girl.
My fingernails dug deep into his shoulders. The temptation was strong.
If I let him do this, it would only last for this fleeting moment in time. Not a bad thing. The end of the world was coming. I didn’t really want to die unloved. Yet, at the same time, I knew if we did this while he pretended to be Matt, we’d never recover. This twisted game wasn’t fair to us. It wasn’t fair to Matt.
And deep down, I still believed there would be more.
My fingernails detached from his shoulder. My legs let go of his waist.
I tore my mouth away.
Doppelganger-Matt blinked at the release.
Defensive shields rose and his lips curled into a sneer. “You were bluffing.”
Even if I had been, I wasn’t ready to throw in the towel. “Tick-tock” the hands of a clock in the corner of the room chimed. I gambled, making my last play. I laid my palm on his chest, above the solid thump of his heart. “I’m not bluffing. I’m just not letting you get off so cheap. I should at least get some roses or dinner or something before my deflowering.”
I let the words sink in. Startled, he drew back. He raked a hand through brown hair and grinned sheepishly. “I forgot. How about that dance instead?”
I arched a brow. “Is this your way of asking me to Prom?”
He bristled. “It’s one week from now. I doubt you’ll get a better offer—”
“Will you please shut up?” I sighed. “My answer is yes.”
He stilled. “Good.”
“Good, you’re picking me up. I want a limo.” Actually, I could have cared less about a limo, but I did enjoy ordering him around.
“Fine,” he said in a husky tone. “I’ll even bring a corsage, if you bring the skirt.”
Translation. You bring the sex.
For show, he took out a few more condoms from under the register.
I flushed at the sight of more plastic wrappers. “How did you know those were there?”
He stuck them in his pocket. “Kids talk.”
“They don’t talk to me,” I muttered.
Husky laughter soothed me. “Your reputation is too clean.”
“And yours isn’t?”
“I never claimed otherwise.” He glanced up. A small mirror hanging down from the ceiling (to keep an eye on potential shoplifters) reflected his face—Matt’s face. His expression shuttered at the glimpse of his appearance.
Mentally, I sighed. Oh, the games we play.
He pulled fully away from me and went to pick up my crutch, which had fallen near the door. I jumped down and tottered over to him. He thrust the steel crutch at me. “If you’re done distracting me, shall we proceed to the library?”
Without waiting for a reply, he stalked to the door. I saw him fumble with the doorknob, muttering curses under his breath. I watched him, chewing my lip, but not saying anything. Finally, the knob turned and he banged the door open. He hurried off down the hall.
I caught up a few minutes later. Down the hallway, around one turn, I found myself in front of the closed double doors of the library. As I struggled with one heavy door, it flew open. Doppelganger-Matt propped it open and pulled me inside with a look of exasperation. The musty scent of books hit me immediately. No one sat behind the high bar that enclosed the checkout area. Glancing around, I saw no one in the library. A low barrier of bookshelves separated a study area from bigger shelves extending from floor to ceiling that filled up the rest of the room. Not a soul roamed the stacks.
I wondered if Doppelganger-Matt had broken in while the librarian was on a break. He led me into the study area of neatly lined tables. I paused, picturing the lion on top of them. My throat dry, I swallowed. The memory of what happened came rushing back, and even though it was only in my head and not physically here, the details of the library were too accurate for my mind not to replay the scene.
Doppelganger-Matt stopped just before a waist-high bookshelf directly at the library’s center. He let out a breath. “It’s not here.”
“Maybe it’s below?”
He knelt to run a finger through an ordered stack of coffee table books.
“What are you all fired up about?” I moved closer to his side and propped my crutch against the shelf. When I leaned against his shoulder, he stiffened.
I yawned. “I’m getting a little tired.”
Grabbing me by the waist, he hoisted me up and set me on the shelf. “You shouldn’t have come to school at all.”
I said