by A. J. Moran
“Yeah. I hope it’s true for me too.” Marcus nodded in agreement, his gaze falling on me.
Wade snorted out a laugh, his mouth full of apples. I rolled my eyes. He needed to drop the act. Mario didn’t need to believe that he liked me. Not that he told Mario it was about me. But Mario was a smart man; he knew what Marcus was hinting at.
Their conversation continued, and I continued to ignore anything that he said. Finally, Mario said his goodbyes after finishing up the dishes from making the pie, which I would so be eating all of later. Pumpkin pie was my favorite.
Silence filled the kitchen when he left. But I would not break first. This was my kitchen first. I would not leave it and admit defeat. It seemed Marcus felt the same and Wade was probably just hanging around to watch the fireworks.
“What are you doing?” I questioned him again. “What game are you playing? I thought we were okay after our talk at lunch.”
“Who says it’s a game?” He chuckled and tossed the apple in the air before catching it and taking another bite.
“Me. I say it’s a game. So what is this about?”
"Okay, Princess." He gave me an non-answer and started to leave the kitchen. Wade watched us both a full grin on his face.
“Oh no you don’t. You don’t get to walk away from this.” I followed him from the room and invaded his personal space. “What do you want from me? You wanted nothing to do with me at the dance, except to insult me, only to apologize later for it all. Now this?” I felt like a yo-yo. It was exhausting.
“I’m trying to break the cycle.”
“No, you are acting like a damn Katy Perry song.” I throw up my hands in frustration and pace away from him.
“She has a point, Marc,” Wade appears in the doorway to the kitchen. He leans against it watching us. “You can’t make up your mind.”
“Stay out of this, Wade.” He growls, holding up a hand like a stop sign. In a softer voice, he says to me, “Aren’t you tired of it?”
With a sigh I pull my hand through my hair. “Of course I’m tired of it. But you can’t stand there and act like you’ve discovered some crush for me to Mario when I know that you haven’t. It is crazy.” Stopping short I find myself back in his space again. Like a magnet drawn to him. Maybe I was the crazy one.
“What if it was true,” Marcus whispered and I wasn’t sure I heard him correctly. The buzz in my veins filling my ears, like a bee flying to close.
The knock on the door sent a flurry of panic through my chest and I turned to go answer it. Instead, Marcus had side stepped me and was at the door before I made it halfway. This was not how I wanted to tell my friends. The open door revealed Vee, Quentin, and Samantha. Derrick was missing.
“What are you doing here?” Vee asked, brow drawn together at Marcus.
Marcus looked back at me with an eyebrow raised in challenge. "He is actually one of the things I wanted to talk to you about," I told her.
“Oh my god! It is true!” Samantha’s gaze had caught on Marcus and she pushed her way past him stopping in front of me, her gaze flying between us. He met my stare over her head before moving slightly behind me.
"No!" I burst out at the same time Marcus replied with a "Yes."
I glared at him as his arm dropped around my shoulders. He pulled me into his arms in what appeared to be a hug, and I could smell his unique lime smell. He patted my back soothingly.
"What other explanation would there be for him being in your house?" Vee questioned. Quentin surprisingly stayed quiet through the whole exchange.
"It's okay Princess, you can tell them. I know how hard it has been keeping this secret." I gaped at him as he pulled back and put his arm around me pulling me close to his side. He was really going to do this. "Oh, well I can tell them if you can't find the words." He told me. Rolling my eyes at him I cross my arms over my chest and raise an eyebrow at him in challenge. Still, I couldn't say anything. "We are together."
“No, we are not.” I ground out the words finally finding my missing voice.
"The whole school already knows. Why don't you want your friends to know?" He sounded hurt. Just then Wade came out of the kitchen a cookie now in his hand. He assessed the situation quickly, and it was apparent he decided to play along with his brother.
"Oh hey." Wade waved at the trio. "This is surprising, isn't it? I know I couldn't believe it either when they told me a little bit ago." I turned my glare on him.
“I knew something was going on with you Tay. You could have talked to me about it. No judgment from me.” Vee said. Her words hurt. She attempted a smile.
“Is that why you rushed away from that log at that party a few weeks ago?” Quentin questioned me. “Is that when it started?”
Again Marcus and I spoke at the same time, “No.” “Yes.”
“Look we get it. You don’t have to pretend anymore. Isn’t that why you wanted us to come over?” Vee told me.
They were so understanding I wished that it were the truth. Then I had the thought if I were going to make it believable at school it would probably be better if my friends believed it too. Don’t ask me why I want to make it believable at school because I really didn’t know myself. I just wanted to make him pay for this lie. He was not going to get away with this. I relaxed into Marcus like I was relieved that they knew now, that they were accepting it.
"You could have just told me when I asked," Samantha said. Her arms crossed.
"I know how you feel. I asked my brother a few times too." Wade told her with a smile, and Samantha straightened up and uncrossed her arms. She returned his smile like she realized that me being with Marcus had some perks. One being, Wade would be around more. I held in my snort.
“Well now that it’s out in the open—“ Marcus started and dropped a kiss to my forehead. “—Maybe we could all go out and get some food.”
Chapter 29
Marcus
As soon as the door closed behind us with her friends securely on the other side and Wade disappearing up the stairs she turned on me with a growl. “What was that all about?” She pointed at the closed door. Her anger was adorable. I’m sure that wasn’t what she was going for.
“Oh, it isn’t clear?” About as clear as mud, since I’m not even sure what possessed me to do something so stupid. Who in their right mind would try to keep someone close to them when they definitely don’t want anything to do with them? The obvious answer would be me, since I dived head first into a fake relationship with her just to be close to her.
“It is not clear Marcus and you know it.” She poked me in the chest and I rubbed the spot absently. “What do you want from all of this?”
“We both know you could have told them the truth. Which means for some reason you don’t want to tell them the truth. So you are stuck with this fake relationship until you break it off. I want everyone to know who you really are Taylor. I want everyone to see you the way I do.”
Whoa, what was I doing? Abort. Shit. Backtrack right now, I commanded my mouth yet it stayed firmly shut as I watched her reaction form in her eyes like an oncoming storm.
“Really?” It wasn’t a question. She went up on her tiptoes and invaded my personal space with a fake smile on her face. Her eyes spitting fire. “Well, we will see who breaks first. Game on.” Then she backed up slowly keeping me trapped in her gaze. I couldn’t tell her that what I said was all a lie. I didn’t really want to hurt her. I was just a stupid guy with a crush for the first time in his life and I obviously didn’t know how to deal with it.
I watched her until she was out of sight before my shoulders slumped. I had no choice but to follow through with this game. Pride wouldn’t let me do anything else. This was probably the biggest mess I had ever started for myself in my life. Practice must have knocked out some of my brain cells or something when I was hit by Adam a little too hard.
Chapter 30
Taylor
Just as I closed my locker the next morning I felt the weight of an arm come ar
ound me. “Good morning Princess,” Marcus murmured into my hair. His voice sounded like he hadn’t used it yet that morning, which was more than possible since he still hadn’t been out of his room when I left for school. I felt myself stiffen for a brief moment before I relaxed against him. I guess we were really playing this game.
Last night had been a challenge not elbowing him when his hand wandered up and down my back only to end up resting on my ass. Pretending I was happy my friends now knew the secret when they really didn’t was the worst. They would understand. I hoped. I had only allowed a bigger lie to be told. I stood there and just let it happen. If they didn’t forgive me I would understand.
I probably wouldn’t forgive me.
If I was going to possibly lose all my friends over this lie I was going to make it believable, I turned up the brightness of my smile and met the challenge echoed in his eyes. “Morning baby,” I went up on my tippy toes and pressed my lips to his, I sensed more than felt him go stiff. I flexed my fingers into his chest to encourage him to respond.
His clear discomfort brought a true smile to my lips that were still pressed against his unmoving ones. Guess he didn’t think I would really play this game. That I would crack the second he showed up at school.
Suddenly he pulled me closer to him and pressed me back into my locker deepening the kiss. My lips parted on instinct and his tongue dipped into my mouth to taste me. A surprised gasp left my throat at his motions. I could taste the mint on his tongue and I wanted more.
My eyes dropped closed and I melted into him. I was no longer acting. His lips moved expertly across mine. He nipped at my lower lip before soothing it with his tongue. His hand tangled in my hair and my arms went around his neck. I forgot that everyone in the hallway was probably watching us. I even forgot we were even at school. But I didn’t forget whom I was kissing. And boy could he kiss.
I was absorbed in the taste of him. The feeling of him surrounded me. His hands ran down my back before coming back up to guide my head the way he wanted it. The warmth of his lips trailed down my neck and another soft exhale left my lips when he used his teeth to graze my collarbone before making his way back up to my waiting lips. He pressed his body into mine and kissed me fully again. I clung to him, my knees weak as he worked his magic on me. When he pulled away my disappointed sigh was very real.
But his smirk pulled me back to reality and the game we were playing with each other. “See you in Chemistry.” He brushed a hand down my jawline, mirroring his actions from the party where we had first kissed.
Then he left me staring after him like an idiot. I felt light headed and slightly weak in the knees. It was then I heard the catcalls and became aware of the stares. My face flushed with heat and I couldn’t bring myself to meet anyone’s eyes. What was wrong with me? Kissing in the hallways in school was tacky. And I had almost done more than just kissing, in front of everyone. PDA’s ugh!
The worst of it was that I knew he had something else up his sleeve, I just hadn’t figured out what it was yet. Or maybe he was just amusing himself. The flip of my stomach at the thought concerned me.
“So it’s true then?” Derrick asked. His hands were in his pockets and he looked like he hadn’t slept. “You know, you could have told me, I would have understood. You didn’t have to cheat on me.” His words were like a cold shower to my still raging emotions. I reached out to him automatically.
“Derrick, no, it’s not like that.” His arm was tense under my fingers and he shook my touch off.
“That isn’t what the whole school is saying and you can’t pretend like that kiss didn’t just happen.” He ran his hand through his messy hair. I hated hurting him but there was no going back now. “You were oblivious to the rest of the school watching. For someone that isn’t big on PDA’s you were really into it.”
“I promise you that this just started.” A pang of guilt hit me after I voiced those words they weren’t completely true. Although he was right, PDA’s were not my thing. Not normally.
“Look it’s fine. Not like it matters now anyways. I just wanted to tell you that you could have just told me.” He sighed and it was almost as if he was deflating like a sinking balloon. I blinked back my tears when the bell rang. It ended our conversation and I made my way to my first hour in a daze.
Chapter 31
Marcus
My lips tingle from our kiss and I felt my heart pounding in my chest. I had forgotten it was all a game. The moment her mouth touched me I crumbled. I caved. It was like she was the air I needed. I had breathed her in and pulled her close. Leaving her standing in the hallway had sucked the breath from me just the same. If it were real nothing would have pulled me away. Avoiding kissing her would be mandatory if I was going to survive this game I started.
“Hey Marcus!” Wade called from behind me. He jogged up and hit me in the shoulder.
“Hey, sorry I left you.” I apologized, my thoughts still on Taylor.
“What are you doing with Taylor?” He asked, ignoring my apology.
“What do you mean?”
“What do I mean?” He laughed and looked at me like I had grown another head. “Dude you are messing with her. I thought it was funny last night, but are you really going to continue doing it?”
“Why do you care?” I felt the stupid jealousy I kept feeling when it came to him and Taylor rear its ugly head. “You had your shot.”
“I had my shot?” He replied slowly, his voice confused. “You know I don’t like her like that. I’ve told you that. But that doesn’t mean you can play with her. Home life will be a mess if you break her heart.”
“If I break her heart? Oh you mean she has one?” I snarked defensively, like the jackass I was being. I clearly knew she had a heart, I was trying to win it in this stupid game I started. I don’t even know what I was thinking.
“Cut it out. We both know you wanted to make things right with her, and this isn’t the way to do it.” He pushed me back, the locker clanging loudly behind me. The stares we got had me walking away from him. He was right and I was being too emotional right now. I couldn’t get into it with Wade at school. Mom would kill me when she got home. This wasn’t the way to do it, I just couldn’t stop myself.
◆◆◆
I fell into the seat next to Taylor in Chemistry with a smile already on my face as I turned towards her. She looked a little sad and a tinge of guilt ran through me. Wade was right. That isn’t something that I would ever admit to. If I could just gather my courage about me and just stop it all- then what, I would get what I wanted? Taylor would have a change of heart and decide she really wanted to be my girlfriend?
“What’s wrong?” I leaned over towards her breathing in the scent of strawberries that always lingered on her.
Taylor arched a brow at me and lifted a corner of her mouth, “What do you mean?”
“You just seem sad.”
A short laugh burst from her and she leaned into my space, “I just missed you so much since this morning.” She purred the words and I had to mentally keep my mouth shut. She didn’t mean it. She is just deflecting.
“What did you miss?” I leaned forward and closed the distance between us. Damn. Four hours and I forgot my promise to myself to not kiss her. She gasped as my lips brushed hers. Before I could deepen the kiss the teacher cleared his throat from the front of the room and she sprang away from me like she had been burned.
“Mr. Frost, Ms. Hale, I may teach Chemistry but it is not that sort of Chemistry. Please keep your hands to yourselves while in my class and your hormones under control.” The teacher said addressing us. Taylor turned a new shade of red and grumbled something about PDA under her breath before ignoring me for the rest of the period.
Chapter 32
Taylor
My conversation with Derrick followed me through the day and by the time I made it to the end of the day I was ready to call it all off. Admit the truth. Swallow my pride. Apologize to each of my friends, all of that and mor
e. Hurting any of my friends didn’t make sense and I knew Derrick wouldn’t be the only casualty. I was playing with fire.
Closing my locker door I decided to meet Marcus near his truck when he came out of practice. I had about 2 hours to think about what to say to him. Making my way through the still gossiping hallways I knew tomorrow would only be worse. The rest of my high school career of flying just under the radar and not being part of the gossip ended when I mixed my name with the Frost brothers.
Once making it to his truck I climbed into the bed of his truck and watched the football team on the field in front of me. I gave up on trying to read my book and instead pulled my knees up and rested my head on my arms and watched them practice. In their practice uniforms I couldn’t pick out any of them. They all looked the same. When they pulled off their helmets I could finally pick them out and I watched as they all made it back to the locker room.
It wouldn’t be long now and I’d be free from this stupid lie. It made me feel lighter. No matter how big of a bitch I knew I could be a liar wasn’t something I normally was. It put a bad taste in my mouth.
I saw Marcus walking towards his truck, only he wasn’t alone. It seemed half the team was with him. How was I supposed to do this now? It would be around school before tomorrow morning. I would be a pariah of the school. With Marcus’s popularity I knew it would all fall onto me. The worst part is that my friends might not hear it from me first.
“Lookie who is waiting for you Marc.” One of the guys said, as they got closer to the truck. It was then that the teasing started in earnest. I couldn’t catch it all and I tried to plaster a smile onto my face. Pretend. I could pretend until we made it home. It wasn’t that long and I should have done that in the first place. I don’t know what I was thinking.