Hidden Truth (The Benson Brothers Book 2)

by G. L. Snodgrass

Of course, Monday morning, as I walked through the halls, I kept a sharp eye out for him. How would he treat me? Would he ignore me? Pretending he hadn’t spent the night with the strange girl. And if he did? Would it be because he was ashamed or would he be trying to keep my secret? How was I supposed to know?

  The thought of not being able to read Parker ate at me. More than it should have. Normally I would have dismissed him as not important. But that would have been a lie.

  “Hey Princess,” A strong masculine voice said from behind me.

  My heart skipped as I turned to see Parker smiling down at me.

  “Good morning,” I was able to answer as I suddenly forgot how to talk. What was it about this boy that turned me into a blithering idiot?

  As I looked into his eyes, I saw a happy twinkle that made me feel better. He wasn’t going to pretend we had never met. That he hadn’t saved my life or let me sleep in his arms.

  “So,” he said. “I talked to my mom. She said that she heard the pet store was looking for someone.”

  “You talked to your mom?” I asked as I was filled with fear.

  He frowned, obviously clueless as to why I should worry. “Yeah, I just asked her if she knew of anyone hiring.”

  I sighed. Then a new thought jumped into my mind. “What did she say when you got home?”

  He laughed and shrugged his shoulders. “Nothing much. That’s the thing about being a good guy. People just assume I had a good reason. The thought that I spent the night in a boiler room with a pretty girl in my arms never crossed her mind.”

  I gasped as I quickly looked around to see if anyone had heard.

  “Don’t worry Jade,” he continued. “My mother trusts me.”

  All I could do was raise my eyebrows in doubt. It was hard to imagine a mother that cared not worrying about her son.

  Parker stopped walking then glanced at the door to my first class.

  I swallowed hard as I looked up at him. It seemed wrong, the two of us separating. A strong urge filled me to reach up and kiss him. To let him know how much he meant to me. For just the briefest second, I thought I saw something behind his eyes that said he was feeling the same way. But then it was gone and the moment was lost.

  “See you later,” he said with a slight nod then he was gone. I stood there for a second, soaking up the moment, then took a deep breath, put it behind me, and walked in.

  The rest of the morning was a bit of a fog. I had just gotten my head back on straight at lunch. I was in line then shook my head, no, I needed to save my money until I got a job. I was turning to leave when Parker stepped up in front of me, blocking my escape.

  “Here,” he said as he handed me a tray.

  “What’s this?” I said as a sick feeling filled me. If he tried to buy me lunch, I was going to slap him upside the head with the tray in question.

  “I’m buying you lunch,” he said as he stared down at me, daring me to refuse. “And don’t even think about saying no. After all. We slept together.”

  “Shush,” I hissed as I quickly scanned to see if anyone had heard. Seeing that everyone was too involved in their own life, I looked up at him and said, “That doesn’t give you the right to dictate what happens in my life. And besides, we didn’t really sleep together. In your dreams maybe.”

  His shoulders slumped in defeat. He stared down at me for a long second then said, “Please Jade, let me do this. It’s part of the good guy code. Doing things for people we care about.”

  My heart skipped a beat. Where had that come from? The statement about caring. A sudden fear filled me to the very top as I stared up into his eyes. I was losing control of the situation. Things were spinning so fast that I had no concept of what might happen.

  I had too much doubt in my world. So little that I controlled. But something in his eyes refused to let me disappoint him.

  “Okay,” I whispered.

  He smiled widely. “Come on.”

  All I could do was follow him into the lunch line. I tried to keep it small but he kept putting extra stuff on my tray then daring me to say no.

  My stomach rumbled. I felt my cheeks grow warm as Parker smiled and said, “I love being right.”

  Because my hands were full, I kicked him lightly in the shin. He laughed then paid for our lunches. The two of us made our way to a quiet table in the back.

  “Aren’t you worried about being seen with the strange witch?” I asked him as I prepared to dig into my meatloaf.

  Parker frowned for a moment then shook his head. “Are you worried about being seen with the resident good guy. Doesn’t that go against the coven by-laws or something.”

  I found myself laughing. Really laughing. Kids turned to see what was so funny, but I couldn’t stop from chuckling. “Really, Parker. You have no idea. If I did belong to a coven. You would not be off limits. I’d get kicked out as head witch.”

  I couldn’t help but think that no group of girls in this or any other school would ever put Parker Benson off limits. He checked off too many of the boxes for excellent boyfriend material. Smart, tall, better looking than a boy should be, kind, sweet. A great future. And as I had seen the other night. With just enough touch of beast to make him dangerous.

  When we sat down, I examined my tray as I tried to figure out where to start. It had been so long since I had a full meal that it almost felt overwhelming. Parker didn’t have any hesitation as he started devouring his meal.

  I watched him for a second then raised an eyebrow. He stopped, mid-fork to mouth, as his cheeks slowly turned red.

  “Hey, I grew up with two brothers. If I didn’t finish quickly, I didn’t get seconds. They were all gone.”

  Shaking my head, I took a bite and silently thanked him. I needed this, I realized. Muffins and bags of Fritos were getting old. As we ate, the area between my shoulder blades began to twitch. Slowly, I looked around and counted half a dozen different girls giving me the stink eye.

  My insides jumped with happiness at their obvious jealousy. I could see it in their eyes. How had a girl like me gotten Parker Benson’s attention?

  Smiling to myself, I finished the meal and basked in the knowledge that the afternoon would be filled with rumors buzzing about the two of us. Of course, they would never know the truth. There was nothing between Parker and me. And there never would be. Parker had his sight firmly fixed on the future. And a girl like me was not part of that vision.

  No. It was just Parker being a nice guy. But they didn’t know that. And I wasn’t going to tell them. It was too much fun thinking that they actually believed there could be something. It made me feel special somehow.

  After lunch, Parker walked me to class. Both of us kept shooting glances at each other. What was he thinking? I wondered. I so wished I could understand him. I wanted to know everything about him. What made him laugh. What did he think about me? Was I too weird? Or just a little weird?

  Every day that week, it was the same. I didn’t let him buy me lunch again, he needed to save his money for college, but I would get a muffin or an apple. We would talk about stuff, classes, other kids, simple, easy stuff. Never about the future, never about my situation. Then he would walk me to my class.

  I was growing to find myself looking forward to that part of my day. The only time where I felt like life was good and as it should be.

  On Friday, just outside my class, Parker put a hand on my arm to hold me back a moment.

  “Do you have any plans for tonight?” he asked with a hesitant glitch in his voice that surprised me.

  “No,” I said as my heart jumped for some reason.

  “Um … I was thinking. Maybe I could come by with my laptop and we could watch some movies. … I could pick up a pizza.”

  My heart turned over. I could see it in his eyes. He was saying he wanted to spend time with me. Jade McDonald. This wasn’t a nice guy obligation. My stomach clenched up as I realized just how important this moment could be.

  “That sounds nice,” I manage
d to say as if I wasn’t screaming inside. No way was I missing this.

  His shoulders slumped with relief as a wide smile broke out on his face. “Good, Seven thirty. Everyone should be gone by that time.”

  All I could do was nod my head as I fought to stop myself from yelling with glee. I knew nothing could come of this, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t enjoy the moment. I had so few I wasn’t going to lose this one.

  Chapter Seven

  Jade

  That afternoon after school I cleaned my space, grabbed a shower in the girls’ locker room after the freshman girls’ basketball team was gone. While my hair dried, I cleaned the space again.

  I examined my limited wardrobe and shook my head as I settled on a tight pair of jeans and a cute top. Not my normal look. But I felt a strong need for that girl next door look. Something told me that was the look Parker would prefer.

  In fact, to finish the look, I removed my nose ring, four of my six earrings and put my hair up in a ponytail then applied some make-up. Just a little.

  As I examined myself in the locker room mirror a strange feeling filled me. The girl in the mirror looked normal. Like she was someone’s daughter. Someone who might be good enough for someone like Parker Benson.

  When I went back to my space, I reached down to adjust the rug for the third time. “Admit it, Jade,” I whispered to myself, “you are nervous.”

  A terrifying fear filled me as I realized just how important Parker had become to me. A thousand worries washed through me. Why had he come up with this idea? To add to the worry was the realization that I knew absolutely nothing about boys. Not really.

  I had never dated. Never really socialized with boys. All I knew was what I saw in class and what girls talked about in the locker room. But really, that was all superficial stuff. No. I had no concept of what Parker thought about. How he saw the world.

  My stomach turned over for the twenty-eighth time as I glanced at my phone to check the time.

  A soft click let me know he was here.

  I jumped up and ran my hands down over my jeans. My heart pounded as Parker rounded the corner with a pizza box, his laptop under his other arm and a wide grin on his face.

  It was at that exact moment when I realized I was in love with Parker Benson. The boy had wrapped my heart in his hand. All day, I had known deep inside that it was the truth. I had refused to examine this feeling. But now, with him before me. I could no longer pretend it wasn’t true. I was head over heels in love with him.

  My stomach flipped and flopped as butterflies jumped around. The world seemed special. As if this was my purpose in life. To love him.

  He stopped for a moment as his eyes traveled up my body. I saw a hint of appreciation and my insides screamed with joy. Our eyes locked then Parker pulled his gaze away and said, “Pepperoni okay?”

  I sighed inside as I realized just how oblivious he was to my true feelings.

  All I could do was nod. If he learned the truth. I would die a thousand deaths. It would scare him so quickly that he’d be halfway to Harvard before the sun rose.

  Swallowing hard, I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from saying anything that might betray the truth.

  He looked at me strangely for a moment then put the pizza on the wooden box I used for a coffee table and his computer next to it.

  “I didn’t know what kind of movie you wanted so I loaded up a couple of different ones.

  He sat down on the couch, plugged his computer in and started bringing them up. All I could do was sit down next to him. My insides tightened up with nervousness. He was so close. I caught a hint of his cologne, a sandalwood scent that filled my soul with desire.

  God, the man was a walking advertisement for being male. He seemed to take up half the room and I loved every bit of it. A dozen different memories popped into my head. Parker teasing me, Parker saving me in the alley, the monster inside of him coming out to protect me. Parker being sweet. Like now.

  I was filled with a warmth and a little pride. I had fallen in love with a good person. Not some broken, baggage-laden boy in need of repair. No, my soul had chosen the best possible person in the world to fall in love with. It seemed I was not a complete idiot.

  Parker pulled up the file with the movies and glanced at me, obviously he wanted me to choose. All I could do was stare at him. He was here.

  The reality of the situation began to sink in. We were alone, just the two of us and I was in love with him.

  Our eyes locked. I watched as his expression slowly changed from casual friendship to something else. A serious need filled his gaze as my insides grew excited and frightened at the same time. But neither of us could look away.

  I don’t know who moved first. I will never know. All I do know is that we came together like two magnets that could not be separated. His lips took mine, or mine took his. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that it was heaven. Kissing Parker was pure joy. Pure happiness.

  A soft moan escaped me as I sank into him. His arms wrapped around me pulling me closer. We became lost in each other. This was it, I realized. Where I belonged.

  The kiss became more passionate as both of us explored, tasted, and drove each other higher until Parker pulled back and rested his forehead on mine.

  “Wow, I wasn’t expecting that,” he said as the both of us fought to regain our breath.

  My insides tumbled over themselves as I tried to understand what had happened and what it all meant.

  “Are you mad?” I asked for some unknown, completely idiotic reason. But all I could think was that this had not been what he had wanted.

  He laughed and shook his head. “No, of course not. I have been hoping this would happen all week. I just didn’t expect it to be that … that intense.”

  I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. “If you have been hoping this would happen. Why did you take so long?”

  He shrugged, “I don’t know. Because I’m an idiot I guess.”

  We stared into each other’s eyes. His hand still rested on my waist, just above my hip. My hands were still around his neck. Everything about him pulled at me. Yelled at me that this was right.

  I started to lean forward to kiss him again but he pulled back.

  “Jade,” he said with a hesitancy to his voice that cut into my heart and filled it with fear. “There is something I have to tell you.”

  I swallowed hard but decided to pretend like it wasn’t important. “What?” I asked. “You wanted to remind me not to fall in love with you. That you are going to Harvard next year and there is no room for a girl like me in your plans.”

  He frowned for a second and I realized that I had hurt him somehow. But Parker was not the type of guy who would ignore issues.

  “No,” he said as he continued to look at me. “I was going to tell you that I was falling in love with you. In fact, it probably started when you came into the boys’ bathroom and dared me to comment.”

  My world stopped spinning.

  “What?” I asked.

  He shrugged, “Don’t worry. I won’t make a big deal out of it. I just thought you should know.”

  “Not make a big deal out of it,” I said as I pushed back from him. How dare he say that? “It is a big deal. The most important deal in fact.”

  His brow furrowed as he studied me for a moment. Obviously, the crazy girl was losing it.

  “I just meant that I wouldn’t …”

  “Shut up and kiss me,” I said as I pulled him to me.

  Our kiss was slower this time. More caring, less taking and more giving. The kind of kiss that could shift a girl’s world. I knew deep in my heart that I would look at this as the moment that my life had changed. Everything would be measured by before the kiss and after the kiss.

  “Oh, Jade,” he sighed as his hands wrapped around my back.

  I melted inside. “I love you too,” I whispered.

  He smiled then returned to kissing me.

  I don’t know how far th
ings might have gone. I do know that I had lost all control. All I knew was that I wanted more. I wanted everything. A life of pain and disappointment was forgotten when I was in his arms. It was as if I had been designed for this.

  As I said, we will never know how far things might have gone because a sharp gasp off to the side sent a bolt of fear through me.

  We pulled apart and slowly turned to see Mrs. Crawley standing there with her mouth agape and her eyes as big as pizzas. Mr. Alvarez, the custodian, stood next to her, slowly shaking his head.

  “Parker Benson!” she said. For a brief moment, I thought she was surprised to see someone like him kissing someone like me. But that was quickly squashed when she turned to examine my space. Obviously cataloging every bit of proof against me.

  “You’re working late Mrs. Crawley,” Parker said as if he had met her in the hall outside the science lab.

  Her brow narrowed to a full glare, “What is the meaning of this?”

  My heart sank as I realized my world was over. Parker would hate me forever. I would lose my home. All I could do was stare at her as I frantically tried to come up with a good lie.

  Parker scoffed, “What does it look like? I was kissing my girlfriend. We didn’t hear your knock.”

  I sucked in a quick breath. He had called me his girlfriend. No matter what happened. I would have that to hang onto for the rest of my life.

  “How long have you been living here?” she demanded of me.

  “Don’t answer that,” Parker said as he stood up and stepped in front of me.

  She continued to scowl at him. “You are not in charge here, young man.”

  My hero stood his ground and shrugged his shoulders. “What? Are you going to send us to jail for sneaking into the boiler room so we could make-out? They’d laugh you out of court. Are you going to suspend us? Again, for what?”

  “Because you deserve it,” she snapped.

  He shrugged again and said, “Fine, go ahead and ruin our lives. Eliminate any chance we might have of getting out of this town. All so that you can feel high and mighty. But, really. It won’t change anything. What is done is done.”