Page 69 of The Facade

His voice was so low and husky that my insides swirled with heat and butterflies flapped uncontrollably in my stomach.

I wanted to continue that lesson more than I wanted anything else in the world right now.

And so when I gasped out a “Yes,” it was all I could do to draw in oxygen because I’d suddenly forgotten how to breathe.

Forgotten how to do everything besides stand there and wait for him to teach me everything he knew about kissing—which I hoped would take averylong time.

Multiple lessons, if I was lucky enough.

He dipped his head closer, and I could almost feel the sizzle of electricity sparking in the millimeters of space between our lips. But before he could close the distance between our lips completely and give me what I craved so badly, the door behind us creaked open and Nash stepped out.

Of course. Nash would be the one to make sure I missed this once-in-a-lifetime chance to kiss Mack.

“What’s going on here?” Nash asked, his eyes wide with shock. “Were you—” He gripped Mack’s shoulder and yanked him away from me. “Were you about to kiss my sister?”

“No, Mack was just…” My mind scrambled as I tried to come up with an excuse for why Mack was basically pressing me into the wall. “I was scared, and um, he was just teaching me some techniques for dealing with my fears.”

“As in, he was kissing your fears away?” Nash shook his head, clearly not believing it. Then looking at Mack, he said, “Do you have a thing for my sister? Do you two actually have a secret fling going on?”

Did everyone at school believe those rumors Ben had talked about?

“We don’t have a secret relationship.” Mack shook his head and stepped away, holding his hands in front of him. “I was just, well…” He scratched his head. “I was just teaching her something. It’s hard to explain.”

“I bet.” Nash folded his arms across his chest, looking more intimidating than usual with his white Phantom mask and black cape.

“Anyway,” Mack said, looking as uncomfortable as I felt. “I was actually planning to head home since I’ve already seen the movie. So I’ll see you two later.”

My chest fell at the thought of him leaving without giving me that kiss. But I knew there was no hope of getting the moment back after Nash’s interruption, so I said, “Drive safe, Mack. We’ll see you later.”

“Have a good night,” Mack said. Then seeming to remember he still had my glittery masquerade mask, he pulled it from his wrist and handed it back to me, saying, “I’m glad you decided to stay for the dance after everything earlier. It was nice.”

I wasn’t sure if he was referring to the dance being nice as a whole, or if he was talking more specifically about the times we’d spent dancing and then the moments from just a minute ago. But since it probably didn’t matter anyway with Nash standing right here and dissecting our every word and move, I said, “I’m glad I stayed, too.”

“Yes, I’m glad you two enjoyed your time at the dance.” Nash put a protective arm around my shoulder, as if to show some sort of macho territorial-ness. “Now if you’ll excuse us, I’d like to talk to my sister for a moment alone.”

21

Cambrielle

“What the heckwas that all about?” I turned toward Nash once Mack had disappeared out the doors that would take him to the student parking lot.

“You’re askingmewhat that was all about?” Nash put a white gloved hand to his chest. “I think I should be the one askingyouthat question.” He took his white Phantom mask off his face. “Did you forget all about what Mack does with girls?”

“Of course I didn’t forget,” I said.

“Then why did it look like you were about to kiss him?” Nash asked. “You can’t just kiss a guy like Mack and hope not to get hurt. You know his interest in girls never lasts very long.”

“So?”

“So…you’re the opposite of that,” Nash said. “You aren’t a weekend-fling type of girl. When you like a guy, you like him in a serious way. And…” He ran a hand through his blond hair that had been slicked back all night, and then shrugged. “Is it so wrong that I don’t want to see you get hurt?”

“I appreciate that you don’t want me to get hurt,” I said. “That’s really great of you. But what if I just want a fling?” I asked, playing the devil’s advocate since he’d never cared to ask what I actually did want. He’d just jumped to conclusions. “Why can’t I do that? I mean, you flip-flop between girls all the time. Why does there always have to be a double standard with you guys? I’m not this little girl who needs protection from my big brothers all the time. I can make my own choices.”

“I’m just trying to watch out for you, Cambrielle,” he said. “You may think that you’re okay just being this weekend girl for Mack, but I know you and I know that it’s not going to be like that.”

I hated that he thought he knew what was best for me. Just because he was a guy and a year older than me, he thought that he knew better.

But he wasn’t me. He wasn’t in my head, and he hadn’t had all the experiences with Mack that I’d had over the past several months.

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