CHAPTER 10

Troy's arms went around her waist from behind her and she twined her fingers through his, lifting his hands to her cover her small breasts as his chin touched her shoulder.

"They're all yours now, Wildcat." She murmured, leaning back against his body, letting his hands cup her as she wound her fingers behind his neck, pushing herself further into his gentle touch.

"Mmm how I love that…" He smiled, brushing his thumbs over her nipples, feeling them harden at his touch. "Oh god, I have to go school…" He complained, pulling away, leaving her dishevelled and pouting playfully in her room.

"And so do you." He reminded her, knowing his wildcat tee was all that separated him from her tempting curves.

"School can wait." She said flippantly, walking over to him, kissing him and letting her hands mess his hair a little more.

He rolled his caress over her backside, moaning as she responded by wiggling her ass.

"Damn, Gabi…" He sighed, pulling away for certain this time, stroking a hand through his hair as he took some breaths.

"You started it." She bit her lower lip.

His gaze met hers under his lashes, hot, like he was burning her very soul with it.

"I have to go home or my mom will throw a fit." He mused, heading toward her balcony.

"Practise tonight?" She checked.

He turned, pulling her with one arm against his body, kissing her hotly.

"I'll come get you from school." He promised, not looking back as he jumped over the balcony and climbed down, leaving her speechless.

He couldn't come to West High, he'd be killed!

--

"Gabi…" Kelsey said shyly as she Gabi put her books into her locker at the end of the day.

"Yess?" Gabi questioned as she grabbed her things and gave her attention to the small brown-haired girl.

"We want you back. We want to do your routine and win the trophy." She said gently and Gabi frowned.

"You do?" She asked.

Kelsey nodded.

"You're right. You are in this to win for us and we want to go back to normal." She added.

Gabi nodded.

"Okay, see you tomorrow after school" She beamed, thinking that maybe things could get back on track after all.

--

Gabi knew the game between Wildcats and Bears was going to be tough. Even with Aidan on his best behaviour and Troy's team minus trouble-making Chad, the tension still lay thick as a carpet on the court.

She smiled as she remembered the last skate practise she and Troy had. They had managed to perfect the routine a few times- he'd even managed to concentrate without letting his hands wander. She'd even managed to resist kissing him…and then she'd started this impromptu pole dance, her eyes smiling as her body twisted and swung around the metal pole.

Once she'd come down and skated toward him, he'd caught her in his arms and kissed her in that inimitable way. The way that made her feel like she was the only girl alive and that the world paled into the background compared to the feel of his lips.

Hand in hand, they'd gone back to her house and reminded each other what it felt like to be wrapped up in only each other.

Her smile remained as Aidan flashed before her, jogging out onto the floor and she waited for her cue, dancing out onto the floor as the cheer squad took their positions.

She knew it was a well known fact that she and Troy were an item. She knew it was risky- she even knew that it would cause unnecessary tension between the two schools.

What she hadn't expected, was for someone to then test her temper by openly flirting with Troy. Right in front of her, at the basketball game, where everyone could see and measure her reaction.

Troy for his part, was resisting the obvious attack Melody was making on him. He kept removing her arms and reminding her softly that he had a girlfriend but it was becoming clear he was just being used as some kind of toy to fight over.

He knew Gabi had seen. He guessed she had worked out what was going on here and refrained from reacting, which was a small wonder.

But when Melody ran her hands up under his jersey, he saw the flash of dark hair before he even knew what was happening.

Gabi ripped Melody from his body by her hair, throwing her to the floor.

"That's my boyfriend you've got your hands all over!" She pointed out and Troy quickly restrained her from any further violence, holding her against his chest, her arms behind her.

"Whoa, there is some Wildcat in you…" He teased as she growled at Melody.

Melody merely stood from the floor with a knowing smile.

"See, I knew I could make her fight." She beamed, taking a twenty from one of the other cheerleaders.

Troy was aware of the looks they were receiving from pretty much every direction in the gym.

He turned Gabi in his arms, letting her go.

"I have to go play." He said, pressing his lips together.

Her hot brown eyes sparked with her unspent anger as they met his.

"Happy now?" She demanded.

"Hey!" He called as she walked away from him.

She folded her arms, cocking her hip.

"See, I do get jealous." She stated, eyeing Melody with a cold stare.

"They just want to split us up, Gabi. They just want to make us react." He pointed out, not sure if she was angry with him.

"Well, it worked." She allowed, then looked to her toes.

"I won't go out there 'til I know you're okay." He promised.

She cocked her head, caught between doing what her heart screamed at her to do and what the rest of the room screamed at her not to do.

"I'm fine." She said and turned, marching back to her side of the court, the crowd jostling to see what had happened.

Troy skipped a jog alongside her, on the court.

"Go away." She hissed, her head down.

"Not until you smile." He said, breaking into a jig that made the crowd around her laugh. She lifted her eyes from the ground, smiling at him despite her will not to acknowledge him.

It was stupid really. How was she supposed to pretend he wasn't her boyfriend? How was she supposed to act like she didn't care about him, about who touched him?

She licked her lips, stepping onto the court as she took his jersey into her small hands and bunched it, tip toeing to meet his mouth, kissing him in a way that left no doubt in anyone's mind as to their involvement. It was a claiming kiss, one that echoed their closeness away from the court.

"I don't ever want to see any girl touch you like that again." She murmured, brushing a hand into his hair, dropping back down and throwing him a sexy smile over her shoulder as she ran back to her squad, slowing as she waited for their reaction.

The whole crowd was going crazy on both sides. Wolf whistles, roars of approval, screams.

But no fights, Troy noted with interest. He lifted his brows, turning to his team as they got ready for face-off.

---

"I think it went pretty well." Troy stated.

They were in Gabi's back yard, after the game, the hammock a comfortable spot for them to relax at.

He had her tucked under his arm, stroking her curls with his fingers, their thighs touching.

She had crossed her legs and now her knee overlapped his as she played with the buttons on his shirt, giggling at his joke.

"Well no-one got in a fight, that's got to be something." She agreed, smiling at him under her lashes as his free hand stretched from behind his head to drop down and tickle her bare thigh.

"This Cheerleaders uniform, it's kinda sexy." He stated with a grin.

"I hope you don't say to all the Cheerleaders…" She arched her brow.

He feigned hurt. "Hey, would I ever?" He protested.

"I don't know…" She teased.

"Ah, but you see, there's only one Cheerleader who wears my necklace…" He narrated, turning his face to her as her palms flattened against his muscular chest.

"There is? And who is this ridiculously whipped girl?" She wondered, fakely.

He chuckled, squinting at her as he continued their role-play.

"Well I thought it was you, but I could be mistaken. So many girls, they all roll into one…" He teased.

She swiped him playfully.

"I only know one boy who makes me want to see if this hammock will hold up during some major make-out sessions…" She pointed out, seeing his pained expression as he tilted his head back, closing his eyes.

"Damn you get me hot just like that!" He clicked his fingers, returning them to his light caress of her thigh.

"Well apparently I'm not memorable…" She pressed her lips together sulkily.

When his blue eyes pierced hers, his lips curled at the edges.

"I only know one girl who has a damn hot ass and lets me touch it whenever I like." He returned and she laughed, knowing his words wouldn't be romantic, loving his directness.

He trailed his fingers up to her hip, gently pressing to bring her closer, twisting so he could curl his fingers over her backside, clad in athletic knickers.

Gabi dropped a kiss to his mouth, wriggling to get closer to him to extend their kiss, feeling the familiar surge of desire that she always had when he kissed her or touched her- or damn well just looked at her.

"Gabriella!" Mrs Montez called as they rolled apart, trying to look innocent in their sharing of the hammock.

Gabi leaned on her hand, her elbow pitched into Troy's shoulder to support her, smiling widely at her mum as her curls sat messed- from Troy's hands.

"Hi mom!" She said brightly, and then awkwardly climbed from the hammock, pulling Troy with her.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't know you had a guest…." Julia Montez apologised.

"Mom, this is my boyfriend, Troy." Gabi introduced. "Troy, meet my mom."

Troy shook Julia's hand and smiled in what he hoped was a winning way as she smiled back. He swallowed nervously. Meeting the parents had never been his favourite part of dating.

"Well it's nice to finally meet you." Julia said warmly. "God knows I've heard your name enough round here the last few weeks. You're the first boy she's brought home, too." Julia said.

But Troy knew this wasn't true from Gabi's previous proclamations about how many boys she had sneaked into her room. But none of them had been introduced to mom.

He smiled inanely at Gabi as he caught her fingers between his and watched her stare at her mom, open mouthed.

"Gee, thanks, mom. Way to make me sound like a love-sick teenager." Gabi rolled her eyes, twitching next to Troy.

"Oh, stop." Julia teased. "You like the boy; he's no harm in knowing that."

"Wanna bet?" Gabi lifted her brows as she muttered under her breath.

"Are you staying for dinner, Troy?" Mrs. Montez asked.

"Ah- no, I have to get home, it's getting late." He explained.

"Ok, nice to meet you." Julia said and vanished inside again.

Gabi dropped his hand and stalked back over to the hammock, falling into it and sulking.

"Don't even think about it." She warned, knowing exactly what was going through his mind.

"What?" He said innocently, but he couldn't keep the biggest grin off his face as he trailed after her and stood before her scrunched up form.

"Boasting. Or bragging. Or some kind of thing to make me feel even more embarrassed than I already am." She warned.

He held out his hand, waiting for her to take it and he helped her up, cradling her in his arms, tickling her hair at her back with his fingers.

She braced her hands on his arms to try and keep some distance.

He looked into her eyes, tipping his face, nuzzling her nose so she did the same and then he kissed her with soft tenderness.

Gabi had never felt a kiss like it. It wasn't bruising or passionate or hot like their kisses normally were. In fact, it reminded her of their very first kiss.

His lips were so soft, so gentle. He was taking his time and she sighed into his embrace, relaxing, letting him lead her down this blissful road where their mouths slowly, slowly met time and again. There was a tingle running from the roots of her hair to the tips of her toes and she didn't like the way she was giving into this attack on her senses. Her arms were now wrapped around his neck as he brought her close, still not pushing, still just tasting her.

He pulled away, his blue eyes smiling along with his mouth.

"Is that kind of thing acceptable to you?" He teased and she blinked at him, in awe of that kiss.

"I suppose." She allowed sulkily.

He chuckled, hugging her and she actually found herself hugging him back for a moment.

"I wanna take you out." He said as she walked him to her gate to say goodnight.

"What?" She asked softly.

"Well we're official now, everyone knows about us. I think it's time I took you on a proper date." He stated.

"Troy, just because people know about us, doesn't mean they're going to like seeing us together. Melody already tested that theory." She reminded him.

"We can't hide, Gabi." He argued.

"We can. We have. We can keep on like this until we know; we really know that no-one is going to cause trouble." Se pointed out desperately.

His look at her under his lashes was telling. But she couldn't bear the thought of him being hurt.

"Ok, until the end of the year. I want to enjoy this summer with you." He promised.

"Ah, but you'll be at dance school." She smiled.

"Only if we win this competition." He smiled back.

"Better stop making out and start practising then." She teased, tiptoeing to kiss him once on the mouth.

"I don't think I could stop making out with you if I tried." He husked.

"I'll think of something to put you off." She decided and he kissed her once more before leaving, his mind drifting as he wondered what would happen if he did get the money for dance school.

He would be without Gabi.