Four Doors Down (10 page)

He crosses his arms and narrows his eyes then steps right into my personal space so that I have to tilt my head back to look him in the eye. “Oh, I’ve got plenty of game, McKenzie,” he tells me, peering down at me. I grin back at the sheer cockiness of him. “I can show you anytime you like,” he continues.

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, yeah,” I say as I hear Mason snickering. A glance to the side shows Jake, John, and Mason grinning at his words, clearly entertained. The junior girls next to them have their mouths hanging open in disbelief. Clearly they didn’t get the memo that Ryan’s using me once again to make his friends laugh.

“Did you guys know Becca thinks I’m the most popular guy at school?” he asks his friends. “And the hottest. And the best on the football team.”

“You said that!” I do not want them thinking I actually think any of those things are true.

“She secretly wants me,” he continues. “Hey, all you have to do is admit it, McKenzie, and I’m sure we could work something out.”

“Excuse me while I vomit,” I tell him to further laughter from the guys. Ryan’s grinning at me, his arms crossed almost as though he’s challenging me— to what, I don’t know.

“Ready?” I ask Sam, turning away from them.

She nods and I turn to walk past Ryan, but he steps to the side blocking my route. I scowl up at him, then change direction, but he steps in front of me again, not letting me pass.

“God, Ryan, move!” I demand and shove him out of the way as he laughs at me.

We’re a few steps away from them when Jake calls out to me. “Hey, Becca, why don’t you come back with us to Ryan’s? We’re gonna play Xbox again.”

I turn round to face them, walking backward. “No,” I reply instantly.

“Why not?”

“Just don’t want to,” I say bluntly.

Ryan smirks and John starts to laugh. “Don’t you live, like, next door to him or something?”

“No, just on the same street. Still too close, though.”

The junior girls scowl over in my direction, annoyed that I’m still distracting the boy’s attention. God, some girls are pathetic.

“Come on, McKenzie,” Ryan says grinning. “I’ll let you win this time. Then if you’re a good girl, I’ll even walk you back home after,” he teases me, moving his eyebrows up and down suggestively.

My eyes narrow.
God, he’s patronizing. Let me win? I was better than him!

“And we all know what happens when a guy walks a girl home to her front door,” Jake says grinning from ear to ear.

“I’m actually gonna throw up now,” I say and turn back around. I can hear them chuckling behind me. “Go find some naïve cheerleader to use that shit on, Ryan,” I call over my shoulder.

“Hey, Becca!” I roll my eyes in annoyance and turn back to Jake. “You change your mind about coming to homecoming with us yet?”

“Nope. Not gonna happen.”

I turn my back to them and carry on walking and get to my car. Sam climbs in next to me and glances over at me. “Since when have you been hanging out with Ryan Jackson?”

“I haven’t. My parents made me go to his grandma’s wake and we played a few video games. Apparently he’s no longer upset and is back to being an asshole, so I can go back to pretending he doesn’t exist.”

Sam laughs. “Like he’d ever let you forget he exists.”

I shrug as I pull out of the lot.

“Maybe Jessica’s right to be jealous after all.” She grins. “He was definitely flirting with you.”

I snort. Yup, actually snort.

“You think Ryan Jackson would stoop so low as to flirt with me? He was trying to make the guys laugh and using me to do it. Trust me.”

She pulls a face like she doesn’t believe me and I roll my eyes. “What’s this about homecoming?”

“Jake wants me to go with them. Something about it being last chance and all that.”

“You gonna go?”

I send her a look and she smirks back at me. She knows that was a stupid question. Neither of us could care less about homecoming.

“So anyway, has Charlie said anything to Chris about me?”

She sighs in annoyance. “Becca! Charlie is all you think about.”

Well, duh.

“H
ey, Sam. Hey, Becca.”

I glance over to see Jake sitting at a huge booth to the side with a bunch of jocks from school.

We just walked into Sal’s the local pizza joint, and I’m doing my best to not be annoyed at Chris and Charlie who are running twenty minutes late. I wouldn’t usually care and just be happy to see Charlie, since he’s always so busy these days, but I’m so hungry that my stomach feels like it’s eating itself and now I have to wait for them to arrive before I can order.

“Hi,” Sam replies.

Jake nods at a couple of empty spaces across from him. “Take a seat,” he says.

I’m about to protest, but Sam just shrugs and slides into the booth. I follow after a couple of seconds, slumping in and end up across from Ryan.

“Becca? Becca?”

“What?” I ask looking up at Jake.

He starts to laugh. “What’s up with you?”

I shrug and Sam starts to laugh. “She’s starving and the guys are running late, so she has to wait to order till they get here,” she explains.

The waitress comes over and clears away their empty plates. I actually consider grabbing one of Jake’s crusts that he’s left on the plate but think better of it. Another waitress comes over and puts a large pepperoni pizza in front of Ryan.

“Why are you just getting yours?” I ask quickly not taking my eyes away from the pizza. It smells amazing.

“I just got here. Why you want a piece?”

I glance up and he’s looking at me in amusement. “No, it’s fine.”

“You can have a slice,” he offers.

“No, I’m really not that hungry,” I insist, just as my traitorous stomach growls loud enough for the whole restaurant to hear. Ryan’s eyes light up and he raises his eyebrows at me. He slowly nudges his plate toward me.

“Go on, all you have to do is ask nicely.”

My eyes snap to his and he’s grinning at me, eyes sparkling mischievously. He’s enjoying this. All I can smell is the glorious pizza as I try not to look at it.

“Yeah, go on Becca, say please,” Jake teases me, clearly enjoying this too.

“Pepperoni is your favorite,” Sam adds.
Traitor.
She’s supposed to be on my side. My stomach growls again. Loudly.

I look at the pizza and then back at Ryan, who’s watching me smugly. I know it sounds pathetic, but I’m so hungry. It’s fine, I can be nice. I look at Ryan and open my mouth but then close it again. He raises an eyebrow at me. I sigh heavily and open my mouth again before closing it. He starts to laugh.

“You can’t bring yourself to do it, can you?” he asks. He rolls his eyes and pushes the pizza towards me. “Go on take a slice and put us all out of our misery.”

I’m about to protest, but my stomach rumbles again. This is so embarrassing. I quickly reach forward, grab a piece and wolf it down in no time.

“Thanks,” I smile.

Ryan laughs. “That nearly killed you taking that from me, didn’t it?”

I ignore his comment and sit back and listen to the conversations going on around me. Jessica and a couple of other cheerleaders enter and come over to the booth, Jessica squeezing in next to Ryan and glancing over at Sam and me in disdain. I try not to roll my eyes remembering our conversation in the bathroom at school.

“Forget to shower today, Becca?” she asks.

I glance down at my arms which are covered with the ink I spilled on them in art class, that I couldn’t be bothered to scrub off.

“Oooh burn,” I shoot back sarcastically as Ryan sniggers.

“Play nicely, Becca,” Jake warns me.

I roll my eyes and glance around the restaurant trying to see which booth is free so that Sam and I can move and have a place ready for when Chris and Charlie arrive. I spot an empty booth further down the restaurant and turn to tell her, but I’m distracted when I see her nodding her head, her mouth pressed together while she tries not to laugh at something Bianca Gallagher is saying.

“We did yoga together every day. He was just so beautiful, you know? So deep,” Bianca is saying earnestly to the table, explaining about her latest hook-up. “We shared not just a physical connection but a spiritual connection.”

A burst of laughter escapes from me and I quickly start coughing trying to cover it up while Sam nudges me in the side.

“Sorry,” I mumble, looking down at the table. “Something got stuck in my throat.” I glance up and Ryan is snickering at me, a small smile playing on his lips.

Bianca glares back at me. “Well, like I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, Sven and I just understood each other. He was so kind and got me on a level that nobody else ever has before. He’s incredibly spiritual,” she says, and another burst of laughter escapes from me. I can’t help it. Bianca Gallagher is a complete princess. She drives a Mercedes and is always decked out in designer clothes from head to toe, and she’s making out like she belongs at Woodstock and has the ability to get all deep with a guy who is clearly feeding her a line. He used that spiritual bullshit to get her into bed.

“He’s a really wonderful guy. We didn’t just have sex. We made love.”

I snort with laughter again and clamp my hand over my mouth to shut me up. This girl is crazy. Why is she telling everyone about her sex life anyway?

“Is there a problem?” Bianca demands of me.

I shake my head, pressing my lips together to try and avoid laughing again. But come on, it’s pretty funny. Bianca has gone bright red and is looking at me like she wants to kill me. She opens her mouth to say something else, but Ryan cuts her off.

“Becca just remembers a guy called Sven who used to teach our mom’s yoga when we were little. He used to really make us laugh,” Ryan tells Bianca, barely containing his grin of amusement.

I glance at him and start to laugh. There is no guy that used to teach our moms yoga, but he’s given me the perfect excuse to let my laughter out. Sam starts chuckling along too and Bianca narrows her eyes and turns on Sam. “What are you laughing about?”

“Oh, Sam knew him too,” Ryan explains, his eyes twinkling mischievously and I grin at him.

Bianca sits back in a huff and crosses her arms across her chest, clearly annoyed that Ryan has stuck up for us and therefore she can’t have a go at us. “So your moms are friends?” she questions.

Ryan nods and looks over at me. “Oh yeah, Becca and I go way back. Becca just doesn’t like to be seen in public with me.” I narrow my eyes at him. I consider that a bit rich since he was the one who dropped our friendship when he became too popular for me. “Sven would be so sad,” he says with a completely straight face. When my eyes find his, it’s impossible for us both not to start laughing all over again.

I shake my head and pull myself together, ignoring the glare of death I’m getting from both Bianca and Jessica and the curious looks I’m getting from the rest of his friends. I almost burst out laughing all over again when I feel Ryan kick me under the table. I refuse to look at him or else I’m pretty sure Bianca will throw something at my head.

I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn to see Charlie standing behind me with Chris beside him.

“Hey,” I smile at him, but he’s not looking at me. He’s looking at the guys sitting down across the table from me, Ryan in particular, and he doesn’t look pleased.

I pull myself together and shuffle to the end of the booth to get out, and he reaches out a hand to help me up. When I take his hand, he pulls me hard, yanking me into his body and crashes his mouth against mine.

Yup, that’s right. He kisses me, hard, even using tongue. Right. In front. Of. Everyone.

I swear, his hand is on my ass and everything.

There’s a second of silence and then the catcalls and wolf whistles start. I’m mortified and know I’ve gone bright red. Charlie is smiling smugly at me. I know my previous record at the party may differ, but I’m really not one for PDA. I can’t believe he just did that!

I turn and grab my bag, the only one not laughing and whistling is Ryan, who’s staring down at his food probably trying not to throw up after witnessing that major PDA. I don’t blame the poor guy. I flip them all the finger and let Charlie lead me to another booth with Sam and Chris following (and laughing) behind.