Page 58 of I Don't Need Your Love

As they pull me further back, Carly and I latch eyes on each other. I don’t know what she’s thinking because I can’t read the expression on her face. But what I do get a sense of? Her annoyance that I enjoy all the attention from girls.

What she doesn’t understand is that the only girl’s attention I want right now is hers.

Chapter Twenty

Carly

I can hear the giggles from all the way in the back of the bus. Clearly, my teammates are having a great time with the only male member of our team. The guy whom they basically kidnapped from my seat.

I can’t really be mad, though. All the girls at school drool over Ryder, and he’s been such a great addition to our team. So of course my teammates want to hang out with him. I guess I’m just annoyed because he and I…well, we were having a good conversation and I didn’t want to gauge his eyes out. Couldn’t my teammates have noticed that and left us alone?

Fine, maybe the reason I’m grumpy is because he allowed them to whisk him away. He didn’t tell them to let him go or put up a fight. Which means he wants to be with them right now. Not here with me in my seat.

I grumble to myself as I rest my head on the window. Why do I care? My life was fine before he crashed into it. Can’t I just continue on as though he doesn’t matter that much to me? Just as a teammate, of course, because every member of the team is valuable. I would never treat him as though he’s invisible.

I don’t hear Ryder laughing with them. Maybe that’s because they’re drowning out his voice. Or could it be because he’s not laughing? Not having fun with them?

Yeah, right. What guy wouldn’t love all that attention from girls?

Ugh, why does he occupy so much space in my brain? I should squeeze myself with Naya and Addie so I can forget all about him and his giggling fans.

Someone plops down next to me. His scent tickles my nose immediately, causing my head to snap in his direction.

“I’m back,” he says with that lazy grin.

I just gape at him, the image of him sitting beside me not entering my brain. Am I hallucinating? How is he here when he was just there?

“Um, Carly?”

I shake my head, snapping out of it. “How did you get here?” I blurt.

“With the human function called two legs.”

“No, I mean…” I look behind me toward the back of the bus. Most of the girls are chatting or laughing amongst themselves, but a few are staring after Ryder with confusion and hurt. And maybe jealousy aimed at me?

“It was too crowded there,” he says.

My eyes trek back to him and I once again just gape at him, still in total shock that he’s here and not there.

The expression on his face shifts to something more serious as he leans forward to whisper, “Okay, I’m not being honest. The truth is that I returned here because I wanted to.”

“Wanted to…what?” I ask.

His brows dip. “What?”

“You didn’t finish your sentence. You returned to my seat because you wanted to…what? Go over some of the harder moves of the routine? Annoy me? Steal my chocolate? Don’t even think about it, mister. The chocolate is only for me.”

He stares at me for a few seconds before chuckling softly. “Sometimes I wonder if we speak the same language. That was the end of my sentence, Captain. I returned here because Iwanted to. Period. End of sentence.”

My cheeks heat up so fast I wonder if my face will combust. “Oh, duh.” I look at the back of the bus. “Are you sure you made the right decision? Because I’m sure it’s more fun over there than it is here.”

“I made the right decision.”

I slowly turn my head back to his, the heat now traveling to my neck. He once again has a serious look on his face. So now the big question is…why does he think he’ll have more fun with me than with those other girls?

“Though now that you mentioned you have chocolate, I have another reason to be here.”

I grab my backpack and squeeze it tightly to my chest. “Don’t you dare.”