Page 10 of Lying Hearts
I blink at Corinne, stunned speechless. Although Brendan has all of my heart, he has no idea who I am. He is beyond out of my league.
I’ve only said “hey” to him once.
Disaster.
I said it because he said it first.
But then it turned out he was talking to his buddy Mark who was walking up behind me.
Needless to say, I slinked back into the shadows where it’s nice and quiet… and dark enough for me to cry.
I look away so she can’t see me lying. “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you this, Marilyn, but I really don’t care what Brendan does.” She calls me Squid. I call her Marilyn after Marilyn Monroe, thanks to her hair and sexy goddess style. I may have gotten the short end of the nickname stick.
Her eyes narrow and she leans in to decipher my code. “Really?”
Avoiding her, I mutter without care, “Yeah. I’m not interested.”
“Not at all?”
“Not in the slightest.”
“He’s walking up behind you.”
“Let’s do another shot.”
Corinne laughs hard and turns to shove that girl out of the way. Successful, she starts singing “Shots shots shots shots” by the band LMFAO, and pours way too generously.
I don’t dare look around, but I don’t need to. Before I even lay eyes on Brendan, I hear his voice, low and deeper than most other guys and already my knees feel like noodles. His voice boasts his advanced levels of testosterone, and the place that aches for him between my legs moistens instantly. He’s here. He’s walking up behind me. Now is my chance to talk to him! To let him know I exist. I eavesdrop and hear him talking about Mendocino, something about a…
“Here you go.” Corinne slides a half-full cup back in my hand and I lose the last part of what was being said.
I take it from her, head down, focusing hard on the red plastic. I know that when I turn around, I will be face to face with the man I plan to have babies with. First I should probably tell him my name.
“Thanks.” I drink it before she even has a chance to toast or join me.
She stares at my speed, reads correctly into it, and whoops loudly, “Now it’s a party! Here, have another!”
I don’t argue, holding my cup out. I turn my head, say nothing, and stare at the man I have every intention of marrying. He’s exchanging words with jerkoff Mark and that asshole Tommy, but all I can see is Brendan’s mouth moving like the world just slowed down to make me the happiest girl in it. His lips are so full and pouty, and his teeth are straight from the braces he still had on during the beginning of his sophomore year, the I first time I saw him, three years ago. I was a freshman, and apparently invisible.
Nothing has changed, because he does not see me staring at him right now, either. As I watch him, I wish he had a bad ear so I could lean in and whisper, “Is this the ear you can’t hear out of? Brendan Clark, I’ll love you ‘til the day I die.” I may or may not have watched It’s A Wonderful Life a gazillion times too many, because I am hoping for a day when we’re dancing over a hidden pool, fall into it, laugh our butts off as we continue to dance in the water. That would be amazing.
I will love him ‘til the day I die.
I’ve never known (from afar) a more loyal, kind, smart, funny and GORGEOUS man than Brendan fucking Clark. The fact that he was faithful to his girlfriend while being friends with a player like Mark and the rest of his ridiculously good-looking crew, only made it fireworks-explosion obvious that Brendan is one of the good ones. A capitalized neon sign follows him around blinking repeatedly: KEEPER.
I met his now ex-girlfriend Sara once. I may have been biased, but I thought she was a stuck-up self-entitled bitch who flirted with everyone and barely even seemed to notice Brendan. But him breaking up with her? The way he always looked at her, I would have expected it the other way around. She must have done something really, really horrible. I want to kiss her for it.
Tonight is my lucky night!
“To having a great time!” Corinne announces, batting her plastic to mine, both newly refilled.
Thanking the gods above, I smile and silently add, to Sara Brighton’s absence.