Page 59 of Fake It Till You Break It
Did she come toward me or did I pull her to me? I wasn’t sure, but honestly, I didn’t care. All I knew was that she was right where I wanted her to be. Snuggly and perfectly in my arms.
Nothing else mattered.
MIA
I KNEW WHAT WOULD HAPPENif I went with Jake to get the sodas. When we were alone. What would happen if I stayed here any longer. If I leaned in. But I couldn’t make myself move. Another part of me had taken over. The dumb, irrational side that if I could, I would drag home to kick her butt later.
His eyes were like two magnets reeling me in closer and closer until we were barely inches apart. His left arm was braced on the wall over my head, enveloping me into a cocoon. A Jake cocoon. I closed my eyes to try and control myself, but it didn’t help. His breath was warm against my cheek. My fingers reached out to push him away, but I could barely do more than curl my hands around his forearms. We were so close yet still not close enough.
Everything and everyone else faded away, and the onlything that mattered was his warm skin pressed against my arm. There was something almost desperate about his kiss. Like he had been holding back for so long. Or maybe it was me projecting my feelings on him. All I wanted to do was get closer to him, even though we were practically melted together. My fingers gripped his neck, and he held on to my waist with one arm as the other caressed my back. Lightly, like he was afraid that I would disappear. Or—
There was suddenly a loud cheer and uproar that dragged us back to reality.
Still in a daze, I glanced up and barely registered that everyone was staring at us. Cheering like we were some kind of celebrity couple.
Whoosh!My breath came out so suddenly that I felt like I was about to collapse. I almost wished that I did. Melt right into the ground and disappear. Especially when the crowd parted a little bit and all of our friends stood in front of us. I froze with Jake’s arms still wrapped around me. Greg was so gleeful that he was practically jumping up and down. Aly looked amused. And Ben… Ben’s face was hard like I had never seen him.
Behind everyone, I could see our picture on the large TV screen as though we were on some kind of hidden-camera show.
With a smug smile, Rose crossed her arms. “Looks like you guys decided to do a bit of celebrating without us.”
“Not that we mind. Celebrate as much as you want.” Greg waved his hands at us. “It’s a free country. If you want, we’ll—”
My face was flaming with each word Greg said. Luckily, Jake punched his shoulder—hard—and got him to stop talking. Greg groaned and doubled over in pain. I didn’t have time to worry about him, though. I was more concerned about Ben. Especially when he just turned to Aly, whispered something in her ear, and walked away without a single glance in my direction.
The smile faded from Rose’s face, and she cleared her throat. “Why don’t we head home? I got all the footage I need, and I don’t have much time to work on it tonight.”
“Yes,” Aly and I both said at the same time.
Jake glanced over at me but didn’t say anything as he fell into step beside me.
We all shuffled out of the bar after Rose like we were being punished. A couple of guys patted Jake on the back with wide grins, but he just kept turning around to look at me. His forehead wrinkled with concern.
Ben was standing outside by the parking lot staring at his phone. When he saw us, his face scrunched up. He shoved the phone in his pocket and crossed his arms. “I called an Uber, but it’s still ten minutes away.”
“Why don’t you go home—”
“No, I’m good,” Ben interrupted, still not looking me in the eyes. “I can wait.”
My mouth opened, but I didn’t know what to say. What could I say? Sorry? Somehow, I didn’t think that would be enough.
I was so wrapped up in Jake and me that I completely forgot what this meant for Ben and how he felt. I mean, technically, we were sort of dating. I knew he liked me. More than I liked him, and I kissed Jake anyway. Twice. Once in front of everybody.
Gah, I was horrible person. I wouldn’t even date me if I could.
Luckily, Aly always knew what I was thinking without having to be told. She stepped up between us—blocking my view of Ben—and touched his arm. “We can’t leave you here. Just come home with us. You can sit in the front with Rose. I’ll sit in the back… with everyone else.”
After a minute or two, he nodded. I let out a silent sigh of relief.
If Aly thought the car ride to the festival was awkward, it was nothing compared to the car ride home. Rose turned up the radio full blast, but the tension was swirling in the air around us. And even though we were barely an hour away from home, it felt SO. Much. Farther. Not to mention, we must have caught every single red light on the way.
I sat in the middle row with Aly, but I could see Ben’s reflection staring out the window in front of me. Every once in a while, Aly would pat my hand reassuringly. I didn’t even dare turn around to look at Jake.
Oh, God. This was probably what hell was like. Forget fiery pits, this was the worst torture of all. But I gritted my teeth and counted down the minutes until we got home.
Once we got to my house, Aly and I slid out at the same time. Jake got out, too, and started to follow me to my house, but I turned around and shook my head. I wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone right now.
He stopped and backed up a step. Disappointment was etched all over his face. “I’ll call you later, then?”
