Read Dare to Kiss (The Maxwell Series Book 1) for Free Online Page B

find my locker, too.”
    Her dark eyes sized me up.
    I angled my head. “You have a problem?”
    “Not me. But the girls in this school will. I hear that you’ve been hanging out with Tyler Langley.”
    “Yeah, so?”
    “I don’t know what your last high school was like, but this one, the claws come out for anyone who pisses on their parade, if you know what I mean.”
    I wasn’t naïve about the cliques in high school or the groups of cheerleaders who ruled the schools. Not that I’d had any problems with them at my old school. In fact, as a sophomore, my sister had cheered for Crestview. “I couldn’t care less. I’m not into cliques or groups or girlie shit.”
    She smiled wide. “That’s good. We’ll get along just fine then.” She pushed off the locker. “Why don’t we head to English? I have class with you.”
    “What about homeroom?” I asked.
    “Homeroom is usually in the same wing as your first period. That way students don’t have to walk too far between the two since they don’t give us much time.”
    Students congregated at their lockers and near windowsills as we made our way over to the English wing. I learned from Becca along the way that the school was sectioned off by subject. We had just turned a corner when Tyler sauntered up to us, towering over the crowd.
    “Here we go,” Becca muttered, scanning the hall.
    “Hey, Lacey,” Tyler said. “Everything okay this morning?”
    The conversations in the hall stopped. An eerie silence reigned around us. If I listened hard enough I could probably hear Becca’s heartbeat. Like the audience, Becca’s gaze fixed on Tyler. I hoped it wasn’t the fact that the good-looking football player was paying attention to the new girl.
    “Yeah. Why?”
    “You know, last night.” His eyes softened. It was one of his looks that made the girls who’d watched us at practice melt into liquid. For some reason, I wasn’t melting. Sure, he was handsome, strong, tall, and had a quiet personality. In a lot of ways, he reminded me of my brother, Rob. Maybe that was why he didn’t appeal to me as boyfriend material.
    One girl gasped, latching onto her friend. Even though I hated drama, I also hated when others were nosy. I decided to have some fun instead of biting their heads off for ogling.
    “Oh, Tyler. You really were great last night,” I crooned. It wasn’t a lie—he was amazing at helping me with practice.
    His mouth curled into a wolfish grin. He stepped into my little taunt without any hesitation. Cool! “It was great, wasn’t it?” he said, slipping his arm around me, dragging me to his broad chest. His lips grazed my ear, sending a shiver down my spine.
    A chorus of gasps resounded, mostly from the girls.
    “You’re playing with fire, Lace.”
    “Didn’t you know my middle name is fire?” I eased out of his embrace.
    He chuckled.
    Camera phones flashed. I’d bet the photos would be all over the Internet. I didn’t care. It wasn’t like I had a boyfriend. As for Tyler, he’d mentioned he dated, but no one steady at present.
    Becca’s slightly open mouth closed. “How long have you two known each other?” she asked.
    “Don’t worry. We’re not exclusive,” I said teasingly.
    She leaned in to me. “Make sure you know what you’re doing, New Girl.” A streak of envy colored her tone.
    “Thanks for the warning.” I knew how to handle myself.
    “So what do you have for first period?” Tyler asked.
    “English. And you?” The three of us had huddled near a locker, which to my surprise was actually mine. I grabbed the combination from my purse and punched in the code on the lock.
    “English too,” Tyler replied. “So what about tonight? Do you want to do it again?”
    Becca choked.
    “Baseball,” he said, glaring at her. “Get your mind out of the gutter.” A hint of anger threaded through the last sentence.
    “Chill, Tyler. It’s not like I’m still…whatever. Lacey, I’ll see you in English.” Then she stomped