Forbidden (Perfect for them Book 1)

by Melissa Adams

  “Mom, I don’t understand what the fu— I mean, what in the world is going on. When he asked me to be his girlfriend, I said no.”

  Mom looks skeptical. “Are you sure that you were clear? The guy looks totally smitten with you and Jackie made no mystery that she approves.”

  I sit on the bed, shaking my head with frustration. “Mom, I swear that I said no. I told him that I wasn’t ready for a boyfriend and I didn’t want a long distance relationship. What else could I have said, other than that I really didn’t feel attracted to him? And I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.”

  Mom sighs. “And you’ve definitely made up your mind that Marc isn’t the guy you want?”

  I’m starting to get frustrated. “Yes, I’m absolutely positive and I told him without any possibility of misunderstanding that I just wanted to be friends.”

  Mom seems uncomfortable and when she finally tells me why, I wish I hadn’t asked her.

  “I’m sorry, Kaya. I think I kind of messed up. When I saw how excited Jackie and Marc were about you guys being a couple ... I might’ve invited them to our Fourth of July party. It was meant to be a surprise but Dustin had a brand new luxury yacht built and he wanted to launch it on the fourth and have a party. We’d stop across the bay and watch the fireworks from there, away from all the artificial lights. Regardless, I invited Marc as your date and when his mother looked so excited, I invited them all.”

  I look at her with my mouth agape. “Mom! How could you invite someone as my date? I’m not five anymore! You can’t do that kind of thing!”

  She looks sorry at first but then irritation starts seeping into her tone. “Look, how was I supposed to know that you’d changed your mind about Marc? After all, you two had a relationship for the whole winter, I thought you were serious. Damn, Marc thinks that you’re serious. This is going to be so embarrassing now that his parents are involved. You shouldn’t have led him on, Kaya.”

  Her tone really rubs me the wrong way and I react by raising my voice. “But I fucking haven’t led him on! I said no. NO! Clearly, without any possibility of interpreting my words in any other way but that I didn’t want to be his fucking girlfriend! He’s obviously not taking no for an answer, which is annoying enough but I didn’t need you to start meddling and making it even worse!”

  Mom’s eyes widen in surprise and I immediately feel guilty: I’ve never spoken to her like this. I apologize, feeling like shit when I see the disappointment in her eyes.

  “I’m sorry, Mom. I feel really bad about changing my mind. I thought that I liked Marc that way but when I saw him again, after a whole year, something changed. I thought I wanted to be his girlfriend but when we began hanging out, I realized that it wasn’t going to work and I told him immediately.”

  She still looks hesitant to believe me. “Is there someone else?”

  I’m about to reply that it’s none of her business but I bite my tongue. I say no but the reality is of course way more complicated than that.

  I certainly can’t tell her that there’s my two stepbrothers who hate me but I can’t forget about and their two best friends who are incredibly attractive and who seem to like me back. I can’t tell her that I’m confused because I’m trying hard not to fall for Bryce, especially when he doesn’t want to be more than friends right now. But also because I’ve started to feel attracted to Parker. There’s something in him that draws me in. His quiet kindnesses reminds me of Reid, when he still acknowledged my existence.

  I don’t tell her any of it because the twins hate me and it’s really early days to know if there’s something to tell about their two best friends.

  Kaya

  SO, THIS IS THE THING with Parker: he’s the quietest in his group of friends, especially when there’s a lot of other people around. I don’t think it’s due to insecurity, it’s more that he likes to observe his surroundings before he gets involved in any situation.

  The first few days he got here, I barely heard him say a word but since we went to buy booze for the party the guys threw, he doesn’t seem to have a problem talking to me.

  We decide to drive to the State fair together and during the ride to downtown Star Cove, I fill Parker in about the latest developments in the situation with Marc.

  “Dude, what a fucking loser!” He says shaking his head. “Does he really think that he can force you to date him by ignoring your feelings and getting your families involved?”

  I sigh and nod. “Apparently so. He’s either in denial or he doesn’t care about what I want. The thing that annoys me the most is that my mom almost implied that I was leading him on. I really felt bad about hurting him, so I tried to let him down as gently as I could, but now he’s starting to piss me off.”

  Parker seems to consider my words for a moment and then he winks at me. “Don’t worry, K. I spoke to Bryce and he’s on board with making sure that there’s at least always one of us around whenever you see him. Not that you need our help, but this is what friends do, right? Plus the guy’s a real douche and helping him realize that he can’t have you will be just fun.”

  We decide to park in the Hudson Marina lot, since it’s just a couple of blocks away from the boardwalk where the Fair is situated.

  As Parker locks his Jeep and we begin to walk down, my phone pings with a text message from Marc.

  “He’s waiting for us at the entrance,” I say with an eye roll, already regretting the decision to even come here in the first place.

  I immediately spot Marc in a beige polo and purple tartan shorts that would look more appropriate on a golf course than at a fairground. I have to stifle a giggle at Parker’s expression when he sees Marc’s choice of outfit. I guess I’d never noticed how formal Marc dressed until I started hanging around the guys a little more.

  Parker and Bryce, and even the twins, when they’re not working, have a more relaxed style. They look like super hot surfers but it’s not just their choice of clothes or their tattoos that make them so alluring, it’s the aura of confidence they all exude.

  They look confident where Marc looks stiff and arrogant and gives the impression of trying way too hard.

  “What is he doing here?” He asks without trying to hide the annoyance on his face as soon as he spots Parker. “Did you get a job at one of the stands or something?”

  I really don’t like the way he says it, as if having a job somehow makes someone automatically beneath us.

  The guys are right that he’s a douche, I can’t believe it took me this long to notice.

  Fortunately Parker keeps his cool and wraps one arm around my shoulder, clapping Marc’s with his other hand. “No, I just wanted to check out the famous Star Cove State Fair and Kaya was kind enough to invite me.”

  I’d never understood the expression ‘sour as if he just ate a lemon’ until I see the look on Marc’s face.

  “Aww, I’m sorry dude! Looks like you’re out of luck. The tickets for the fair sold out weeks ago, so—”

  Parker’s smile widens. “Thank you for your concern but Dustin always gets a few to gift to his employees and their families and he was more than happy to let me have one. Come on, who’s hungry? I hope they sell some of those giant smoked turkey legs.”

  Parker drags me through the entrance and as we get scanned and searched for forbidden items, I feel Marc’s gaze burning holes in my back.

  It’s a Friday afternoon and the fairground is really busy with families and lots of couples. This is one of the most popular events in the State with tourists and locals alike.

  As we’re in line to buy some turkey legs, Marc grabs my hand and pulls me to the side with a scowl on his face. “Seriously Kaya, why did you let that jerk crash our date? He’s glued to us like an out of date stamp!”

  So this was really a trap. If I had any doubts that he saw this like a date and lied about going as friends just to make me agree to it, he just confirmed my suspicions. I take my hand out of his grasp and wipe my now sweaty palm on my denim skirt before gl
aring at him.

  “I thought this wasn’t a date, Marc. You said we’d go as friends or you know I wouldn’t have agreed to come.”

  He dismisses me with a little arrogant smirk. “Yeah, sure. We’re here as friends, the point is that I just wanted to spend some time with you, without—”

  “Here we go! A turkey leg for everyone! You’re welcome, Marc.”

  Marc doesn’t thank Parker and walks ahead, saying that he wants to go shooting cans to win me a giant teddy bear.

  Parker and I look at each other, both perplexed by his attitude. “It seems that he’ll go ahead with the date he planned, even if he’s the only person on it.”

  I shake my head, wishing that I could be here with just Parker, I’m sure we’d have a lot more fun.

  We stand a few feet away from Marc while he shoots those tin cans or at least he tries to, because he keeps missing.

  I eat my turkey leg leaning against a wooden barrel arranged like a little table and shake my head when Marc keeps buying more turns, determined to win me something.

  “I’m an excellent marksman at my military academy, I don’t understand why I can’t hit anything today. This rifle must be rigged so people keep buying turns!” He complains and the guy manning the stand assures him that nothing is rigged but Marc keeps arguing, his face reddening with anger when the guy won’t admit any foul play.

  It’s starting to get embarrassing and people are starting to gather to see what the altercation is about, when Parker throws his turkey bone in a nearby trash can, wipes his hands on a paper napkin and then walks to the stand, taking the rifle out of Marc’s hands.

  “There’s only one way to tell. I’ll have a turn.”

  Marc’s face reddens even more, so much that I’m almost scared that he’ll end up passing out. “Right. You’ll see that this shit’s rigged,” he addresses the guy again, not looking at Parker.

  When Parker shoots down all the cans, Marc is literally purple, he almost matches the color of his tartan shorts.

  And he must be a really sore loser, because he grabs my hand again and drags me away while Parker is choosing a prize.

  “Let’s go do something else! I’m sure that asshole only gives decent rifles to one person in every ten.”

  I’m about to argue that Parker took the rifle from Marc, not from the guy but my savior catches up with us and he’s a real gentleman because he could rib Marc and embarrass him but he smiles and asks what’s next.

  I think we need to deflect the tension between the guys, or at least the tension that Marc seem to aim toward Parker, so I suggest going to see Nic at Joe’s fried pickles stand.

  “If you haven’t tried Star Cove’s famous fried pickles, you’re definitely missing out. Let’s go.”

  “Hey guys!” Nic looks really happy to see us but when she notices that I’m there with both Marc and Parker, she bugs her eyes out at me in a silent question. I shake my head to signify that this isn’t the time to explain: Nic has been working for the last two days and we haven’t had time to talk, so she doesn’t know anything about what happened with Marc.

  Or about my deal with Bryce. I’ve been dying to tell her everything, especially about what happened last night, but I’ve been holding out because this isn’t the type of thing one can say by text, right? ‘So, Bryce and I have decided to make out and we almost had sex last night. He made me come three times and I gave him a hand job.”

  Yeah, definitely not something one can express in a text message and obviously it’s way more complicated than that, because I’m worried about getting my heart broken if I start having feelings for Bryce. And there’s Parker too, I really like him and I don’t know if I just imagined the chemistry between us on the beach and he was just trying to teach me how to surf. He offered to come here with me today, to help me deliver the message to Marc that we’re just friends. But did he come here just as a friend, or does he somehow think that this is a date?

  Marc seems a little more relaxed around Nic and his mood improves tenfold when Nate joins us and Nic takes her break.

  “Hey guys,” she says. “In a minute there’s this awesome band playing a couple of songs. They’re the Star Cove Pirates. I used to go to high school with the lead singer and the drummer. They’re going to play at Coachella next year. We can go say hi backstage after they’re done playing. Come on!”

  We follow her by the pier and we’re soon engulfed in a huge crowd of people waiting for the music to start.

  I have Marc on one side and Parker on the other and Nic keeps giving me puzzled looks.

  The band is really awesome and everyone is rocking to their tunes, the crowd is swaying and jumping, moving almost like one single being.

  After a few songs, when the crowd has reached almost a sweaty, rock and roll fueled hysteria, Parker grabs my hand and drags me away.

  “Marc has gone to look for the restrooms, let’s go, this is the perfect time to lose him!”

  13.

  Hide and Seek

  Kaya

  WE WEAVE THROUGH THE crowd hand in hand and I find myself giggling at the idea of getting away from my unwanted date.

  We run all the way to the far end of the pier where a rickety wooden stair leads onto the beach and under the pier’s huge supporting pillars.

  We keep walking away from the noise of the concert and we stop by the low wall that marks the end of the boardwalk part of the marina with the piers and the shops, at the beginning of the resort establishments that includes the Dustin’s yacht club and the town’s public beach.

  This is a little strip of beach that has been left bare and I’ve heard that people come here to hookup. I blush when I think about it but I doubt that Parker knows that we’re sitting in Star Cove’s most notorious make out spot.

  We jump onto the waist-height wall and sit there in comfortable silence for a few minutes, observing the changing colors of the sky, as the sun is getting lower and lower on the horizon and prepares to set.

  Our thighs are touching and I’m hyper aware of Parker’s closeness, so all of a sudden, it seems important to fill the silence with something.

  “Hey Parker, I wanted to thank you for coming here with me today. Things were already super awkward but had it been just me and Marc, I don’t even wanna think how much worse this would’ve been.”

  “Yeah, that dude has no intention of leaving you alone, K. He has it really bad for you. But I’m sorry if I’m overstepping here, he really doesn’t seem your type. What made you want to go out with him the first time?”

  My type? I almost snort laughing when I think that if I do have a type it certainly leaves a lot to be desired. From mysterious guys who’d kiss me but not show their face, to stepbrothers who run hot and cold and I can’t stop obsessing about, I think I’m on a fucking roll.

  Kaya Pembroke selects another winner in the ‘worst kisser in the northern hemisphere who won’t take no for an answer’ contest.

  I don’t say any of that, I try to keep my self-deprecating sarcasm to myself and try to answer his question as truthfully as I can.

  “I don’t know, Parker. Honestly? I mean he’s kinda cute, isn’t he?”

  He shrugs. “I guess. In a ‘Mommy dressed me for an audition for the role of the rich douche in an 80s style teen movie’ kinda way. It’s not to be mean, K, but the guy is so fucking pretentious.”

  I nod, I see exactly what he means. “Yeah, I always thought that he was a little showy but last summer Nic got a boyfriend and I met Marc at a party. We started talking and he was so interesting to talk to, believe it or not. After that, he kept asking me to hang out and inviting me everywhere. I guess that with Nic having a summer job and going on dates, it was nice to have someone to hang with. I wasn’t jealous of Nic or anything, you know? But it was nice to have someone pay attention to me for a change. And at the beginning, I thought that Marc was either gay or he just liked me as a friend, because he never tried anything more than holding my hand once or twice. I was even surp
rised when he asked me if he could write to me and call me during the winter. I mean, it felt old fashioned and kinda romantic, you know? So I guess that I built things up in my head to the point where I made Marc into something he wasn’t. I wanted to like someone and be liked back for once.”

  I’ve never admitted this out loud before but I guess that was exactly why I got mixed up with Marc in first place: he was the opposite of Chase and Reid in every way, beginning from the fact that he liked me.

  Parker looks at me without saying anything for a long moment and his deep voice is low and soft when he speaks next.

  “What do you mean that you wanted someone to like you for once? You’re one of the prettiest girls I’ve ever seen. And you’re smart and funny and you make the best breakfast sandwiches ever. Who could ever be so crazy not to like you?”

  Your two best friends.

  I almost say it but I manage to rein it in and offer Parker a shrug.

  When he won’t avert his gorgeous grey eyes from me, I tell him that I had an unrequited crush for the longest time and then explain about mystery guy. “I don’t know, Parker. So far it’s been like a curse: whenever I like a guy, something goes wrong.”

  Parker doesn’t immediately reply, he seems to think about it for a bit but when he looks at me again, his grey eyes look almost like a transparent silver in the soft light of dusk.

  “I kinda know how you felt, Kaya. And I can see how someone like Marc could fit a type that would make your parents happy. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not judging you but I saw how important it is to you to have your mom’s approval. I’m the same way. I’ve been the same way my whole fucking life, you know? The difference between my mom and yours is that you want your mom’s approval because she cares about you and it’s out there for everyone to see. I want it in the hope that making her proud will make her pause for a second and get her to find a couple of hours to have lunch with me or at least ten minutes to call me. Hell, I’d take even a text message once a week. She’s always been too busy chasing the next rich husband to pay too much attention to me but since I turned eighteen and after I went off to college, it’s gotten worse. It’s like now that I’m no longer her responsibility, even financially since I got access to my trust fund at eighteen, she has totally forgotten that she even has a son. After all, she’s constantly having cosmetic surgery to look younger, so I guess that a twenty-one year old son, really cramps her style. This is why I’ve always dated the wrong girls, always going for girls that reminded me of her, you know? And it shouldn’t come as a surprise that eventually, I got my heart broken.”