Page 8 of Ride or Die (The Shores #1)

CHAPTER

EIGHT

ON MY TURF

LAYLA

Thank god Simone and her conquest have moved up to her bedroom so I can experience this little freak-out on my own.

I pace back and forth in the kitchen, trying to figure out how to head back into my room. My heart is thudding in my chest and I feel tingly all over. Excitement overwhelms me in a way it never has before, making me giddy, but also wanting to throw up.

Why can’t I just be a normal person who isn’t all awkward when dealing with other people?

I've had a crush on him for so long, and now he’s in my room saying these things. I never expected this to happen. It’s a lot for someone like me to process. I’ve never even been kissed or on a date. I am totally out of my element.

Do his actions and words mean something? Or is he just being nice because he feels bad for me? Or is he just using me? Am I a conquest? Or a prank?

“Ughh!” I groan out loud, taking another deep breath and resting my hands on top of my head. I can’t be down here forever. He will think I’m nuts.

I grab the drinks and wait another moment before I finally muster up the courage to head back to my room and face whatever is happening between us.

When I reach my bedroom door, I take one more deep breath before I turn the knob and push it open, finding Colton looking at my bookshelf.

He whips around when he hears me enter, pushing his ruffled black hair out of his face as our eyes connect.

“You okay?” he asks, raising an eyebrow. I just nod and hand him his cola, and he turns back to the bookshelf. “I didn’t mean to overstep back there. It’s just, well...you are beautiful and brilliant. It’s about time you start hearing it.” His compliment is genuine, making my skin flush yet again.

If he can’t read my nervous reactions to him by now, he doesn’t have as much game as I thought.

“Thank you,” I say quietly.

He clears his throat. “I’m impressed. All these academic awards…I never did the extracurriculars or clubs.” He opens his drink and takes a sip, sifting through the collection of spelling bee ribbons and debate trophies, among other things.

“What can I say? I had a lot of time on my hands to study and do the competitions. It’s what helped me get my scholarship and grants.

As accomplished as my awards make me, it would have been nice to have friends.

Have some sort of social circle. But everyone here is so.

..so hard. All of us with shields up. I wasn’t good at breaking in because I’m shy and smart, and no one wants to talk to someone who can point out everything they’ve said wrong in a sentence,” I admit.

He watches me for a moment, and I shrug. “I guess I’m just thankful I chose to do the right thing by working hard to earn my scholarship instead of succumbing to the way of life here. No offense.”

“None taken. It’s impressive what you’ve done.

I’ve always admired that about you. I have to do what I have to do.

I’m not ashamed of it.” He turns back to the shelf and chuckles softly, pulling out a book.

The Resort . One of my romance novels. My face immediately heats as he faces me with a huge grin.

“What’s this?” he teases. I move to grab it from him, but he pulls it away.

“I…nothing. It’s just a book.” I stand on my tiptoes and grab for it again, but when he lifts it out of reach, I lose my balance.

Before I realize what’s happening, an arm snakes around my waist and my chest is pressed against Colton’s.

My cheeks burn hotter, and my heart beats wildly. Can he feel it?

The thought embarrasses me further and I push out of his grasp, landing back on my feet. I close my eyes briefly, opening them to see him still grinning at me. My god.

“Alright, fine. It’s a romance novel,” I finally admit, giving up on the fight.” I may not date but I can indulge in the idea of love and romance.” I huff, crossing my arms, feeling the shame still heating my face.

He bites his cheek and nods. “Okay, at least you stand by it. We all have our things, even if it is literary porn.” Curiosity gets the better of me.

“And what’s your thing?” I blurt out. A sultry smirk crosses his lips as he turns towards me, his eyes staring into mine. His simple reaction says everything and nothing all at once.

“Maybe one day you’ll find out.” He winks, and I swallow hard as I try to keep myself from fainting. He places the book back on the shelf, then walks over and sits on my bed, pulling out his phone.

“I’ll buy us dinner. I feel like I learn more when I’m around you. Are you okay if we keep going?” His eyes flick up, waiting for an answer.

I shrug, moving to my desk chair. “If you’re buying dinner then, yeah, I’m into studying more. I would just continue without you anyway. May as well keep the company.” He smiles brightly and sits back, leaning against the headboard, and starts scrolling on his phone.

He looks good in my bed. Seeing him so comfortable, like he’s meant to be there, does things to me.

He’s so handsome, and now that we’ve hung out, I’m feeling more comfortable with him by the minute.

Like I can be myself, and it seems like he’s more himself with me, too.

He’s not hard and angry, he’s relaxed and at ease.

His eyebrows knit together in concentration as he searches for the perfect dinner option. It gives me a chance to admire him discreetly, my eyes drawn to his tattooed forearm and how each movement of his hand causes his muscles to flex subtly as he navigates the screen.

The soft flow of the phone casts light on his focused expression, and when his tongue darts out to wet his lips, I have to look away.

Everything about him, he’s just…my heart swoons for him constantly. What would it be like to be with a guy like Colton? Smart, confident, sexy as all hell. But I want romance. A relationship. Are guys like him capable of providing that? Would he even be interested in a girl like me?

He’s so hot it's intimidating. Ugh, who am I kidding? He’s so out of my league. He’s been with so many beautiful women and has so much more experience, and I’m just…me. A virgin. A nerd. A plain, boring, good girl.

“There, I ordered some food.” He smiles kindly at me. “I have an idea, since you’re the queen of competition.” His head gestures towards my shelf and I bite my cheek to suppress a smile. “Let’s study like we’re in one. We each come up with ten questions and quiz each other?”

I smile widely at his suggestion. “I love that idea.” I slide my chair back, opening my desk drawer to grab a stack of index cards for us to write on and hand him some.

Once I finish writing my questions, I hop onto the bed and sit cross-legged, facing him.

He sits forward and brings his knee up, touching mine, which I try to ignore, but still don’t move.

“Okay, I'll start. First question: failure to record an accrued expense at year-end will cause what to happen?” he asks.

“Liabilities to be understated!” I call out, and he laughs at my enthusiasm.

“Yes, you’re right. You love this shit, eh?”

I nod repeatedly. “Yeah, I’m the bookworm, remember? What did you expect, hotshot?” He bursts out laughing.

“It’s going to be fun watching you lose to me. I always win,” he teases, his eyes sparkling flirtatiously.

“We’ll see.” I wink at him, and this time, it’s his face that reddens slightly as he looks away from me. I love this, and it’s even more fun because right now, I’m not alone. I’m sharing this with someone who genuinely seems interested in spending time with me.

Now that he’s here, I’m starting to understand just how lonely I am.

When the food arrives, we’re four questions into our competition, and the score is tied.

“Need a break before I win this thing, or should we eat later?” Colton smirks, placing the takeout bag on my desk.

“Keep dreaming,” I scoff, ready to take him down.

I don’t know what he ordered, but I’m starving, and the smell of whatever is in the bag makes my stomach growl loudly before I can say anything else. We both laugh.

“Alright, food it is,” he says, deciding for us.

We sit quietly while we eat, stealing glances at each other.

The quiz competition looms over us, mingling with the subtle tension that's been growing between us since the night he drove me home. We’re both winners in our right, except right now he’s on my turf, trying to prove himself.

And I secretly like watching the bad boy squirm just a bit.

I finish my last bite of the Alfredo pasta he ordered and wipe my face, placing my plastic fork into the empty container.

“Thank you, that was delicious. Way better than all the frozen food I eat. I wish I had the time to cook more. Also, as you can tell, this isn’t the nicest place to play chef in.

” I collect our garbage and throw it in the trash.

“You’re welcome.” He smiles, and my entire body tingles. “Tell you what. I have to cook for my mom every day, you should come over for dinner sometime.”

Trying to ignore how he makes me feel, I don’t respond. Instead, I grab my index cards, hop back onto the bed, and tap his shoulders. “Okay, let’s do this! I’m ready!”

“You really are competitive, and I thought I was bad,” he razzes me.

I nod excitedly, making him chuckle. We get back to it and we’re neck and neck, practically yelling out the questions and answers to each other, laughing our asses off because of how dramatic we’re being.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard Colton laugh before today, and tonight, he’s been practically crying from laughing so hard.

I love it, especially since I think I'm the only one who's seen this side of him.

Colton gets the next question wrong, so it is up to me to answer this one right in order to win, otherwise we go to sudden death. We selected my biggest trophy, and the reward is a night out together, somewhere of the winner’s choosing.

“Okay, so last question. What are we going to do if you win?” he asks. I tap my finger on my chin, cocking an eyebrow while I think.

“I’ll drag you to a museum or something. What about you?”

“Okay, I can do that, and I don’t know yet. I’ll have to figure it out when you lose. No pressure.” He gives me a mischievous grin, flipping the cards in his hands before he clears his throat and begins to read.

“If the beginning capital was $25,000 and the ending capital is $37,000, and the owner’s withdrawals were $23,000, was it a net income or net loss? And for what amount?”

He looks over at me, waiting for my answer. I do the math quickly in my head.

“A net income of 35k!” I yell out, barely needing to think about it. He made his questions way too easy, and I made mine way harder. I had this competition in the bag from the get-go.

I’m sitting here with my hands covering my open mouth, eyebrows raised, waiting for his response. I know I won. I’m just playing along. He drops his head, confirming my win, and I shoot up, cheering.

“Yes! I won!” I do a little dance in a full circle, then I sit back down on the bed and clap, throwing my head back with a laugh. Colton’s hands squeeze my legs while he grins at me with admiration.

“Yes, yes, you win. I get it. I really wanted that trophy, though.” He pouts.

“Shouldn’t have gone against the best.” I kiss my biceps, showcasing my knowledge strength. Then I reach down and grab both of his hands on my legs and give them a squeeze. He looks down at our hands, then back up at me.

I realize what I’m doing and try to pull them away, but he holds onto them. The air gets thick and heavy around us. My heart is slamming against my ribcage, reacting to the way he's looking at me.

“Layla,” he whispers as his gaze shifts between my eyes and lips.

His hand reaches up and cups my cheek, and I lean into it, desperate for human contact.

He bites his lip, his thumb softly rubbing across my hot skin, and I can see the wheels turning in his head, his beautiful eyes staring into mine.

My next breath hitches in my throat, and all I hear is my pulse thudding in my ears.

Is he going to kiss me?