Page 2 of Make Believe

It’s over. He wasn’t happy.

He told me I was being a pussy and that he liked fucking me because he didn’t have to do that ‘girl shit’ with me. The deal was that I wasn’t supposed to care or have feelings, that it was just about sex, and I agreed. But him treating me like garbage out in the real world crosses a line.

It also comes perilously close to echoing the words my Daddy told me when he ended our relationship the summer before. The ones that cut me to the bone and left me a broken wreck of a boy.

Look, I love my kink. Being a lifeless doll and letting a guy have his way with me is exhilarating. It lets me get out of my head and just be someone else’s beautiful prop. But I didn’t claw my way out of that suffocating, conservative hell hole where I grew up only to be told that my opinions don’t matter. That I’m still someone who should be seen and not heard.

Logan doesn’t get to decide when I matter or not. I do. I don’t want to be his boyfriend, but I’m not going to let him dehumanize me out in the real world, either.

So my breath hitches as he and Tara enter the room. I only have a second to wonder how he’s going to react, then the problem is solved for me. In a matter of speaking.

“What are you doing here, traitor?” Tara sneers at Jessie, who crosses his arms and narrows his eyes at her.

“It’s a free country,” Jessie says defiantly. “If anything, I should be asking whatyou’redoing here. You decided to fuck around and find out, so you’re not on the squad anymore. This is a Panthers house. I’m here with the Kittens. You know? The team you quit.”

Tara looks my friend up and down with a curled lip. “Whatever, freak. I’d rather quit than be associated with a drug-dealing biker gang and that crazy old cat man who you let fuck you.”

Jessie looks murderous and steps forward, but I put my hand protectively on his chest and laugh. “She’s not worth it, hon.”

And that’s when this blonde bitch turns her attention to me.“You,”she rasps. “Another little freak that deserves to be locked up.”

I scoff. “Oh, sweetheart, threatening me with handcuffs isn’t going to get you the reaction you’re hoping for.”

She makes a repulsed face and moves closer to Logan, who automatically wraps his arm around her waist. “Fancy seeing you here, Hughes,” he says smoothly. I grit my teeth and force my dick not to jump like Pavlov’s fucking dog at the sound of his voice. Damn, that boy loved dirty talk and at the time, it was fun.

I’m not interested in hearing another word from him if he can’t at least treat me with a modicum of civility.

“McKenna,” I say curtly. “We were here first, so either deal with it or find somewhere else to spend your Friday night. I hear Clayton, the school raccoon, is hosting a rave behind the dumpsters.”

I flash a grin at him as several people laugh. Even over the music, our little interaction is earning some attention. It’s not surprising, really. Logan’s kind of the closest thing this town has to a celebrity or royal family. His dad is mega-rich and owns half the public property around here. The rumor is that he’s waiting until he has enough to flatten it all and start from scratch, gentrifying the whole area. He even used to own the football team, and they almost renamed the stadium after him.

I never did ask Logan why that fell through. Probably because I don’t care. I bet his dad is just as awful as he is. I never met him officially, just saw him once from afar. God damn it, why does Logan have to be so pretty?

Neither Logan nor Tara likes being laughed at. “Can it, Hughes,” Tara snaps at me. “Your blatant crush on my boyfriend is so pathetic. Give it up. He’d never fuck you in a million years.”

I blink at her and laugh. “Is that so?” I say, flicking my gaze toward Logan, who’s gone stiff as a board. “And what makes you think I’d ever fuckhimin a million years?”

She rolls her eyes. “He told me all about how you begged him so many times. See, we don’t keep secrets in this relationship.”

This is becoming less funny. I try not to give a shit what others think of me. But Ihatepeople lying about me. Yeah, okay, I slept with her boyfriend, which is not a great look. However,hepursuedme.He’sthe one who insists on publicly dating a girl, even though he’s as gay as RuPaul in West Hollywood at Pride. It’s not a real relationship and she’s awful, so personally I don’t consider it cheating. Not when I specifically only wanted him for his body and not his poisonous personality.

I knew this would come back to bite me in the ass. Great sex isn’t worth getting tangled up in their drama and lies.

“I seem to remember the begging was the other way around,” I say coolly to Logan.

For a fraction of a second, his eyes go wide. Then he barks out a laugh. “In your dreams, Hughes. I’m not a fucking fag, and even if I were, I’d never degrade myself with a nobody like you.”

“Good thing you don’t have to anymore,” I retort. “It’s over, remember? Why don’t you admit to yourself and your clueless girlfriend that you’re just as much of a fag as I am?”

“If anyone’s clueless, it’s you,” he snarls, hugging Tara to his side. “Be as deluded as you want, but don’t drag my girl into it. She’s everything you’re not.”

“Iknow.She has avagina,”I say in exasperation, throwing out my hands.

People are laughing again, but Logan grits his teeth and leans closer to me. “She’s rich, beautiful, and smart. You should shut your mouth and leave us alone, you freak.”

He releases Tara and gets in my face, his blazing eyes locked with mine. I jut my chin up defiantly. We’re about the same height, so I’m not going to let him intimidate me.

Or at least I’ll try. When he speaks, it’s so low only I can hear him.

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