The Arrangement Anthology 1(126)

Marty doesn’t move. He sits on the edge of his bed and watches me. The look makes my stomach dip. God, I’m messed up. I’m not even feeling things right anymore. He’s gay. That isn’t what he meant. He doesn’t like me like that, but even as I think the thoughts, I notice his eyes dip to my lips. The sound of my breath fills my head, and my pulse pounds harder. Marty leans in ever so slowly. He pauses right before his mouth touches mine. We’re a breath apart. I’m frozen. Half of me thinks that this isn’t happening, that I’m wrong about him. I don’t know what to do.

Marty’s breath is warm. I feel it pass across my lips as he exhales slowly. Just as he lowers his lashes, a loud thud comes from the door. It’s directly across from us. We both turn our heads just in time to see Mel walk inside.

When Mel looks up, she laughs like something is horribly funny. “Talk about things that look wrong.”

Marty jumps up and grabs his drink from the counter. “Why did I agree to be key buddies with you?” He glances at me and holds my gaze for a moment before turning away. I have no idea what’s going through his head.

Mel plants her hands on her hips. “I don’t know. That was kind of crazy once you start thinking about it.”

“You’re not supposed to let yourself in whenever you want,” Marty grumbles.

I glance at Mel and then Marty. When did they exchange keys? They must be hanging out without me.

Mel claps her hands together. “Well, let’s get going, ladies. It’s already late and I want my pancakes.” I look at her for a second and feel really uncomfortable. My gaze drops. She notices. “Awh no. Mel does not do awkward, so cut that shit out. Last night never happened. You understand?”

“We need to talk.”

“Hell no, we don’t need to talk about a damn thing.” She won’t look at me now.

I scoot to the edge of the bed and throw my feet over the edge. They land on the floor. I press my fingers to my temples and try to navigate this mess as best I can. To do that, I need details. I want to know what occurred between them, if anything. The whole situation is too weird, especially with Marty watching me. I glance at him for half a second. He’s sipping his coffee, avoiding my gaze. Was he seriously going to kiss me? I feel like I’m losing my mind.

“What happened?” I ask Mel bluntly. Blunt works best with her. “I need to know. When you showed up last night and Sean opened the door, what’d he do? Did you guys do anything?” My voice catches on the last word. The thought makes my stomach sour. What if they kissed? What if they…did what me and Henry did. I don’t think I could bear it, but I ask. I have to know.

Mel works her jaw and stares at Marty with eyes that are too big for her head. Marty remains perched on his stool and doesn’t look back. “Is she deaf? She didn’t just ask me that, did she?”

Marty turns. His brows flick and he glances at me out of the corner of his eye before grabbing a towel from the closet. “She did and she’s on the edge, Mel. Push her off and I’ll bust your ass.”

Mel’s head jerks as her jaw drops open. “Are you threatening me, Princess?”

“Damn right, I am.” Marty’s voice is too deep, too stern. His gaze narrows as he stares Mel down. “She’s been through enough shit to last a lifetime. Ask her where I picked her up last night. That’ll tell you everything.” Marty looks over at me like he wants to say something, but he doesn’t. Instead he disappears into the bathroom and the shower turns on. My gaze follows after him. How did he know? I never told him where I grew up, but he seems to realize the devastation that brought me to my knees last night. Going to the old house didn’t help.

Mel takes Marty’s seat at the counter. She looks at me. I’m sitting on the edge of the bed. “Where’d you go last night?”

I shrug. “It doesn’t matter.”

She jabs her thumb toward the bathroom and says, “He thinks it does. Where were you?”

I look up. Mel is severe, but there’s worry in her eyes. “What’d you do with Sean?”

She stiffens. We stare each other down for a moment. Mel finally rolls her eyes and the tension in her back gives way. “Fine. I’ll go first. When I showed up at his door, he asked if you were okay. He didn’t put it together until I told him that Black sent me, that I was there because he ordered a call girl. He stared at me and asked me in. I can’t tell him no, and I didn’t think he’d do anything. He’s too wrapped up in you.” She shakes her head and looks up, smiling at me. “First thing he says is, ‘what do you want to eat?’ He orders me a pizza and goes back to work. I watched a couple of movies while he pulled his hair out trying to get some techno-nerd thing to work out on paper. The arrangement was that he’d tell Black that I was phenomenal and I wasn’t supposed to tell you anything. But you got there early and the shit hit the fan.”