Shit. As much as I wanted to know what they were talking about, I really needed to go to the bathroom. And I was stuck in the center of it all.
“Why didn’t you talk to me about it? Why didn’t you say anything?” Dakota asked.
I snuck a peek over the wall, glancing in Dakota’s direction. They were standing face to face, making it easy for me to see their expressions as they conversed.
“I couldn’t. I knew how much it would hurt you.” Margaret shrugged. “The last thing I wanted was to hurt you, but that’s exactly what I ended up doing.”
“And cheating on me was supposed to fix things?” he snapped. “I’m a big boy. If you would’ve said you weren’t sure about getting married, I would have understood.” I could tell he was angry. It wasn’t like I could blame him either. “Damn it! You should have come to me instead.”
Margaret shook her head. “I couldn’t. I just…could not say anything. Talking to you is hard.”
Dakota let out an exasperated sigh. “How can talking to me be hard? When have I ever lost my patience with you? I never even raise my voice when we argue.”
“That’s the problem.” Margaret covered her face with both hands, took in a deep breath, and then allowed her hands to fall to her sides. “You are just too understanding. You never get mad.”
The Dakota I’d seen so far had showed plenty of emotion so what was she talking about? Besides, what the hell does she want? An emotionally dead guy? What the fuck?
He ran one hand over his long black hair. “You make no sense Margaret. Now you’re telling me that you couldn’t talk to me because I actually understand what you’re trying to say?” he shook his head. “Couples are supposed to communicate.”
“Yeah, well, sometimes I think it would be easier if you just yelled back or something. It’s hard getting angry at you when you do understand.”
Seriously, the girl made no sense whatsoever.
“You’d prefer a guy that makes you feel like crap?” His voice raised an octave. “I’m not that kind of guy.”
Though I hated to identify with this girl in any way, I thought I understood what she was trying to say but lacked the courage to actually communicate to him. She wanted some sense of adventure. She most likely wanted a guy that did not fan over her and instead ignored her every now and again. She probably thought he was dull. Or too monotonous. Maybe she got her kicks out of dating someone as full of himself as Kirk.
I wasn’t a relationship expert by any means but I used to have a friend in high school that would push a guy away if he showed too much interest in her. She preferred a guy that would ignore her every once and a while. A guy who would promise to call her and then leave her hanging. She craved that kind of relationship because it presented her with a challenge. Even when I could not really understand this knowledge, I realized that she was happy that way. Besides, who am I to criticize what people enjoyed or did not enjoy in relationships? Just because I hated an egomaniac that didn’t mean others didn’t enjoy such behaviors.
Margaret hugged herself. “I’m not ready to get married. I’m too young. There’s still plenty of stuff I want to do.”
It was a lame excuse if I ever heard one. And I had. If she wasn’t ready to get married, she could have told Dakota. I was not entirely sure, but he didn’t come across as the insensitive type.
“So you cheated on me because you don’t want to get married?” he asked. “Help me understand Margaret, because you’re explanation is hard to swallow.”
She shook her head. “It’s not that.”
“Then what?” He reached out for her but she took a step back. “What do you want?”
“I want to think clearly and right now you’re not helping,” she retorted.
I really did have to fight the urge to come out of my hiding place and drag her down the hall by the hair. Why couldn’t she think about his feelings? I had no idea if she knew, but I was pretty sure Dakota was hurting bad. I could tell by the look on his face.
“I didn’t go looking for you. It was you who said you wanted to talk.”
“I know,” she said. “But maybe I’m not ready to have this conversation. I thought you’d be able to understand where I’m coming from but you don’t.”
“That’s because you’re not making any sense. You’re evading the real reasons for what happened and you’re making me feel like it was my fault.” He looked hard at her. “Was it my fault? Did I do something that made you turn away?”
Margaret shook her head. “No. I…don’t know. Let’s just drop it for now, okay?”
“First you tell me you want to talk, and then you say you’re not ready. I’m not a puppet, Margaret. I’m not your puppet.” Dakota glared at her. “Maybe by the time you’re ready to talk, I won’t want to anymore.” With that he stalked off in my direction.
I could have sworn my heart stopped. He started down the hall toward me and I barely had enough time to duck behind the wall again before being spotted. Wincing, I realized that I wouldn’t have enough time to hide or run away before he saw me, so I stood my ground. If I was lucky enough for him to turn to his left instead of his right, he would probably head down the other hall without even knowing I was there, listening.
Inching back and away from the corner, I silently prayed for him to turn to his left, hoping he’d go down the opposite hall instead of up or down the stairs behind me. But as luck would have it he turned to his right.
His eyes grew wide as soon as he caught me standing there. To him, I probably looked like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming eighteen wheeler. To top it all off I felt really stupid because he probably thought I had been eavesdropping on purpose. Even though I had heard the last bit of their conversation, it had not been my intention to eavesdrop. I had been on my way to the bathroom and it just so happen that they had been standing right in front of it.
“Did you hear?” I expected his tone of voice to reveal anger, but it did not.
I grimaced. “I couldn’t help it. I was on my way to the bathroom.”
He nodded, but his expression revealed nothing of what he felt. “She said she wanted to talk. I step out of the classroom and,” he gestured behind him with one hand, “that’s what she says. Is it me? Or does she make no sense whatsoever?”
I smiled. “Trust me. It is not you.”
He stepped closer to me, our bodies nearly touching. “I may have been in love and all, but I don’t think I’m up for her games. This obviously means a lot more to me than it does to her,” he said, his eyes wavering. “She could have talked to me.”
“You don’t need to explain yourself,” I said. I’d known him for a short two days and I already felt comfortable talking to him. How was it that after five years, Margaret treated him as if he was a total stranger, unable to share her feelings?
Feeling the need to touch him, I reached up to tuck a lock of long black hair behind his right ear. I felt a little jealous of how soft his hair was. I mean, it took tender love and care plus a few trips to the beauty salon every month for my chestnut colored mane to look as good as it did. He, on the other hand, had probably never set foot in a salon and his hair was more vibrant than mine.
“Communication is the key,” I continued. And Kirk and I never spoke much. We only talked when we were angry at each other and that usually led to an argument. “Some people don’t get that.”
I tried, but I could not bring myself to tear away from his hair. Instead of pulling back, I twirled a finger around the same lock I’d tried to tuck behind his ear. Though he noted, he didn’t pull away nor did he react in a way that would have told me he didn’t appreciate my attention.
“You would think so, but I’m not so sure anymore.” He closed his eyes and let out a long sigh before adding, “I would have listened if she wasn’t sure of where our relationship was going. I would have accepted it if she wasn’t ready to get married yet. I would have given her time to decide whether or not she wanted to be with me. I never pr
essured her into anything. Even before I proposed I asked her if she wanted to be with me and start a new life as husband and wife. She never gave me any indication that she wasn’t happy.” He shrugged. “Well, she was a little distant the last few months but since she never seemed to want to talk about it I didn’t broach the subject.”
I rewarded him with a sympathetic smile. “It sounds to me like you gave her a chance to speak her mind and she decided not to.”
Because Dakota had his back to the very corner from which he had emerged moments before, he was unable to see Margaret pop out into the main hallway, but I did. And, following my best friend’s advice, which was to act on my instincts, I reached up with both hands and pulled Dakota toward me the second she spotted us standing there. Before the poor guy could react, I wrapped my arms around his neck and stood on the tips of my toes to kiss him.
It was a bold move, but I didn’t stop to think about it. I acted quickly to get the best reaction out of my new enemy.
Dakota tensed up a little at first and he didn’t immediately respond either. He just stood there as still as a statue. But after a few seconds he angled his head to the side, placed both hands on my hips, and kissed me back.
What had started out as a spur of the moment act soon turned into something else entirely.
Okay, so I was not new to kissing, but God almighty! My body came alive the second our lips came in contact. It literally felt like my very first kiss ever, except this time lust hit me with the force of a punch to the gut. The way my body responded really did shock me. This wasn’t supposed to be happening. I didn’t even find him attractive for God’s sake. Or at least I hadn’t at first. So, why, oh, why was I clinging to him as if waiting for him to slam me against the wall and have his way with me? Because to be perfectly honest, I did not even think I could stop him if he wanted to do just that.
Even as I tried to make sense of why my body betrayed me in such a way, kissing him felt too good to think about stopping, or bringing myself to actually pulling back for that matter. My entire body felt on fire and though I desperately wanted to ignore the pulsating sensation centered in my crotch, it was hard to.
I’ve been without sex too long, my brain tried to reason. Why else would I react this way to Dakota? He wasn’t even my type.
Before I could think to protest, he coaxed my mouth open and slipped his tongue inside, delving around as if it was searching for something. I fought to keep from moaning out loud as he deepened the kiss, but even that turned into a life or death struggle. Instead, I buried my hands in his long black hair and pressed my breasts to him.
Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew it was wrong to act this way. It was wrong to entice him like this. It was wrong to lead him on, but seducing him had not been my intention. I had only wanted to give Margaret a taste of her own medicine. However, I could easily say that move had turned to kick me in the ass.
I was playing with fire and if I didn’t watch out, I’d get burned.
“Geez, get a room you two,” a guy said as he strolled by us.
I pulled back, embarrassed. It was the first time I’d ever made out with a guy in public and we’d been caught. For some reason, my little move no longer seemed like a smart thing. I glanced to my right, spotting the intruder as he shook his head and walked by us, directing his strides toward the staircase behind me.
Dakota spared a glance at the guy too. I almost burst out in laughter at the look of bewilderment on his face. I did not have to ask him to know he was probably as mortified over loosing himself to the moment as I was.
“I…um…” I had no idea what to say, but I was fairly certain that I needed to say something. “I was just…” I stopped when he focused his attention on me again.
He looked at me for a moment and then spun around to look behind him as if he’d known Margaret had been standing there seconds ago.
“Margaret saw.” I clarified his unspoken question. “She was standing right there when I reached out for you.”
He nodded as if he knew all along. “I figured as much.”
The way he said that irritated me and I don’t even know why. I guess my female ego had wanted to believe he kissed me because he liked me and not because he’d wanted Margaret to see. But then my inner demon reared her ugly head, slapping me silly while calling me a softy. I was not supposed to have any sort of attachment to Dakota. He was just a means for me to get payback. Nothing else.
“I didn’t think you’d kiss me otherwise.” He stared down the hallway as if waiting for the girl to come back. Or wishing she would.
“Yeah, well, she got a taste of her own medicine.” I straightened up. I was not expecting him to be so distant and that bothered me. “Now she knows what you felt.”
That definitely caught his attention. He turned to look at me, his expression completely unreadable.
“This is a dangerous game.” He crossed his arms over his chest as if he’d just berated me.
I was not sure what he meant by that but I shrugged anyway. “It’s not a game. It’s a war.”
Dakota looked away again. “I’m not sure I’m cut out for this sort of thing.”
He was having second thoughts, but I wondered if it had something to do with the kiss or not. I secretly hoped it was because that would mean the kiss had affected him more than he led on.
“If you’re not up for the whole kissing thing, that’s fine,” I said, wanting to ease his worries. I wasn’t sure if the fact that I kissed him or that Margaret saw us upset him, but since he did not seem too happy with what happened, I decided not to push my luck. After all, I didn’t want to scare him away. “But just so you know, you’re a good kisser.”
His eyes immediately fell on me. I would have loved to know what he was thinking right then. He stared at me so hard and so long that I could only guess what was going through his head. Though my guess would probably be off the mark. For all I knew he was plotting a way to get rid of me.
His gaze studied me with interest for a moment before he said, “That’s nice to know.”
My lips curved up into a grin. “We should get back to class.”
Dakota and I shared no classes. I had no idea what he was majoring on, but in the three years I’d been attending college we had not shared a classroom once. Since I had not bothered to ask, I had no idea what his schedule was like. Trying to stay on top of the situation would be hard, but there was no plan if he was not on board. Although I hated to admit it, if Dakota was not on the same page as me I was not going anywhere with my strategy.
His solemn expression was hard to take as a good sign. Maybe my boldness hadn’t been taken well. Maybe he didn’t want anything to do with me anymore. Maybe he realized that associating with me was a mistake.
With all these preoccupations clogging my brain, I started toward the corner, hoping to make it to the bathroom this time without bumping into anyone I knew.
“I’ll see you around,” I said without bothering to look at him.
Before I could take more than four steps, he snatched my wrist, effectively stopping me. I turned my head to the right, my gaze meeting his.
“You are still going to meet me for lunch, right?”
I tried my very hardest to hold back the smile of triumph trying to work its way out. I had been almost certain he’d probably look for any means possible to avoid me from now on, but his words put my worried mind at ease.
“Of course.”
He released my hand. “I’ll see you then.”
Waving my fingers in the air, I hurried to the bathroom without glancing back.
Chapter Thirteen
I knew something was up when I walked down the hallway after our fourth class period ended and everyone looked at me and murmured things I could not make out. Going with my instinct, I automatically assumed it had something to do with the kiss Dakota and I shared in the hallway. The word must have gotten out and now everyone knew about it.
My suspicions were confirmed when
I walked out of the building and bumped into Delilah, who was waiting for me just beyond the exit.
“You kissed him?” Her face lit up as she pulled on my arm and practically dragged me to my car. “You sneaky girl, you.”
“I guess everyone knows now,” was all I could say. Though the kiss had been spectacular, at least for me, I could not exactly brag about it. Not after seeing Dakota’s reaction.
“Of course everyone knows.” She giggled with excitement. “The best part is that everyone thinks you dumped Kirk for Dakota.”
My head snapped sideways in a flash. “What?”
Delilah nodded enthusiastically. “Word on the street is that you dumped Kirk for Dakota.”
That made no sense to me. “I’m pretty sure someone thinks I dumped him because I found out about his affair.” I emphasized the last word with a pair of air quotes.
Delilah shook her head, her vibrant red mane swaying from side to side. “That’s the beauty of it all, it is believed that you dumped the jerk for someone else.”
I smiled. How could things possibly get any better?
“That’s the story now, huh?” I asked as I unlocked the driver side door of my car.
“Apparently so. And after you were seen making out with Dakota in the upstairs hallway well…” She left the rest unsaid but I knew what she meant.
The rumors were spreading fast and they were all about me. I couldn’t believe things were turning out so well. Had I planned it any better things probably would have failed or fallen apart before I even got the chance to start. But so far everything was going great and I was finally enjoying the sweet taste of revenge.
“So you were swallowing the poor guy’s face, huh?”
I spun around at the sound of Michaela’s voice and found her standing a few paces away, grinning.
“It wasn’t like that,” I said.
She closed the gap between us. “There’s nothing to be embarrassed about girl. I’m quite pleased with the news.”
Payback is Sweet Page 12