Torn

by A. M. Wallace

  I was looking forward to meeting this girl, and I wanted Marcus to meet Justin, but I still couldn’t help but feel weird about it. This was a completely new step for us, but it was one we desperately needed to take. I desperately needed to take it. I just hoped Justin would be available to go with me.

  I hadn’t asked him last night over the phone. I needed a chance to gain the confidence to ask him to meet my friends, when he hasn’t asked me to meet any of his. It had only been a week, so it didn’t really bother me. I was worried, though, that he would think it was too soon or something and freak him out.

  Erica had been asking me all week when I’d finally bring Justin around, but of course I had to wait until I actually told Marcus about him. Erica had already met him, but she was really pushing for that. I couldn’t blame her, she was just trying to be a good friend.

  I was sure everyone would like Justin. That wasn’t why I was nervous. I was nervous because I knew everything would change after tonight. But I also knew that was a good thing. At least, it was for me. Yes, yesterday it was hard not to think of Marcus in the way I’d always thought of him in secret. But the more I thought about it, the more I would think about Justin instead. That’s what I wanted. I needed to get over Marcus. I hoped them meeting would be the final nail in that coffin, but I worried that wouldn’t be the case. My luck, nothing would go as planned.

  The idea of becoming the crazy cat lady was becoming more appealing the more I thought about what tonight could possibly entail.

  justin showed up right around five o’clock at the café, like always. He kept a pretty strict schedule when it came to getting things ready for school. I couldn’t blame him. With his course load, he almost had to plan every single second. Maybe he’d be too busy to want to come tonight. That was a horrible thing to hope for. It wasn’t that I didn’t want him to meet everyone; I was just nervous about it. We were supposed to hang out tonight anyways, so I knew he was free.

  He walked right up to the counter where I already had his coffee ready. He smiled wide as I slid it to him just as he reached me and leaned over to kiss my lips.

  “I’m getting too predictable, I see.” He smirked as he took a sip.

  “No, I’m just good at my job.”

  “Well, that too. Been busy today?” I groaned at the question.

  “No, it’s been so slow since I’ve been here. I’ll die of boredom within the next hour.”

  “You can’t do that.” He grinned, leaning onto the counter.

  “Fine.” I took a deep breath, looking into his eyes.

  He was always so attentive. I never felt like he wasn’t listening or that he didn’t care. He made sure to show me he did. The more I thought about this last week we’ve spent together, the more I thought about how it was really only fair for me to get to introduce him to my friends. They could see for themselves how great he was.

  “Hey, so I was wondering…about tonight…” I dragged it out, not really sure how to ask him.

  “Yeah?”

  “Would you want to come to Marcus’ house with me?” He raised his brow and I could already sense he wasn’t interested, but Justin wasn’t the kind of person to just say no straight out. “Erica and our friend, Chad, will be there too. He wants me and Erica to meet his new girlfriend.” Not a lie. He did want to introduce Amy to everyone, even though I was sure I was the main person to meet tonight. “And I want everyone to meet you.” I bit my lip, waiting for his answer.

  “Why do you seem so nervous?” He chuckled when he said it and it made me wonder if I imagined him being uncomfortable a second ago.

  “I don’t know,” I lied.

  “You’re afraid they won’t like me?” He furrowed his brow in thought as he looked at me. Now I couldn’t tell if he was serious or not.

  “No, it’s not that. Honest. I just—” The sound of Justin laughing cut me off and I glared at him.

  “Babe, it’s fine. I’m just giving you a hard time. I understand.” I let out a breath.

  “So, will you come?” I asked and he reached across the small space between us and took my hand.

  “Yes, I will. But I won’t be able to stay long.” I frowned and he squeezed my hand. “I was going to tell you that we’d have to reschedule tonight any way because I can’t miss my study group tonight, but it’s not until later.” He sounded like he really regretted not being able to hang out for long. But at least he’d be there.

  “Thank you. You don’t have to stay long at all, everyone will understand.” I leaned over and kissed him softly, letting my lips linger a little. “They’ll love you.” I felt him grin against my lips as I kissed him again before leaning back.

  “Do you want to go straight from here?” I nodded and then stopped suddenly, thinking about it a bit.

  “Well, it depends on when Marcus and Amy can get off work. I’m sure he already arranged to get off work early today, though.” He laced our fingers together and I looked down at our hands and grinned. He really was very sweet.

  “Too bad you couldn’t leave early.” He pouted and I laughed.

  “Yeah, too bad I would like to keep my job.”

  “No one would notice,” he said seriously and turned around to look, trying to prove his point because no one was around. “You should just leave.”

  “And you’re a bad influence.” He chuckled.

  “Okay, fine. I’ll just go over there and sit all by myself and work on a paper I have due this Friday.” He smirked and gave me another kiss before walking over to the closest table to sit down and get out his laptop.

  “Don’t work too hard. I’m working hard enough for the both of us.” He looked up when I said it and grinned before beginning to type on his laptop.

  I sighed and went to grab the cleaning supplies from under the counter. I could at least try to keep myself busy, I guess. It would make the next forty-five minutes go by a little faster. I wiped down everything behind the counter, taking my time to make it last longer. It couldn’t really last a long time anyway. It was a small area. So, I moved out to wipe off the few tables occupying the café area. It was also a small area, but at least it was something to do. Plus, I’d be out there with Justin, even if he was working.

  I walked around the counter with the cleaner and a rag and started the furthest away from where Justin was sitting. He looked up when I walked around him, but looked back down the second I was past to work on his paper. I would glance at him every few minutes or so and grin. I liked watching him work. The way he could tune out the world and the way his face scrunched up in between his eyebrows just mesmerized me.

  Oh, yeah. I had it bad.

  I worked my way around Justin’s table and was heading to the one right beside him when he turned around and pinched my ass. I squealed and then tried to cover it up with a cough as I looked around to make sure no one heard me. Luckily, there still weren’t many people around. I turned around to say something to Justin about it, but he was still writing his paper, acting as though nothing happened. I walked right over to him and put my cleaning supplies down beside his computer and placed my hands on his shoulders. He didn’t even acknowledge that I’d touched him. He was really good at this game.

  I gently massaged his shoulders, trying not to read what he was typing, not that I would have understood it anyway. He still acted like I wasn’t there, so I leaned down to whisper in his ear.

  “Why can’t you behave? I’m working here.” I saw his mouth twitch a little and I knew I was getting somewhere. He could pretend all he wanted. I gently bit his ear for good measure and smirked when I heard him take a deep breath.

  “Keep it up, baby girl, and we’re not going to Marcus’ tonight.” He sounded so serious; I wasn’t sure if it was a threat or a promise.

  “We won’t?” I asked right in his ear, still grinning.

  “No, we’ll go back to your apartment and I won’t let you leave.” Still with the seriousness. I swallowed hard as my body instantly responded to his words. />
  “Too bad you already said you’d go with me.” I smirked and kissed him directly below his ear before picking my supplies back up and walking back to the other side of the counter like nothing happened.

  I knew I would hear about it later, but for now, I just grinned to myself. If Justin could tease, I could too.

  i watched as amy busied herself around the kitchen with a grin on my face. We’d both left work early today, but it would be another hour or so before anyone else got here. She insisted on making something sweet for the get-together. Chocolate chip cookies won that battle, so the house smelled amazing. I had been sitting at the bar, trying to calm her down since we got here, but she wasn’t having it. Nervous Amy was adorable.

  “Amy.” She either didn’t hear me or was ignoring me. I was guessing a little of both. “Amy.” I spoke a little louder this time and she finally looked up from putting the cookies on a plate.

  “Hmm?” She was a little unfocused. I chuckled and shook my head.

  “You don’t have to do all of that, you know.” She shook her head and continued with her task before putting the dirty cookie sheet in the sink to be washed.

  She walked over and got the chips and dip we’d bought and went to take it to the table in the living room before coming to check on the wings in the oven. I intercepted her, though, gently grabbing her wrist to stop her.

  “Hey.” I pulled her to stand between my legs, resting my hands on her waist. “Calm down, okay?” I chuckled, knowing it was going to frustrate her more. I was right.

  “Marcus, I’m just nervous, okay?” She groaned and brought her hands up and laced her fingers behind my neck. “What if they don’t like me?”

  “They’re going to love you. Besides, Chad already does. That’s half the battle.” She sighed and didn’t seem very comforted. I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her flush against me. “Trust me.” I looked up at her just as her arms wrapped completely around my neck.

  “Fine.” She said it with a stern voice, but grinned to soften it a bit. I grinned back and she leaned down to kiss my lips. “You owe me for this.” I smiled wider against her lips.

  “Oh, gladly.” She laughed a little and pulled back.

  “I have to get this finished,” she said and I tightened my hold on her, making her giggle. “Seriously, Mark. Let me go.”

  “No.” I held on tightly, burying my face in her chest as she starting smacking my shoulders. I could feel her chest rumble as she continued to giggle, though, so I didn’t let go.

  “Mark! The wings will burn!”

  “So?” I mumbled into her shirt, not even sure if she could hear me. The doorbell got our attention.

  “See! Someone is here and I don’t have it all done!” She sounded a little more upset now, but she was still giggling softly. Even still, I reluctantly let her go. Well, almost.

  “Fine.” I kept my hand on her wrist as she tried to go back to the stove. “But now you owe me.” I winked, and she just smiled and shook her head.

  Before I let her go completely, I cupped her face and leaned in to kiss her gently. She smiled and kissed me back, pressing herself against me. I groaned into her mouth. Grinning against her lips, I felt her relax. The doorbell rang again and she pulled away, making me sigh.

  “Go get the door,” she said with a smirk. Her face was a little flushed, which told me she was getting just as worked up as I had been.

  She stepped away from my hold and I stood to go get the door, pulling my glasses from my face to wipe them clean. They were smudged from Amy’s shirt.

  I opened it up and furrowed my brow when I saw Chad there. Two times in a row he rang the doorbell instead of just barging in. I was impressed. I put my glasses back on and grinned.

  “What’s up, man?” I said as he walked in and I shut the door. He visibly sniffed the air and groaned a little.

  “I smell cookies.” He walked directly into the kitchen and I shook my head. He could smell food a mile away, but in his defense this time, my house did smell good because of those cookies.

  “Chad, don’t eat them all!” I heard Amy as I walked into the kitchen and laughed at the sight of Amy shooing Chad away from the cookie plate when he already had a couple in his hand and one in his mouth.

  It was something I could see myself getting used to.

  Chad handed me a cookie as he walked past me, or was pushed by Amy, rather. I quickly took a bite before Amy could steal it back to put on the plate. She glared and I grinned before kissing her cheek and joining Chad in the living room.

  “Your girl makes good cookies,” Chad said, finishing his last cookie. I laughed, shaking my head.

  “I made the cookies.” I took the last bite of my own cookie and he looked at me like I had three eye balls.

  “Bull. If it wasn’t for Amy, you wouldn’t have had cookies here at all.”

  I laughed. He was right. Well, he was half right. Hannah would have had them here. But Hannah wouldn’t have taken the time to bake them; she’d have bought them already made.

  I shouldn’t have been comparing Amy to Hannah, but the more I thought about their similarities and differences, the more I realized I was more attracted to Amy than I was to Hannah. Maybe Hannah was too familiar, there was no mystery there anymore. But I was still learning more about Amy every time we were together, and I liked that. I wanted that. I never knew what she was going to say or how she was going to react to something. There was room for growth. I’d been waiting for something like that all along, and didn’t even know it.

  I stood up and went back to the kitchen where Amy was getting the wings out of the oven and putting them in a bowl to add the sauce. I walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her to me and kissing the top of her head.

  “Keep cooking like this and I might have to keep you,” I said into her hair and she laughed.

  “Good to know you’re only keeping me for my food,” she replied as the doorbell rang again.

  “And don’t you forget it.” I smirked and kissed her cheek, walking away to get the door before she could reply.

  I opened the door and snorted when I saw it was Hannah and Erica. Hannah never rang the doorbell. My smile faltered when my eyes landed on a guy I’d never seen before, who I assumed was Justin. Hannah hadn’t said she was bringing him, so it surprised me, but I should have expected it. I should have suggested it.

  “Hey, guys, come on in.” I stood to the side and let them walk in before shutting the door. Hannah pulled Justin to a stop in front of me and grinned up at me.

  “Marcus, this is my boyfriend, Justin. Justin, this is Marcus.” She chewed on the inside of her cheek as she introduced us. I didn’t want to make this awkward, so I smiled in response and held out my hand to Justin.

  “Just Mark. Nice to meet you, Justin. I’ve heard a lot about you.” He shook my hand and smiled, glancing at Hannah.

  “I could say the same about you.” He took a moment to look around. “Nice place.”

  “Thanks.” I led them into the kitchen where Amy was taking the big plate of wings into the living room. She hurried to set the plate on the coffee table before coming to stand next to me.

  “Hannah, this is Amy.” I wasn’t sure if I should label her as my girlfriend or not. We did agree to take this one day at a time, so I didn’t want to make her mad or uncomfortable. “Amy, this is my best friend, Hannah.” They shook hands.

  “It’s so nice to finally meet you,” Amy said.

  “You too!” Hannah sounded enthused, but her face said otherwise. She was nervous, though I didn’t think anyone else could tell.

  Everyone migrated into the living room and took various seats. I helped Amy hand out the plates and silverware so everyone could eat. Then I tried like hell to not let this get awkward.

  An hour or so into the gathering, everyone seemed to be having a good time. Chad and Erica talked more with Amy than Hannah or Justin did, and I tried not to let that bother me. I wanted to stay foc
used on getting to know Justin for Hannah.

  So far, he seemed like an all right guy. There was just something about him I didn’t like. I couldn’t put my finger on it. He was nice and treated Hannah well in front of me, but he had an answer for everything. Almost like there wasn’t anything he didn’t know. I didn’t know how to explain it. But overall, I’d say he was okay. He made Hannah happy and that’s what mattered to me right now.

  I just wished Hannah would interact with Amy more. That was the whole point of all of us getting together, wasn’t it? I was making an effort with Justin, why couldn’t I get the same courtesy? I’d ask her about it later. At least Amy was having fun with Chad and Erica.

  “Well, guys, it’s been fun, but I have a study group I need to make,” Justin said as he stood up. Hannah stood up with him and I wondered if she would leave, too.

  “No worries, man. Glad you could make it.” I stood up and shook his hand again. He nodded.

  “I’m just gonna walk him out. I’ll be back,” Hannah said and I nodded as I sat back down.

  She walked Justin out and I joined into the other conversation, wrapping an arm around Amy’s waist. She turned toward me and smiled before turning back to Erica, who was telling a story. I hadn’t been paying attention before so I had no idea what she was talking about, so I continued to not pay attention.

  Hannah came back and sat down on the other side of me on the couch and stared at me. I couldn’t tell if she was mad or what, but all I could think of was that Justin must not like me.

  “Well?” she asked me, still looking nervous.

  “Well, what?” She hit my shoulder.

  “What did you think?” I nodded with a grin as she glared at me.

  “He was all right. Still don’t know him that well though.” I shrugged and she sighed, like I was the most frustrating person on Earth. I probably was.

  “We’ll just have to do this more often then.” She leaned back on the couch.

  “On one condition.” She raised her eyebrow at me and I subtly nodded toward Amy who was still in conversation with Erica and Chad. Both of her eyebrows raised and she nodded. I knew she knew what I meant, and her silence told me she realized she hadn’t done a very good job of getting to know Amy.