Catch You if I Can Read online

  “Front hurdler.” This one was quite complex, and when none of the senior cheerleaders said anything after she executed the move, Ianne told herself it didn’t matter if she had done it wrong. The important thing to remember was that she had tried.

  Inside her head, a voice that sounded suspiciously like the cynical Jacy gave her one big fat snort in response.

  “Side hurdler then a herkie right after.”

  Ianne performed both moves, focusing completely on making sure that the small but important difference between the two similar jumps would be emphasized.

  “Tabletop.”

  “Spreadeagle.”

  “Roundoff back handspring.”

  By the time she had executed the ninth move on Gee’s list, everyone applauded wildly, with the American twins hooting and shouting encouragements at her.

  The attention disconcerted her, and Ianne did her best not to blush. She also tried her best not to pant. She was that tired. Maybe this was the reason why none of the other girls had tried to complete Gee’s list. None of them had wanted to risk looking like a dog driven rabid by dehydration in front of the whole school.

  Gee clapped her hands and the whole squad fell silent. “Last one: triple axle round off somersault combination.”

  Ianne paled. “Err, what was that again?”

  Someone in the crowd tittered softly, and she had a nasty feeling it was Zelda.

  Bitch.

  Gee repeated her last command patiently.

  Ianne mumbled, “Sorry, I don’t know what that is.”

  Gee had an odd smile on her lips. “That’s all right. Cheer please. This time, imagine your team’s playing without home court advantage and you need to introduce them to the crowd.”

  Ianne’s mind raced furiously.

  “Well?”

  She closed her eyes for a moment. Come on, Ianne 2.0. Let’s kick ass.

  “When we girls are sashayin’, our boys will go a-rockin your court…” Ianne pointed to the crowd with invisible pom-poms, her smile so stiff it was a wonder her face didn’t crack under it. “Gooooooo get ‘em, Panthers.”

  Silence.

  And then everyone cheered wildly, the football players roaring loudly. “We’ll get them for you, babe!”

  When Gee waved her back to the crowd, Ianne hurried towards the twins, red-faced.

  “You were great,” Sara gushed as she gave Ianne a quick hug.

  “What’s so great about that?” Ianne demanded in a mumble. “I looked like a total noob. I was the only one desperate enough for points to do more than three of Gee’s moves.” Her shoulders slumped. “I’m such a loser.” And she was tired of it. Tired, tired, tired of always looking like a loser next to Zelda.

  Come on God, when is it my time to shine?

  “Are you crazy?” Sally’s voice, full of disbelief, temporarily put a stop to Ianne’s mental tirade. “You’re not the loser here. You’re the only winner, dummy. The reason why most of us did no more than three jumps is because that was all we knew.”

  Ianne was mystified. “You don’t know?” she repeated blankly. How was that even possible? “B-but you’ve been cheerleaders—”

  Sally rolled her eyes as she interrupted Ianne, “Cheer dancers. The official term here is cheer dancers.”

  “Did you study those moves all on your own?” Sara asked. At Ianne’s nod, she continued, “We used to try to convince our cheer captain back in high school about transitioning to cheerleading but she was totally against it. Eventually, we just got tired of nagging her and stopped with the self-study stuff as well.”

  “But Gee’s different,” Sally piped in. “While you were killing it in front, one of the other girls told us how Gee actually studied in America and that’s why she’s different from the others.” Her voice lowered into a confidential whisper. “They say she’s priming us to compete in the world championships.” Her eyes were wide with wonder. “Can you believe that?”

  “If it’s Gee, I can believe it,” her twin answered dryly and the two of them laughed.

  Ianne laughed with them, but she had a restless feeling inside her. Ianne’s gaze casually roamed her surroundings until she eventually saw Zelda. That was when she knew the restless feeling had everything to do with her rival.

  A smile that everyone but Ianne would have called sweet formed on Zelda’s glossy pink lips as she mouthed, Congratulations.

  Tupperware. The brand name popped out of nowhere and stuck. That was what Zelda reminded her of. Fake. Plastic. Tupperware.

  Ianne badly wanted to snub the other girl, but she couldn’t. So she forced herself to smile and mouth back, Thanks. She tried not to wince as she did. Ugh. She had just become Ms. Tupperware herself.

  Gee let out a shrill whistle when the last recruit was done with her test. “Okay girls, today’s results were totally shitty. Only Ianne got everything perfect.” At Ianne’s look of surprise, Gee’s face softened with a slight smile. “You did. The last one was completely bull. No such move exists, but I wanted to see who was stupid enough to try pulling one over me.”

  Ianne could only smile weakly. That seemed very neurotic, but since no one was complaining, she supposed everyone expected cheer captains to be paranoid.

  After practice, Ianne was one of the last to get to the locker room since a lot of the other recruits had begged her to teach them a few of the moves she had performed during Gee’s test. Wriggling out of her sweaty practice clothes, Ianne wrapped a towel around herself, turned, and almost screamed at unexpectedly finding herself face to face with Zelda.

  “Hey.” Ianne tried for a friendly grin.

  Zelda returned it with a brittle smile. “I didn’t know you’re into cheerleading, too.”

  Looking at Zelda, Ianne mentally sang, The Tupperware is a-cracking. She shrugged and tried not to look down on her mini rival because instead of making Ianne felt tall and superior, the height difference between them made Ianne feel like a grizzly bear next to Zelda.

  “I just thought it would be fun,” Ianne answered lamely when she saw that Zelda seemed to be waiting for an answer.

  “Awww. You should have tried out for the squad in our high school. We could have been such great friends.” Her voice turned poisonously sweet. “You could have hung out with Alex and me back then.”

  Ianne opened her mouth…and closed it right after, finding herself speechless. She had not expected Zelda to bring up Alex just like that.

  “He’s enrolled here too, do you know? Perhaps you’ve already seen him around?”

  “Umm, yes. Just the other day in fact.” She was having a hard time keeping her voice even as she spoke. Why was she suddenly feeling so guilty about talking to Alex? Zelda and Alex were over. She wasn’t doing anything wrong. But the way Zelda was looking at her made Ianne feel like she had.

  Surprise flared in Zelda’s eyes before the other girl quickly tried to mask it. “That’s cool.” Another Tupperware smile flashed on her lips. “Tell him I said hi, please.”

  “Uh, sure.” Not.

  Zelda seemed to want to say something else, but one of the other recruits was already calling her. “I got to go.” Acute frustration underlined her voice. “We should grab coffee next time and catch up.”

  “Uh, sure.” Not.

  “See you around!”

  When Zelda left, Ianne practically collapsed on the bench. What in the world was that about? She opened her locker and took out her phone, her fingers furiously typing her message, telling her friends about what had just happened. Their messages came piping in just as quickly.

  Andra: Forget about her. She’s out of the picture.

  Train: She’s probably pissed that you and Alex are talking again.

  Middy: Doesn’t matter what she wants. Just don’t trust her!

  Jacy: She just wants to see you naked to compare boob size.

  Ianne choked at the last message. Oh, Jacy. She always did say the craziest and funniest things. Her phone buzzed just as Ianne was about t
o return it to her locker. She expected it to be another comforting message from one of her friends, but instead it was from…Alex.

  The sight of his name on her phone was more than enough to have her heart skipping more than a beat. It was practically breakdancing inside her body, twisting and turning in all directions. She was that excited just to hear from him.

  Alex: I saw you on the field earlier. You were amazing.

  The old Ianne would have handled this awkwardly, brushing aside his compliment because she was already dying in utter embarrassment. But she was not the old Ianne any longer. And so she typed what she really wanted to say, never mind if her cheeks were on fire the whole time.

  Ianne: Then why didn’t you tell me in person? :(

  Alex: I can tell you now.

  Ianne: Now??

  Alex: I’m waiting for you outside the locker room.

  She didn’t stop to think. She just threw her phone back into her locker, clinched the lock, and ran out of the locker room.

  Alex’s head snapped up at the sound of the door to the girls’ locker room flying open. What the—

  Ianne came flying out, her long hair swaying against her back, her cheeks flushed, and her body clad in…a tiny towel.

  WHAT. THE. FUCK?

  Alex stalked towards her and hauled Ianne to him. “Are you serious?” he growled. Granted, no one else seemed to be in the gym with them and he knew there wasn’t anyone else in the men’s locker room either. But that didn’t matter. Anyone could come in at any moment, and that meant anyone could have more than a glimpse of Ianne’s almost naked form.

  “You really are here,” Ianne blurted out, looking up at him with eyes filled with wonder.

  She felt extremely good in the circle of his arms. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her since he had kissed her the other day. He had badly wanted to visit her at home yesterday, but he also knew doing so could make him guilty of intruding on family time, which he didn’t want to do.

  He knew Ianne’s dad and they got along well fairly enough. But Ian Clayton was extremely protective of his daughter, and Alex knew it was better to show up at their front door when he and Ianne already had a clear understanding of what they were to each other.

  But before that—

  One moment they were outside the locker room, Alex glaring down at her and then the next moment Alex had whisked her back inside. “Wha—”

  Alex’s smoldering gaze made her throat dry, and she started to tremble when she heard the click of the lock.

  He had locked the two of them inside.

  Oh. My. Gawd.

  She was locked in the same room with Alex.

  No, wait.

  He had locked her in the same room with him.

  There was a difference between the two, and it was a huge difference.

  “Alex—”

  His gaze still on her face, the heat in his eyes making her feel breathless, Alex wordlessly bent forward just enough for him to reach out to her towel. He gave it one little tug, and the towel fell to the floor.

  “Alex!” She half-cried, half-gasped his name out. She automatically started to cover herself, but Alex’s command, spoken in a soft but steely voice, stopped her.

  “Don’t.” Alex waited tensely for Ianne to protest, to shake her head and defy him. One, two, three seconds passed before Ianne’s arms slowly fell to her sides and she stood in front of him, her whole body trembling. She looked shy and proud at the same time, and just gazing at her made Alex so hard he literally ached with need for her.

  “Beautiful.” The word came out in a guttural tone. He was trembling, too, his control near breaking point as her naked form continued to beckon and tempt him.

  Ianne had never considered herself beautiful, but the way Alex was staring at her made Ianne feel like she was. But the longer he stared, the more she felt self-conscious, and she said helplessly, “Stop staring.”

  “I don’t want to. I think I can stare at you all day.” And because this was Alex, she knew it wasn’t a lie. Alex told her that where he came from, real men didn’t utter falsehoods.

  The two years they had been apart had transformed Ianne’s once slender but girlish form into a ripe womanly figure, her curves shapelier, and her breasts pert and tipped with coral-pink nipples that made his cock swell at the thought of sucking them.

  The flesh between her legs was pink and bare, and Alex could feel his cock growing into impossible proportions as he imagined Ianne shaving herself there.

  “Do you always shave yourself there?”

  “N-no.” He only looked at her after her answer, and the silent command made her squirm and blush as she confessed, “I…I started shaving the other night. A-after you kissed me.”

  Her answer rocked his world.

  “Why?” he rasped out. “Why would you do that?”

  “Because…” Ianne gulped before taking the plunge. “Because I’ve always…I’ve always dreamt that you’d be my first time—”

  His control snapped, and Alex hauled Ianne close, his lips possessing hers as his arms went around her.

  She gasped against his mouth, the kiss tearing her apart. It was so hot, so passionate, and oh so possessive that it was as if with every stroke of his tongue inside her mouth, he was stamping his name in her very heart.

  “Yes,” he growled against her lips. “I will be your first.” His fingers curled around her neck in a possessive clasp. “And I will be your last.”

  She could only whimper, her attention completely taken by the way his tongue moved inside her mouth.

  Ianne tasted so sweet and innocent, making him wonder if he was also her first in other things. “Am I your first kiss as well, Ianne?” He told himself that her answer wouldn’t matter, that if she said no he would accept it because it was his own damn fault if she had ended up giving another man the gift of her first kiss.

  Ianne tried to concentrate on what he was asking. “A-and if you’re not?” she whispered.

  He kissed her hard. “I know I have no right to be furious. But if somebody has kissed you, then I’m going to kiss you all day.” He traced her lips with one finger. “I’m going to kiss you in every way until you find yourself forgetting the taste of any man’s lips but mine.”

  His words had Ianne squeezing her legs together hard. Oh God, she couldn’t believe she was hearing Alex Rockford speaking like this. It was even more incredible that Alex was speaking like this to her. She whispered shakily, “And if you’re my first kiss?”

  “Am I?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then I’ll still kiss you every day and in every fucking way so that you would never think of kissing anyone else but me.” There was no time for words after that, his lips claiming hers again. But this time, it wasn’t just her lips that he took.

  This time, his hands made sure that her body belonged to him as well, his hands slowly caressing her curves, his fingers trailing gently and seductively over her back. She gasped in reaction, and her body pressed against him harder.

  Alex groaned, his tongue pushing in further and deeper into her mouth as his lust became uncontrollable. His hands moved to her breasts, cupping them—

  Someone knocked hard against the door, startling Ianne and causing his arms to tighten around her protectively. “Anyone in there?”

  At Alex’s nod, Ianne croaked out, “Yes, I’m just about to finish. I was scared of someone slipping in while I was in the shower so I, uh, locked the door.”

  “Good thinking. I’ll be going then. It’s almost six already. Don’t forget to lock up, Miss.”

  When the sound of the maintenance guy’s footsteps receded, Alex and Ianne looked at each other. He could see that the mood was completely ruined, with Ianne looking a little shocked as if she had just realized they had been making out in a public place.

  With a little sigh, he gently released Ianne, picking up the towel from the floor and wrapping it around her. When she looked at him askance, he told her softly, “
I can wait. I wouldn’t have taken you here in any case. Your first time is special.”

  And?

  She waited for him to say something else, to tell her about his feelings. Her insecurities had returned in full force after spending too much time with Zelda. She wanted to hear him say he loved her.

  But he didn’t. All Alex did was kiss her forehead. “I’ll wait for you to finish and then I’ll drive you home.”

  That was it?

  Alex kept his face impassive. He knew what she was waiting for, but his lips refused to move. He vividly remembered the last time he had started to tell her his feelings…and the way she had effectively turned him down.

  He loved her. He had always known that. And he did believe her when she told him why she had said those words before. But even so, he knew he would not be able to trust her again. Not after what happened to him and Zelda – something Alex hoped she would never find out.

  Chapter Seven

  Classes ended earlier than usual the next day, and Ianne decided to wait for her friends at the bleachers. Switching her iPad on, Ianne tried to resume her reading on application development but all she could think about was Alex.

  She had refused his offer to drive her home, mumbling an excuse that she herself didn’t understand. He had looked at her for a long while before saying quietly, “Have I scared you?”

  Ianne had admitted honestly, “I scare myself.”

  Alex had sighed in answer, a soft bittersweet sound that had her looking up at him. “I’m going to give you time then but only for tonight.” At her stunned look, he said gruffly, “I’ve waited for you for years, Ianne. I won’t wait any longer.”

  And that was that.

  Ianne impatiently swiped to the next page and continued swiping, trying not to think about Alex. But it was no use. She was so confused. On one hand, it felt great that Alex was finally running after her. But at the same time, Ianne had this feeling he wasn’t being completely honest and it bugged her—

  A shadow fell over her, and she asked, “What took you so long?”

  “Looking for you?”

  Her neck nearly snapped at the haste with which Ianne looked up, unable to believe it was indeed him. And it was. As always, Alex was dressed more formally than most other students, with his dark brown jacket, checkered shirt and jeans. It should have made him look middle-aged, but instead it only made him look more gorgeously unattainable…or at least that was how he seemed to her.