Puck

What was that?

I'm not complaining. Definitely not complaining. But the last thing I expected when I got dragged to this party was for Marlowe to greet me like that.

Things were a little tense between us when we left school today. First, it seemed like she didn't want me to come to the party, and then it seemed like she did, and she was disappointed that I told her it wasn't happening.

I couldn't get on the ice fast enough, convinced the confusing beauty would slip from my mind once I started skating.

It didn't work.

I was off my game, and I think coach noticed. He didn't say anything about it, but I'm sure I saw a disappointed look on his face before we hit the locker room.

I had to put an end to this.

Marlowe's idea wasn't working. Her fake dating plan was supposed to keep girls away from me so that I could stick to what I know, do well, and not have to worry about all the drama that seemed to follow people through high school.

Instead, I was flustered and puzzled about how to act around some cheerleader, and it was affecting my focus on the one thing in my life that had always been a no-brainer.

Except, Marlowe wasn't some cheerleader. Yeah, she was popular, beautiful, had a million-dollar smile and a killer body-all cheerleader-type things. But she was so much more than that.

She was smart, driven, responsible. She made me laugh so easily and she went to Fan Expo even though she had to go by herself. She was the perfect girl to spend all my time thinking about and trying to impress.

I had to get rid of her. A.S.A.P.

I made up my mind that I was going to talk to her on Monday. Then Devon started talking about some party the team was going to. I started to decline, but when I heard the name Mason getting tossed around I remembered that was where Marlowe would be tonight.

So now, here I am, holding her hand while we step off the porch. All it took was one glimpse of her and all my resolve to end things was completely left behind on the ice rink. And then she walked up and kissed me... Talk about sealing the deal.

My lips are still tingling from the kiss. My body is buzzing, and my mind is spinning.

I am so "puck'd".

I'm even using words made up by Dev. What is wrong with me?

"I thought you weren't coming," Marlowe explains while she bumps her shoulder into my arm.

I give her hand a light squeeze and shrug. "Change of plans. I heard the team was coming and Dev offered me a ride. I would have texted you. You know, if you'd give me your number..." I slow our steps to a stop and tug her gently toward me when she continues trying to walk down the sidewalk along the long line of parked cars.

"Hey, uh..." I lick my lips and choose my next words carefully. "You've been drinking." I could taste the alcohol when we kissed. "I know you asked about getting out of here, but I don't think you should drive."

"Oh, really?" She raises her eyebrows at me, and I brace myself for the wrath of Marlowe, with no intention of backing down because of it.

"Yeah. I mean, I don't think you're drunk... You're not drunk, are you?"

She smirks and shakes her head, and I'm relieved to know our intense kiss hadn't merely been a result of too many drinks.

"Still," I continue, "if you get pulled over, your licence is gone, and even one drink can alter your reaction time, even if you don't feel that intoxicated, and I just can't in good conscience let you get behind the wheel when-"

The side of her index finger presses against my lips to stop my rambling, and I'd be a little embarrassed if she wasn't smiling up at me so brightly.

"You see that house over there with the big maple?" She points to a house a little way down the street.

I nod, and she stands on her tiptoes to press a soft kiss against my cheek. "That's my house."

"Oh." I chuckle with relief that she didn't plan on driving. "Time to meet the parents? Okay."

"Parent," she corrects, and I could kick myself when I remember Hadley's comment on Monday about Ms. Jacobs. Marlowe squeezes my hand as if to tell me not to worry about it, then tugs on my arm to get me moving again. "But no, my mom's at work. We'll have the place to ourselves."

"Oh, okay," I reply, but then her words sink in, and my steps slow again.

Oh!

Marlowe gives me a curious expression, and I force what I hope is a convincing smile while I pick up my pace to a normal walking speed again.

Now what? I don't want to go there with Marlowe. I mean, I sort of do...

No! Bad, Puck. That was not the plan. You came to this party with a plan, remember?

Well, that plan is long gone. There's no way I can pull the plug on this now. Not after she kissed me like that.

But I can't go there, either.

Marlowe is too much of a distraction already. If I go there with her, I'm doomed. Not to mention, I don't know what's going on between us. She's hardly my fake girlfriend, let alone the real thing, and earlier today she didn't even want to hold my hand in front of her friends, but then she made out with me in front of everyone at the party. None of it makes sense.

It wouldn't be right to sleep with her. She deserves better than that.

Come to think of it, she knows she deserves better than that. She wanted to pretend to date me to keep horny boys away from her. So what is going on in that pretty head now?

As we near her house, I study her face from the corner of my eye. She said she wasn't drunk, and she doesn't look drunk, but I'm starting to wonder how much the alcohol she's consumed has come into play tonight.

"Why don't we sit out here?" I blurt out the question when we reach the maple tree.

Marlowe rolls her eyes at me. "I already told you, my mom's not home. You don't have anything to be nervous about."

I nod and step toward the large tree in the front yard. "I know. That's why we should probably stay outside, don't you think?"

"Why would we..." She narrows her eyes while she watches me take a seat in the grass beneath the maple tree.

I pat the spot next to me, and she reluctantly crosses her legs under her body while lowering herself to the ground. "You're being weird. Why?"

I laugh and lean back against the rough trunk of the tree. "A couple of reasons, I guess. For one, I don't need to give your uncle and aunt, or your mom for that matter, a reason not to trust me. And two..." I turn my head to study her features. "Why'd you kiss me like that?"

That seems like a safer question than asking her again if she is drunk.

She looks surprised by my question but then casually shrugs her shoulders. "I guess I wanted to."

"But why?" I press, and she looks away from me with an almost shy expression. "I'm not complaining!" I clarify quickly. "I'm just a little confused. You pulled your hand away today when your friends came up to us, but then I show up tonight and you're all over me. And again, I'm really not complaining. But... What is going on, MJ?"

----------

Marlowe

MJ. I like it when he calls me that. It's something my mom has always called me but everyone at school has always called me Lowe. Lowe is such a weird nickname.

I don't like his question though.

Jonah has a way of getting to the point. It's an admirable trait but not my favourite thing when it means I have to try to explain myself.

Where do I even start?

I laugh a little anxiously and keep my gaze averted from his face. "Well, there's this girl on my cheer team. She's already made it clear that she thinks she should be cheer captain instead of me, and then tonight she said she had her eye on you. And I'm supposed to be keeping girls away from you, right?"

He doesn't reply.

I turn to observe him but his expression is unreadable.

"I see," he replies after a long pause, but I don't think he does. How could he when I only told him the half-truth?

"And also..." I add nervously, before rushing out my explanation, "I just really wanted to kiss you. I've been thinking about it a lot since last Saturday when we kissed at the party. And I had a few drinks tonight, nothing crazy or anything, but I think they helped give me the push I needed to just do it, especially when Natalie handed me a good excuse to go for it."

His smile grows and grows while I'm talking, and by the end of my mini speech, he's beaming at me. It makes my stomach flip-flop around, and I have to take my eyes off of him to regain some composure.

His arm comes up to rest around my shoulders, and he tucks me against his side. "You never need an excuse to kiss me, MJ," his charming voice speaks close to my ear, "You can bet however often you've thought about our first kiss, I've thought about it more."

I dare myself to turn towards him and find his face close to mine. His eyes drop down to my lips and his hand that's resting on my shoulder comes up to brush against my cheek.

I slowly lean in closer but just before my lips can come into contact with his, his phone starts ringing.

Jonah groans softly, and I giggle while I lean back again. "Don't you want to get that?"

"Not even a little," he replies. He gently tugs me closer, but I laugh again and turn my face away.

"Answer it, Jonah," I insist, "What if it's important?"

His fingers lightly brush against my cheek again but then he leans to the side to wrestle his phone out of his pocket. He groans again when he sees who's calling, and his head lightly thumps back against the trunk of the maple as he lifts the phone to his ear. "What's up, Dev?"

I'm close enough that I can hear Dev's side of the conversation as well, and I can't keep myself from rolling my eyes at the way he sounds to be already inebriated.

"Puuuuck. Where're ya? I got this hot girly here that wants a piece of you. Git over here!"

Fifty bucks says he's talking about Natalie. My body turns stiff at the thought of her touching any piece of Jonah.

"Do me a favour, Dev?" Jonah answers calmly while he gives my shoulder a gentle squeeze.

"Yeah, man. What is it? You want me to send her to ya? Where're ya?"

"No, not at all." His eyes find mine before he says the next part. "But you can tell her that Marlowe Jacobs is the only girl for me."

"Daaaamn," Dev draws out the word with a laugh, "You two really hit it off last week, didn't ya? Did I set ya up or what?"

"Sure, Dev," Jonah agrees half-heartedly while giving me a knowing grin, but his voice sounds serious when he adds, "But don't try it again, you hear me?"

There's some muffled conversation between Dev and a female voice and then he asks, sounding distracted, "Try what?"

"To set me up. I'm with Marlowe. You got that?"

A low laugh comes through the phone. "I got it, man. Hit that!"

Now it's Jonah's body that seems to stiffen, and I decide now would be a good time to get him off the phone. I reach for his cell to gently pull it away from his ear, which Jonah allows without complaint.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that," he apologizes once I've hung up on Devin and handed his phone back to him.

I smile and shrug. "That's okay. Hearing your side of the conversation was kind of hot."

A smile lights up his face again. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. I didn't expect to be so attracted to my fake boyfriend but you play the role well."

His smile momentarily falters but then he laughs softly. "Lucky you."

I smile back at him until I remember what he told me earlier concerning how he got to the party. "Did you say you drove with Dev?"

He nods.

"You need to find someone else to drive you home. Or call my Uncle Jack. Dev is clearly wasted already. I'd offer to drive you myself, but like you said, I shouldn't drive either."

He smiles at me and reaches into his pocket to pull out a set of keys. "I took these off Dev when we got here. I had a feeling he was going to get drunk."

My eyes go wide with disbelief before I start laughing. "You stole Dev's keys? Won't he be pissed?"

He shrugs his shoulders. "Nah, just borrowed them. And yeah, maybe, but I'm hoping that by the time he's ready to go home, he doesn't care whether I'm driving his car or he is. I'll just drop him off at home and return his car tomorrow morning. Hopefully, he doesn't come at me for grand theft auto." He chuckles and then asks, "Think Jack will back me up or arrest me?"

I laugh too and lean into his side to get comfortable again. "He'll back you up. Like I've said before, Uncle Jack is cool. He'll just appreciate that you didn't let someone who had been drinking drive you home."

"Hmm..." His arm tightens around me again to pull me closer to his side. "You keep saying he's cool... but how's he going to like hearing that I was making out with his niece at some party? I know you did it to get people to talk, but people are going to talk, MJ. And I'm sure what they're saying will make it to the adults in our lives too."

I frown as I turn to look at him. "So... I shouldn't make out with you?"

"Well, I wouldn't go that far," he answers quickly with an impish grin. "But earlier... That may have been a bit much. I think I'm more to blame though." He chuckles and his fingers lightly skim back and forth across my shoulder. It brings to mind the way his hand had run up my thigh and partially up my skirt when we kissed. "I got a little carried away. I'm sorry about that."

I feel my cheeks begin to burn and keep my face turned away from him to hide my blush. "That's okay. I literally threw myself at you, so..."

"So, maybe we should practice?" he suggests.

I giggle and turn to face him once more. "Practice? As in, practice kissing?"

"Yeah... You know, just to get a good feel of the intensity we want to go with. Gotta make it believable but don't want to get carried away either, right?"

He's grinning away at me now, and even though I'm sure my cheeks are flaming red, I can't stop myself from smiling back at him. "Okay, yeah. That's a good idea. Let's... practice."

The word makes me laugh out loud, but the sound is cut short when Jonah's hand moves from my shoulder to rest against my cheek.

He uses his palm to gently pull me closer and then his soft lips find mine.

I think I'd be okay with "practicing" with him for the rest of the night.