All I’ve Never Wanted(155)
“Wh-what happened?” She struggled to sit up, water dripping down her face.
“You were chasing a puppy and fell in the water,” Zack explained.
Beside me, Rico snorted at the ridiculousness of that statement.
“Are you ok?” I asked, concerned.
Venice nodded, brushing a limp red curl from her face. “Uh, I think so.” She looked around, her face turning the color of her hair when she saw everyone staring at her. “Oh my god, this is so embarrassing,” she squeaked.
“It’s ok.” I turned to the onlookers. “There’s nothing to see here anymore. Go back to your dinners.” Everyone actually did what I said. I guess hanging out with Scions gave me a bit more confidence than I used to have. “And have a good night,” I added. I couldn’t be quite as imperious as Roman and the others were. Not that I wanted to be.
“Can you explain to me what you two are doing here?” Rico asked.
I stifled a grin. We knew exactly what they were doing here. We had set it up, telling Adriana to tell Zack she was afraid I might be leaving Roman for Rico and to urge him to “keep tabs on us.” She’d told me about how Zack and Venice had trailed James—I shuddered a bit at the thought of his name—and I at the amusement park, and figured he would bring her along this time too, since he apparently “couldn’t do anything by himself.”
I guess she was right, as always.
“Well, we, uh—“ Venice stammered, looking guilty.
“We’re on a date,” Zack blurted.
She turned so fast I was afraid she might’ve gotten whiplash.
“Really?” I grinned. “Aw. I should have guessed. You know, he’s the one who gave you CPR, V,” I added casually.
Just like that, she flushed red all over again, only this time, she was joined by Zack.
“Yeah, you should give him a thank you kiss,” Rico added, playing along.
But they were no longer paying attention. Instead, they were staring at something over my shoulder with frightened expressions.
A moment later, my hand was ripped out of Rico’s. I’d completely forgotten I was still holding onto it.
My stomach dropped when I turned to see Roman standing there, his face like thunder. “What the hell are you doing?” he demanded, a vein pulsing angrily in his forehead. “Why are you holding his hand?” His voice grew louder and louder with each word.
“Calm down, Rome, I was just nervous,” I said soothingly. “It didn’t mean anything.”
“I can’t believe you left me to go on a date with—with--” The vein was throbbing even harder now as he glared at Rico, who just looked amused. “—with a criminal!”
“A criminal who helped save me,” I pointed out, crossing my arms over my chest.
“I helped save you!” Roman roared. “I was the one who got stabbed!”
“Are you really going to use that as your trump card now? Come on, Rome.” Rico rolled his eyes. “Besides, it’s not like you’re traumatized. You definitely recovered enough to joke around with her at the hospital.” He slung an arm over my shoulders. Roman’s eye twitched dangerously. “I hate to break this to you, but Maya told me that she’s beginning to have feelings for me.” He sighed. “It’s been a long time coming, really. Ever since we first saw each other that night at my house…we knew. And her near death experience only confirmed it.” He gazed pityingly at Roman, even though I could tell he was struggling not to laugh. “She didn’t want you to find out like this, since you just got de-hospitalized and all, but…she doesn’t want to be with you anymore.” Rico squeezed my shoulder. “She wants to be with me.”
I couldn’t help but giggle a bit at his horrible acting skills. No wonder he’d been in a gang. He sure as hell wouldn’t have made it in Hollywood.
However, my smile fell away when I saw Roman’s face. His cheeks were drained of color, and his eyes were wide with…hurt?
Wait. He didn’t actually believe what Rico said, did he?
“Is that true?” he whispered, staring at me with a pleading look that broke my heart. As insufferable as an angry, possessive Roman was, I would’ve much preferred that version than this one.
“What? No!” I blurted, trying to wriggle out of Rico’s grasp, but he was too strong. I glared at him, and he just gazed back with a mischievous look in his eyes. “Don’t listen to him. He’s just joking.”
“It’s ok, baby, there’s no need to keep acting anymore. Tell him the real reason why you haven’t kissed him since he left the hospital.”