Read Secrets & Lies: Two Short Stories for Free Online

asked.
    “The kitchen was crowded. Took me a while to get close to the cooler,” I lied. I’d had that one prepared.
    B started talking about something, but I wasn’t listening. I kept glancing over my shoulder to make sure Toby hadn’t come into the living room. I didn’t want him to see me with B and come over and say hi or something. I didn’t want him to know I was still lying to her about us.
    I didn’t want him to know what a coward I was.
    I ran back and forth for a while, hurrying Bianca through each beer so I could go grab her another and making excuses to Toby about why I needed to run off a few minutes after meeting back up with him. It was exhausting. So when Wesley sat down on the couch next to Bianca and me, I was relieved. At least B would be distracted by someone else for a while so I could make an escape and spend some actual time with Toby.
    I found him playing pool by himself in a room upstairs. He had his blazer off, slung over the back of an armchair in the corner. The sleeves of his white button-down were rolled up to his elbows. When I walked in, he was bent forward over the table, concentrating hard on a shot. It was pretty sexy, if I do say so. Especially when the nine ball bounced off the side of the table and sailed into a corner pocket.
    “Hey,” I said, stepping inside and shutting the door behind me. “Who’s winning?”
    Toby straightened up. “Well, I’m in the lead. But I’m giving myself a run for my money.”
    I laughed and walked over to the table. “I’m surprised no one else is up here playing.”
    “I was, too. But I figure, the place is huge. If you didn’t stumble upon it, you’d never know it was here.” He put the pool stick aside. “So how long will you be sticking around this time? Five minutes or ten?”
    I bit my lip. “Sorry. I guess I’ve been pretty flaky tonight.”
    “A little bit.”
    “Well, I’m sorry. I plan to stick around this time, though…. And I can make it up to you.”
    There was the blush. I couldn’t help giggling.
    “You’re adorable, Toby,” I said.
    He sighed. “Just what every nineteen-year-old male wants to hear.”
    I rolled my eyes. “Oh, shut up.” I slugged him on the arm and he laughed. He opened his mouth, and I shook my head. “No, don’t even say it. I mean shut up, not STFU. I am working on the abbreviations, you know.”
    “In the meantime, you owe me, like, seven dollars in quarters,” he said.
    I batted my eyelashes. “Any chance I could persuade you to lower my debt?”
    “I don’t know. A good politician would never take bribes.”
    “Oh, please. All politicians take bribes,” I said. “They’re just good at keeping it a secret.” I hopped up onto the pool table and gestured for him to come closer. “Believe me, I’m good at keeping secrets.”
    Toby laughed and stepped closer, resting his hands on the edge of the pool table, framing my hips. I leaned forward and—finally—kissed him. God, it felt like I’d been waiting all night to do that. And once I did, I didn’t want to stop.
    His hands slid up to my waist and mine curled around the back of his head and neck. We made out like that for a while, until my heart was racing and my skin felt like it was on fire. I pulled back just long enough to yank my sweater over my head, then we were kissing again. I could feel his hands pressing into my back, warm through my thin cotton tank top.
    We were gasping and laughing between kisses, and just when I was about to whisper something sassy or sexy or funny—I hadn’t really decided yet—I heard voices outside the door. I barely had time to separate my lips from his when the door opened and a drunk dude on his cell phone stumbled in.
    There was no mistaking what was going on between Toby and me, not with how our hands were all over each other and our lips were swollen. And it only took the drunk dude a second to figure it out. His watery eyes went wide and his mouth gaped a little.
    “Yo,