I swallowed hard, not just because I had tingles that were going unsatisfied, but because I was relieved. I was happy to be in his bed. I was happy to smell him, clean and natural.
“I love you so much,” I said, but I was ready to cry before I finished.
“Mm...” he said, brushing his lips against the back of my neck. “Stop talking, baby.”
“Tell me you love me first.” I needed to hear him say it. “You have to tell me.”
Instead, he took me by the shoulder and turned me toward him. “I love you, Tessa,” he breathed, putting his mouth over mine like he was proving it. “I love you. I love you,” he mumbled into my lips again and again. And every time he said it, I tried to pull him closer.
I knew he must have felt it too. Felt that we were losing each other.
I successfully ignored Christian through history class. He “pssted” me once, but I didn’t flinch. Kira was going wild, dying to know the details of the mission. But I told her that Christian waited in the car. I hoped she wouldn’t ask him his version of the night.
When I left class, I practically ran to my locker to meet Aiden, but he wasn’t there. He never seemed to be there anymore.
“Hey,” Christian said from behind me as I stood, feeling lost, at my locker. I exhaled and turned around.
“What?”
He smiled, his cheeks a little red. “Your recorder,” he said, holding it out.
Oh. I’d forgotten about that. “Thanks.” Okay, that was a little embarrassing. Not all of his interactions with me ended with a kiss.
“There’s some good stuff on there,” he mumbled. His brown eyes met mine, and I felt that same uneasiness I had the night before. “I’ll see you at lunch, Tess.” He pressed his lips into a smile and walked past me down the busy hallway.
I stood for a minute, not sure how I felt about it. I mean, I didn’t want to see him again, but jeez, at least he was making an effort. Albeit a completely overboard, slightly scary effort. Still, I wished Aiden would try this hard to see me.
Before the tardy bell could ring, I jogged ahead to class and promised to get my attitude right-side up. I’d tell the Smitten Kittens tonight. SOS was over.
I waited at my locker before lunch, watching as the halls slowly emptied. No Aiden. I waited even after the bell rang, hoping he’d come trotting down the hall, all apologetic for not finding me earlier. Instead, he just didn’t show. I dropped my head and made my way to the lunchroom.
It was packed as I paused at the door, looking over the room. It smelled like sloppy joes, one of Aiden’s favorites. He was there at the table, adorable as always in track pants and a T-shirt. But a sharp pain twisted in my chest as I noticed Chloe. She was sitting in my spot, next to him, with her hair pulled up into a high ponytail. They were laughing.
I watched for a minute as she twisted dangling bits of hair around her finger, leaning into him as she spoke. Aiden wasn’t touching her, but did he need to? Did any of the cheaters that SOS tracked do their dirty work in public?
I took a few steadying breaths. Things were so unusual now that I started to wonder if they’d ever get back to normal. Slowly, I walked toward my table.
Kira clapped excitedly when she saw me; her face lost its worry. Chloe glanced over her shoulder but didn’t move. Her rear was firmly planted in my seat.
“Hey, baby,” Aiden said casually as I walked up. He didn’t stand or reach out for me.
I watched him as I rounded the table and took the only available seat, between Christian and Kira. Goose bumps lifted on my arms.
“Here’s your lunch,” Kira said, sliding a tray to me. “Aiden already ate your sloppy joe. Why are you so late?”
I looked across at Aiden, my face tingling with the start of a cry. “Where were you?” I asked. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Chloe smile.
“Oh.” Aiden pulled his eyebrows together. “I’m sorry, Tess. Mr. Grimes sent me and Chloe to pick up some slides from the office. I texted you.”
I blinked rapidly. My phone was on my side table at home. I’d forgotten it. But the thought of them roaming the halls together made my blood boil. Aiden roamed with me. Only me.
I clenched my jaw. “So how’s lab been going?” I was sure my raging, uncharacteristic jealousy was obvious, but no one seemed to notice. In fact, Aiden just smiled at me.
“Good, baby. How’s cheer practice going?” There was a prickle up my arms, but I held his stare. He looked so calm, but there was something in his words. Something... odd.
Chloe giggled. “Things have been fantastic,” she said to me, not sounding at all like herself. That deep, raspy voice was gone. Instead, she sounded perky. Sort of like... me. “He’s really the best.” She beamed at Aiden and touched his arm.
She. Touched. His. Arm.
Aiden shifted in his seat, moving away from her politely, but he continued to watch me, almost curiously. I’d nearly forgotten that Christian was next to me until his leg brushed against mine. It was enough to make me lose my appetite. It reminded me that he’d touched me last night. Aiden’s eyes narrowed at me when I shifted uncomfortably.
“Check this out,” Chloe said to him, and he broke his gaze from me. They started glancing through a notebook as she giggled. They were next to each other. That was my seat. I didn’t want to be catty; I was a Kitten, but I was about five seconds away from scratching her eyes out.
“Tessa,” Leona said from down the table. “Are we having practice later? I really need to talk to you about a new cheer.” She widened her eyes behind her glasses. New cheer was code for a new assignment. Or sometimes it just meant a new cheer. The look on her face told me it was the first one.
“Sure,” I said, exhausted. I was going to tell them SOS was over anyway. They would be devastated, but I needed to get my life back.
Leona bit her lip, looking antsy. She never seemed nervous. She was naturally cool and collected, the opposite of Kira. But right now she was freaking out.
“Peachy,” she said, and I knew it was bad. Leona never, and I repeat never, ate foods with fuzz on them. Nope. This was a bad one. My stomach dropped.
“You okay, baby?” Aiden asked.
My eyes shot up to his, but before I could answer, Chloe snapped her fingers. “Shit,” she said, looking at Aiden. “We’d better go, A. The library’s holding those books for us.
A? She called him flipping A?
Aiden stood up and looked down at me, his face unreadable. “I’ve got to finish this project, Tess. Do you think you could get a ride home?”
I squeaked but didn’t actually answer. “I’ll take her,” Kira spoke up for me. She was always there when I needed her. Besides, I couldn’t move; I was too busy trying not to cry.
Aiden stared at me for a second, shifting his gaze between Christian and me. He opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but he didn’t. Instead, he slowly backed away and then followed Chloe as they left the cafeteria.
“Christian, sweetie,” Leona said, leaning forward to look at him. He seemed startled. He hadn’t said a word the entire time.
“Uh, yeah?”
“Would you mind giving us girls a moment? We have some super-secret cheer stuff to discuss.” She winked at him.
Crocodile Dundee! Was Leona lying to him? I could tell she had a secret. And then I wondered if I was the only one not in on it.
“For sure,” Christian said toward Leona, standing up and grabbing his tray. “Tessa, I’ll—” He stopped and looked around at the table of Smitten Kittens, all staring at him anxiously. “Never mind,” he said. “I’ll catch up with you later.” I didn’t answer as he walked away, his Birkenstocks flopping on the cafeteria floor.
I turned to Kira as Leona jumped up and sat in Christian’s seat. Both she and Kira took one of my arms. I was flanked by cheerleaders. This could not be good.
“Show it to her, Izzie,” Leona said like she was offering up my last meal. Only it wasn’t lobster; it was McDonald’s.
L
eona put her hand protectively on my low back, but I still wasn’t sure what they were protecting me from.
Izzie’s eyes were glassy as she stood up to lean her body across the lunch table and handed me the SOS phone. I jetted my eyes between all of them.
“What’s the big?” I asked in a tight voice. I almost didn’t want to look.
Suddenly, Izzie burst into tears, covering her face with her hands. What the eff was going on? I shook my head and held the cell up in front of my face.
It was a text. It was... Oh, no.
SOS SUSPECT CHEATER FORM
SUSPECT: Aiden Wilder
ACCOMPLICE: Chloe Ferril
Dear SOS,
Another one for you to add to your possible cheater roster. Who would’ve thought, right? Aiden cheating on Tessa? She’s head cheerleader! And I totally thought they were in love. Oh, well, I guess you never know. Hope it’s not true.
Cassandra
SOS
Text: 555-0101
Exposing Cheaters for Over Two Years
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
THE WORLD SORT OF FELL APART AROUND ME. There were colors, and not pretty rainbow ones, but dark, shaded ones. The sounds in my ears began to echo. I stood up, knocking my tray onto the floor but not looking down at it. I dropped the SOS phone onto the table and backed away. Kira’s voice was faintly there, calling me, but I looked straight ahead.
It... wasn’t true. Not after two years. Not like this.
“I have to go,” I said absently. “I’ll call you later.” I began walking out of the cafeteria, not quite sure where I was going, but just away. I half expected a Smitten Kitten to come after me, but no one did. They were devastated. Not only had Aiden been the perfect boyfriend, he’d been my boyfriend. And hadn’t I been perfect?
As I walked the empty halls, I choked when a few whimpers escaped from my throat, but I recovered. I would never cry at school. No way. I only had about five minutes before the bell would ring, flooding the walkways with students. I needed to escape before then.
The big double doors of the school’s front entrance loomed ahead, and I didn’t even stop at my locker. I’d get home, find my mom and dad, and ask them. They knew Aiden. They knew he’d never—
I skidded to a stop. I had no way home. Gingersnaps!
“Tess?”
Christian was next to me. He was always there. But rather than give him a dirty look or politely tell him to go away, I burst out crying. Hysterical, drama queen sobbing.
His arm reached over my shoulders, and soon we were walking into the sunshine of the parking lot. I didn’t argue, not that I could; I was covering my face, unable to control my fit.
“Shh ...” he said soothingly, and it was soothing. It was almost nice. I put my head on his chest, smelling him, trying to fight back the last few tears.
“Get in.” He opened the passenger door of his car, and I did just that. I got in. Again.
I kept my head against the cool window, my face feeling swollen, as he drove toward my house. I saw the trees and houses as we passed but didn’t recognize any of it. And I didn’t care.
I cleared my throat. “Do you think there’s something going on with Aiden and your sister?” My voice was hoarse.
“Where’d you hear that?” Christian asked.
I turned slowly to him, my lips feeling dry and chapped. “SOS just got a possible cheater form. It was about Aiden and... your sister.” I resisted the urge to call her a harsh name, but it was so close to the tip of my tongue, I was alarmed. I hadn’t sworn in years.
“Oh.”
I waited, but that was all he said. “Did you know?” I demanded.
“No.” He shook his head, adjusting the heater. “To be honest...” He looked sideways at me. “I can’t believe that anyone would cheat on you.”
My mouth opened in surprise. It was a puppy-dog statement, and despite what had just happened, I smiled. If Christian could be this fond of me, surely Aiden still was?
It gave me renewed hope. “I don’t think it’s true,” I said as a new sense of calm fell over me.
“You... don’t?” He sounded truly surprised.
“No. I won’t believe it.” My chest filled with possibility. “Aiden loves me. I’m his life.”
Christian didn’t say anything, but when he pulled up in front of my house, he shut off his car. He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel.
“Thanks for the ride. I’m okay now.” I was perky. If I could stay like this, things would be okay.
Christian pulled his eyebrows together. “Tessa,” he whispered. “It’s none of my business; you’ve made yourself clear. But I’d hate to see you get screwed over like this.”
I winced, feeling slapped by his words.
“Sorry.” He shook his head. “Listen, I’ll be honest, I do believe it. And I ... I want to suggest something.”
I didn’t like how easily he accepted Aiden’s unfaithfulness. But then again, he didn’t know him like I did. “No, thanks—”
“One more mission,” Christian said. “Just one. No one even has to know.”
My stomach flipped, and the air seemed to escape from the car. I hadn’t considered—I would never consider—spying on Aiden.
I shook my head.
“You’re a professional, Tessa. You run a wildly successful nonprofit organization,” Christian said, looking down at the steering wheel. “If he wasn’t your boyfriend, would you be investigating him?”
“I’m not going to stake out Aiden,” I said simply. It wasn’t right. It would mean I thought he was cheating, and I didn’t. I wouldn’t.
“I’ll help you,” he said softly. “And I promise I am only there to help. No touching you. Nothing.”
Right. I may have been upset, but I wasn’t stupid. “Not going to happen,” I said. He turned to me suddenly.
“Okay, I didn’t want to say anything,” he blurted, like he’d been holding in a secret for a while. “Aiden’s going out with my sister tonight.”
My insides collapsed. “What?” No. No. No.
“Man, Tessa,” Christian whined. “I hate having to be the one to tell you this.” He shook his head. “I never believe Chloe. But she said that tonight they’re going out to dinner and then to his house. She told me his mother’s out of town.”
I gagged but quickly got his door open to dry-heave outside. No puke. My head spun and I dragged myself out of the car to sit at the curb, putting my elbows on my knees and holding my head in my hands. Aiden’s mother was out of town. That was true.
Christian got out and walked around the car, his sandals scraping on the pavement. He sat next to me on the curb and then bumped his knee against mine. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I was trying to not hurt you. You could just dump him, Tessa. You don’t have to spy on him.”
But a force rippled through me, making me shiver, and then it passed. It was gone. The pain was gone. I had become SOS. I had become the client and the spy.
“Where were they going to dinner?” I asked, my voice thick. I felt suddenly cold. Emotionally and physically. I was shaking.
“I don’t know,” Christian said. He was trying to talk quietly, be comforting. But there was little he could do for me now. I needed to know. I needed to know that it wasn’t true.
I turned to Christian and our faces were close, but I didn’t feel any tingles. There were no prickles. I was numb. “Pick me up at nine,” I said.
Without another glance, I stood up, crossing my arms over my chest, and walked inside my house.
What to tell the Smitten Kittens? They’d want to know what I was going to do about Aiden. I sat on my couch, my sneakered feet on the coffee table as I tried to think of an answer.
I looked at my phone. It didn’t ring. I bit my lip, hard enough to make it hurt. Then I marched into my room, snatched my cheerleading uniform, and slid it on before grabbing my car keys and heading back to school.
The squad was waiting for me in the gym, sitting on the bleachers loo
king downright nauseous. I was glad they were worried about me, but it would make what I was about to say that much harder.
“Tess?” Kira asked, jumping up. Her shoes squeaked as she crossed the floor. She was looking over my uniform, seemingly worried. Most of the girls were in their spandex or workout clothes. I was in complete uniform, ponytail, and ribbons. It helped me feel better. I felt stronger like this.
I waved Kira off and she stopped dead in front of me. Normally, I would have smiled. Instead, I closed my eyes. “I quit SOS,” I said quietly.
“No!” Izzie yelled, her shout echoing through the gymnasium as she began to cry.
“Chill out, Iz,” Leona said. I looked at her. She nodded at me.
“I’m sorry, girls. I just... can’t do it anymore. Every day, every boy, all I think is, ‘Is he cheating?’ Then the one person I should have been sure about...” I didn’t finish the sentence. I still didn’t want to believe it was true about Aiden. The warning signs had all been there. I just chose to ignore them. There was only one more thing to do, and then I was done with the spying business. Forever.
“It’ll be okay,” Kira said to me, her blue eyes filled with tears. “Maybe—”
“I just quit,” I said again, feeling the impact of my words. “It’s over. I can’t take the lying, the cheating, the broken hearts....” I sniffled. Corn bread muffin! I was going to cry too.
Instead, I cleared my throat. “I can’t cheer this weekend.” I stepped up to Kira, putting my hands on the shoulders of her spandex top, staring seriously into her face. “K, you’re lead until I get back.”
She gasped. Leona growled.
The worry left Kira’s face, and she jumped up and down, clapping. It sort of warmed my heart. But only for a second, because I knew I was lying. SOS might be over, but there was one more mission. Without the squad. I dropped my head, backing away.
“I’ll see you later,” I said quietly, moving toward the double doors.