Falling for Forever (Before Forever)

by Melissa Chambers

  “You did say something right away, right Nat?” I ask.

  He looks at me with wild eyes. “Yeah?” he asks rather than answers. “But they had to investigate to make sure, and it took a few days.”

  Jasmine points. “But he just said he figured it out earlier today.”

  I close my eyes at my own stupidity.

  Jenna stands up. “You know what? This is stupid. I just want to get this all out in the open.”

  I stand up and take her arm. She meets my gaze, and I give her the most serious look I can muster. “Jenna, no.”

  “I’m sick of hiding it. I want to tell them.”

  I pull her to the corner of the room.

  “What are you two whispering about?” Nicolette shouts.

  Dev puts his hand on her back. “Just give them a minute, okay?”

  She crosses her arms over her chest and pouts, glaring at us.

  I bend down to Jenna’s level. “This is a risk, Jenna. If you tell Nicolette what happened, she may go to Barclay, and then you’ll be out as soon as you got in.”

  She nods. “I know. But it’s not like we have any options at this point. None of us could come up with the right lie in time.”

  I know she’s right, but I hate it. I know she doesn’t want to lose her spot. This is actually my chance to get her out of the top ten. I could start kissing her…and more…if she wasn’t in the top ten. We wouldn’t be competitors anymore.

  But that’s shitty of me. Selfish. God I want to kiss that mouth so freaking bad…

  She nods toward the group. “Come on. I’m getting this over with.” This time, I don’t stop her.

  She walks back over to them and I follow. She inhales a deep breath. “Miles and I were in the same audition group at the Sensation tryouts.”

  “Wait,” Jasmine says. “You tried out for America’s Newest Sensation?”

  I nod, the humiliation flowing like a river. “I didn’t want anyone to know.”

  Jenna continues. “Our whole group was supposed to get a turn in front of the celebrity judges, but one of them had a meltdown and then they all three said they’d only take five more people. The producer came in the room to get the next five numbers in line. Miles had left the room just a moment prior, and he left his number there with his backpack. I saw that his number was one of the ones called, and he was nowhere to be found, so I took it.”

  The girls appear stunned, all three of them.

  Nicolette looks like she could chew dynamite. “You bitch.”

  Jenna lifts her eyebrows. “You think I don’t know that?”

  “She’s not a bitch,” I say. “There’s no way I could have gone. They would have just taken the next person in line.”

  Nat closes one eye. “So technically she screwed over the next person in line, and not Miles. He screwed himself by going to the john.”

  I glare at him. “Not helping.”

  “So when I auditioned, Nat screwed with my monitor to keep me from making tryouts to get back at me for screwing over Miles.”

  “Hold on,” Jasmine says. “So you knew Nat did that while it was happening?”

  Jenna shrugs. “Yeah, he was, like, giving me this smug gotcha face from the booth.”

  “And you didn’t turn him in?” Jasmine asks.

  Jenna scrunches up her face. “No.”

  Greta’s eyes widen. “Why not?”

  “We were even,” Jenna says. “I was just ready to put it all behind us.”

  Jasmine looks to Nat for confirmation, and he nods. She huffs a laugh. “Wow.”

  Nicolette holds up two hands. “We are losing sight of the big picture. Jenna is stealing our spot, and she doesn’t deserve it. She deserves to pay for what she did to Miles.”

  “Actually, to the next person in line behind Miles,” Greta says with a smile, and Jasmine chuckles.

  Nicolette squares herself up against Greta and Jasmine, who sit at the bar on stools. “What is wrong with the two of you? Do you not see what’s going on here? She’s an awful person. She takes what doesn’t belong to her.”

  Jasmine lifts an eyebrow, unscrewing the cap off a bottle of water. “You sure you wouldn’t have done the same?”

  Nicolette fumbles for a second, but then stands firm. “Yes, I’m sure.” She turns around. “I’m going to Barclay, and I’m telling her all of this. You are not getting our spot.”

  Greta stands up. “No.”

  Nicolette does a slow turn, eyes wild. “What did you say?”

  “I said no, we’re not telling Barclay anything. We’re letting Jenna have the spot that’s rightfully hers.”

  Nicolette stomps, and one of the instruments takes a hop in its stand. “Yes. We. Are.”

  Jasmine, cool as always, casually shakes her head. “No, we’re not.” She motions at Jenna. “She could have turned Nat in, and he’d be in a world of hurt right now. Probably wouldn’t be able to run sound at TPAC for the final show, and he’s been talking about doing that since we were freshmen. We’re not turning her in and getting him in trouble.”

  As much as Nat gets on her nerves, I knew she secretly liked him.

  Nicolette looks around the room like a wild animal. “I’ll do it, then.”

  “No you won’t,” I say, unable to stay quiet any longer.

  She meets my gaze. “What are you talking about? You have no say in this.”

  I shrug. “I’ll deny it. I’ll act like I have no idea what you’re talking about. Nobody knows what happened that day except for us, and everyone in this room has got my back.”

  I’m 90 percent sure of that statement. I look at Dev to get that missing 10 percent of assurance, but Nicolette does the same thing.

  Dev shakes his head. “Don’t do this. Don’t drag me into this.”

  “Dev,” she says. “You will back me, won’t you?”

  He rubs his forehead, everyone staring at him, waiting for his answer. He scans all of us, his face losing its color. Finally, he throws up his hands. “Fuck, Nicolette. You know I can’t do that to Nat.”

  She gasps audibly. “I can’t believe you.” She looks around at the rest of us. “I can’t believe all of you.” She goes over and starts tossing stuff into a bag. Everyone’s silent while she packs up. Dev stands and waits by the door, shaking his head at me.

  She shoulders her bag. “I can’t believe we’ve all been friends for years until she comes around and screws up everything. I hope you’re all happy with the side you’ve chosen.” She stalks to the door and slings it open. She tries to shut it in Dev’s face, but he catches it and goes after her, sure to give me a scowl before he closes the door behind him.

  Greta puts her hand to her forehead, back to her normal stressed-out self.

  Jasmine rubs Greta’s arm. “Don’t worry about her. She’ll cool off.”

  Nat holds up a beer can. “Well, who needs more beer?”

  Jasmine gives him a look. “Just shut the hell up right now, dumbass.” She stands up off the stool. “I guess I’m gonna head home. Doesn’t seem much like a party anymore.”

  Jenna scratches her neck. “Thank you all for taking up for me.”

  She looks to each one of us left, making sure we see how sincere she is.

  Jasmine waves her off. “I did it more for Nat than for you.”

  He sits up. “Really?”

  Jasmine rolls her eyes at him and then looks at Jenna. “Thank you for not turning him in.”

  Jenna shrugs. “Of course not.”

  Greta stands. “I’ll go, too. I’ve got some stuff to figure out.” She gives Jenna a significant look, and Jenna nods firmly in return.

  “Come on,” Jasmine says. “I’ll take both of you home.”

  Nat stands up. “You coming, dude?”

  It’s an obvious question. Technically, I am Greta’s date tonight.

  “He’ll get home,” Jasmine says with a hint of a smile at me.

  Nat shrugs and lets the girls walk out ahead of him, shutting the door behind
him.

  I look down, inspecting something on the floor. “I should probably head out, too.”

  She cranes her neck to see out the window. “Is your car out there? I don’t even think I know what you drive.”

  “Nah,” I say. “The limo guy picked us up at my house.”

  She nods, her hands behind her back.

  I pull my phone out of my pocket. “I’ll get an Uber.” I tap the app. “One’s like two minutes away.” But I don’t tap it.

  “Well.” She lifts her shoulders and then drops them. “I mean…you don’t have to exactly leave right this minute.”

  I lower my chin, my chest coming alive. “I don’t?”

  She snaps and points at me. “We could work on our songwriting.”

  I lift my eyebrows. “We could. Or we could work on your trust issues.”

  She shrugs. “I could practice letting you catch me.”

  “Turn around,” I say.

  She does, and she holds her arms out. “Are you ready?”

  “Yep.”

  Her shoulders rise and fall with a deep breath, and then she tips backward into my arms. I hold her there for a second longer than I should and then stand her back up. “You’re getting good at this.”

  She turns toward me. “It’s getting easier.”

  I smile at her. “Good.”

  She shrugs and looks around. “What next?”

  I make a show of glancing around the room, too, and then meet her gaze. “I think we’re running out of things to do.”

  “Well, surely we can think of something.” She looks up at me with those big, green eyes, waiting for me to make my move.

  I should leave…right now. If I did, nothing would be weird in class on Monday. We’d remain friends and competitors just like we should be. But somehow my feet just won’t move in the direction of the door.

  She’s still staring at me. Twisting her upper body back and forth just barely. I’d be so stupid to kiss her, but I’d be even more of an idiot if I let this moment…her and me alone in this apartment…go without doing what I’ve been dying to do for what feels like forever.

  I reach for her hand and take it in mine, rubbing the top of it with my thumb. “We could…go scuba diving.”

  She grins, looking down at our hands. “Or we could visit a dormant volcano.”

  I take her other hand. “We could go white-water rafting.” I pull her toward me and our bodies are inches apart now.

  She looks up at me, her hair falling backward. “Or we could swim the Atlantic.”

  I run my hands up both of her arms and over her shoulders, then I push the remaining stray hairs back out of her face. “Or we could…”

  I lean down and kiss her, holding her neck underneath her hair. She lets out the sweetest little sigh as we keep pressing our lips together, and I know I’m in this deeper than I even thought I was.

  After a moment more, she pulls away and searches my eyes, and then takes off my glasses. “Can you still see me?”

  I nod.

  She slides the stem of my glasses into my back pocket, and then pushes my hair out of my eyes, holding it there against my forehead. “Look at me, Miles Cleveland.”

  I blink, my whole body aware of every inch of hers.

  “I’m winning that talent contest,” she whispers. “Do you understand me?”

  I nod. “I do.”

  “I’m not backing down for you or for anyone else, no matter what might happen. Is that clear?”

  I run my tongue along the inside of my teeth. “Crystal.”

  She drops my hair, and it falls down in my face. “Now, you may kiss me.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Jenna

  Miles’s lips are like two little puffy marshmallows that I want to keep pressing my mouth against for hours. I close my eyes as I melt into his body, letting him pull me to him and slide his hands around to the small of my back. He’s so sweet and careful with me, going slow and soft. Most of the guys I’ve kissed feel like they’re racing around the track at Talladega. But Miles and I are on a horse-drawn carriage ride through Centennial Park.

  I want to walk him over to the futon where we can go all hands and mouths and breaths, but I have to be careful with this situation. A kiss is a kiss, no matter how sensational it is, but if we venture further than that, I’m going to be in this thing way over my head. It’s more important right now for me to hang on to my common sense, what little of it I might have.

  I pull away from him, resting my hand on his chest. “Now might be a good time for you to go.”

  He inhales a deep breath. “Yes, of course.” He runs a hand through his hair. “Definitely.”

  He puts his glasses back on. God, he’s like a cross between this mysterious, hot, admired, talented guy, and this super cute, nerdy piece of heaven.

  He taps at his phone, and I grab it and toss it onto the futon. I pull him back down to me by the shirt and we get started again, but this time our moves are coming faster…not in the racecar way, but in this like locked-in passion, cheesy romance movie kind of way…except it’s not cheesy, it’s hot as hell, and I start to wrap my leg around him, but then jerk away.

  I can’t look at him right now because I’m so freaking turned on. I mean, I’ve kissed a few guys, but nothing has ever felt like this my whole life. It’s like anyone else was warm-up practice for this.

  I point at his phone. “Is the Uber on its way?”

  “No, I didn’t hit the thing yet.”

  I put my hand against my racing chest. “Oh, thank god.” I cover my eyes. “Okay…just…don’t leave yet, okay?”

  “Okay,” he says, that low voice of his causing my belly to seize and warm and freak completely out.

  I stand up and pace. “But we can hang out. Just hang. Friends.”

  He narrows his gaze. “I think friends went out the window a minute ago.”

  I backhand him in the chest. “Friends kiss all the time. I’ve kissed a million of my friends.”

  He lifts an eyebrow. “Like that?”

  I shake my head, knocking loose some of the cobwebs up there. I point to the futon. “Let’s just talk. You can sit on that side, and I can sit on this side.”

  Miles sits at an end, and I sit at the opposite end. I pull my knees in to my chest, which is thumping away like the speaker at The Glass Vortex.

  My phone dings, and I grab it from the end table. I toss it back down.

  “Who was it?” he asks.

  “Shane,” I say.

  He frowns.

  “I’ll talk to him tomorrow.”

  “Do you talk to him every day? Like on the weekends, too?”

  “No, not usually. I just see him at school, mainly.”

  He deepens his frown.

  I nudge him in the leg with my socked foot. “Don’t give me that look. He’s my friend.”

  “He was a dick to you tonight,” he says.

  “His friends were. He feels terrible about it—see?”

  I shove my phone at him, and he harrumphs.

  I tilt my head to the side. “So what is it with the two of you, anyway?”

  “What do you mean?”

  I poke him again. “Don’t play dumbass with me. The two of you grow about six inches when you’re around each other, chests all puffed out, chins lifted.” I attempt an imitation that makes him chuckle.

  He shrugs. “We’ve been in competition with each other since freshman year. Most of the time, when we’re in the same class or the same activity, it usually comes down to me versus him. We had to work together last year on the rock opera, and we were both interested in the same girl.”

  I rub my hands together. “Ah, now we’re getting down to it. By any chance, was this the fish tacos girl?”

  He chuckles. “That’s the one.”

  “Who is she? She’s not in our Music class, is she?”

  He shakes his head. “No, she’s gone. She moved to Indianapolis over the summer.”

  “Is th
at what broke the two of you up?” I ask.

  “Nah. We were done way before she left. She and I were just on different pages.”

  “So did she ever date Shane?”

  “Not that I know of.” He narrows his gaze at his knee. “I can’t imagine he’s ever had a dude like me win a girl over him. I think it really pissed him off.”

  I roll my eyes. “Well, that explains why he’s using me to pay you back.”

  Miles furrows his brow.

  “Don’t you see?” I say. “He’s not into me, not as anything more than a friend. He’s into beating you.”

  He tilts his head back and forth as if he’s considering it. Then he pulls his knee up on the futon, settling in. “What’s my competition like there?”

  I smile but don’t answer. I’ve got to hold some cards close to my chest.

  “So what’s up with you and Jasmine?” I ask.

  “Nothing,” he says. “Why would you think that?”

  I put my elbow on the back of the futon and rest my head in it. “I don’t know. The two of you seem to work together…like you’re the mom and dad of this little group.”

  That makes him laugh. “Jasmine and me?”

  “You two have a special connection,” I say. “It’s obvious.”

  He shrugs. “I guess we just know we can count on each other.”

  I nod. “That’s cool. So I’ll make you a deal. You don’t give me shit about Shane, and I won’t give you shit about Jasmine.” I hold out a hand to him. “Deal?”

  He considers it and then takes my hand. “Deal.”

  After we shake, he doesn’t let go, and I don’t mind.

  “So are you going to tell me what was up with Greta tonight?” he asks.

  I squint, looking at the ceiling. “I get the feeling that will be revealed to all sooner rather than later.”

  “Understood.”

  He rubs his thumb across my hand, making me feel comfortable and safe. I rest my head on the back of the futon. “Tell me something I don’t know about you, Miles Cleveland.”

  He mimics my position, resting his head on the cushion, too. “I’m having a good night.”

  I flash a lazy smile, my body giving in to the coziness of him. “Me, too.”

  We stare at each other, our eyes both getting heavy. He pulls my feet into his lap and rubs my leg with his free hand. I let his touch relax me even further, until the room goes completely dark.