Toasted Marshmallows (A Sweetly Novella)

Prologue

With a grin, I asked Reyna, "Why don't you tell your brother what you two," I gestured to her and Wesley, "get up to in that supply closet?"

The vengeance I sought not only got back at Reyna who was finding it all so amusing until now, but it also distracted Ian from what just happened between us. He was way overprotective of his little sister and I took full advantage of it for the situation.

The supply closet was more like a small chemistry lab and they mostly studied in there. They had to have made out once or twice though. I knew I would if I was in Reyna's neon shoes. Not with Wesley, of course. Ew. Maybe with someone like...

Just as I glanced at Ian, he released the shrillest tone I had ever heard. My six-year-old sister couldn't even hit that range.

"Supply closet?!"

Reyna inched behind Wesley to hide from her livid brother. I did enjoy watching him get all riled up because it was always entertaining, but I never failed to rescue my bestie. Wesley can fend for himself, I thought as I watched Reyna step in front of Wesley and make up an excuse for him to leave the room.

"You better run, you four-eyed casanova!" Ian shouted as Wesley ran upstairs.

For being a guest in Wesley's house, Ian wasn't treating him very well. They didn't really get along anyway because Ian was so concerned about his little sister and didn't want her to get hurt. Wesley appeared to have enough respect for Ian to put up with his dramatic behavior, but Ian couldn't see it.

The doorbell rang, so Reyna ran out of the room to answer it and get the pizza we ordered and left me all alone with the smoking beefcake. Really, I thought I saw smoke coming off of his blonde head from all of his fuming.

"Alright, loser. Let's vent some of that anger on the game. I'll even let you win," I said, patting his shoulder and sitting back down on the couch.

Ian looked at me then and blinked before he scanned the room, realizing it was just the two of us. He cleared his throat and sat beside me on the very edge of the seat.

I rolled my eyes and put my arm across his chest to push him back against the couch. Then I tossed a controller onto his lap and waited for him to choose a character. After a tentative glance my way, Ian picked up the controller and selected the character he created of himself. It looked just like him with blonde hair and green eyes, but the character was herculean and wielding giant mallet. I chose the one I created too; A slender girl with dirty blonde hair who's fighting style resembled dancing.

A minute into the match, he was struggling to stay alive as he muttered, "I thought you said you would let me win, Ferret."

I held back a smile at his nickname for me. Even though I typically hated him for still using the name that haunted me in elementary and middle school, it held a certain amount of normalcy that we both needed after our liplock.

"You're cheating!" Ian accused.

"How am I cheating, huh? Just because I don't button-mash like you does not make me a cheater."

He cursed when I did a special attack and knocked his character out of the ring.

"See?" I grinned at him before the second round started, "I never cheat. I'm just really good at kicking your ass."

He turned to me then and said under his breath, "You're cheating right now with that smile."

The controller dropped from my hands and I hurried to pick it back up when I saw him crushing my idle character.

"Now that is cheating," I muttered, dancing around him and fighting back with all of my tricks.

I was curious if things were in fact back to normal because of his typical shameless flirting. Then when I won the second battle, he started sulking in his poor loser ways and I took it as a good sign.