"Babe? What is it?"
"Things got ugly after I broke up with Sam tonight," I sniveled. "I left the dance early."
"Did he…hurt you?"
"Not like you're thinking. Things are a mess, that's all." I dropped onto the bed and kicked off my shoes. Mindlessly, I twisted a lock of hair around me finger.
"I wish I was there. From what I can see you look beautiful, but sad…like you could use a hug from a certain lonely guy I know real well." I blew him a kiss and he puckered one in return. "How's your heart?"
Jordan's question halted me.
"My heart?"
"Yes, your heart. You and Sam share a history. As much as I hate thinking about it, you must have feelings for Sam. "
"Had," I sniffed. "After tonight, all I feel is an urge to vomit when I think about him."
Jordan laughed. "That bad, huh? Care to enlighten me?"
"Pass. I'm wiped out." I'd only end up falling apart again. I also wanted to spend some time with Jesse before he left because Rick made it clear he couldn't stay.
"Can I call you tomorrow?"
"I'd be crushed if you didn't. 'Night, Jordan."
"Good night Marli. I, I—" his voice caught on a word having the power to suck my last breath, but he quickly recovered, "—miss you. Talk to you tomorrow."
A shadow flickered along the walls of the living room. Jesse had found a candle and placed it in the center of the coffee table, alongside two cups of steaming hot tea.
"Ambiance," he smiled, gesturing for me to sit beside him on the sofa. He took the afghan draped over the back and wrapped it around my shoulders. "You were gone a while. I almost came looking for you."
"Dad and I had a slight disagreement, and...I called Jordan."
He leaned into the corner of the sofa, tipping me against him. "How is my brother?"
"Worried, like you. I still didn't tell him you were here. I decided to save that piece of information for when I have the strength to argue. I also begged out of telling him about tonight."
"About tonight…what happened?" His jaw snapped sharply against my forehead. "Obviously, you were running away from Sam. What did he do?"
I gave Jesse an overview of what happened. A more enhanced version of the story would be all over town by tomorrow and I'd have to deal with Rick's overreaction. I tilted my head to see Jesse's reaction, receiving a quick tap from his mouth on mine.
"What happened after I left for the dance?" I asked.
"Rick tortured me." I punched his chest. "Ouch! He interrogated me regarding my intentions toward his young, impressionable baby girl. He warned me if I hurt you, there wouldn't be a planet in the universe where I could hide. He'd find me and shoot me. You're right. He owns a gun."
"Baby girl? Ugh! I can't wait until I'm eighteen so he'll stop treating me like one."
Jesse set his cup on the table, squaring my shoulders. "Your father worries about you, Marli, and turning eighteen won't change that." A mischievous grin curled his mouth. "I talked to him about your graduation present, but it will definitely have to wait until you're eighteen."
"Oh?" My curiosity piqued, especially when his grin grew into a taunting smile. "What is it?"
"Uh-uh. It's a surprise, but I wanted you to know he said okay."
"That's so unfair. At least give me a hint. Please?" I walked my fingers along the edge of his open shirt collar, undoing a couple more buttons and sliding my hands inside. "Pretty please?" I pushed him back into the sofa cushions and placed my lips at the hollow of his throat.
He held me back. "Has anyone ever told you if you play with fire, you'll get burned?"
I placed my hands on the sides of his face and captured his waiting mouth. Slowly, his tongue drew a wistful line across my bottom lip and I hesitated. What started as a flirty tease changed when I cracked my lips and Jesse became the center of focus. All thoughts of Jordan disappeared when Jesse's tongue slid a deliberate line along the top of my mouth and intense, tingling sensations danced through my body.
Jesse's arm slipped around my waist, pressing my body in his curves. His legs wrapped over me and my heart hammered behind the ribs his fingers counted. Heated blood raced in my veins and I eased my leg out of the slit in the dress, flattening my lower body against Jesse.
Suddenly, he jumped up and moved to the chair across the room, leaving me struggling to calm my jagged breaths.
"What did I do?" Stupid question. I know exactly what I did.
Even in the muted shadows, I felt the intensity of Jesse's stare. "What we were doing—flirting with danger," he rebuked, equally breathless. "I won't cross that line with you, Marli. Not while Jordan's in the picture. You technically belong to him."
The statement smacked of dominance—something I feared. The need to prove my independence became urgent and the guilt building that I betrayed Jordan vanished.
"I belong to no one. In fact, Jordan wants to date until the end of the year and decide for ourselves what the next step should be."
Jesse slumped in the chair, his long legs almost reaching the sofa. A smile twisted inside his words. "Serious? No commitment?" He shook his head and scoffed. "Jordan's a fool. Leaving a life with you to chance is insane. If it were me, I'd make things permanent the second you turned eighteen."
The sudden spark of anger at his statement surprised me.
"Good thing my life's not in your hands then because I'm not getting trapped in anything permanent at eighteen, regardless of what The Program wants." I hugged a pillow nestled in the corner of the sofa. "Jess, I don't want a serious relationship with any one person right now. Not even Jordan."
He returned beside me, tossing the pillow to the floor. His fingers slowly combed through my hair and tangled in my curls, his lips brushing lightly across my collarbone. Slowly, he kissed a heated trail up my neck until his mouth touched my ear.
"Well, that changes everything."
I tilted my head, lengthening my neck to expose more bare skin for his lips to caress. His mouth settled at the nape of my neck, where he proceeded to check my blood supply. A niggle of something new, like a puppet string tugging from where he sucked to the private regions of my body stirred.
"Stop, Jess," I breathed.
His thumb stroked my bottom lip and he waited, as if knowing what caused my panic. I flushed at the thought and he smiled.
"You okay?" he whispered over my lips, his fingertips lightly brushing everywhere my skin was naked. His lips hovered teasingly over my mouth, waiting.
"Kiss me," I whimpered.
In one move, Jesse pulled me underneath him, his body molding intimately into mine. His breath blew hot on my chest where his lips nipped the soft flesh peeking out of the top edge of my dress. Molten heat trickled from the top of my head to the ends of my toes. My body became pliable, responding eagerly to every touch, every kiss, everywhere.
"You know what this means, Marli?"
Trembling, I shook my head in question.
A dangerous smile met eyes resembling pools of melted chocolate. "It means game on."
10
GRADUATION PRESENCE
A double homicide.
I blinked a hundred times, but Rick's red face remained—puffed and growing a deeper scarlet every second. Words spewed from his mouth, but nothing registered because I still wandered between reality and dreamland.
Jesse's bare skin felt warm against my cheek, his cologne lingering in the folds of his neck. My eyes drifted shut again and I returned to the fading dream where Jesse and I engaged in some serious body contact. I moved on top of him, settled into the angles of his body and sampled the soft skin on the chest pillowing my head. He tried to move me, but I claimed his mouth and he eagerly welcomed my morning "hello."
"I wasn't dreaming. Jess, last night was amaz—"
"MARLI!"
At that point, my skin plastered the ceiling and Jesse held my skeleton. My heart flat-lined.
"Dad!" Damn. I was beyond dead and no one would ever find Je
sse's body.
We bolted upright and I hastily adjusted my skewed formal. Miraculously, everything remained covered, even though the dress had twisted almost backwards. When I followed Rick's murderous stare to Jesse's bare chest covered in smudged lipstick marks, I panicked, blurting out a preposterous excuse and sealing my fate.
"Dad, this isn't how it looks, honest. We fell asleep talking, that's all."
Talking? Even I wouldn't believe me based on the evidence.
His voice flattened to a dangerous calm. "Marli, go to your room."
"But, Dad…"
"NOW!" The verbal command shook the dishes in the china hutch.
I dashed upstairs, keeping my bedroom door cracked enough to watch. Someone had to witness Jesse's murder.
"Mr. Mason, it's time for you to leave." Rick's body filled the doorway leading to the stairs. "My daughter is only seventeen years old and until she's eighteen, young man, I don't want to see or hear from you, or your brother. Understood?" Jesse's reply was too low to hear, but as soon as the front door slammed, my father's bare feet padded heavily on the stairs. When he shoved my door open, the picture behind it fell off the wall.
"Marli Elizabeth Davis. I don't understand you and this…spending the night with a boy in that..." He was so flustered he simply pointed. "That damn dress—kissing his naked body!" He threw his hands in the air. "You're grounded until further notice!" He stomped across the hall to his room with me on his heels.
"Daddy, nothing happened last night, I swear."
He spun around and I nearly crashed into his body fortress. "Don't Daddy me."
My heart raced so fast I feared it would break through my ribcage any moment. When he slammed his bedroom door, I swear my nose twisted from being so close.
"You're not being fair! Please, can we talk rationally?"
The door flew open, Rick's demeanor rigid and unsympathetic. He stepped out of the doorway, silent, and I perched on the side of his bed.
"Dad, you have to believe me, we didn't do anything. Jesse never crossed the line and stopped me from doing anything stupid. And he wasn't naked." He towered over me, arms folded firmly across his chest. The red slowly faded from his face, but his eyes offered no forgiveness. "We only kissed." A lot. In fact, my lips could be permanently swollen. "But Jesse didn't lay a hand on me." More like two hands, but nothing compared to what Rick imagined.
Dad dropped beside me, heaving a large sigh. "Marli, when I saw you wrapped in that kid's arms and legs, every nightmare I've ever had about you and boys raced into my head." He exhaled sharply. "I do believe you, Pumpkin, but it doesn't make what happened last night appropriate, by any means."
His hand lifted my face, his rough cheeks still rosy. "Mars, I know you're old enough to decide these things, and neither I nor the damn Program can stop you from having sex, but remember, you deserve to be loved for the right reasons, and by someone who'll stop at nothing to make you happy. And not just for a moment, Pumpkin, but for a lifetime."
"Dad, I'm not having sex with anyone."
"I'm glad, because life changes after you do. I'm an old prude, I know, but I still think waiting is a good idea."
"Until I'm eighty?"
"Eighty-five." Rick hugged me about the shoulders. "Young lady, I'm still forbidding contact from the Mason brothers until your eighteen, but I'll only ground you until graduation from your other friends. However, cell receptor and computer privileges are revoked for the weekend."
"But—"
"No 'buts,' Mars. This way, you get a few days to sort through your feelings without anyone's interference and I get some peace of mind."
The matter closed to further argument. While I could use some solitude to figure things out, not knowing if Jordan or Jesse called for the next two days would kill me. This would be the longest weekend of my life.
"Marli! We need to go before you're late to your own graduation!" Dad shouted as he had every five minutes for the past hour. The way he paced the floors, you'd think he was Valedictorian and delivering the farewell speech.
I fastened the single strand of pearls looped over the corner of my mirror around my neck—a graduation gift from my mother. It arrived earlier in the week with a letter wishing me luck. No apology for the part she played in the calamity I lived, however. She also managed to taint her "congratulations" with a reminder of my obligation to The Program.
Admittedly touched by her thoughtfulness given our distant relationship, part of me waxed melancholy, wishing she could be at my graduation. A bigger part of me, however, wanted Jordan or Jesse there also, only I couldn't decide which one.
After Senior Ball, I found myself in a sticky predicament where the Mason twins were concerned. I became the knot pulled taut in an emotional tug-o-war between brothers, only neither of them knew. So far, I'd kept my feelings to myself.
Dad's voice blared up the stairwell again, proving his final thread of patience snapped. I folded my graduation gown over my arm and grabbed the scribbled speech from the night table I finally finished last night. With all the distractions, namely Jordan and Jesse, I didn't have time to download it to the digital prompter for the podium.
"Great," he grumbled under his breath.
"What?" My eyes followed his gaze out the living room window, catching the glint off a white car pulling to the curb. There could only be one possibility and when I saw the Porsche, my heart jumped in my chest.
I squealed with unbridled excitement. "Jordan!" My breath caught. Oh, crap! Jordan.
"I thought I made it clear neither Mason brother was to contact you until your eighteenth birthday." He marched for the door, but I tugged the sleeve of his jacket.
"Dad, wait." My face twisted with a rush of guilt. "Jordan doesn't know about Jesse being here last week. I never told him and I'm positive Jesse didn't either."
His eyebrows vanished into his receding hairline. "What kind of game are you playing, Mars? You can't do this to those two boys. It's not right."
"I know, but please, don't say anything. I promise, I'll tell Jordan about Jesse, but not today."
He shook his index finger with a hefty warning. "Twenty-four hours. Either you tell him by then, or I will. Secrets are dangerous. You should know better." He reached into the lapel pocket of his suit jacket, handing me a lavender envelope. "I'm supposed to wait to give this to you after the ceremonies, but I'm guessing you'll be with Jordan and I may not see you."
I bounced on my toes at the probability of another gift. "Can I open it?"
"I strongly suggest you wait until you're alone. I'll take my car and meet you two there."
The doorbell rang and my heart climbed into my throat. I inhaled a deep breath and opened the door. "Jordan!"
He lifted me into his arms, swinging me in a circle. "Surprise! I couldn't stay away on such an important day." He kissed me hard, holding me so tight I thought I felt a rib crack.
"You're my best graduation present yet."
Our lips almost touched again, but the loud blare of Rick's horn killed the mood instantly.
Heads snapped and eyes gawked when I walked into the school on Jordan's arm. No one saw him the day he dropped me off, only his white steed. I watched the same two empty-headed cheerleaders from the dance give Jordan a once over and I glared back over my shoulder.
"Are we being watched?" An evil glimmer twinkled in Jordan's eyes when I shrugged. "Well, then…"
Jordan pressed me into every bend of his body, kissing me as if he needed my lips to keep him alive. Blood raced through my body, hot and icy at the same time. He pulled away, his eyes dark and beautiful.
"I've wanted to kiss you like that for weeks."
"I think you should check my pulse."
Before I could stop him, Jordan's lips pressed below my ear."Still breathing?"
"Barely."
He placed a chaste kiss on my cheek and took my hand, feathering his lips across my knuckles while I fought to remember to move my feet.
The seniors assem
bled in the gymnasium to line up for our procession onto the football field. I stopped outside the gym doors and slipped into my gown. Rick handed me the flimsy square hat I dreaded putting on my head. Any breeze at all and the cap would be history. Jordan draped a beautiful lei of fresh violet orchids around my neck, capturing my mouth in a deep kiss, ignoring Rick standing within strangling reach.
"Good luck, babe."
Leading the "D's," I almost made it out the door before hearing a formal, cold reminder.
"Candidate 5846?"
Ice filled my veins and my gut clenched unexpectedly.
"Yes?"
A man and woman stepped forward, followed by Principal Anderson. The man held a white plastic tube encased in a clear cylinder. A "virgin lollipop."
"We need a DNA sample," the woman stated in a softer, but firm voice.
"Why now?" My voice sounded too high. Guilty.
Principal Anderson spoke up. "Marli, there's been talk," she said delicately. "It's precautionary…you know, before we formally introduce you as Valedictorian."
"Wait? You think…" Strangers kissing me in front of the school. The dance. Twisted lies created by malicious gossip. Why wouldn't Principal Anderson suspect the obvious?
The Valedictorian had to be a Candidate. If my "dip-stick" changed colors, I no longer qualified. Another girl shuffled nervously near the exit doors. The "backup." I wavered between furious and mortally embarrassed.
"Fine," I snarled.
From the edge of my vision, I swore Jordan peeked in the glass panel of the gym door, but when I focused harder, I saw nothing. I'd die if he witnessed my moral standing questioned. Hopefully, Friday night's encounter with Jesse didn't color things. There were only so many days before DNA would be unreadable and I guessed five days probably wasn't enough to erase moral mishaps.
I held my breath when they inserted the stick into the tubing after collecting my saliva. Ten seconds and my life could change. Everyone sighed loudly when the tiny beep signaled the end of the test and the stick remained clear. Everyone except my so-called replacement who said something unladylike and joined the procession marching on the field.
Designer Genes - The Boyfriend Cut Page 11