Page 57 of Family Forever
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Marissa slipped into the bathroom, splashed some water on her face and pulled her unruly hair into a ponytail. She probably wouldn’t even have time to change before class but she didn’t care. With her well-kissed lips, she was happy.Finally!
She stepped back into the kitchen to find Dylan staring out the window overlooking the driveway. He spun to face her and ran his hand over his unshaven face. A dejected look consumed his face. Where had that come from all of a sudden?
“What’s the matter?" she asked as she narrowed the gap between them.
His dark eyes studied her for a moment.
Unease coiled in the pit of her stomach.
He shot a quick glance out the window, then returned his curious gaze to her. “I see you borrowed Terry’s car.”
She didn’t like where this was headed. He was going to point blank ask her about her relationship with Terry. She knew from the beginning, when Cole talked her into having Terry pose as her boyfriend, it would come back to haunt her someday. Countless times, she mentally slapped herself in the head over that charade. Dylan would soon know the truth. For a brief moment it crossed her mind to lie to him now, tell him she and Terry broke up and are now just friends, rather than fess up about her and Cole’s stupid plan to use Terry to make him jealous or convince him that she’d experienced dating like he’d wanted. After the closeness they shared last night, she couldn’t bring herself to lie to him again. Maybe, with a stroke of luck, she could get out of the situation altogether by just answering his question.
“Uh-huh.”
“Are you and he…”
Her no came so quickly the sound of her own voice startled her. Anxiety ricocheted throughout her body. Though she didn't technically lie just now, she didn't come clean either.Not good!
“So you two broke up?”
Unable to speak, she nodded.
“Yet, he loaned you his car?”
Why couldn’t he just stop with the inquisition? Didn’t he believe her?
“Yes, we’re friends.” At least that wasn’t a lie. She and Terry had always been friends.
He leaned toward her and she turned away. “Well, I better get going or I’ll be late for class.” She couldn’t let him kiss her now, not after she just lied to him again.
He followed her to the door. “I’ll call you later.”
She forced a smile. “I’d like that.”
Marissa slid into the car and wasn’t even out of the driveway before her tears streamed down her cheeks. The look on Dylan’s face when she spun away from him let her know he knew something was up. She cried all the way to school. What was supposed to be one of the happiest days of her life was turning out to be quite terrible by her own actions—lying to the man she loved. She parked Terry’s car and would have just enough time to return the keys to him before heading off to class. After patting her eyes one last time, she flung the car door open and headed in the direction of his room.
Terry answered the door. The smile on his face vanished in a split-second. “Have you been crying?”
Her tears started all over.
He pulled her to him and held her until she backed away.
His warm hands stayed on her shoulders. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”
She nodded and swallowed hard. “I lied to Dylan.”
Terry’s knowing gaze expressed his thoughts even before he spoke them. He was hesitant when she asked him to pose as her boyfriend on New Year’s. He even warned her the scheme could backfire, but she eventually talked him into helping.
“About me?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“He’s not going to come here and pound me or something is he?” he asked with a crooked smile.
“No, he thinks we broke up,” she said before giving him an overview of what happened with Dylan.
