Page 43 of White Hole

Mason’s jaw was wide open. “Uh, well, I—”

“She’s coming with me,” I said with my mouth full. Like a pirate guarding his booty, I gripped her waist tighter with my arm. Staring straight ahead, my body radiated back off energy.

“I think she’s going with Big G, Mason.” Levi laughed. Xavier and his girlfriend joined in.

“Yeah, not a problem. No problem at all. You take her.” Mason didn’t move an inch.

“Are youaskingme?” Kinsley finally perked up, twisting her torso to look at me.

“No,” I said, then took a bite of my steak.

She gasped. “Fine, then I’m going with Mason.”

“No, no, no. You should go with Big G. I gotta run to my next class.” Mason grabbed his stuff and bolted. Levi laughed harder.

Kinsley placed her face close to mine so only I could hear her. “George, I’m not going just because you tell me I am.”

“Kinsley?”

“Yeah?”

“Darling? Sweetheart? Apple of my eye?”

“What is it, George?”

“Will you do me the honor of accompanying me to the Halloween party?”

Her pert little pink lips spread into a broad smile. “Yes, George, I will.” Then she paused a moment and furrowed her brow. “Hey, what’s your last name?”

I took my time to chew my food and swallow before responding. Did she really not know who I was? “I thought you knew.”

“No.” Her cheeks flushed to match the color of her lips. Quietly, she said, “I’ve never slept with someone I didn’t know their full name.”

“That embarrasses you?”

“A little.”

“Come on. You know my name,” I said.

“Big G? George? What is it? A huge secret?”

“It’s Turner.” I waited for her to throw a fit, to show some recognition, or slap me. Something, anything.

Instead, she said, “Oh.” She shrugged. “Why was that so hard for you to say? It’s quite a common name. Many people have the name Turner. I think I knew at least three people or more in elementary school alone with the name. Cousins, I presume?”

“Sins, we need to go to tutoring.” In a lower voice with my lips on her earlobe, I said, “And, obviously, you need my dick in your mouth to shut the fuck up.”

It seemed she had not put the two together, whose son I was. Her reaction was enough for me to know that she wasn’t trying to trick me. Kinsley wasn’t good at hiding anything she was thinking or feeling. I just hoped she didn’t figure it out.

When we got to the library, I twisted her around by the shoulders before she could sit. Her face was a mixture of anger and shock when I did.

“What are you doing?”

“Let’s get something straight between us. No more pranks. Give me my notebook. Now.”

“George, you ripped my leggings to shreds. I had to run amarathonwith my ass crack exposed to everyone!”

I tried not to laugh. “Yeah. But that wasn’t taking your whole future away. Everything is in that notebook.”

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