Burnout (Jack 'Em Up Book 0) by Shauna Allen Read Free Book Online

attention.
    Class went back to normal and the new guy meandered around the workshop for a few minutes until he ended up near us. He picked up a carburetor we’d yanked from a Nissan then set it back down.
    “Hey,” Jesse said.
    The other guy glanced up. “Hey.”
    I tipped my chin up in greeting. “Switched schools right before Christmas break? That sucks.”
    He shrugged and stepped closer, eyeing the alternator in my hand. “It’s all right. My other school pretty much sucked, so this can’t be any worse.”
    “Where you from?” Jesse asked.
    “Alaska.”
    “Alaska?” Jesse and I echoed together. “Holy shit,” I added. “Why the hell are you in Baybridge?”
    An amused smile tilted his lips. “My dad retired and wanted to come back to Texas, where he’s from, and my mom wanted to be by the beach.” His shoulder lifted in another shrug. “So we moved here.”
    Jesse and I glanced at each other, not sure why anyone would move here voluntarily. I mean, our town was okay, but it wasn’t anything special, and it definitely wasn’t Alaska.
    “What’s there to do in this town?” he asked.
    Jesse grinned. “Well—?”
    “Trace,” he supplied.
    “Well, Trace, the answer to that is . . . nothing.”
    I laughed. It wasn’t nothing , but close.
    Trace’s brow turned down in a confused frown. “Seriously?”
    “Pretty much,” I replied, setting down the part in my hand. “You already know the coast is a few miles away, and other than that, there’s the strip mall with a Smoothie King and the abandoned lot off Main where everyone brings their classic cars on Saturday nights. Though it’s the same old cars every week.”
    His surprised eyes pinged back and forth between me and Jesse as if waiting for the punchline to my joke. When it didn’t come, he huffed out a laughing sigh. “Huh. Well . . .”
    We all laughed, and Jesse mentioned his family’s Christmas party that weekend. “Hey, moose boy, it’s better than the car show.”
    “Moose boy?” Trace said.
    “Yeah. Isn’t Alaska the land of the moose?” Jesse replied with a smirk.
    “Uh, I guess.”
    Before he was called away by Mr. Dixon, Trace said he’d think about coming to the party.
    “You do that, Moose,” I said, earning myself a subtle middle-finger salute. He might turn out to be all right, after all.

Delilah
     
    I choked down a couple of aspirins and forced myself to school on Wednesday. Missing two days was enough, and this stupid cold or whatever I had was finally easing.
    As I neared Government class, I suddenly wondered if Blake had caught it. I hoped not. I sneezed and sniffled and trudged to my desk, plopping down very ungracefully.
    Blake sauntered in a minute later, his deep eyes automatically zoning in on my seat. His expression softened as he approached. He slid into his desk, his gaze never leaving me, making me feel somehow branded. Or cherished. He offered me a small smile and I lifted my limp hand in a half-hearted wave as Mrs. Dunbar called the class to order and started lecturing.
    Blake immediately yanked a piece of notebook paper from his binder and scribbled a note. He passed it to me when Mrs. Dunbar had her back to us, writing on the dry erase board.
    Are you OK? Where have you been?
    I fiddled with my pen a moment as the teacher turned around and faced the class. Her eyes slid over us momentarily, but she quickly moved on with her talk. The Judicial Branch . . . fascinating.
    I’m fine. Just caught a stupid 48-hour bug.
    He read what I wrote, scrawled a reply. Missed you.
    My heart fluttered in my chest. I swallowed and met his eyes. His serious expression both thrilled and terrified me. How did I answer that? That I’d missed him, too? Play it cool? Not let on that I was feeling entirely too much too soon?
    I settled for: S orry. I would’ve rather been here.
    With me?
    His smile nearly broke me. YES! I wanted to write. Instead : Self-confident much? I’ll have you know that I have friends.
    We