“Yeah?”

“Yea—”

He pulled, and I screamed.

“AH!” I did crumple this time. Grabbing his arm, I caught myself.

People were watching us, and I was being a bit overdramatic, but I was happy. I could be dramatic about this. This pain would go away.

“You okay?” He ran his finger over mine and murmured, “All better now?”

I tensed, waiting for the pain, but none came. I moved my fingers around, bending and wiggling them. “No. It’s fixed. Thank you.”

A cocky smirk came over him. “I found my calling. I’m going to be a doctor. I like fixing girls and having them swoon over me.”

I hit his shoulder with my other hand. “So hilarious.”

He chuckled, his eyes darkening.

I straightened, responding to him. That throbbing need began to build, and I leaned toward him.

“Yo.”

Kirk, Nick, and Tom sauntered over to us.

Kirk held his fist up, and Ryan met it with his, turning to rest against the locker behind me. His hand moved to my waist as he nodded to the others. “What’s up?”

“We’re having a party after your first game, right?” Kirk was the spokesman. He glanced to Tom and Nick, who both nodded.

Ryan’s hand flexed on my hip, but his tone remained casual. “Yeah, sure. Your place?”

“I can throw it. That’s no problem.” Kirk looked at me. “You coming, Mackenzie?”

I looked at Ryan before speaking. “I think so.”

“I gotta ask because you’ve gone all goody-student lately. No skipping. No drinking. You haven’t partaken in our parties, and we haven’t had to interrupt you and Romeo here during any PDA. What happened?”

I’d started healing. “Things got better at home.”

Things weren’t a hundred percent. That wouldn’t happen. But they were definitely over the fifty percent mark. One day, I figured I’d have to claw my way higher. It would suck. There were layers in me even I didn’t want to share, but I’d have to deal if I wanted to get up there.

I was okay where I was for the moment.

I settled back, moving to lean fully against Ryan as he talked over my shoulder with his friends. His hand on my waist moved behind me, and I felt it slide under my shirt, rubbing up and down.

It felt good, calming.

We stayed like that until the warning bell rang and everyone dispersed. It was nice to have just the guys at my locker. That wasn’t a normal thing anymore—there were almost always girls around too. If it was Kirk standing with us, sometimes Cora would come over. Kirk would throw an arm around her shoulder and talk to Ryan while flirting with her. Sometimes, Erin approached, and if she came, her friends followed behind. Things were still tense between us, but she’d been giving me a stiff smile or hello lately, and sometimes I gave it back. She didn’t deserve my friendliness, in my opinion, and it’d be a long day in hell before she and I became anything other than civil to each other.

After seventh period ended, Ryan caught up to me at my locker. “Are you sticking around during practice?”

I switched out my books, putting the ones I needed for homework into my bag. “Yeah. My mom and dad are going to a counseling session tonight.”

“So we can hang out afterward?” He moved in as I closed my locker, tugging me close so I was almost resting against him. I felt him through my jeans. He was already hard, and I knew what else he was asking.

Feeling my body warm, I grinned at him. “Oh yes.”

“Yeah?” His eyes were teasing, a twinkle in them. He tugged me closer, closer, closer until every inch of my body was plastered against every inch of his.

I could feel his breath against me, and I murmured back, “Hell yes.”

I felt him smiling before he kissed me.

A loud slam sounded right next to us, and Ryan’s head jerked up. His hands tightened on my waist as he growled, “What the fuck, man?”

The guy grinned at us as he bounced a basketball. He threw it at the locker on our other side, moving down the hallway. “Want to make sure you’re coming to practice,” he called over his shoulder.

“Now I might not.”

The guy caught his basketball and stopped in his tracks. “You serious, man?” His fingers tapped on the ball.

I didn’t know who the guy was, but it wasn’t a stretch to guess he was a senior. No junior would’ve talked to Ryan like that.

“I’ll come when I come.” Ryan pushed away from my locker, standing in front of me. His shoulders were rigid, and he kept a tight grip on my hand.

Kirk and Nick materialized from behind us, moving in to flank Ryan.

Kirk’s hands shoved into his pockets. “What’s the deal, Wachowitz?”

“My deal is Jensen. He’s more interested in getting laid than getting to practice.”

A low growl came from Ryan, and he started forward.