ducked inside and hid until she was absolutely certain they weren’t looking for her. How could she have been so foolish to allow them to kiss her so openly or at all? Those were her first kisses and they meant the world to her because it was with her two closest friends she had happened to be crushing on. But despite her infatuation with them, it wasn’t right. There was no way anything could ever come of this? There were two of them and only one of her. What would everyone say? If it got out, people would label her a tramp. Tabitha already made her life a living hell. Alex could imagine what that evil bitch would do to he r if she had found out. It took a lot of thought and convincing herself that it was just a one-time thing but Alex finally did it.
Later that night as she tossed and turned in bed , the realization hit her that she was in love with them, but not the teenage crush kind of feeling, but full blown love. She’d never been in love before so she had no actual comparison but deep down, she knew this was the real thing. Why else would this be tearing at her heart the way it was. She could think of no other reason why when she woke up they were her first thought and when she went to sleep, she dreamed of them. Whenever she saw either one of them, she was happy and when they were apart, she felt empty. What else but love could possibly make her feel this way?
Alex wasn’t sure when it had happened , but she was certain it was wrong to have feelings for two guys at once. It just wasn’t normal. Yet, Cash and Rusty had acted as if it was the most natural thing in the world. She shuddered as she imagined what her grandmother would say if she knew. Grandma would probably call her a loose woman and make her go to church to pray at the alta r until her knees bled.
Most of the girls at school already hated her because of the frien dship she had with the Bradford boys , and Mrs. Bradford didn’t think it was a good idea that she hang out with her son s in case people got the wrong idea. The older woman had even intimated that things would be difficult if her grandmother found herself unemployed. The threat had been clear. It was why she had been avoiding them these past couple weeks anyway. She wasn’t sure why they had to go and complicate things further. She had originally thought these newly formed feelings for them were just a simple school girl crush like her love for her favorite boy band, but this was so much more intense.
By the time she finally drifted off to sleep at the first light of dawn, she was determined to strengthen her resolve and keep away from them. What happened at school was simply an aberration that could never happen again.
When she got to school the next day, she found that she didn’t have to avoid them . They stayed out of her way. In class, Rusty didn’t even look her way. Although it was what she had told herself she wanted, it hurt that he didn’t at least acknowledge her.
After school , as she was gathering her books from her locker, she noticed Rusty pass by her and on his arm was Tabitha. And from then on, whenever she saw one, the other wasn’t far behind. It was sickening to her how he could kiss her one day as if he meant it and then go run ning in to the arms of her sworn enemy. As for Cash, he kept his distance , which wasn’t as difficult for him since he was two grades ahead of her. Whenever she’d see him in the hallway, sometimes he’d nod in her direction like she could have been anyone off the street. Other times, he wouldn’t acknowledge her at all.
The only perk from the Bradford brothers ignoring her was that Tabitha and her cronies left Alex alone. Things got a little easier when Cash graduated and went off to college but not by much. But even though she didn’t hang out with them anymore, her feelings for them had not waned. She’d see them in a distance and her heart would ache. Alex told herself that she didn’t care, but every time she would see
James Patterson, Andrew Gross