Page 50 of The Puck Decoy

“Hallie,” I whisper as her legs slide down my body back to the floor, bringing my hands to either side of her head, and she shakes her head in a daze, as my towel drops to the floor.

“You broke rule number one,” she whispers back, and I’m about to laugh, but then she is pushing me away, and leaning down to pick up her bag. “I have to go,” she mutters, pulling the door open before I can stop her.

When I rush to go after her, I realize I’m not even dressed yet, and I can’t help but yell, “Fuck,” as I hear the front door slam downstairs.

Another door opens down the hallway, and Daemon pops his head out, ignoring the fact I am freeballing with my dick out in the hallway, and just simply asks, “What did you do?”

And all I can do is sigh in response, “I kissed my wife.”

“Well, fuck,” he mutters, looking towards the empty space she just vacated.

Fuck indeed.

My mind is spinning as I storm from Josh’s house and start making my way back home. The walk is only around ten minutes but it feels like it takes forever, and my heart thunders in my chest the entire time. He kissed me. Josh kissed me, and it wasn’t just an almost kiss, or the lingering press of our lips like at the wedding. No, it was a full-on take your breath away kiss, and all I could do was run away. Not because it wasn’t good, but because it was so good that I could barely even keep myself upright.

Crush is a fickle word, and doesn’t even come close to describing how I feel about him, but as his lips pressed against mine, nothing else mattered. Not our title as best friends, or the rings on our fingers. No, the only thing that mattered was how perfectly he fit against me, how his lips felt against mine, andhow it was both too much and not enough at the same time. Which is why I wrote the rules in the first place, not because I didn’t want to kiss him, but because I knew if I did that I would fall even deeper into the pit that is Josh Peters, and well, now here I am.

I’m not sure what time it is, but as I reach the house and fling open the door, I’m grateful to find my best friend eating breakfast. “I’m in love with your brother,” I gasp, letting out the only words that are on my mind, not caring about the repercussions, even as her eyes widen. Not to mention the look on her boyfriend's face as he sits beside her. “Hey, Nova,” I add breathlessly, dumping my bag to the floor and closing the distance between us.

“Hey, Hals,” Nova cuts in with a smirk, sipping his coffee as he flicks his stare between me and Maddie, waiting for her response. He is more than used to being present for our gossiping sessions lately, though I’m not usually the topic of them.

Ignoring him I focus solely on her, not caring that he can hear me as I add, “And I know I’m your best friend, and this is so breaking girl code, but I’m sorry I can’t help it. I’m in love with Josh,” I rush out, praying she can forgive me for this, but also knowing I won’t be able to stop even if she doesn’t.

“I know,” she replies gently with a smile, popping another piece of bacon into her mouth, as Nova runs his hand up and down her bare legs.

“You know?” I question, not really sure if she is grasping the situation at hand. “What do you mean you know?”

Maddie puts down her fork and sits up in the chair, leaning towards me. “I mean I know you’re in love with Josh,” she says, as if it’s the most casual thing in the world, and I can’t help but feel both shocked and confused.

I have been friends with her just as long as I have been friends with Josh, and I never once thought I made my crush on her brother obvious. In fact, I treated them both the same, and then when he pushed me away, I treated him like I didn’t care. Our communication was solely name calling and snapping at one another. So how the hell did she figure it out?

“Since when?” I ask quietly, wondering when she discovered my biggest secret.

“Since we were nine.” Four words and I feel like my whole world has been blown apart, and I can’t say anything in return. “Come on, Hals, you didn’t exactly hide it. Your eyes lit up every time he walked into a room, you’re comfortable around him, and you’ve never given yourself a chance with anyone else over the years, despite having a lot of interest. It didn’t exactly make me a genius to figure it out.”

All I can do is stare at her in shock, and just as I open my mouth to respond, the front door swings open and I turn to find Josh stalking towards me. “Mads, Darkmore,” he greets with a quick nod, before dipping down and tossing me over his shoulder effortlessly. “Excuse us, we’re in the middle of a fight.”

He doesn’t even hang around to listen to their response, just turns and starts heading towards the stairs. “Put me down you fucking neanderthal,” I scream, banging my fists into his back, but all he does is land a hard smack onto my ass, making me yelp.

“Not until you stop acting like a little brat,” he tosses back, climbing the stairs with ease as if he isn’t supporting any extra weight at all. In fact, he doesn’t stop until he reaches my room, and only then does he put me back on my feet, slamming my door behind us. “Now where were we?” he asks, looking both frustrated and amused as he adds, “Ah yes, that’s right, I kissed you and then you ran off like a chicken leaving me naked and alone.”

I scoff at the mental image, ignoring what it does to my insides as I yell, “Yeah, well you broke the rules.” I storm to my set of drawers, ripping open the top one and pulling out the pad that houses our agreement. “There it is in black and green, rule number one: no kissing,” I tell him, not sure what I am really angry at. Am I mad because he kissed me? Or am I mad because the kiss was so freaking good?

“Oh my god you are the biggest drama queen I have ever met in my entire life,” he snaps, moving to snatch the pad away from me and tossing it to the ground

“And you’re the biggest asshole I’ve ever met in my entire life,” I seethe, panting heavily, as his hands find my waist again and he pulls me up against him. “And why did you even kiss me, anyway?” I add, hating that my voice, though still shouting, is starting to lose its edge of anger.

“Because you’re mine,” he spits, his voice hoarse and almost breaking.

“I’m not yours!” I shriek back, hating how good those three words just sounded coming from his mouth. “This is fake, remember, none of this is real.”

This time when he pulls me against him, I can feel the long, hard outline of his cock pressing into my stomach, as he brings his left hand up to curl around my neck. The other reaches down and entangles with my left hand, as his thumb finds the rings there. “These rings,” he starts, flicking my wedding and engagement bands. “These rings mean you are mine, fake or not, in the eyes of the law you belong to me,” he murmurs, dropping his forehead to mine, as his other hand gently squeezes my throat, until I can feel the bite of his own wedding band. “And feel this ring?Fuck, this ring means I belong to you, Hallie. It means you own me, sothatis why I kissed you.”

My heart is pounding out of my chest, every hair on my body standing on end as each of his words send me out into orbit withno way of ever returning. “But what about rule number one,” I can’t help but breathe, and all he does is smile.

“Fuck the rules, Tink.” Then his mouth is on mine, robbing me of any response, and I am both his wife, and a slut for the boy who is my crush, so who am I to not kiss him back?

Our mouths collide as my body ignites. He’s kissing me, Josh Peters, my best friend, my husband, is kissing me, and just like that first kiss back in his bedroom, it’s everything I need and more. His mouth is insistent, urgent, yet his lips are soft and smooth as they give me something I have been craving for years. He might be an asshole most of the time, and this might even be fake, but right now he’s kissing me like he might cease to exist without the taste of my lips against his. Everything else around us melts away, and there is no fake marriage, no deal with his father, or no friendship to ruin. It’s just me and him, and us.

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