25A/N: I'm finally back with an update! It's been ages I know, but this one-shot seemed to be what I needed to kick start me with writing again! :) I hope you guys all enjoy this one, I haven't written in 1st POV in a while, so hopefully I didn't kill it... I aiming to be back with something juicy very soon... Here's my first attempt on FP with a one-shot... Enjoy!
Mr. A-Case-I'd-Like-To-Crack
I have a deep and dark secret I'd like to reveal.
…
…
Okay that was a little melodramatic and somewhat scary. Let me correct myself.
I have a confession to make and it's something I'm not particularly proud of.
I, Vittoria Emma Ebert, find nerds absolutely attractive. I am obsessed with them like a burning flame entrances a moth. The only difference between one of those fluttery insects and me is that I was smart enough to run when I saw fire. However, it seemed that I lost all motor function when it came to genders of the opposite sex with a high IQ.
I wasn't into your typical jock-boys that knew nothing but how to kick a ball and to leer at pretty girls whilst they had their hands up another one's skirt. No, my taste in men completely deviated from the hormonal pricks females at school tended to gush over.
I'll be frank – I'm not into cars, clothes and looks – though I have to say it wouldn't hurt if a guy had some of those things. I mean drop dead gorgeous features like a wonderfully chiselled jaw and a smile to-die-for wouldn't be bad… However, I have to proclaim that I'm one of those girls that loved to pick a guy's brain apart. It was literally the personality, interests as well as the amount of brain cells a guy had that threw me head over heels. There was just something frustratingly sexy about a man with brains that I was addicted to.
What I loved about a smart man was the way they presented themselves. I enjoyed the way they walked as well as the confidence they exuded when answering a calculus question. Add a pair of square, black-framed glasses followed with a nice thick book and you'll have me in a total fawning mess.
And just because I like nerds doesn't mean that the men I like aren't highly sought after either. In fact, my choice of nerds was quite specific. Let me clear this up: by nerds I mean someone with brains in general – who's smart and can answer any science related or mathematical problem in 0.1 second.
I wasn't into goofy geeks where I could only share a two-minute conversation regarding indices, tangents and other mathematical terms. No, I was more interested in those "rare" nerds – ones that were academically gifted and capable of sports and a social life too.
Bottom line, I was after a certain Einstein that – God forbid! – possessed a personality. It wouldn't hurt if members at school respected them too… I wouldn't mind having someone like that. A sociable, nerdy hunk that can mix and mingle when he wanted to… Goodness I'm drooling already! And though it may appear like I'm describing someone that doesn't exist, let me tell you there is such a person.
He is interesting and capable of public speaking – charming practically everyone within the vicinity with just the sound of his voice. Might I add, he's also not bad on the eyes either… He is Tyler Jake Kingston.
And he was a case I'd like to crack...
It just so happens that I wasn't the only girl that wanted to know what really went on in Kingston's life.
Truth be told, I was just one of the hundreds of girls that wanted to date the living breathing God. It was annoyingly irritating to know that I wasn't the only one that could spot the true colours to Tyler.
The guy was a walking, breathing God at Brighton College.
He was a part of the school committee, the science club, the soccer team and yet you could find him at parties enjoying himself or in the library studying. He debated recreationally and wasn't some snooty rich boy that had a stick jammed up his arse when interacting with people. No, Tyler was different to that.
He was sociable, yes – but that didn't mean that his family background was well known. In fact he was kind of a mystery. And he had the looks to go with the mysterious demeanour.
Picture this: a tall, athletic God with honey coloured skin. He has dark jet-black hair that is long enough to cover his left eye. Brilliant bedazzling blue eyes that's so intense when it stares at you that you forget to breathe… Might I add that he wears black-framed square glasses when he's reading, writing or studying.
How was it possible that someone could be so frustratingly sexy? I honestly wonder…
"Earth to Vee who's got that creepy, perverted look on her face again."
Best friends. Don't you just love them?
Averting my – and I quote – "Creepy, perverted look" to my best friend Analeese Burkes also known as Anna, I couldn't help but arch a brow at her. She grinned prettily at me as I pursed my lips in response.
"Seriously Vee you've gotta stop thinking about Tee. Every time you do you get that cheesy stalker expression plastered onto your face and it starts scaring off the rest of the group." Anna explained and her hands motion to the empty seats at our table causing me to sigh aloud.
Anna and I had been friends since second grade. It was one of those weird first-encounters where you'd expect her to become my arch-nemesis. She stole my favourite purple texta and I drew on her face with the ugly brown one in rebellion. It ended in tears and after all the sobbing we became friends. Strange I know, but she's my all time best friend that I'd die without!
"I don't get a cheesy stalker look on my face whenever I think about said Godly nerd." I reply.
This prompted Anna to pull out her phone and show me the picture she had taken of me whilst I was thinking of Tyler Kingston. What greeted me was an awkward picture of myself, with a paedophile-like, semi-smirk on my face that kinda did make me appear scary… Hell! I'd probably run if I saw it.
Chuckling at the resigned look on my face, Anna snapped her phone shut.
"Why don't you just talk to him or something? The guy is practically friendly to everyone and it's not like he's going to eat you alive."
I shook my head at Anna's words. "No Anna I will no talk to God himself." I breathed and just then the rest of the group returned to the table with their lunch that they had just purchased from the cafeteria.
"You know you could just attend the after class tutes and you'll get to talk to him. He actually answers questions personally and practically all his tute classes are full. The entire Brighton College female population lives in that tute room when it's three o'clock." Gary informed. "Problem is Kingston seems to know that the girls are just there for him. So he rarely receives any intelligent questions during the tute session – unless there are the geeks in there but they're usually too entranced by the pretty girls surrounding them."
My mind literally erupted with ideas after hearing Gary's explanation. Maybe I did have a chance to crack open Tyler Kingston after all.
Smiling at Gary with my brows furrowed in determination I gave him a curt nod before shooting up and out of my seat. Anna could only raise her brows at me.
"Vee," she said – her tone filled with a hint of warning. "You're top in your advanced mathematics class." She began.
I shrugged at her, "I'm going to go and get a few questions answered." I tell her and grabbed my bag from my seat, heading for the library.
"Just remember to rub that creepy stalker look off your face when you're in the tute." I heard her yell after me and I waved my hand without turning to face her, before heading out the doors.
I seriously have to stop procrastinating… I mean I did plenty of research and tonnes of mathematical questions before arriving at this tute session, but I couldn't seem to muster up the courage to stick my hand up into the air and ask one of the many problems I had scribbled down onto my notepad. Don't get me wrong – I could answer all the mathematical problems I had copied out, but they seemed plausible to use in this tute session just to hear Tyler talk.
Speaking of the devil, he was currently located at the front of the classroom with a black whiteboard marker in his hand, writing down the solution to one of the easiest questions I had seen in my life. Honestly, that was a tenth grade question, not a first year college student question! But I have to admit; Tyler's writing is simply amazing…
His numbers are neat but they have style to them. His figure '8' doesn't really join together but it looks so pretty like his wonderfully chiselled jaw. Speaking about his jaw I never noticed the slight cleft in his chin before…
The next thing I know I've completely tuned out of my surroundings – ignoring the many high pitched giggles – as I focus wholly and solely on Mr. Perfection himself. He's asking the entire class a rhetorical question before shifting back to the whiteboard to jot down the final answer to that damn easy tenth grade problem which I could have solved with my eyes closed!
I marvel at his side profile whilst he speaks to the various people in the room, and the next thing I know, my lungs have ceased to function as a pair of intense blue eyes meet mine. He's staring directly at me and quirks a perfect brow, looking at me as if I'm no better than the other girls that were swooning over him.
As my senses return and I recover slightly from the sudden attention, I soon realise that he has called upon me for a problem to solve – only I had been too entranced by his looks to respond. And before I can even prove myself to him, he shifts his attention to another person who's given him a question to answer.
All I can do is just sit there baffled and utterly shattered by the look of conviction that had danced across his face when he had asked me for a mathematical problem.
He had looked at me with a tinge of pity in his eyes – the way he usually stared at the other girls that openly gushed over him. And I felt mad… No, mad wasn't even the correct term to use to describe the fiery emotion that burned in my veins. I hated to be 'categorised' in the same class as the numerous girls that swooned over him. I didn't like to be labelled as 'air-headed' and 'superficial'.
The instant the tute class was dismissed I didn't bother looking back at Kingston simply because he disappointed me. If there was one thing I was going to do, that was to prove to Tyler Kingston that I had brains and was different to the rest of the female population. I was Vittoria Emma Ebert, and I don't give up easily.
"Vee don't you think you're taking everything a little too far when it comes to Kingston?" Analeese tells me as I continue scribbling down my solutions for the advanced mathematics I'm doing with vigour.
"He looked at me with pity in his eyes," I tell her and drop my pen. "So I have to beat him in the next advanced mathematics test for my honour," I explain and watch as Anna shakes her head at me.
"It's just a misunderstanding. Why are you getting so worked up for? C'mon Vee, almost everyone that are in those tute sessions know that you don't need to be in there." She reasons but I flex my jaw in defiance.
Ever since that first tute lesson with Tyler, I've been rocking up to every single one of them just to prove my self worth. I would ask him questions that were horrible to answer and I would volunteer to jot down the solutions to the tenth grade problems the other girls shouted out.
This seemed to catch Tyler's attention but I wasn't sure whether if I was doing a good job in annoying him or simply entertaining him. The damn guy was hard to read. But it was my inability to understand him that appeared to be the encouragement I needed to spur me on.
I soon found myself interpreting anything and everything Tyler did as a challenge. I started upping my game – never missing his tute sessions, showing up for sporting events. Heck! I even began attending the many parties I knew he'd be at just to make my existence known to him.
Hearing my numerous textbooks being snapped shut, I lift my gaze to meet Anna's sheepish grin.
"School's been over for almost an hour," she informs and I watch as she shrugs ever-so-casually. "And since it's a Friday…"
Anna didn't have to finish that sentence because within the next few hours I'm being dragged around my own house playing the roll of Barbie. And by nine o'clock I find myself bopping my head to the loud music – invading a random's party. I can't recall how many drinks I've had so far, but all I know is that I'm slightly tipsy and I'm laughing at various things I'm sure a sober person wouldn't find funny at all.
"Vee sit down," Anna orders and grabs me by my wrist hoping to anchor me to a chair beside her.
I was never a big drinker but whenever I did touch alcohol, I could never seem to sit still – at least not when there was loud, good quality music pumping all around. Twisting my body to the music whilst Anna still had a grip on me, I smile cheekily at her and manoeuvre my body in such a way that I can tell it's coaxing Anna to get up and dance with me.
Any second now and she will start caving…
Bingo!
"More drinks Anna," I cry as I tug at her arm in an attempt to lead her over to the bar.
I can hear my best friend giggle as she points behind her where the restrooms are.
"I need to go pee-pee," she whines and I nod my head. "Meet you back on the dance floor." She adds before shuffling back through the sea of people to go to the toilets.
Sliding past a few bodies crowded around the bar, I breathe a sigh of relief when I make it to the counter. By now I'm feeling a little sober but the urge to dance still hasn't left my body. Swaying to the beat as I waited to be served, my eyes make contact with the cute male bartender who's currently opening a bottle of beer for a guy nearby. Smiling an enticing grin, I couldn't help but feel proud when the bartender turns to serve me instead of the guy waiting one seat down.
"Two beers thanks," I order and receive a curt nod from the bartender who eyes me in a predatory manner.
Taking the rather hot look as a boost to my ego, I grin back at the male kindly as he turns to grab me my drinks. Waiting, I unconsciously begin tapping my fingers on the granite table, able to feel the odd body warmth of someone brushing my side.
Thinking that it's Anna returning from her bathroom trip, I shift slightly only to be greeted with a tall masculine figure. And just like that my eyes go bug-eyed and all I can do is stare in bewilderment.
"I do believe you pushed in," came the smooth masculine tone of Tyler Kingston.
It must have been the alcohol, but I was a little lagged to fully comprehend the fact that Tyler is speaking to me. As I was about to respond, my drinks are on the counter. Leaning forward, I hand the bartender a twenty before grabbing my beers. Taking a drink from a bottle, I can feel the scorching eyes of Tyler's studying me.
Shifting so that my full attention was averted to him, I tried my best not to be affected by his presence. He was dressed to kill tonight – clad in a nice pair of denim jeans with a white shirt that was half unbuttoned. He had a nice brown belt wrapped around his slim waist and I can't help but to notice how stunning his watch is.
I always had a thing for male watches. To me, a man's watch defined who they were. If a watch could become a man, Tyler's watch would be a heaping hot mess that would charm any woman in this world… For some reason I couldn't help but to think that the watch suited him.
I didn't really take notice of him much since I was practically entranced with examining his attire. But now that I had snapped out of my reverie, I realised how close Tyler was standing to me. We've somehow managed to shift away from the bar counter and he's standing with only a ruler's length separating us.
"I believe you owe me this," he says and pinches the second bottle of beer from my grasp, taking a decent gulp from it.
Only able to gawk, I purse my lips. "You're frustrating you know that?" I say and he arches a brow at me whilst I frown back at him. "A perfect gentlemen allows a woman to go first in anything and a perfect gentlemen" I accentuate – eyes narrowing on him. "Doesn't steal a woman's drink." I explain and was pleased that he hadn't anything to say.
Believing I had won this verbal match, I lean forward slightly hoping to intimidate him. I found myself crashing to my downfall the instant I gazed up into those semi-serious eyes of his that managed to swallow me whole. They were a dark shade of blue that was quite hard to read at the moment but I could care less.
Recovering from the intensity, I lifted my bottle of beer and tap it against his. Drinking deeply from the bottle, I bow my head mockingly before shifting to leave. I couldn't help but take in Tyler's expression before I leave though. He has an unreadable appearance etched across his handsome features but I refuse to turn back to stare at him. Instead I head back to the dance floor hoping to find Anna.
It takes me a while to locate my best friend, but when I do I see that Gary is tending to her. Able to take a hint, I sneakily disappear back to the dance floor between people with my drink and commence dancing on my own. If I was sober I was sure I'd be overly embarrassed to dance on my lonesome, however the beer in my system was making my feel giddy inside.
Swaying my hips whilst closing my eyes, I let the music take over. My euphoria was short lived when a voice broke through my conscious.
"Never thought you were the dancing type."
Eyes snapping open I find a smirking Kingston dancing before me and I'm standing there frozen for a while.
"What do you want?" I breathe. "The only time I get to be away from you and enjoy myself and you're around pestering me."
"I could say the same."
Arching a questioning brow he expands on his words.
"The tute sessions Ebert," he explains and my brows disappear up in my hairline in surprise.
Tyler Kingston actually knows my name and he can remember who I am.
"Vittoria Ebert right?" he inquires. "The girl who likes to make my tutor sessions hell with the long winded solutions that takes me three quarters of the lesson to solve. I'm beginning to think that you're in those sessions to make a mockery out of me."
Unable to help myself I smile. "You actually got the message huh?" I query.
This time a genuine smile flits across his face and I find that I enjoy it. This is the Tyler Kingston I've always liked – the Kingston that has the power to charm anyone without being arrogant.
"How could I not?" He breathes and I'm puzzled by the intensity in his eyes. He looks away briefly and when he turns back, we've both stopped moving to the beat. "Thanks for the beer," he grins and lifts his empty bottle up in salute.
I blink at him. "No problem?" I answer uncertainly. "But I don't think I ever shouted you a drink. Actually you stole it,"
A chuckle escapes Tyler's lips and for a moment I'm lost in the melodic tone. "Then let me be a gentlemen and let you steal my drink." He offers and leads the way back to the bar.
As we're both standing there waiting to be served, I notice from the corner of my eyes that he's staring at me. Shifting back around so that I could see the full view of his face, I arch a brow at him.
"Staring is rude. I never saw you as rude before." I murmur and all he seems capable of tonight is to stare.
Feeling a little hot - from the alcohol I suppose - I grin weakly up at him. "I think I just need to get outside for some air." I inform, not expecting him to follow me.
I make my way to the balcony where there's a few people speaking in the opposite corner. Leaning against the brick wall, the next thing I notice is that the people have left and Tyler is standing before me. There's a serious look on his face as he slowly closes the distance between us.
This causes me to instinctively move back – only the damn wall is in the way… If only I was hot enough to melt the damn bricks, maybe then I'd be able to shuffle further away from the living, breathing Tyler.
"Do I make you nervous Ebert?" He says gently and I hold my breath whilst shaking my head.
Nervous was an understatement… If you call my heart beating at 200 beats per second, and my body heating up to one hundred Celsius nervous, then I wasn't too sure what counted as freaking out!
Tyler Kingston was inches away from me and I could feel my knees going wobbly…
"Y-you w-w-wish…" I wheeze and he laughs before leaning in.
"Liar." He states and my breath doesn't get a chance to escape my lips before he's pressing his warm lips against mine.
His mouth burns me for a few moments as my body reacts to him. It's as if he was the oxygen I needed to cause me to combust. My skin is burning by now as my hands rest in between our bodies – no doubt trying to cop a feel of that hard chest of his.
Geez! Even though my body is working to its own accord, my hands are still perverted as ever! But I have to say his chest is rock hard and his lips…
I don't even get to finish that thought before I feel the wetness of Tyler's tongue licking my lower lip before our kiss deepen. I'm not sure how long we remained like that – all I knew was that it felt great to be kissed by Tyler. And as we pull away and my eyes flutter open, he stares at me intently.
There's a puzzled look on his face as he stares at me with a serious gaze. "Hopefully you're not so drunk that you'll forget about this." He says and there's a slight frown as his brows knit together. "Because I really meant that."
Had I been perfectly sober I would have never had the courage to do what I had done next. But I was cheery due to the alcohol, and the desire I held for Tyler was the only encouragement I needed. Standing on tiptoes, I grin up at him in a mischievous fashion.
"I might not remember with just one kiss." I breathe and before I even get the opportunity to kiss him first, his lips are locked with mine again.
Tyler Jake Kingston, you're a case I've finally cracked…
A/N: Drop by a review to tell me what you think! Thanks in advance :) And I have to repeat myself - thank you so much for still sending in your comments and reviews for TCIK and NFM... I'm 200% grateful.