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The Line Between(30)

By:Tamsyn Bester


Motherfucker.

She looked back up, her cheeks flushed, and her eyes glazed over. Watching that had to have been the hottest thing I’d ever seen.

Her mouth twisted into a self-congratulatory smile, and I recognized the challenge. I shook it off, reminding myself that I couldn’t give her the upper hand. I needed to be the one to deliver the final blow, even if it felt like she had in fact won this round.

“At least now I can tell Chase that you’re not as frigid as we all thought you were. I’m sure he’ll put in some extra effort if he knows you might put out.”

I all but spat the words out, but I had to see it through. The thought of Kennedy going on a date with Chase made me sick, even if I had no right to feel that way. Chase was the star quarterback, with quite the reputation, and the idea of him touching Kennedy riled me up. She wasn’t mine, and I had no claim on her, but that didn’t mean I wanted someone else, especially a douche like Chase, to lay a finger on her.

Her face fell, giving away the moment she understood that she’d still lost. The desolate look in her eyes showed me too much, and for the first time since we’d started playing this silly game I felt regret. But not enough to end whatever it was that we had.

For now though, I needed to walk way because she’d managed to fuck with my head, and I had no idea how to regroup.

There was nothing left to say, so I spun on my heel, and stormed out, leaving Kennedy and committing the way she looked on that desk to memory.





CHAPTER ELEVEN

Kennedy

DANE LEFT MY bedroom, and I waited for the click of the front door. When I was sure he was no longer on our apartment, I pulled my tank top down, and sank to the floor.

What the hell had I just done?

I was mortified, and any sense of victory over Dane was short lived. Once again I’d played right into the palm of his hand, and when the moment was right, he retaliated. I waited, and waited for the bile to climb up my throat, a telltale sign that what I’d done with Dane, and then in front of him made me feel sick. But if I was completely honest with myself, I enjoyed it. The feel of his hands all over my over sensitized skin, and inside me. The taste of his lips. The heat of his mouth. The way his hips fitted with mine. And especially the way his eyes watched me while I touched myself.

The whole experience had my insides coiled tightly, both from disbelief, and a sick kind of arousal.

God. What the hell was wrong with me? I never behaved like that, like a hussy. I’d never been that girl, and one moment of weakness where Dane frazzled my senses and I was grinding on him, and making myself come with his eyes on me.

I shook my head, and held it in my hands. I was sitting rather uncomfortably on the floor next to my bed, but I couldn’t stand up just yet. I wanted to absorb the reality of what I’d just done to myself, and maybe it would be enough to make me steer as far away from Dane as I could. I’d done well avoiding him, barely glancing at him when we happened to pass each other in the hallway between our apartments, but we always ended up in the same place, like we were gravitating towards each other in some weird way. It was perplexing, and the more I thought about what it meant, the more it confused me.

He hated me, and I was supposed to hate him.

That’s the way it had to be.

** ** **

CHASE CAME BACK from grabbing us two chocolate shakes and cheese burgers with fries and placed them between us on the tailgate of his truck.

When he fetched me for our “date” thirty minutes ago, I hadn’t imagined coming out to a field with a food stand in the middle of nowhere. But I liked it.

The food stand was an old, refurbished metal caravan with a few tables and chairs outside. They only made burgers, and fries, and what Chase boasted were the best milkshakes in all of Brighton. He also told me the ‘pop up’ diner – the caravan – moved around, and only stayed in one spot for a week at a time.

Chase hopped up next to me, and immediately starting eating, while I sipped my shake. He was right. It was the best chocolate shake I’d ever had. Not that I was picky when it came to anything involving chocolate. I looked up at the sky, marveling at how clear it was, and how spectacularly the twinkling stars lit it up. The warm air ghosted across my skin, and I took in the surroundings. There were a few other trucks parked to the side, people laughing as they enjoyed their food, and even a few couples sharing romantic moments in what I thought of as the perfect country setting.

“What’s got you thinking so hard over there?” Asked Chase, breaking the somewhat awkward silence. We’d managed a relatively easy conversation on the ride over, but now things felt a little awkward.

“I’m thinking about how peaceful it is out here,” I replied. “And how perfect this spot is for a romantic date.”