Love Defined

Part 19

Chapter 18

"He's your boyfriend." Thomas didn't sound too convinced at my declaration and I didn't blame him. I don't know why I introduced Scott as my boyfriend but the words slipped out before I could stop them. There was no way Thomas would believe me; it must be hard to take us seriously when I refused to meet his eyes and Scott stood with me in his arms and his mouth wide from shock.

Yeah, we looked real convincing.

"Yes, Piper and I are dating." Scott collected his thoughts quickly enough to answer Thomas and pull me tighter to him. Still, I refused to move my head from his chest. I didn't want see either of their expressions.

"Well, that is something new. I never knew Piper to be the dating type." Thomas kept his voice level but I was sure I detected a whisper of malice in his words. I gulped in fear of Thomas and in fear of the words that would come out of Scott's mouth.

I hoped he would play along.

"Maybe she wasn't in the past but, times change and maybe all it took was the right man to change her mind." Scott's head turned to me and I removed my face from his chest long enough to see his smile which, I happily retuned. He winked at me and I knew in that moment that he would play along. I also knew that he had already made assumptions on the reason for my behaviour and that the minute we left the party, he would interrogate me.

"Well aren't you a lucky man. Excuse me please." Thomas left quickly and I finally relaxed against Scott and breathed normally. I hated how he still affected me, how he still scared me and yet had my body reacting to his in an uncomfortable way.

Scott wasted no time in interrogating me. He pulled me away from his chest and made me look at him by holding my head in his hands. "Are you okay?" I nodded. "Good, now tell me what the hell that was all about?"

I sighed and pulled out of his grasp. I found the nearest seat and threw my body in it. "I don't like him."

"I guessed that," Scott replied and found the seat across from me. "What was the boyfriend comment about?"

"I panicked. I didn't want you to leave me alone with him so I told him we were dating. It was the only way to get him to leave me alone."

He nodded in thought and then carefully leaned across the table and held my hands within his larger ones. He played with my fingers and I couldn't pull my eyes away from the view. His skin was a shade more golden than mine and the comparison between our skin colours and his larger hand and fingers, created such a beautiful and complete image. We were silent for a moment, each too focused on how our fingers looked sliding over one another's.

"Tell me, are you scared of Thomas?" I looked up to Scott but his face remained pointing towards our hands; his fingers holding mine a little tighter.

"Yes," I answered in a whisper.

"Why?" He asked; his voice also low. We didn't want to draw attention to ourselves. We were at a child's party after all.

"It doesn't matter," I replied curtly.

Scott's hand tightened around mine and he jerked it until I looked him in the eye. "Of course it matters. You looked like you were going to pass out any second."

I opened my mouth to tell him off but another voice interrupted me. "Well I'm back; sorry to interrupt you love birds." Thomas quickly found a seat between both Scott and I; causing my body to stiffen immediately. Scott squeezed my hand in comfort and I looked up to him smiling. It wasn't enough to get me to relax but it was enough for me to control my breathing.