“I was thinking of avoiding you. Staying as far away as possible.”
“If you can do that, please do. I don’t want to hurt you if I don’t have to.”
She rolled her eyes. “You do realize how fucked up this is, right?”
“I know. I wish we didn’t have to put on this charade, but we have no other choice. Unless you’ve got some bright ideas.”
She groaned. “I wish I did. Kill your parents? Run away together?”
“Now that could be an idea.”
“Killing your parents?” she asked, jokingly.
“No, running away together. We could do that.” He looked at her, seeming serious.
“I was joking.”
“I’m not.”
“Drake, you’ve said so yourself, you can’t just run away and leave. It’s not the way it works.” She cupped his cheek and quickly withdrew. There was no way either of them could get used to touching the other.
“I can already see the change inside you. I don’t want what I know is going to happen.” He pulled her close and kissed her again.
She let out a moan as he claimed her lips. It was addictive. They couldn’t stay locked in the janitor’s closet all day. At some point, the janitor would return, and people were waiting for him.
Sean would also be waiting for her, but she wasn’t going to remind Drake of that.
“After school,” he said. “I’ll come by your place.”
“I don’t know if that’s going to be possible.”
“Tell fuckface to piss off.”
“Drake, come on, don’t be like that.”
“I told you, I can’t stand Sean. You think what we’re going to be doing is fake, you should see him.”
“I really don’t want to argue with you.”
“Then don’t. It’s pretty fucking easy, really. All you’ve got to do is see me after school. You know you want to. I’m so pretty to look at. I’ll make it worth your while.”
“Now I’m curious. How?”
“I can make up for whatever shit is about to go down.”
“Tempting.”
“And true.”
“Ugh, this is … fine, I will blow off Sean if that’s what you need me to do.”
Drake grabbed her face and kissed her hard and passionately. “You won’t regret it, baby.”
“I hope not. What about your parents?”
“They don’t care. They’re only back in town because commitments say they have to be. I better go out first. I’ll slap the door if it’s clear. If not, stay inside.” Drake kissed her again and left the closet.
She couldn’t believe he dragged her in here. With hands on her hips, she waited, and then he slapped the door.
She opened the door and stepped out. Just as they were about to go in separate directions, his three friends arrived. Her stomach twisted and pulled. Marco was the first one to whistle.
“What’s going on, Drake? You ran into Fatty already. Wow, you don’t know how to leave well enough alone.”
She looked down at the floor and quickly rushed off.
Drake grabbed her. It wasn’t tight, but to anyone looking, it wouldn’t seem all that nice either.
“What? You think I’m stuck to her? Please, you’re lucky I made it out alive by passing her.”
Okay, that one hurt.
“Get off me,” she said.
Drake let her go and she chanced a look at him. He suddenly grabbed her and pulled her close. “Hit me or something. Call me an asshole and leave.” He whispered the words against her ear but she refused to use violence.
Pulling away from him, she glared. “You’re an asshole.” She shoved him, and not hard either. Hurting him was the last thing she wanted to do. This was going to be a lot harder than she anticipated.
Rushing away from him, she walked toward her class just as Sean was coming around the corner. “Hey, Pru, I was wondering where you were. I waited near your locker but you never turned up,” he said, grabbing her arms.
She glanced behind her and saw Drake with his friends. The smirk she associated with her bully was back in full force. He glanced her way and it was just a subtle change, but it was there nonetheless. He didn’t like her being with Sean.
“What’s his problem?” Sean asked.
“It’s nothing.” Turning back to her friend, she tried to get the niggling doubt out of her mind. It was next to impossible to do because Sean had been with her since day one in this town. He’d stood by her side.
Should she trust Drake, her bully, when this guy in front of her didn’t give a shit about her social standing or anything? He liked her. They did movie marathons together, studied, listened to music. He was her best friend in the entire world. There was no one else she wanted to be around more than him.
“That doesn’t look like nothing. Drake’s glaring at me. What did I do to piss him off?” Sean asked.
She saw the tension mounting in Sean and she didn’t like it. Grabbing his arm, she laughed. “What’s gotten into you? Why are you all macho all of a sudden?”