It All Started with a Lie

Chapter 12

When he manages to escape, leaving the carts in his wake, I set Alexandria back on the ground. She turns in my arms, which are still around her for safe measure, and hits my chest so hard I nearly stumble back. "Why did you stop me?"

"You stopped me first," I defend myself.

Her face contorts and changes in deep exaggeration, her lips curling, nose scrunching as she bends for what I assume to be dramatic affect and gestures towards the absence of Wick. "That's because I didn't know what happened. Had I known I would have let you beat the crap out of him."

"You said you didn't want to get banned from the store."

She rolls her eyes, throwing her hands up. "Screw that! I would have rather gouged his eyes out, see how pretty he thinks she is then." She slides my hands off of her and marches towards the spot Wick ran too. "Now excuse me while I finish him off."

I reach for her hand, pulling her back hesitantly. Wick has paid enough for his crimes in fear, I am not going to let her leave so easily this time. "Why are you avoiding me?"

She stills at my question. "I'm not avoiding you."

Like hell you're not. "I watched you hide when you saw me." 

With that, she knows she is caught and has no excuses left. She releases a breath, taking a few steps towards me. "That's because you were with Richard."

She's not afraid of me. "So?"

She waves her hand between us in explanation. "So what if she—"

"What if she what?"

She rests her hands on her hips. "So what if she takes one look at me and you together and figures it out. I mean all we ever do is argue. If she hears us fighting, she's going to know something is up."

"That's not true." We do other things than argue, things I would much prefer my sister never find out about.

Alexandria points her finger at me, her brow raising. "Yes it is. Wanna know how I know? Because we are about to argue about this too. We can't be together around Richard, she will know. We are too wrong for each other. We can't be friends, we can't be strangers, it's better if we just avoid each other."

She gets mad at me for ignoring her and is now telling me to ignore her. I am confused.

She continues, telling me all the reasons we make a terrible pair but she keeps moving closer to me and does not release my hand, which is still in hers. I am aware of everything she is saying but I am also aware of how soft her skin is against my hands, and the smell of honey that envelops me. The lingering taste of burnt sugar and rum creeps back up my throat and my body craves more of it, filling me with a misty hase until I'm cutting her sentence off by taking her lips with mine, just long enough to taste her. Wick was right, I do need a fix and it is her. I am a junkie.

She leans into me but I barely give her a chance to register what I've done before I pull away, my eyes widening. Shit. My sister could be anywhere, she could see us. What am I thinking? "I—"

I don't know what to say at the sight of her flushed cheeks and shocked expression, and. Lesley neither does she because she grabs my face with both of her hands and pulls me back down to her. Her kiss is more demanding than mine was, her hands running up my face to grip my hair and pull me even closer. I shut up immediately, lost in her and the sweet taste of her lips. I grab her waist pushing her back into the shelves, knocking down a few bags in the process. I don't care. All I care about is her, and the sound of her frantic breaths against mine as she runs her tongue along my lips. I almost forget we are in public, and that my sister could catch us at any moment, that is until she tears away from me with gasp, her hand striking me across the face with enough force to make my cheek sting, but the pain is almost enjoyable knowing it is from her. She covers her lips with her hand, her bright green eyes so wide I can see the entirety of them. Her cheeks—no, her whole face, burns scarlet. She reaches up for a brief moment to touch my cheek, which still burns, before retracting it and turning her gaze to our feet. "I shouldn't have—oh gods, Richard!"

The sounds of her name brings dread over me and I nervously look around to see if anyone—if she has seen us. There is no one in sight. "I have to go!" Alexandria shuffles away from me, holding the edge of her satin night gown, nearly stumbling over her own feet. It is the first time I have ever seen her walk with anything but grace and I can't help but smile. She pauses as I do, her eyes flickering from my eyes to my lips. "For the record," she starts, "I still hate you."

I only grin wider. "I know."

A/N
Hi lovies!
Okay so honest option, thoughts on the book?

It's so weird to think this book will be done being written in less than a month, I just finished writing chapter 25.

As a reminder, The deal goes on sale as The Fake Date by Rachelle <3 on Amazon November 23 for those of you who are interested.

QOTD: what if your favorite trope?

Lots of love,
Rachelle <3