Sloppy Firsts_ A Jessica Darling Novel - Megan McCafferty [93]
Her words stunned me like a taser.
The next thing I knew, I was watching a million Marcuses leading a million mes through the lobby and out the door, into the cold.
Once inside the car, Marcus tried to ease my mind. "She doesn’t know anything. She was just being a bitch."
Holyshitholyshitholyshit! Did Sara say what I thought she said? Was it directed toward both of us? Or just Marcus? Did Sara know about The Dannon Incident? How could Sara know? No way she knew. If she knew, she would’ve busted me already. Right? Or maybe seeing us together was all the evidence she needed to nail us?
I was too busy thinking about all this to talk, let alone notice that Marcus had turned down a dark dirt road off Forest Drive. He pulled over to the side of the road and turned off the engine.
"Why are we stopping?"
The only light shone from high beams. Marcus got out of the car, walked around the front, came over to the driver’s side, opened the door, and held out his hand.
"What?"
He just stood there with his arm outstretched.
I unbuckled my seat belt and grabbed his hand. He pulled me out of the car. A chill shot through me from the inside out.
"Keep your eyes closed," he said.
He took my other hand in his.
I was so freaked out, I didn’t know what to do with myself.
He pulled me close. I inhaled the earthy, autumnal scent of his skin—the scent that had inspired fantasies about stealing his BSB T-shirt and using it as a pillowcase so I could breathe him in as I sleep.
I felt his smoky breath on my face.
Hot.
And at that moment, I just knew he was going to kiss me. I was petrified. So much so, that I hadn’t even noticed that I’d been chewing the left side of my lip—until I felt a sharp nibble on the opposite side.
Marcus bit me! He nipped my lip!
I nearly jumped out of my boots—not because it hurt, but because no one had ever chewed on my mouth besides me. I couldn’t believe that the first person to do that to me was him. Marcus Flutie. I opened my eyes and there he was, looking at me. Grinning.
"Shall we?" he said.
He opened the door and slid inside, and I followed suit.
I don’t know how I managed to make it through the drive home. Or how I got the word good-bye out when he dropped me off. I don’t know much of anything right now. But what I really don’t know is if that lip nip counts as our first kiss.
the tenth
All night I repeated his name over and over and over again out loud. Marcusmarcusmarcus. And after a while, I started to hear what it really meant.
Markissmarkissmarkiss.
Marred kiss.
Jesus Christ.
So let’s just preface this by saying that I was very desperate for advice this morning. And now, after seeking that advice, I’m more desperate for advice than ever.
Bridget was still in her pajamas when I knocked on her door. Even at her groggiest, she looked as fresh and dewy as Sleeping Beauty. I needed to tell someone about what happened last night. I’ve created such a complex inner world for myself that I was starting to believe that I’d made it all up. And no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn’t talk to Hope about it. She would die if she knew Marcus and I had done uh, whatever we had done last night. Bridget hated the Clueless Crew and Co. as much as I did, so I figured she was my best bet. She was my only bet. Make no mistake, I hated myself for telling her instead of Hope. I mean, what does it say about our friendship when I’m hiding more than I’m sharing? But I had to get it all out.
So I told Bridget everything that had happened, from Marcus’s invitation to Burke’s lesbo comment to the bit lip. The only thing I didn’t get into was why Sara’s comment stung as much as it did. The Dannon Incident had to remain a secret.
"He bit your lip?"
"Yeah."
"That’s like, so weird."
"I know."
"Does that mean you’re the girl Marcus is using to cheat on his current girlfriend?"
I leapt out of the beanbag. "No!" I protested. "I mean, I don’t