Chapter 4

"I'm almost positive that she likes him. You should see the way she looks at him when she thinks no one is looking." Brandon was sitting at his desk, trying to write a paper for his European Civilization despite the fact that his sister seemed determined to distract him.

"She looks at him like he's a ten pound bar of the most decadent piece of chocolate known to womankind and she's on a diet. Sometimes I feel like they could burn me with the looks they give each other. They've been working on that project for the past 3 weeks and every time I come in the room, you can practically see the tension in the air, it's so thick. You could probably build a house with it. I don't know why they don't just give in to it."

Luckily, Brigid wasn't expecting an answer because Brandon didn't plan to give her one. He and his sister were probably the only people in the school who even noticed the tension between the two. Aside from the occasional glance that lasted a moment or two too long, they were usually both quite good at masking their emotions. Especially Hayley. The casual observer would think that Hayley hated Aidan, or at the very least was indifferent to him. But Brandon and Brigid knew better. Brandon could feel the sadness and longing and desire that Hayley radiated whenever Aidan was around. She might be able to hide it from most people, but no one could hide their true feelings from Brandon.

There were times when he felt that his empathic abilities were more of a curse than a gift; especially before he'd learned to control them. It was hard enough being a teenager and not knowing where your own emotions were coming from. Trying to figure out everyone else's emotions on top of that, especially other teenagers', was beyond difficult. It probably would have driven a lesser man than Brandon crazy years ago. But whether he liked being an empath or not, he was one and Hayley's emotions were so strong that Brandon could pick them up from miles away, no matter how good she was at hiding them from everyone else.

And Brigid might seem like a bit scatterbrained—always flitting from one thought and activity to the next, never concentrating on any one thing for more than a few minutes—but she was more observant than most people gave her credit for. People tended to think that just because she talked a lot, she didn't notice things going on around her. But she noticed. And more often than not felt it was her right and her duty to interfere in some way.

"I think it's time we do something." Brandon looked at Brigid, brow raised. She was so excited she was practically ready to jump out of her skin. She gave him her usual smile full of mischief.

"What do you mean by 'we'?"

"Hayley, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure. What's up?" Hayley answered without looking up from her book. She was halfway through Pride and Prejudice. The reading wasn't due for a few more weeks, but Hayley thought it would be best to go ahead and get it out of the way. It's not like there was anything else she'd rather be doing. Of course, there were things she should be doing. Like studying the book of attack spells that she'd barely glanced at since she got here. But Hayley hadn't been motivated to do much magic lately. And she knew how dangerous it could be to practice magic when you weren't focused. She'd learned that the hard way and had scars to prove it. And lately she was finding it increasingly difficult to focus on anything other than a certain black-haired, blue-eyed rugby player.

"I was supposed to give Brandon something that Mom sent for him the other day, but I forgot to give it to him at breakfast this morning and I'm not gonna be at dinner tonight 'cause I gotta go to lacrosse practice earlier than I thought, so can you drop it off at his room tonight? I would do it when I get back from practice, but I'm probably just gonna come home and go straight to sleep. I swear, the coach is possessed this semester. She's making us do the most absurd exercises. The other day she had us doing—"

"Yeah. I'll take it to him." Hayley interrupted, stopping her before she could go into another one of her ten-minute monologues. She gave her a small smile to soften the insult. "Just leave it on your desk."

"Thanks Hayley. You're the best roommate ever." Hayley had already returned her attention back to her homework and didn't see the triumphant smile that Brigid wore as she bounced out the door.

"Oh. Hey Hayley."

"What are you doing here?" She wasn't expecting him to answer the door. And she definitely wasn't expecting him to answer the door in nothing but a towel. She had deliberately waited until she knew he would be at practice to come over. As if spending so much time alone with him for the project wasn't enough, now there was this. The gods must hate me. They really hate me. Hayley glanced at Aidan's bare chest again, struggling not to stare. But they must surely love him. He was just so muscle-y and wet and hot.

"I live here."

"I mean, I thought you were at practice."

"I was. We got out early today. Coach had a doctor's appointment or something.

"Oh."

"Yeah ... So, did you, uh, need something?"

"What? Oh, right. Yeah." Hayley felt the heat creeping from her neck, pass her cheeks, and up to her forehead and knew she was turning a nice, deep shade of cherry. Oh yeah, this is just great. Nothing better than completely embarrassing yourself in front of a ridiculously hot, half-naked guy.

"Ummm, Brigid wanted me to, uh..." Hayley was distracted by a drop of water traveling from his shoulder, over his pecs, across the ridges of his abs, and down to his navel. Dear gods, what I wouldn't give to be that drop of water right now.

"Hayley?" Her head shot up and she felt the heat return to her face. She could hear the amusement in his voice and she hated him for it. It was bad enough that she couldn't concentrate; he didn't have to make it worse by laughing at her.

And he was definitely amused. He wouldn't be able to deny it even if he wanted to. This was Hayley, the girl who'd been giving him looks of contempt since the first day of school. This was the girl he'd been unable to read for months. The girl he'd been drooling over since he first saw her. Sure, she'd loosened up a little since they started working together, but that was completely impersonal. They never talked about anything but the project when they met. For the entire 3 weeks that they'd been working together, he'd only seen her smile once. But, damn, when she did ... And now, here she was, this girl who seemed as cold as ice, standing in front of him, practically drooling. And it felt good.

Aidan wasn't cocky or anything, but, come on, he could read minds for God's sake. He knew how most of the girls at the school thought of him. He knew he was attractive. But the way Hayley was looking at him right now, he could feel his ... ego swelling. He leaned his shoulder against the door frame and crossed his arms over his chest, knowing it would make his biceps look bigger, then gave her the best I-know-you-want-me smile that he could muster.

"Like what you see?" Who knows what made him think that cheesy line would get him anywhere with Hayley. A line like that probably wouldn't have even worked with Jessica, and it was no secret how little he'd have to do to get her. The cheesy question and his cocky smile were all Hayley needed to be brought back to reality. A reality where she was an outsider and he was the arrogant, overconfident jock who thought he could have anything and everything he wanted. She was not going to turn into another one of his loyal subjects. Besides, they both knew he didn't really want her in the first place. It was pretty shitty of him to pretend, even for just a second, that he would even be slightly interested in her.

At least, that's what Hayley told herself. She'd grab hold of anything to turn her embarrassment into anger. Anger was something she could handle, something she was used to. She told herself that she had more important things to do than stand around making a fool of herself over some self-important asshole who just wanted to play with her emotions. She erased all expression from her face—bringing back the Hayley he knew, the Hayley she understood—and handed him the package that Brigid had left on her desk.

"Brigid asked me to bring this to Brandon. Can you make sure he gets it?" As soon as the package was in Aidan's hands, she stalked away, anger evident in every step she took. Aidan watched her go, puzzled by her actions yet again. What is with this girl? Aidan shook his head and closed the door.

"What's this?" Brandon picked up the package on his bed and started opening it. Aidan paused briefly to see what Brandon was talking about.

"Hayley brought it by. She said Brigid wanted her to give it to you." Brandon looked at the book that he had just unwrapped. It was a book he'd read many times. He didn't understand how it had gotten wrapped up in this package; he usually kept it by his bedside ... A light went off inside his head. Of course. Brigid. He threw the book back on his bed and looked at his roommate. He could feel Aidan's anger and confusion practically screaming at him. He took a seat on his bed and studied Aidan for a second. He was pacing his side of the room, mumbling something under his breath.

"So Hayley was here, huh? Just to drop this off, or did she want something else?"

"I really believe that girl is out of her freaking mind or something. Either that, or on a mission to make me lose mine. I don't understand. When she came over today, it was pretty obvious that she was into me, ya know. Well, physically at least. But when I try to flirt with her, she gets mad at me and stomps away. What the hell is up with that? I tell you, I don't know why I even bother with women. They're way more effort than they're worth."

As if you've ever needed to put in any effort. Girls fall at your feet every day. It's amazing that you don't trip over them. Brandon wasn't jealous or anything. To be honest, he wasn't really into the type of girls that usually wanted Aidan. Girls with a groupie mentality just weren't his type.

"Yeah, I know I don't usually have to put in much effort. But I can't help the fact that girls tend to like me."

Brandon looked at Aidan and tilted his head to the side, curiosity slowly sliding into his eyes. He didn't remember saying that out loud.

"Maybe she doesn't believe that you really like her. You have to admit, she doesn't really appear to be your usual type. For one thing, she actually has a brain." Not to mention it's difficult talking to her with your foot in your mouth.

"That's what I'm talking about. How is that she's the only person in the world that I seem not to be able to talk to. The only time my foot isn't in my mouth around her is when we're talking about work. I don't even know why I like her. Okay, she's smart. More than just book smart like the other students her. But it's not like she's all that nice. Not to me, anyway. I mean, she's pretty, but so are a lot of girls here."

Yeah, but her prettiness didn't come from a tube, bottle, or a doctor's knife. You have to admit, that's unusual here. Brandon deliberately didn't say this out loud. He had a theory formulating in his mind that he wanted to test out.

"I have to admit, it is nice that she's naturally pretty and not chemically or surgery enhanced." Aidan paused his pacing momentarily as he thought, with a small smile of pure male appreciation, about just how nice nature had been to Miss Hayley Donovan and thanked God for it. But the smile disappeared when he thought about everything that came along with the physical attractiveness—the snide remarks, the disgusted smirks whenever she saw him. Damn her.

"Whatever. I'm gonna go for a run to clear my head." Aidan threw on a pair of running shoes and headed out the door.

"I swear to you, Brigid. He was responding to things I know for a fact I didn't say out loud. He had to have been reading my thoughts."

"I dunno, Brandon. Maybe he just knows you so well that he was anticipating your words."

"I'm telling you, it was more than that. Think about it. Can't you remember times when Aidan would answer someone's question before they could ask it? Or finish the sentences of people he barely knew?

"Maybe he's just really intuitive; good at reading people. You're good at reading people."

"Yeah, because I'm an empath. It's easy to read people when you can feel their emotions. Maybe it's easy for Aidan to read people because he can read their minds."

"I dunno, Brandon. I'm still not sold on the idea."

"Just watch him, Brigid. You'll see." Brigid knew that once Brandon got an idea stuck in his head, it was hard to shake it from him. Then again, she had to admit that once he got an idea stuck in his head, he was almost never wrong about it. Actually, now that she thought about, not almost, never.

"I've tried every focus spell I can think of, but I can't stop thinking about him. I know I should be focusing on my training. I know how important it is that I'm ready when the time comes, but I just can't stop. I know you'd be disappointed in me if you were here, but I really am trying. I just don't know what to do." Hayley ran her fingers through her hair and breathed a heavy sigh of frustration. No matter how much she told herself she needed to concentrate, she just couldn't. All she could think about was Aidan.

Before this English project, it had been easy to categorize him as just another dumb jock; a cocky rich kid who only cared about his next score, both on the field and between his sheets. He'd given her more than enough ammo to reinforce the theory. Almost every conversation she overheard him having was either about rugby or it was sickeningly flirtatious banter (and it really galled her to admit how often she caught herself listening for the sound of his voice in the hallways or the dining hall). But even then she'd been attracted to him, and hated herself for it.

But now that she'd spent more time with him, she was starting to realize that there was more to him than what she'd originally thought. When he talked about something other than sports or when he wasn't trying to talk a girl out of her panties, he was actually kind of sweet, and smart, and funny, and... . Ugh, there I go again thinking about him! What is wrong with me?

"Sorry. I didn't mean to invade your privacy." Hayley jumped at the sound of his voice. She hadn't heard him coming. It was almost as if she'd conjured him with her thoughts. Albeit, if she could conjure him with her thoughts, she would see him a lot more often. They stared at each other in silence, neither knowing what to say. "Look, I know how much you hate my company. I'll just go..."

"I don't hate your company, I just—" Hayley looked away, not knowing what to say. "I don't hate your company."

Aidan examined her closely, trying to decide whether or not he should just turn around and go back the way he'd come. But there was nothing on her face to indicate how she actually felt, so he eventually just gave up and decided to stay. He didn't know what made him think he would even be able to tell anything by looking at her anyway; he never could.

He wasn't sure he was up to the effort of spending time with Hayley. He was starting to think it might be more trouble than it was worth. He was kind of tired though. He wasn't sure how long he'd been running, and he could honestly use the rest. Anyway, it wasn't like Hayley owned the spot. He could sit wherever he damn well pleased. But that didn't stop him from asking her if it was okay. No need to be rude, especially not to people who tended to look at you like they wanted to tear out your insides. Not that he was scared of Hayley, he just ... there was just no need to be rude.

"Do you mind if I sit down."

She wasn't sure if she was in the mind-state to be her usual mean self. She was feeling a little too fragile to be around anyone, let alone him. But once he was around, it was hard for her to make herself tell him to leave. Hayley looked up at him, not sure how to answer, biting her bottom lip as she thought, and unconsciously drawing Aidan's eyes to her mouth. Aidan noticed that she tended to do that when she was thinking hard about something, and every time she did, he imagined what it would be like to replace her teeth with his own. Not to bite too hard, mind you. Just a little nibble, maybe. Then I can soothe the slight pain with my tongue ... f$%k, what am I thinking? I should probably turn around and go back. Aidan shifted his weight from his right foot to his left, waiting for her answer. He was almost ready to just turn back and leave when he heard her mumble, "Whatever."

Aidan sat down beside her, careful not to get too close. They sat next to each other in silence, neither knowing what to say. Aidan soon realized that he'd sat down a little closer to her than he'd intended; almost but not quite touching her. Every once in a while the wind picked up a bit and Aidan could feel Hayley's hair brush against his skin. He'd never been this close to her before. Whenever they worked on their project, they were always yards apart. But right now, Aidan could feel the heat coming from her body. The temperature had dropped drastically since he'd started his run, but he couldn't feel anything other than her hair on his skin.

Why does she have to smell so good? He didn't know what it was about this girl that drove him crazy with wanting her. The cynic in him told him he wanted her so much only because she was so dead set against him having her. It had been a long time since he'd had a girl reject him.

He wasn't quite the indiscriminate slut Hayley thought he was, but he was a red-blooded teenage male with the ability to know exactly what every girl wanted. Well, almost every girl. But his sense of honor wouldn't allow him to take advantage of that ability and he did his best to avoid invading people's privacy. For the most part. Besides, he would feel like a complete slime ball loser if the only reason he got any girls was because he used his powers to manipulate them. He wasn't the type to lie to a girl and tell her what she wanted to hear just to get laid. Nevertheless, he didn't mind so much being able to know, without a doubt, when a girl was interested in him and when she wasn't. Or knowing the perfect gift for Christmas, a birthday, or an anniversary. Or knowing when an argument had started because of PMS and not something he'd actually done wrong.

Still, there was a part of him, the part that he usually liked to ignore, that told him that his desire for Hayley had very little to do with the fact that she didn't seem to want him back. There were plenty of girls who weren't into him, but he'd never felt an overwhelming urge to pursue any of them. Part of her allure, he knew, was the fact that he couldn't read her the way he could others. But Aidan knew that a large part was something else entirely. Something inexplicable. There was just something about her that made it impossible for him to stop thinking about her. No matter how hard he tried.

"So, I heard you talking to someone when I was running over here. Were you on the phone or something?" Aidan broke the silence, hoping it would help clear his mind of her. Hayley blushed, embarrassed to be caught talking to someone who wasn't really there. As if he doesn't already think I'm weird enough.