Page 56 of The Pact

13.

Confessions

Ausra

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“IT’S BEEN NICE TO CATCH up, McKayla. I’m sure I’ll see you around but my coach has just texted that he wants to talk about our next race in six weeks. So I have to go soon.” Bode takes everyone’s paper plates and disposes of them despite our protests that he doesn’t need to help us clean up.

He chuckles when I tell him not to make his coach wait. “Ha, Holden will be fine for five more minutes. I grew up with a military officer as a father and my mom is actually even scarier than Dad. ‘In the army it’s all about clean up’ is her motto. So I couldn’t go without doing my part.”

As soon as he disposes of the plates, he transfers the leftover pizza into some foil. “I’ll take out the trash for you and the pizza box,” he informs us.

“Ooooo!” Skye wails as she sees the pizza, stretching her little arms toward the food Bode is packing away.

Bode and Mc laugh while I try to comfort my niece. “I know, baby. Soon you’ll get pizza too. Three more months and we’ll try you on all the yummy foods. For now it’s too soon.”

Skye has been literally drooling as she watched us eat pizza and was fussier than normal with her bottle. Not even a pot of fruit medley, her current favorite, was enough to appease her.

“All right, I’m off. I’ll call you later, pretty girl.”

I follow Bode to the door and I’m surprised when he lowers his head to give me a brief but definitely not chaste kiss.

My heart is still beating faster than it was a second ago when I close the door behind him and turn to face McKayla.

“Hmm, I didn’t know Bode and the rest of your boyfriends that well at school. But for what I can see so far, I don’t blame you for being into them. The guy has some manners for sure, aside from being even hotter than I remembered him.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” I correct her.

She laughs. “Right. Well, humor me sis, but when I stepped into this room, you were all flushed, your lips were swollen like someone who’s been kissed for a prolonged period of time and the room smelled like sex. So whatever you were doing—”

“You know about the game I agreed to. That’s what we were doing. I’m pretty sure he’s texting the others right now to tell them what we did.”

Mc shakes her head. “Sure. If that’s what you guys are calling it.”

I react immediately. “That’s precisely what it is. We’re fuck buddies. Even if we haven’t exactly been ‘fucking’ yet.”

Mc has that same look she used to give me when we were little and she wouldn’t believe that I hadn’t touched her dolls. “Sure. He kissed you goodbye. That isn’t a fuck-buddy departure, trust me.”

I fold my arms over my chest in a stubborn stance, refusing to acknowledge the flicker of hope in my heart that Mc might be right. “Whatever. But if we’re talking about kissing our dates, what do you have to say about yours? If you kissed him, the date must’ve been good.”

McKayla shrugs. “It wasn’t bad. I’ll see him again. But we aren’t talking about my sex life, we’re talking about yours. So what were you doing with Bode if you weren’t fucking? He must be a very patient boyfriend.”

I don’t feel like telling her about what we were doing when she came home.

“Talking about, boyfriends. I bumped into Johnny earlier,” I say, dropping the bomb I’ve been holding onto this entire time.

There’s a flash of emotion in my sister’s eyes but it’s fleeting. She tries to look unaffected by my revelation but I know her too well. There’s something she isn’t telling me and I intend to get to the bottom of it.

She goes for an easy question. “Is he here on leave?”

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