Sensual Persuasion Ch. 01

Whatever friendship that may have been.

"No not really," I lied. Yeah it did kind of bother me, but I couldn't do much about it. As far as I was concerned, it would somehow reveal itself later. The school was infamous for gossip.

Hailey and I went our separate ways and headed to class just as everyone was getting ready to go to whatever class they were supposed to be in. I entered Mr. Terrance's class, who was currently rummaging through his briefcase and no doubt taking inventory of the students in his class, and as always, I was met with the usual attention that greeted me in the morning.

I raked a hand through my hair and rubbed my eyes. I was still a bit drowsy but was nonetheless still conscious enough to face the fact that a very familiar masculine presence entered the room, and oddly enough felt the quickening of my heartbeat and the sudden raise in my temperature. I glanced up from my seat, only to find Luke standing in the front of the classroom finishing up the last vestiges of the conversation he was having with Nathan.

My eyes traveled to him, before they moved away. Hot heat traveled through my body and I gazed back at him with as much indifference as I could, despite the hot, blazing gaze of his eyes trained on me. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luke

"Everyone remembers Luke, correct?" Mr. Terrance asked. He was about a couple inches shorter than me and I was tempted to just call him the idiot he really was. His mere comment drew on my mysterious absence at school. Everyone was staring at me like I was some sort of a freak show, unbelieving of their eyes that I was here. I even had a wonderfully welcome reception from Lindsey's friends.

On the one hand, I couldn't really blame them for not wondering where I had been. It was kind of sudden really. My dad paid the principal big bucks to get me back in, ever since he got remarried. "Well he'll be in our class and I expect you to treat him like any other student in our class," Mr. Terrence finished.

He continued to drone on about something and I quickly scanned the room. My gaze fell on the hottie who was sitting all the way in the back. She glanced at me and I didn't hesitate to glance right back matching her own bold gaze. Her face remained unreadable and if my vision was good, almost pissed off. She clearly had that intimidatingly sexy look going on. I walked down the aisle to the seat diagonally adjacent from hers and glanced at her. I remembered her from two years ago in passing.

Cameron tilted her head a bit exposing the long column of her neck. She adjusted herself in her seat and I managed to distinguish the long length of her legs. She sat up more rigid and her tired, take-me-to-bed-eyes blinked away her grogginess and suddenly she seemed more alert as if she had just woken up.

Yeah, I definitely liked her tousled, I-just-had-sex kind of appearance better. What was weirder was the fact that it looked as if she wasn't even aware of it. She looked genuinely clueless to her outward appearance.

Suddenly the phone against the wall rang obnoxiously, which resulted in Mr. Terrance being called down to the office. The class was left on their own and everyone erupted into their own conversations as the girls by the window began gossiping about the weekend and the semi-nerds began talking about whatever new class they were taking or daydreaming about some hot chick they wanted to hit up but would never in a million years.

"Can I help you?" Cameron asked, no doubt puzzled as to why I had been checking her out just minutes ago.

"No, but you've changed," I said.

"Thanks for noticing," Cameron said sarcastically. "Although, in about the span of thirty seconds I doubt you noticed much except for the way I look."

"So?" I asked.

"Which means you don't know if I've changed much or not, so don't waste my time," Cameron said indifferently, as if she was already bored by the conversation. That kind of pissed me off. Who in the hell did she think she was? Freaking, royalty?

I smirked at her and said, "Is that something I can help? It's in my DNA." I could just imagine teasing that skirt off of her, exposing that one part of the flesh that I would bury my head in, eat out, and make her moan. I wanted to rip that button-down shirt off and suck on that one spot where I knew would make her whimper for more. I could hear her husky voice calling out my name, gripping my head and pushing it further into her tight little....

Damn, I was getting hard just thinking about it.

"Great to know," she said again sardonically. She was scribbling something down in her binder and barely paying me any attention.

What the hell?

"You know has anyone ever told you it's rude to ignore a person when they're talking to you?"

"Yeah they have, but usually when a person does ignore you it indicates that they don't care or they're just not interested in you," Cameron shot back without missing a beat. Her hair fell gloriously down her back in a silky straight sheen like a porn star and I found myself wanting to feel the strands between my fingers. Cameron's exotic blue-gray eyes held my own gaze as she waited for me to respond. "Are you usually this prickly? Or is it just for my benefit?" I grinned at her.

"Prickly?" Cameron questioned as if taking offense. A mirthless smile graced her features. "I haven't been called that one before. I'm only rude to those who take me as a foregone conclusion," Cameron responded.

"And what conclusion is that?" I asked her now intrigued. I did nothing to hide the slight irritation peeking into my voice, my voice hardening in every response. I pinned her with my gaze, blazing right through her own.

"The very one you're assuming, right now. I'm not naïve, Luke," Cameron responded tightly, as she matched me glare for glare. "I don't appreciate guys approaching me as if I was some sort of a prize to be hunted in a game. I don't know you and I don't know what kind of a game you play, but I'm not interested."

Just then, the bell rang signaling the start of first period and the end of homeroom. Cameron glanced away and got up before she just left.

I sat there for a few minutes bewildered. I quickly got up, only to be halted by Thompson.

"Hey," he said, as he grinned. Annoyance flashed in my face at the abrupt stop. "I haven't seen you in forever!"

I was more than surprised to see Thompson. He had his books in one hand, against his hip and he pounded my hand. The guy grew taller, but apart from that he hadn't changed since we had last seen each other during junior year. I wondered if he was still beast at soccer. "Where have you been?"

"I've been around," I answered vaguely. No reason to inform him why.

"Yo, who were you talking too?" Thompson asked, as he glanced back at Cameron. Then an expression of understanding overcame his face. "Ah, Cameron," he whistled appreciatively. "Man, good choice. She has quite an ass. I wouldn't mind hitting that."

A white hot rod of anger shot through me. There was no way in hell Thompson was going to sleep with Cameron. Besides, he probably got enough ass over the summer, especially when many of the Varsity soccer players were training for season, just in line with the fall football cheerleaders. I wouldn't be surprised if he had tested positive for STD's, too.

"Yeah, anyhow I think it's better if we head to class," I responded, as I shoved out of his way and grabbed my books. I may have shoved him harder than I had intended too, but I didn't feel all that guilty for it. Thompson looked puzzled by it, but then shrugged it off.

However, as soon as I got out the door, Victoria and Natasha and all the other girls— who were all giggling and checking their schedules and comparing it to mine—immediately bombarded Thompson and I, forcing us to stop to entertain them briefly with good-natured hugs and hellos. I didn't bother to acknowledge them any more than I had to, as I headed towards my next class, occasionally saying hi to one of my friends or so who were all decked out in their basketball or football Varsity jackets. I caught Jason giving me a wink as the girls trailed us. "Good to see you back," Jason commented and I nodded in acknowledgement at his response.

"You like Cameron or something?" Thompson asked out of curiosity, striding beside me. I hadn't realized he had been following me until now.

"No," I replied.

Thompson shrugged and said, "Lindsey grew hotter over the summer. You think you're going to hit it up with her again?"

Lindsey had been my ex-girlfriend. She too was the hottest thing I had ever seen, but seeing her made me wonder what was going on in my too-messed up head to have gone out with someone as high-maintenance and whiney as her.

Then, suddenly there she was in those sexy jeans of her that made any guy within proximity seriously consider grabbing her ass. Her white sweater contrasted against her tan and the hint of cleavage was so subtle that it made a guy go crazy to think what kind of bra she was wearing and just how and when to persuade her to take it off. Her, silky honey-blonde hair was up and I could smell the clean apple-scented shampoo that she used. Thompson wasn't kidding and as she turned her blue eyes on me, I could see that she had grown hotter over the summer.

If that was possible.

I stopped, just as Lindsey began walking over to me in those boots of hers that her jeans were tucked into. She said goodbye to some guy, (Tyler, I think) and walked over to me. Before I hadn't noticed it, but I realized she had very aristocratic facial features. She was like the type of sophisticated girl who was in some ultra-exclusive sorority for the rich and the privileged at Oxford. She definitely wasn't your typical high school senior. She looked like she was a college student.

"Hey," Lindsey said, as she flashed a brilliant smile. Her lips were full of gloss and lusciously pink. "Where are you going?" Her voice was sultry, sexy and I had trouble concentrating for a moment on what she was saying.

Thompson patted me on the arm and said, "I'll catch you later. I'm going to be running late."

"A'right," I muttered.

Victoria and Natasha giggled before averting their gazes. I turned to Lindsey and said, "I'm going to AP History."

Lindsey offered a smile and dug through one of those expensive white purses with the C's all over the place. She pulled out an envelope and handed it to me. On the front of the envelope was a gold scrawled handwriting. I could bet a million dollars that it was her penmanship. She always wrote so neatly. "Come okay? I'm having a party on daddy's yacht. He's letting me borrow it for the night. We won't be too offshore. Think about it, okay? And tell me when you're coming."

I noted the deliberate use of the word when rather than if. I realized then she was expecting me to come. Whatever. I could deal. Besides, it was a party after all.

I watched as she turned around and left, swinging her hips in a seductive way that I couldn't help but stare after her. Vincent, who had followed in our wake began leaving away with Natasha and Victoria by his side, which thankfully got rid of the girls. Derek, another follower, followed after them.

I shook my head and wandered off to class. Not much had really changed. In fact, if anything, everything seemed to be the same.

Except, as I headed to class, thoughts of Cameron began to inundate my mind.