Page 61 of A Vicious Rumor

"His kiss with Kitty, which by the way, he absolutely, positively did on purpose. I've never seen Rock so much as even look at that girl and he's never, ever shown any sort of public display of affection at school, even with girls I knew he had things with."

My eyes widened at the mention of "girls he had things with." Tyson had told me that he was a virgin our first time. If he'd been lying about that...

"So, did you cave? Did you let him see that his little act got to you?"

I nodded my head slowly.

"Damn," Zachary said, taking a swig of his drink. "We're going to have to up our game then," he said. He pulled out his phone and tapped the screen a few times. "Alright, here's the plan," he said, putting his drink down. "We're gonna make a TikTok where we announce the party after the Homecoming Game."

"When's that?" I asked him.

"A week from now, on Saturday."

My eyes widened. "That's really soon," I said.

"Yeah, well, it works to our benefit," Zachary said. "Anyways, we're going to announce the party. I want you to put on a pretty little smile, pretend like you're happy, and," he took a seat and patted his lap, "do it sitting on my lap."

"What?" I exclaimed.

He shook his head. "Don't fight me on this Lily. We really gotta make up for the damage you did today. And, the more intense we make this, the faster it will all come crashing down."

"You make it sound like we're going to war," I said.

"Love is definitely a battlefield," Zachary said, before patting his leg again.

I rolled my eyes at him. "I think you're enjoying this."

He shrugged. "Who wouldn't enjoy a live-in girlfriend who isn't really your girlfriend and doesn't put out? I'm basically living the dream."

"Har har," I said sarcastically before making my way over to him and sitting on his lap.

He handed me his phone, which was already set to record. "When you're ready, go ahead and record. And just go along with what I'm doing."

"I can only imagine what you're going to do," I said, preparing myself for the worst.

And I was right, because the moment I hit record and started telling everyone about the "super exciting party" after the "amazing Homecoming Game we're all so excited about," Zachary started biting and kissing my neck with absolutely no concern for my dignity. I giggled, playing the game, and batting him away, pretending like I was into it, but also trying to make the video.

As soon as I finished saying, "Can't wait to see you all there!" but before I ended the recording, he moved in to kiss me. My thumb hit stop on the recording, but my lips stayed on his momentarily. A flood of emotions swirled through my mind.

Was I actually kissing Zachary King back right now?

Was I enjoying it?

Or, was I just enjoying the attention from a man because the one I really wanted refused to give me any?

I separated from him by pushing against his chest. He gave me a curious look, and I put the back of my hand up to my lips. I jumped off his lap, realizing I was still sitting on it. I all but threw his phone at him, knowing he'd post the video even if I told him not to and ran to my room.

The tears really started flowing at that point. I picked up my own phone and called my mom.

"Hello?" came her voice on the other side of the line.

"Hey Mom, it's me," I said.

"Oh sweetie, what's wrong?" she asked, instantly knowing I wasn't okay.

"I'm just not sure I can do this, Mom." Her and I hadn't really talked much about the whole thing. She knew the details to a point. Nothing about me and Zachary's deal. Only that I had been awarded a scholarship to King's Academy and that housing arrangements had been made for me. She'd visited Zachary's parents and the house before I'd moved here, but that was the extent of her involvement.

"First days and big changes are always hard, honey," she said in her comforting voice.

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