Taming the Beast novel Chapter 10

(Caroline’s POV)

Have I mentioned that I hate Mondays? My weekend was spent taking care of Preston while Danny worked, as always. I didn’t mind it at all, but Monday morning, I was ready to rip someone’s head off. I don’t look horrendous when I wake up, my hair is silky and pretty much stays the same. I just thank the heavens I don’t drool or snore; I learned that much from sleeping in class. My routine is not to talk to anyone until lunch on Mondays, unless I absolutely have to. And I do just that.

“Morning sunshine,” Stacy joked at me from across the table. I only glare at her and reintroduce her to my middle finger. Just because I’m talking to people, doesn’t mean I’m in a good mood yet. I fork some salad into my mouth and lean against my hand. “Are you going to try and talk to Brighton again today?” she asked. That only earned her another glare. She only laughed at me.

“She’s got a new potential bae,” Mariana smirked, bumping my arm. I felt a leg brush mine and a ting shoot all the way up my core. I sat up straighter as my eyes snapped to the culprit. I inched away from him lightly only to be pushed against him again as the rest of his posse showed up to sit at my table. We got weird looks from everyone in the lunch room. I mean, if some of the most popular guys in school and the hot new guy sat next to three volleyball dorks, I would stare too, but the boys went on as if they didn’t even notice.

“Hey there, cupcake,” Nick smirked suggestively. From beside me I heard Keegan… growling?

The fudge?

When I looked over to him though, his face was calm and the growling stopped but Nick slunk back; obviously taking the hint.

“I’m so sorry,” I said. I grabbed his arm and tried to ignore the tingling sensation running through my hand. I stood and dragged him along behind me. I knew I couldn’t actually drag him, but he followed me obediently anyway. I know it was just water, but I felt bad. I also felt like I needed to get him out of there. I dragged him into the girls’ bathroom and he didn’t resist. It was like he was blindly following me. I grabbed some paper towels and went to dry him off.

“You’re too tall,” I said, a little frustrated. He smirked lightly at me before he leaned against a blank wall and slid down until he was sitting. I dabbed the water off of his face and pressed the dry towels against his shirt to try and soak up some of the water. I sighed and sat next to him as I continued dabbing him. His eyes closed and he looked peaceful but there was a hint of hurt behind it.

“That wasn’t my son,” I said softly as I tried to dab more water out of his shirt. I think we both knew it was a helpless attempt, but neither one of us wanted to move. His eyes opened slowly as he looked at me. I dropped my hand and sighed, running my fingers through my hair and biting my lip gently as I looked away from him.