Page 13 of Offside Attraction

I almost laugh.

Of course he hates not being the center of attention.

“I’m Shay,” she adds sweetly, tightening her grip on him. “Hayes’s girlfriend. Captain of the cheerleading team. Class president. What’s your name?”

“Come on, babe,” Hayes cuts in. “Let’s go.”

He turns and takes the seat directly across from mine, pulling Shay down with him. Ezra and the other guy drop into the desks behind them.

The jock beside me snorts.

“Your tough act won’t get you far, new kid.”

I glance at him.

“I can see through you,” he continues. “You’re not tough. You’re just a scared little kid.”

I shake my head, unimpressed, and look away as I pull out my phone.

If he only knew.

I didn’t have friends back in New York.

The only person I was close to was Seth—the older guy who introduced me to underground fighting. He’s twenty-three now, and he texted me constantly during the move back here. Mom hated him. She called him a bad influence just because we were always together and because he had tattoos.

She tried to stop me from seeing him, like we were lovers or something equally ridiculous.

I snapped.

“You stopped being my mom after Dad died,” I told her. “You don’t get to waltz back into my life now and start dictating what I do. You lost that right. Remember?”

I regretted it the second she burst into tears.

I love my mom, even when she drives me insane. Sometimes I think one of the reasons she dragged us back to this town was to force distance between Seth and me. And when she couldn’t control that, she enrolled me in this private school instead.

Like she was trying to remind me she was still my mother.

Like she could still control me because I was still her son.

I stare at my phone, Seth’s name glowing at the bottom of the screen, and open the message.

From Seth: Does high school still suck just like I remembered?

I huff a quiet laugh and type back.

Me: Yep. Still fucking sucks.

A second later—

From Seth: Have you met any hot chicks yet? And guys? And by guys I mean Hayes.

Of course I told Seth about Hayes.

“Mr. Miller?”

I look up.

“Mr. Miller?” a woman repeats, standing at the front of the room.