Our Broken Pieces - M.E. Clayton Page 0,15

sorry, Margot,” she sputtered. “It’s not...I didn’t mean…”

Margot was not letting up. “You lied to me!”

“What’s going on, man?” Chance asked, finally saying something.

I looked at Chance. “It’s just like Mystic said. We wanted to maintain our privacy.”

Chance looked bewildered. “Privacy?” He ran his hand through his hair. “Privacy against what, for Christ’s sake?” Then his head reared back in astonishment. “Were...were you ashamed of her?”

The beast in me roared, but I was still conscious enough to realize I was talking to my best friend. “I’m only going to say this once, Chance,” I snapped. “When I look at Mystic, I see nothing but pure fucking perfection-”

“Gage-”

I ignored Mystic. “I am not, nor have I ever been ashamed of her.”

“Then why keep it a secret?” Margot asked. I was about to answer that we kept it a secret because we didn’t need anyone getting all up in our business, trying to sabotage what we had, but Mystic answered instead, and her answer was very different from the one I had in my mind.¶

“Be...because Gage is the Washington High’s quarterback,” she replied. “He’s the most popular guy in school. He’s smart, funny, cool…” Mystic let out a pathetic little chuckle when she looked up at me. “He looks like that.” She turned back to Margot. “Why would I want people knowing he was dating me? They would have torn me to shreds.”

Chapter 9

Mystic~

I wasn’t self-loathing.

I really wasn’t.

And, even though I was lying, it still rang of the truth. Gage Evans was a god and I...well, I was just short, thick, bland Mystic Anderson. It was fact. I didn’t stand out. I didn’t stand out, and I was okay with that. But even if I did look like Margot or had her likeable personality, I still would have kept my secret from the world. I wasn’t ready for the world to know about me and Gage, but I guess that didn’t matter anymore. Gage’s announcement had probably reached the backyard by now.

I knew Dillon grabbing my hand had been a bad thing, but I never would have guessed that it would have bothered Gage enough to go all caveman on me.

And now our secret was out.

Our secret was out, and my best friend was hurt and angry, and I didn’t blame her. I would have been, too.

“That’s bullshit,” she spat. “You are beautiful, Mys. Any guy would be lucky to date you.”

“And I am,” Gage growled next to me. I closed my eyes in defeat as he kept talking. “We’re sorry we kept this from you, but we don’t have to explain our reasons to anyone, and that includes you two.”

“That’s fucked up, G,” Chance snapped as he went to stand next to Margot in a united front.

I felt Gage place his hand on the small of my back and my breath hitched with how he was finally touching me in public after all these years. It felt...strange. I opened my eyes as he addressed Chance. “Oh, yeah. Just like you told me how much you liked Margot before this week? Like that?”

“Come on, dude,” Chance grimaced. “It’s not the same thing and you know it.”

“You guys have been together for four years and never said anything,” Margot jumped in. “That’s fucked-up, whether you guys want to admit it or not.”

“Mar-”

Margot was upset, and the booze probably wasn’t helping. “I thought we were best friends, Mystic. I...don’t know what to think now.”

“I’m sorry,” I replied, and I was. I really was. But...that was all I could give her. I couldn’t tell her the real reason I kept Gage a secret from her, but I was afraid she was going to find out eventually, anyway.

There was no way Gage and I could be around each other and not...cave.

“So am I,” Margot whispered right before she turned her back on me and walked out of the room. I stood there heartbroken as I watched Chance run after her.

Suddenly, I couldn’t breathe.

All these years of hiding who we are when we were together was being threatened because Gage couldn’t rein in his emotions. I turned to look up at him. “Why?”

His face was pure male fury when he replied, “Because he was touching you like he had the right to, Mystic.” He stepped forward until his chest touched mine. I had to tilt my head all the way back to hold his gaze. “Nobody gets to touch you but me. Nobody.”

“Gage...what you did…” I couldn’t even finish. I felt...exposed. Even though no one knew the