Page 88 of Every Hidden Truth

“Wow,” he breathed when we parted. “Um, good morning to you too.”

“Morning.” I kissed him again, and he chuckled into my enthusiastic mouth.

We kissed for far longer than was probably appropriate for a high school parking lot, but I ignored whatever stares we might have been garnering. Ben didn’t seem to mind either, his winter-chilled fingers slipping under my coat to skate over my lower back.

“You’re in a good mood.” He panted out the words when we finally disconnected.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Feeling naughty, I leaned in to whisper near his ear like I had a secret. “I had the best sex of my life this weekend.”

“The best sex of your life, huh?” He cocked a disbelieving brow even as his lips twitched with the urge to smile. “Lucky you.”

“Lucky me indeed,” I purred, leaning in to kiss his mouth delicately before giving him a sexy wink. “I can’t wait to hit that again.”

He laughed, cheeks flushing as he said, “Great, now I have a boner. Thanks for that.”

I shifted my leg between his, bringing a strangled yelp from him as I rubbed my thigh against him. “You’re so welcome.”

“Okay.” He grunted and shoved me off him. “That’s enough.”

As he covertly adjusted himself in his jeans, he glared at me as I laughed into my palm. Once his predicament was no longer visible, I took his hand in mine and dragged him toward the school doors.

We walked inside hand-in-hand, and Ben’s grumbled reprimands faded away as more than a few students turned to stare at us. They were huddled in groups, whispering excitedly, but the buzz of conversation dissolved as Ben and I walked past.

“That was weird,” I said as we headed toward my locker.

As we walked, more and more stares followed us. People were huddled around their phones, some laughing, some sneering. Then they’d notice us, and they’d gawk.

My stomach cramped, and I squeezed the life out of Ben’s hand.

“What’s going on?” he asked. “Why are they staring at us?”

“I don’t know,” I said, but I wondered if it had something to do with Unknown. “I think... Ben, I think we should go.”

“Go?”

Turning away from the horrible stares, I tugged on his hand. “Yeah, we need to go.”

He scoffed. “We can’t skip school again. It’s probably just another stupid rumor.”

“Maybe,” I said, though I didn’t believe it. Unknown had done something, and I had the sinking feeling that I wouldn’t like it one bit.

By the time we arrived at my locker, my skin was crawling from the blatant attention we were receiving. Braying laughter cut through the uncomfortable hum of whispered conversation as Jake Thompson and his friends carved a path through the busy hallway.

For some asinine reason, they were all dressed up in cowboy boots and hats. What the actual fuck?

Of course, the moment Jake saw us—me—his entire face lit up. “Damn, Brigs,” he shouted loud enough for everyone in the hall to hear. “I didn’t know you fancied yourself a cowgirl.”

“A littleBrokeback Mountainreenactment?” one of Jake’s companions said.

“Yeehaw,” another crowed, and they all laughed, exchanging high-fives.

I quirked my head at Ben. “What?”

He shook his head in matching puzzlement. “I have no idea.”

Phones were chiming all over the place, and people were pointing and laughing. I felt my own phone buzz in my pocket, and my intuition told me not to look. It told me to turn around and run back to my truck. Because something was very, very wrong here.

“Ben, I think we should go,” I said again as a group of sophomores pointed at one of their phones, then looked right at me, some giggling, some looking horrified. “Ben?”

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