The Warrior Heir Read Online Free PDF Page A

squinting at his sloppy notes and raking her chin-length brown hair behind her ears. It hung, straight and shining, like a kind of helmet. She half turned in her seat, extending her long legs into the aisle. There was something different about her today, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
    Lipstick. She was wearing rosy pink lipstick. Jack couldn't remember seeing her wear makeup before. He drummed his fingers lightly on the desk, contemplating Ellen's lips at close range as she read down the page. It had been a long time since he'd looked at anyone but his ex, Leesha.
    "Your data are at least as variable as mine," she agreed, passing his folder back. Their hands collided, touched for a moment, and she jerked hers back quickly. The folder fell to the floor, scattering his papers.
    "Oh, man, I'm sorry." Kneeling next to his desk, she frantically scraped the pages into a pile. She looked up at him, mutely extending the wad of papers toward him. Her eyes were clear gray under a smoky fringe of lashes, and her nose had a little bump at the bridge, as if it had been broken once. Jack resisted an urge to reach out and touch it. Instead, he stuffed his papers back into his folder and extended his hand to help her up.
    This seemed to unsettle her again. She brushed at her skirt and fussed with her hair. "Well. Maybe we can ask Mr. Marshall about it in class."
    "Ask him about … ? Oh. Sure, okay." Jack cleared his throat. "If you want."
    The bell rang, startlingly loud. Jack began shoving books and folders into his book bag.
    "Um…Jack?"
    He looked up to see Ellen standing between him and the door, her backpack slung over her shoulder. "I wondered if you felt like studying together tonight for the social studies test. I took some good notes," she added. "We … ah … could compare them…"
    Jack looked at her in surprise. Ellen had never shown any interest in him before, other than as a benchmark of sorts. She was new to Trinity High School, but she already had the reputation of being a high achiever. In fact, she had a few points on Jack in some of his honors classes.
    Maybe she doesn't have much else to do, Jack thought. It sucked that she had to change schools in her sophomore year. Ellen didn't hang out much. He didn't recall seeing her at dances, or at Corcoran's after a game.
    She was really cute, though, and he wasn't going out with anyone. Not since Leesha dumped him for that jerk Lobeck. He'd probably be at tryouts and …
    Tryouts.
    "I'd love to. I mean, I wish I could," he said, slinging his backpack over one shoulder. "But I've got soccer tryouts tonight, and I'm not sure what time I'll be done."
    "Soccer tryouts?" she repeated, looking him up and down. "Really? Do you play?"
    Jack sent up a prayer to the gods of soccer. "Hopefully."
    "All right," she said, dropping her gaze away from him, the color coming up into her cheeks. "Sure. Maybe another time." She shifted her book bag again and headed for the doorway, moving with a lithe, athletic grace that sucked the breath right out of him.
    "Stephenson!" he called after her. She stopped in the doorway and turned around. "Another time, promise?" He grinned at her. She returned a tentative smile, and then was gone.
    Dumb, he grumbled to himself. Really deft. He knew from experience that girls wouldn't ask twice. He had lots of friends who were girls, had known most of them since they'd shared apple cider and oatmeal cookies at the Trinity co-op nursery school. It wasn't easy to figure out how to move on from there. Small towns were kind of… incestuous.
    Leesha Middleton had been different. She'd moved to Trinity the previous year. You didn't make friends with Leesha. You surrendered. She could have gone out with anyone, but she chose Jack. And now she'd chosen Lobeck.
    Ellen was new blood, too. Well, he'd probably have to make the next move.
    Jack tried to call home again at lunchtime. Then he tried his mom's office, but Becka hadn't checked in with Bernice. He