Page 59 of Nightmare

“Baby girl.”

Brody’s voice comes from behind me, so I spin around to give him a huge smile.

“Hey, quarterback.”

He grins before pressing his lips to mine, pressing me into my locker a little bit. My hands snake up his chest around his neck, and I let him control my mouth any way he wants.

“I missed you.” He breathes into my mouth as he pulls away.

My stomach falls, and the butterflies pick it back up and force it to stay inside my torso. I eye him, that stupid grin mirrored on my face too, “You saw me an hour ago.”

He pouts a little, making me giggle, then pulls me back towards him with the hand he has sitting on my waist, smashing his lips against mine again.

The bell rings overhead, warning us that we only have five minutes until we’re late for our third period, and he pulls back to look at me. “Does my beautiful girlfriend want to come to a party with me this weekend?”

I groan, “Are the cheerleaders going to be there?”

He nips at my bottom lip on a laugh, “Since the party is at Melanie’s house, I’m going to say yes.”

My eyes roll back, fuckingMelanie.

The blonde who warned me to stay away from Brody the day before our first date.

I crinkle my face, prepared to say no and stick to it, when Brody smiles at me, his face still only a few inches away from me, and breaks through my thoughts with his voice that’s sweeter than syrup. “I’ll protect you from those bitches, baby.”

I snort, “I don’tneedprotecting from those little bitches.”

His eyebrow pops up a little, “Then, what is it?”

I chew on my bottom lip, trying to figure out if I want to admit what’s running through my head, that I’m being territorial. That I don’t understand why he has to go to a party at his ex-girlfriend’s house anyways, that I don’t want to feel uncomfortable staring a girl in the face when I know he’s fucked her. Especially since I didn’t mention that she laid her claim on him before we started dating.

He puts a finger under my chin and pulls my eyes back to his, “What is it, Liv?”

I shrug a little, “Melanie still has feelings for you, won’t it be weird if you bring your new girlfriend?”

A heartbeat goes by before he’s talking again, “Melanie doesn’t have feelings for me, and even if she did,youare the only girl I want. She doesn’t mean anything to me.”

My lips tug up at the sides on a smile, because his words wash over me like warm bubbling water, thawing the chill that I let sink into myself when I let Melanie get to me in the first place.

I roll my eyes with a smile, “You always know the right thing to say, Brody Rockport.”

The bell rings overhead, officially making us late for class. He presses his lips to mine one more time before chucking under his breath, lacing his fingers in between mine, and pulling me towards my classroom.

* * *

Melanie-the-cheerleader’s house is absolutely poppin’by 10pm and I’m sipping on a beer on Brody’s lap, while he talks about the previous football game with a couple of his teammates.

I tune back into the conversion to see if there’s anything I give a shit about, and am disappointed when I hear Lake yelling, “..And then that bitch just hits the grass like the fuckin’ piece of shit he is!”

Lake’s arms are in the air moving while he talks like an Italian grandmother, and Brody is laughing underneath me with heavy shakes and lots of commentary.

I’m not interested in this conversation at all, because 1. I know nothing about football, and 2. I don’t know Lake or any of the other footballers surrounding me.

I spot Melanie and her group of identical barbie clones from across the room, and when I make eye contact with them, Melanie smiles and waves at me like we’re friends.

I breathe through my nose to hide my annoyance and offer her a little wave back since I’m in her house, drinking what is presumably her alcohol.

I don’t know if she takes the gesture as an invitation to walk over to me, or if it was her plan all along, but she takes long strides on her heels towards us.

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