One and Done - S. Briones Lim Page 0,1

it down toward us. “There you go, Ma.”

It was quite amusing to watch the way her mouth trembled as if holding back words meant to stab me in the heart. Joke was on her. Nothing she could have said would have hurt me. I’ve basically seen and heard everything nasty in this lifetime—I was impenetrable!

Actually, I take that back. There was one thing she could have said to me that would cause my world to crumble. If she were ever to tell me that she never wanted to see me again, that would have stung—big time. Of course we both knew that was never going to happen. You see, Rocky, or Raquel Rossi as everyone in school knew her, was in love with me. Flat out, head over heels in love with me. Funny thing is, she didn’t know that I knew. Our best friend Stephanie didn’t know that I knew. So how did I know?

Easy!

It was in her eyes, the way her gaze lingered on me whenever she thought I looked away. I could feel her stare permeating my skin, bathing me in care and warmth.

I never looked away.

It was in her words. How even when she was busy cursing me out or joking around with me, there was a certain lullaby to her tone, almost as if by voice alone she could embrace my entire body.

I always listened.

Yeah, I knew she loved me, but you know what? I’d never tell her, nor would I ever let her know that I felt the same way. Why not? To put it bluntly, I didn’t want her to know.

Sure, it may seem simple. Guy likes girl, girl likes guy, they get together, end of story. Unfortunately, that’s not how it would work for me and Rocky. In fact, it would never work out. It was just never in the cards for us.

Still grinning, I gestured toward the rusted ladder. “After you.”

Scowling, she gripped onto the sides and started her climb. I stayed behind, spotting her.

“Aren’t you coming?” she growled. “Or is this just a lame trick to leave me on the roof?”

I frowned. I was never one for pranks, especially those that could hurt the ones I cared about. “Of course not. We’re here to have fun tonight, remember?”

She was already about halfway to the roof when she hissed, “Fun? How is this fun?”

I let my head fall back and admired the way the moonlight illuminated her shapely ass. “Oh trust me; this is a lot of fun.”

***

“If you get her kicked out of school I’m going to kill you.” Stephanie bared her teeth in my direction, which was frightening considering the amount of metal that was inside her mouth. Each bracket shined in the light, reminding me of a shark’s jaw ready to snap.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. “Steph, you really need to lighten up. Stop being Rocky’s keeper. She’s her own woman—”

“A woman who is being steered down the wrong path by you!” To my relief, she glued her mouth together only to bare her metallic fangs toward me once again.

“And there we are with those ugly braces again,” I murmured under my breath.

Stephanie’s jaw dropped open. “You are such a jerk, Jesse!”

“Oh! I didn’t mean for you to hear that,” I joked sheepishly.

She snapped her fingers centimeters in front of my nose, and I could have sworn I felt a crackle of electricity against my skin. “Rocky told me how you both snuck onto the top of the school last night, and for what reason? Just to be uber cool or something? You guys could have been arrested for trespassing. Not to mention breaking curfew. Do you know how that would look on college applications?”

“I’m not going to college, so I don’t know why that would concern me.” I was getting pretty sick of hearing the word “college,” especially since there was no way I’d be able to afford going even if I actually got accepted into one.

Stephanie shifted uncomfortably. “You may not be going, but what about Rocky? She wants to go to Greystone. You know that. Do you really want to ruin her life by pulling these grade school stunts?”

Damn, that was pretty harsh. I swallowed back what tasted like a bitter pill in my mouth. “Do you get off being so overdramatic?”

“I’ll get off by peeling your skin slowly off your body and dumping your pathetic muscle covered bones into a pot of boiling water.”

I froze. Now that was harsh. She’d definitely taken it