I opened Lindsay's car door abruptly and saw Rachel jump a little in the passenger seat from the sudden commotion.

"You're not going to believe this," I said, sliding into the backseat. I opened my mouth to speak, but was interrupted.

"Where have you been?" Rachel asked. "Lunch started twenty minutes ago."

"And why haven't you been answering your phone?" Lindsay chimed in.

"Señora Alfonso took it in second period, while I was texting you, for the whole fucking day," I explained.

"Is that why you were so moody in Anatomy this morning?" Rachel asked.

That's one reason. "Okay, rude."

"So," Lindsay cut in quickly, knowing Rachel and I would get into it if she didn't stop us now. "Care you share where you were for the past twenty minutes, Allison?"

I glared at her use of my full first name before reaching into my backpack to pull out the salad I had packed for lunch. Casually, I replied, "I was with Spencer."

Rachel immediately turned around in her seat to look at me. At least ten seconds passed with her staring me down, her eyes scanning my every feature until my upper body shrunk under her relentless inspection.

"Where did you guys do it?" she asked flatly before turning back around in her seat to stare out the windshield.

"What?" I immediately blurted, horrified at her question—but more horrified that she knew.

"You have sex hair, Allie."

My hands immediately went to my scalp, brushing my fingers frantically through the golden strands.

"Oh. My. God." Lindsay's jaw dropped as she now whipped around to witness me pulling a few knots out that I had missed earlier. "Are you serious?"

I struggled to come up with an excuse but came up short. My cheeks were red hot as I caved. "He got me hot and bothered in English, okay? I had a moment of weakness."

I wasn't lying. He really did have me itching with desire by the time the bell rang.

Despite what ended up being a very pleasurable experience, my initial reaction was less than thrilled.

I rolled my eyes at the folded piece of paper sitting in wait on my desk, glancing at Spencer next to me. He winked; a bold smile played on his lips. I reluctantly opened the paper.

Since you got your phone taken, I guess I gotta go old school. Writing you notes in class.

At the time, I hated it. I thought I hated texting. I thought I hated phone calls. But having him staring me down as I read each word, over and over while I tried to figure out how I was going to reply—yeah, that was way worse.

I grabbed my pen, uncapped it, but still couldn't figure out what to say.

After a few moments passed, Spencer sighed quietly in the back of his throat and grabbed the paper off my desk. I watched him scribble intently, before returning it to my desktop.

Stop biting your lip. You know it turns me on.

I couldn't help but smile. This I could respond to. This was my territory.

Oops...good thing there's a forty-minute break after this...

I was joking. Kind of.

He read my note and I saw him smirk. It quickly disappeared.

Will you answer my texts this time?

I pulled my blonde hair back in a ponytail, knowing he was watching me as I stared at his note before responding.

Texting is boring.

He looked at me. That look alone made my chest constrict and stomach turn. In a bad way. He wasn't even trying to hide the emotion in his eyes. He liked me. More than a 40-minute break.

I like texting you.

Fuck. I had to redirect this conversation before it got out of hand. After a moment of hesitation, I knew what I needed to do.

I'm not good at texting. I have other talents though.

mmm. Like what?

I think you know, Spencer...

He looked at me. I raised my eyebrows. In challenge and consent.

After class. Behind the annex.

I smirked as my lower half began to tingle with excitement.

This is what I knew. This is what I liked.

We gotta be quick. The girls are expecting me.

I can't make any promises.

Good. I don't trust promises.

There was something about the exchanging of actual notes, not texts, that made it all seem more secretive, primitive. Forbidden.

It was fucking hot.

I might just get my phone taken away more often.

I couldn't find the words to explain this to either of my best friends at the moment though.

"I lost control. It was a one-time thing."

"Right, a one-time thing that's happened twice in the last 72 hours."

"Look," I said, determined to defend myself. "It's hard to resist when the sex is this good."

"Yeah, we've heard," Lindsay teased.

"Literally," Rachel added.

My entire face was scorching now as I shifted in the backseat, wishing the car was on so I could roll down a window.

They were referring to a time when I had invited both of them over to my house. My parents weren't home and Spencer ended up coming over, before they were set to arrive, for what was supposed to be a quick encounter. My two best friends got to my house early though and heard, well...too much.

"Are you guys done," I snapped as my agitation began to boil. "I have important shit to tell you."

"More important than having sex at school?"

Now my patience was worn. I deserved some teasing, but Rachel was about to get her perfectly curled, dark hair yanked. My tongue pushed against the back of my teeth to stop myself.

Lindsay, being the ever-compassionate one, quickly smiled at me. "Do tell."

I swallowed and pushed my contempt for Rachel aside for the moment. Then I remembered what I had been trying to say since I got in the car. "So you know how Tyler's in my Spanish class."

"Who's Tyler?" Rachel sat up straighter, all ears.

"Allie's hot new neighbor who moved in across the street," Lindsay explained quickly.

"Oh for fuck's sake," Rachel said and even though I couldn't see her face, I knew she was rolling her eyes. "Here we go."

I reached forward and slapped her arm, harder than her and I both anticipated.

"Hey—"

"What about him?" Lindsay interrupted us again.

"Well to start, he was an absolute dick to me."

"What do you mean?" Lindsay asked curiously. Rachel was now focused on her salad, aggressively stabbing multiple pieces of lettuce with her fork.

"I asked him if he needed help," I explained. "And then he just completely snapped at me."

"Oh, so a guy isn't falling all over you for once."

I ignored Rachel's condescending tone and instead smirked at her and snapped my fingers right next to her ear. "Yes. Exactly."

"The nerve," Rachel deadpanned.

"He's also in my English class," I said to Lindsay.

"What!" her head whipped back around to me. "You're seriously telling me that you get two classes with this hot new boy and I don't even get one with him."

After a few beats she added, with her familiar sweet smile, "Much less one with you."

I playfully scowled at her and we both smiled. It did suck. Lindsay was my absolute best friend, yet we didn't have a single class together this year.

"So what did Spencer say about it?" Rachel asked as she closed the now empty Tupperware that once contained her salad.

"Nothing," I said easily. "Because I didn't say anything to Tyler in English. He doesn't know."

When I had walked in the room and saw him, my feet felt glued to the ground.

Walk, Allie. Walk.

I moved my feet, knowing my destination was the back of the classroom where Spencer and Allegra were already sitting, one desk right beside Spencer just for me.

Yet I found myself heading towards his desk, even though it was slightly out of the way.

I wasn't planning on saying or starting anything. But I wanted him to know I was very much here. And I was not afraid, even after his outburst in Alfonso's classroom.

Over the years, I had mastered moving my hips when I walked so it was easy to notice me, but didn't seem forced. He still didn't look up, even though I was only a few feet away.

As I walked by his desk, heading down the aisle toward my seat in the back, I ran my fingernails along the wood, slowing down slightly so I could drum them twice, creating a clacking sound.

I walked away without looking back.

Game on.

* * *

"Allie."

I snapped my head over to Rory and Lauren who were looking at me expectantly.

It was fifth period on Wednesday, and we were "speed walking"—in reality, we were strolling at a snail's pace and gossiping—around the track.

"Sorry, what?" I asked. I'd been spacing out a lot lately.

Rory, who had clearly been the one speaking to me, turned her head and rolled her eyes, thinking I couldn't see.

I smiled. Pissing Rory off was one of my favorite hobbies.

"Austin's throwing me a birthday party on Friday," Lauren jumped in. She was Austin's best girl friend. "You should come!"

Lindsay had a huge crush on Austin so I immediately perked up. "We'll be there."

"We?" Rory questioned, her tone laced with acid that made my jaw clench.

I smiled crossly at her. "Yes. We. As in me and my best friends. Lindsay and Rachel. Is that a problem?"

"I never mentioned a problem, Allie," Rory sang with a smirk. "It was just a question."

And pissing me off was one of Rory's favorite hobbies.

"Well hello, ladies," a voice we—well, everyone really—knew all too well said right behind us.

Before we could turn to look, Landon squeezed between me and Rory, pushing us slightly apart. He was so tall that he easily rested one of his elbows on Rory's shoulder.

I felt a friendly arm casually drape over both of my shoulders and looked over to see Blake standing on the other side of me, a smile on his face as he looked between me and Landon.

Blake and I had never hooked up. He was a relationship type of guy. Which directly conflicted with, well, just about everything about me.

We definitely enjoyed flirting with one another though.

On the other side of Lauren was Kevin Morton. As Spencer's best friend, he made no effort to hide that he was eyeing Blake's arm around me.

"To what do we owe the pleasure," Rory replied, wrapping her arm around Landon's waist as they fell into a synchronized bounce as they walked beside each other.

"As gentlemen, we thought it only right to come say hello," Blake said as he pulled my shoulders closer to him for a moment, almost like a small embrace.

"Which is saying something since the view of you three from behind was quite immaculate," Landon said, sending a wink in my direction.

"Oh, yeah. Real gentleman," I drawled.

Both Landon and Rory laughed. Her voice was an octave higher than usual, which I knew to be her signature flirty giggle.

Landon then jogged ahead of us a bit before turning around, walking backwards so he faced us with a grin. "You know what's right around the corner?"

"Your Halloween party," Lauren said without hesitation.

Landon fixed his eyes on her with a smirk. "You know, you're pretty smart for a junior."

"I'm in more advanced classes than you," she retorted, but I could hear the excitement in her voice. She was with some of the most popular people of the senior class. She was on cloud nine.

Landon just chuckled. It was true that he wasn't the brightest bulb in the shed. For instance, he couldn't even think of a single rebuttal to Lauren's sass now.

Instead, he looked between the three of us with raised eyebrows. "So what are you girls dressing up as? Something sexy I hope."

I rolled my eyes and became acutely aware of Blake's fingers as they brushed against the exposed part of my tricep that my t-shirt didn't cover.

Rory's voice was like liquid as she answered. "Cher from Clueless. Karina's going to be Dionne."

Karina Bauman was her best friend. Of fucking course.

"Sounds original," I said sarcastically.

Rory's head snapped to me and she narrowed her calculated, blue eyes.

"What about you, Allie?" Landon said, his smile widening.

"A soccer player," I said, even though I hadn't planned a costume yet. I looked directly at the cocky boy in front of me. "So I have an excuse to kick you in the balls."

Blake laughed so hard he stopped walking, his arm slipping off my shoulders. He had a nice laugh. It was contagious enough to put a small smile on my lips.

"Aw, Al," Landon cooed. "But, there's so much more you can do with my balls."

"Aw Lan," I mimicked. "As someone who's seen them before, they're nothing to write home about."

It all happened so fast. After the words left my mouth, Landon charged at me, wrapping his arms around my waist and my butt to lift me into the air. He carried me backwards, going in the wrong direction on the track and away from our group.

Nothing about this seemed out of the ordinary. Despite hooking up with Landon three times—once at the end of Sophomore year, twice at the beginning of Junior year—we remained friends.

The same goes for most of the guys I'd slept with. Hooking up was something to do. Like playing a board game. It didn't change much.

So, to everyone else in PE, this looked like a perfectly normal, playful, friendly exchange between me and Landon.

The arm wrapped around my waist slipped down to grab my ass.

"Put me down, Landon," I said, extremely pleased when my voice came out demanding and bored, not showing even a smidgen of the discomfort I was actually feeling.

After a few more steps, I felt him lower me so my feet were back on the bouncy rubber track. His hands lingered on my ass. I used both of my palms to push on his chest hard. He didn't even budge, but at least his hands moved up, one on my lower back, the other on my upper back. He had the perfect leverage to push me flush against him.

"You want to talk shit, Allie?" Landon said in a low, taunting voice that he probably thought was seductive. To me, it just sounded stupid.

"It's not talking shit if it's the truth," I fired back with a bold, warning smirk.

The burning in my voice transferred to his eyes as they went aflame with desire, angst, and anticipation.

He tried to pull me closer, but the soles of my feet stayed put. I smirked, proud of my small feet below me for being so strong.

"Come find me at my Halloween party. We can...catch up," he whispered leaning towards me. My feet stayed planted, strong, but I moved my head back to keep space between us.

"And if I don't?" I challenged.

Landon's eyes hooded, but he took a step back from me, finally letting me go. He snorted in the back of his throat and I recoiled slightly at the sound.

"I know you, Allie. You will. You always do."

He didn't say another word as he jogged back towards our group of friends, who were even further ahead now.

I didn't argue. I couldn't.

Because I would. I always did.

If they wanted it, I would give it.

Because if you give it away, there's nothing to lose.

A/N: Thank you to everyone reading!!  You're the best!!!