp tingling between my thighs.

  Oh God, I was in so much trouble.

  Biting my left thumbnail, I rubbed my other thumb down the side of the cell phone, promising myself I wouldn’t take the bait.

  A minute later, another text: “I NEED to see you.”

  I started bouncing my knee at a rapid rate.

  One more: “Madison?”

  One side of my brain reasoned that not answering would only show him how whipped I was. The other retorted that this line of reasoning was only an excuse to initiate a conversation with him, a conversation that would inevitably lead me back into his arms.

  Temptation was a green-eyed monster with thick, devilish eyebrows.

  My thumb moved across the keyboard. “Who is this?” I typed and giggled.

  Sebastian: “You break my heart.”

  When I didn’t respond back, I got another text that read, “It’s Sebastian.”

  Me: “Oh, hi.”

  Sebastian: “So, when can I see you?”

  Me: “Dunno. Pretty busy.”

  Sebastian: “Wanna catch dinner?”

  I had two corn dogs in my belly. I wasn’t the least bit hungry.

  Me: “I already ate.”

  Sebastian: “Where are you?”

  Me: “For me to know and you to find out.”

  Sebastian: “You’re at the library.”

  Startled, I looked around. There was a guy in a red t-shirt, looking at books in one of the aisles, but other than that this floor looked pretty empty.

  Me: “No.”

  Sebastian: “Where are you then? Your room?”

  Me: “No.”

  Sebastian: “Work?”

  Me: “No.”

  Sebastian: “I get the feeling you don’t want to see me.”

  If he only knew how wrong he was about that. I just couldn’t see him. This was headed in the wrong direction, and if I didn’t stop, it would end up badly for me. I figured that silence would be a clear answer to his question.

  Sebastian: “I want to taste you again.”

  Looking over my shoulder, I made sure no one was there.

  Sebastian: “Madison?”

  Me: “That was a mistake.”

  Sebastian: “No, it wasn’t, and you know it.”

  Me: “I told you before. I don’t want to get involved with anybody.”

  Sebastian: “Is it because of Jessica? I can talk to her.”

  Me: “NO!”

  Sebastian: “What’s going on?”

  Me: “I just want things to remain simple.”

  Sebastian: “I can do that for you. I promise I won’t complicate things.”

  I wanted to tell him that he already had, but that would be admitting too much, as well as opening an avenue for more questions.

  Me: “That’s an oxymoron.”

  Sebastian: “Yes, talk dirty to me.”

  I busted out laughing. The guy in the red t-shirt had sat down at the table across from mine. He looked up from his book and gave me a dirty look.

  “Sorry,” I told him.

  Me: “Turning my phone off now.” That should put an end to this, at least for now.

  Sebastian: “You can’t hide forever. I’ll find you.”

  After gathering my books and throwing away my empty to-go box, I started to walk out of the library. Before I exited the building my phone buzzed with a final text message.

  Sebastian: “And when I find you, you know full well what will happen.”

  Chapter 14

  My life on campus was reduced to hiding from Sebastian and worrying over what would inevitably happen if we met again. I had managed to avoid him, but there was only one problem. Tuesdays and Thursdays, I shared a class with him, and today was one of those days.

  Before finally deciding to go, I gave it a lot of thought. As part of the promise I’d made myself after David, I had pledged never to let a guy interfere with my future, and doing well in my classes was most definitely part of that future. My entire freshman year, I had never skipped a class, and I wasn’t about to let Sebastian be the reason to miss for the first time. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I would take the bull by the horns. The rest of the time I would hide.

  My thoughts were swimming with Sebastian as I stepped out of the shower. I should have been worried about my classes, but instead my head was in the clouds about a guy. Pathetic. I wrapped my head in a towel and got dressed in the bathroom. I let my hair down without combing it and tiptoed into the room, trying not to wake up Jessica. To my surprise she was already up and standing by my desk.

  She started when she saw me. “Uh, I was trying to steal some of your coffee. You caught me.” She gave me a forced smile.

  “No worries. Like I said, take all you want.”

  “Aw, thanks.” She rushed to her desk to get her coffee cup and walked into the bathroom to fill it up.

  I picked up my messenger bag and headed for the door. Remembering my phone, I went back to my desk and retrieved it.

  “See you later, Jess,” I said as I walked out the door.

  As I headed toward English class, I pulled out my phone to check the time. The text message screen was up, showing yesterday’s conversation with Sebastian. My stomach clenched with a nervous spasm. Had Jessica been looking at this? No. I dismissed the idea. She had no reason to spy on me. I stuffed the phone deep in my bag and hurried my pace.

  In great contrast to last time, I walked into the auditorium and immediately searched for Sebastian. He waved at me from the very top row and pointed at the empty seat next to him. I strode confidently up the steps and sat by his side.

  “Good morning, friend.” After what had happened between us since the last time he’d called me “friend,” the word seemed to carry even more meaning.

  “Good morning, Sebastian.”

  He leaned in my direction, his clear green eyes fixed on my lips. I leaned backward, not without difficulty. His body seemed to be a magnet of opposite polarity to my own.

  “No good morning kiss?” he asked regretfully.

  “No,” I said firmly.

  “Oh, you’re so mean.” He shook his head and was about to say something else when the professor came in. “Hey, how is Hunter doing?”

  “Oh, I talked to one of the nurses who promised to let me know how he was doing. She said he seems to be doing better and might be able to leave the I.C.U. soon. Thanks for asking.” The fact that he cared enough to ask gave me more good feelings about him than he probably deserved.

  As the teacher lectured, we paid attention. Sebastian leaned over every once in a while to make a comment or ask me a question about the material. It wasn’t until five minutes before the end of class, when the lecture started wrapping up, that he became a distraction.

  I was immersed in what the professor was saying when Sebastian put a hand of top of mine. I looked sharply in his direction. He was still looking toward the front of the class, in apparent concentration. When I tried to pull my hand away, he tightened his grip. I tried several times, but short of using extreme force and calling attention to myself, I couldn’t get my hand free.

  With only three minutes left to the end of class, I resigned myself to staying put. As I quit my struggle, Sebastian slipped a couple of fingers under my hand and started caressing my palm. The light touch set my ski
n ablaze in a matter of seconds. Overwhelmed by his touch, I tried to pull away again.

  At that moment, the professor dismissed the class. The auditorium went from quiet to turmoil as everyone gathered their belongings and rushed out the door. Taking advantage of this, Sebastian entwined his fingers with mine and turned to face me, holding my hand tightly between both of his.

  For a few beats, as everyone vacated the auditorium, we just sat there staring at each other. The professor had dismissed us several minutes early, so no one else came in for the next class. When we were completely alone, Sebastian brought my hand up and pressed my palm to his cheek. Closing his eyes, he dragged my hand across his jaw, then took it to his mouth, kissed it and inhaled its scent.

  “Let go,” I croaked, wanting nothing more than to pull him closer and rake my fingers through his hair while I kissed him.

  “What is it about you?” he asked into my hand. “I can’t get you out of my head,”

  “Sebastian, please. I have to go to my next class.”

  “You have a few minutes.” He leaned closer. “Madison, don’t pull away.”

  My eyes couldn’t stop looking at his mouth as he began trailing kisses down my wrist. A warm wetness spread between my thighs at the velvety touch of his lips on the tender skin of my forearm. He drove my hand into his hair and, planting kisses all the way to my shoulder, coaxed me closer to him.

  I yielded to him, unable to refuse the pleasure his touch gave me.

  Soon he was following the line of my collarbone. He bit the strap of my tank top and tugged on it with his teeth. The motion caused the fabric of my shirt to lift and rub gently over my nipple. It hardened, making me wish for so much more.

  Abruptly, he stopped kissing me. I felt dizzy, as if I’d been spinning in circles and then been forced to stop all at once.

  He spoke breathlessly into my neck. “I’d better stop.”

  We stayed like that for what felt like hours. As we each struggled to control our ragged breath, we slowly synchronized into one rhythm.

  Reluctantly, he pulled away, his eyes staring at my lips with longing.

  “Madison, go out on a date with me. Say yes.”

  I shook my head.

  “How can you say no? This . . . intensity isn’t normal. I know you feel the same way I do. You can’t say no to this.”

  “I have to.”

  “Why? I don’t understand!”

  “Just let me go.”

  It was agony to stand and pull away from him. I cradled my heated wrist against my body, wishing the phantom of his kisses would go away. He looked up at me, his eyes smoldering, his fists clenched. He looked like a predator, hungry and savage. There was no question in my mind that he wanted me.

  I wanted him, too. Badly. There was no way for me to deny it. That’s why I had to keep fighting this. A physical infatuation would lead me straight into an emotional one. It was just what had happened with David. I was incapable of keeping the two types of emotions apart like Jessica did. I was a romantic, a fool, which made Sebastian enemy number one.

  As I turned to leave, Sebastian stood and caught my wrist. He turned me back, pulled me against his hard chest and locked an arm around my waist. His gaze searched mine with heated insistence until he’d trapped me in its depths.

  “Why?” he asked in a whisper. “Why do you fight it?”

  His question must have been rhetorical, because he didn’t wait for me to answer.

  “Let me kiss you.”

  Why was he asking for permission? He knew he could just put his lips to mine, and I wouldn’t stand a chance. When it came to Sebastian, I was weak. I whispered a frail, “No.”

  “Your lips are trembling. You want me to kiss you,” he said in a rush of breath.

  It was true. I wanted nothing more than to take his mouth into mine. My body betrayed me.

  “But I want you to say yes.” He looked up as the auditorium door opened and students for the next class started to come in. Still, he didn’t let me go. I could feel the newcomers’ eyes on us.

  Sebastian lowered his forehead to mine and spoke in a deep rumble that made my skin flush.

  “You’ll say yes,” he assured me. “You’ll agree, because I want you whole, Madison. I don’t want anything less.”

  Chapter 15

  That afternoon, I went to work, looking forward to more news about Hunter. I got there a few minutes before my shift started and went to the nurses’ station to see if anyone knew how he was doing. To my delight, I found out that he’d been moved back to a regular room and was doing much better.

  I was anxious to visit him, but I managed to get through my four-hour shift without sneaking out. When I finally headed to his new room, I was glad I’d waited. Now I could sit with him without worrying about getting in trouble with my supervisor.

  As I approached his door, I heard laughter inside. I stopped and listened. Hunter was giggling, something I rarely heard him do. Maybe his family was with him. As I started to walk away, I heard a deep, familiar voice inside.

  Sebastian?

  No way!

  He was not going to use Hunter for his nefarious intentions. That I would never forgive him. Swept up in an intense fury, I stormed into the room, ready to lash out at the bastard.

  Hunter looked up at me, startled by my abrupt entrance. When he recognized me, a smile stretched from ear to ear. He looked thinner and paler than the last time I’d seen him. Huge purple circles surrounded his eyes, but the biggest smile I’d ever seen on his face etched his red lips.

  “Maddie.” Hunter said my name with a grin, making it sound like a cry of celebration. “Your friend Sebastian knows the coolest tricks. He’s been teaching me. Look.” He put a quarter on the back of his bony hand and started to move it from one finger to the other. It was slow going, but the quarter traveled over his knuckles in a cool, poker player’s trick.

  Hunter palmed the quarter, smiling. “Isn’t that cool? He said if I practice every day, I can be as good or better than he is.”

  “That’s awesome, Hunter,” I said, while I shot Sebastian a “we need to talk,” death-ray glare.

  He hung out and played with Sebastian for fifteen minutes before he started showing signs of exhaustion. Sebastian pulled nickels from behind Hunter’s ear and made pennies disappear and reappear in the least likely places. I tried to perform a few of the tricks, but I sucked at them. Patiently, Hunter showed me what I was doing wrong. It didn’t really help, but it made him laugh, and that was enough for me.

  Mostly, I watched as Sebastian interacted with the boy, charming his way into Hunter’s vulnerable heart. I hated him for it, but I was also grateful. When Hunter’s eyelids started drooping, I tucked him in and kissed his forehead. He was so out of it, he barely noticed.

  Sebastian and I walked out of his room, smiling. My heartfelt warm and happy to see the boy out of intensive care. I prayed he would get better and be able to go home to his family soon.

  “You’re great with him,” Sebastian said as we walked down the hall. “I think he’s in love with you. He told me all kinds of things about you. He had stars in his eyes. Not that I blame him.”

  “Don’t be foolish, Sebastian. He’s just a boy.”

  Sebastian made a skeptical sound in the back of his throat. “Clearly, you know nothing about boys.”

  “Why did you come?” I demanded, stopping right in the middle of the hall.

  “There isn’t one single reason,” he said. “I know what you’re thinking, but that’s not the only reason. Not entirely.” His lips tightened, but his eyes sparkled with his arresting smile. He was such a . . .

  I put my hands on my hips in a “don’t mess with me” pose.

  Putting his palms out in a pacifying gesture, Sebastian said, “Okay, the main reason I’m here is you. I’ll admit that. I wanted to see you. After this morning in English class, I haven’t been able to get you out of my head.” He shrugged, and I felt my anger subsiding in the wake of his hones
ty.

  “But I also came because of Hunter,” he continued. “Back home, when I was in high school, I used to volunteer at hospitals to entertain the kids. I was kind of a geek when I was Hunter’s age. I loved learning magic tricks. My dad helped me with them.”

  At the mention of his dad, a certain sadness clouded his eyes, but it was there and gone in an instant, giving me the impression that he had plenty of practice hiding this emotion.

  Sebastian hooked a thumb back toward Hunter’s room. “He’s a great kid, isn’t he?”

  My anger deflated completely. I sighed in defeat. “Yes, he is.” I agreed. “And he’s not in love with me!”

  “Whatever you say.” He smiled, and I couldn’t help but smile back.

  “Well, I have to change out of my scrubs. I guess I’ll see you around.” I headed toward the locker room.

  “Oh no, you’re not getting rid of me that easily.”

  I kept walking, lifted a hand and gave him a backward wave without looking over my shoulder. I planned to take a shower and blow dry my hair. He would get tired of waiting.

  Lola walked into the locker room right after I did. She hitched a finger toward the exit and asked, “Is that Sebastian?”

  “Um, yes?” My answer sounded like a question.

  “Holy mother of tiny baby Jesus,” Lola exclaimed. “Please tell me you’ve gotten a taste of that fineness.”

  I looked into the depths of my locker, trying to hide the rush of blood rising to my cheeks. I started pulling out toiletries at a frantic rate.

  “You horny toad. You have. You totally have. Give me the details!” Lola demanded, pulling me away from the locker and making me sit on the bench.

  “I’d rather not,” I sighed tiredly, my hands brimming with bottles of shampoo and conditioner and a pink blow dryer.

  Lola stood in front of me, both hands on her hips and waited for details. I was tired of trying to lie to Lola. She was too perceptive for that. Maybe avoidance would work. I stared at her shoes.

  “Oh, keeping secrets. It must be good then.” She turned, walked away and started digging in her bag, acting like she couldn’t care less, but also acting as if she knew how good it had been with Sebastian. Why must she always be right?