Silent Love [Part 2]_Forbidden Series

by Kenadee Bryant

  “Why are you wearing a jersey?” Gage suddenly asked next to me as we walked along the pathway.

  “To support the team.” I shrugged. I always wore my jersey.

  “Whose number is that?” he asked, and I sensed a different tone in his voice. Is he jealous? I silently wondered. Smirking, I looked over at him.

  “Wouldn’t you like to know?” With that, I grabbed Macey’s hand and walked ahead of him.

  Thankfully, it didn’t take us long to get through security and into the stadium. Macey and I knew our way around better than anyone, so as soon as we were through the gates we were steering the guys in the direction of our seats. We had to weave our way through people, and I even had to jump to the side, into Gage, to avoid getting splashed with beer. As predicted, the place was packed.

  In no time we were filing our way into our seats. The moment we got to our seats, I noticed both boys were looking around in what looked like awe. We were right up front and did have the best tickets, if I do say so myself. Definitely a perk to my parents being who they were.

  The guys were not going to come out for another five minutes, so we had time to just relax for a little bit. Our seating arrangements went Macey, Me, Gage, then Dylan. Us girls figured the two boys would rather sit by one another than separately, especially this being their first time and all.

  While Macey leaned around me to talk to the guys, I couldn’t help but wonder what was going to happen in a few minutes. Like every game both Ethan and Luke would come up and we’d do our rituals, but what now with Ethan? I mean, he was dating Amy, so would that make it awkward now, or did it even matter? He didn’t know of my feelings, so the only way for it to be awkward it was for me to make it so. I did not want to break our ritual at all; it was something we had done for years and without it, I didn’t know what would happen. It wasn’t like the world was going to end if me and Ethan didn’t do our handshake, but it almost felt like it would. I did not want to be the cause of them losing the game over something stupid. Call me superstitious, but it had rubbed off on me from the whole team. Sighing, I shoved all of my negative thoughts into a little box in the corner of my mind. I would not think of those things right now. I was going to do what we normally did and act like nothing was wrong. I had had years of practice around Ethan, so it shouldn’t even matter. Plus, it was a big day today for them; no one could cause that to go wrong.

  Five minutes later the announcer yelled out our school name, making the entire stadium stand up screaming at the top of their lungs. Macey and I also stood up, clamping our hands around our mouths and screaming. From the corner of my eye I saw Gage and Dylan glance at one another in surprise at us, both still seated. I rolled my eyes at them, then focused on the field.

  As normal here came numbers sixteen and seventeen heading our way. I couldn’t help but admire the way Ethan looked in his uniform. I knew I shouldn’t have but it was a habit, and who didn’t like the look of a guy in a football uniform? A huge grin was plastered on my face as they came to a stop below us.

  Leaning down, I extended my arm out toward Luke. I could feel a presence behind me but ignored it. Luke and our hands moved in our secret handshake. To anyone else they would be confused, but we knew what it meant.

  “Good luck.” I grinned at my brother. He smiled back and moved onto Macey. Moving into his place was Ethan. My heart skipped a beat for a second before it settled down. That’s new, I thought. Normally, my pulse would race for hours after glancing at him.

  The grin on my face didn’t disappear though as we reached out for one another. Our hands interlocked along with our pinkies and index fingers. Ethan smiled up at me through his helmet, his white teeth flashing.

  “Kick their asses!” I yelled over the loud cheering. Giving me a nod, he let go of my hand and stepped back. Luke and Ethan clapped each other on the shoulder and gave Mace and I one last smile before running off. I looked over at Macey, who was suddenly bright red in the face. What is up with her? I wondered. I watched her eyes follow my brother. Were they? No, they can’t be! I mentally shouted to myself. I stared at Macey with wide eyes, but she didn’t say anything. I am just imaging it. Nothing is going on. Just relax.

  Still suspicious, I sat down trying to get my head not to explode. The moment I sat down, I of course heard some girls behind me talking to each other asking how we knew two of the most popular players. I even heard one girl ask why I had a jersey numbered seventeen. I almost laughed out loud at their insinuation; that was just plain gross.

  “It is your brother’s jersey,” Gage commented when we sat back down. My lips tilted up as I glanced over at him.

  “Nothing gets by you, does it?” I retorted. Gage glared at me but didn’t say anything else.

  “What was that?” Dylan asked, leaning around Gage to look at Mace and me.

  “It is a thing we do,” Macey answered shrugging. For a split second I had forgotten they were here.

  “A thing?” Dylan asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “We do it every game,” I simply said, feeling Gage’s heated stare on the side of my face. Ignoring him, I focused on the game as the opponent kicked off.

  Twenty minutes into the game I noticed how into it both Dylan and Gage were. Their eyes were glued to the field, making me laugh under my breath. To think Gage didn’t want to come along.

  While he was watching intently, I studied him. I could only see half of his face, but man was it a nice one. I had a feeling this whole deal with him was going to turn out differently than I thought. I mean, it wasn’t like I was starting to get feelings for him—not at all. I was still hung up on Ethan, and we were doing this because of him. While all of that was true, a small part of me was telling me otherwise.

  Sure, I could see myself falling for him if I wanted to, but I wasn’t. It was too soon anyways. I had only known him for a month and we barely, just barely, started this whole thing. I couldn’t deny the warm feeling I felt around him, however, or the fact that I felt at home when I was with him.

  This was all just starting, but deep down I knew that after this moment things were going to change. I knew that being around Gage was going to change me in ways I didn’t even know, and it scared me but intrigued me at the same time. Everything about Gage did that to me, and I could not stop it or rather, I did not want to stop it. For once I wanted to do things different, things that I normally would not do. Those thoughts alone scared me, but when Gage glanced over at me and sent me a smile, I knew right then I would not mind one bit if things changed.

  Chapter Eight

  Luke

  “Do you think we should tell them?” Macey asked through the phone. I was lying down on my bed having just come home from the football game. It was a little after eleven at night. The game didn’t finish until nine or so, and afterwards we all went to dinner together before heading back home. I was beyond tired, but I was fine staying up talking to Mace. We didn’t get much time to see each other today, with me having one class and then getting ready for the game tonight.

  “I don’t know. Maybe we should wait a little bit. I mean, Ethan and Amy just told us they were dating. She may think we are stealing her thunder or something,” I said.

  “I just hate lying to Carter. We are best friends.” I could hear how torn up she was about this. I was too; I wasn’t entirely certain how my sister would react when she heard her best friend and I had been seeing each other.

  “I know, babe. Don’t worry, we will tell her soon. Let’s just keep it a secret a little longer. Maybe next weekend we can tell her,” I offered. “You know doing this in secret has been a lot of fun.” I grinned into the phone. I could practically see Macey blushing on the other end of the line. She was probably thinking the same thing as me.

  “Yeah, yeah, whatever,” she mumbled. I couldn’t help but laugh.

  Who would have thought that Macey and I would have some kind of feelings toward one another that weren’t mean or sibling-like? I myself never thought of Macey in a ro
mantic kind of way until just recently. The night of the party a month ago had suddenly opened my eyes. I was finally able to see right what was right front of me.

  At first, we both just slept together and wrote it off, that we were drunk, but a few days after that night, I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I kept picturing Macey under me with that beautiful smile of hers and her hair fanned across my pillow. That night had changed the way we both looked at one another.

  Before I even knew what I was doing, I was asking Macey out; thank God she’d said yes. For the past two, almost three weeks we had been secretly meeting up with one another. It was a bonus we had the same lunch break between classes, so it was a good time for Macey and me to have our “lunch dates.” Whenever both Ethan and Carter were busy, we would be doing something. I was pretty certain, though, that Ethan knew about us.

  It was getting tiring sneaking around and hiding our feelings around our friends, but I just wasn’t ready to tell anyone yet. It wasn’t like I was worried that my reputation would be ruined, because I didn’t care about that. I just didn’t want anyone or even Macey to think this was just a one-time deal. I wasn’t going to just use her for a few weeks then dump her.

  My feelings for Macey had grown so much in the last few weeks that I wanted a relationship with her. I didn’t want to sleep around with other people. I was pretty sure Mace felt the same way too.

  When I was around her, I felt like we were meant to be together, that we belonged. It had all happened so fast that I was scared of what I was feeling, but the more time I spent around Macey, the more I didn’t care. Maybe this was what my parents felt like around each other.

  I had not realized just how great Mace was. Her smile was enough to make me go weak at the knees, and she was incredibly smart and knew what she wanted. She could be pretty straight-forward at times, but I didn’t mind being told I was being an ass. Macey had this great personality that made people just want to be around her. Whenever she had to go, I never wanted her to leave. I’d never been in love before but if this was it, it wasn’t all that bad.

  “Why did you have to go?” I whined, staring up at my ceiling. I wanted Mace to come over tonight, but after dinner she went back to her place with Carter.

  “Your sister would be asking me questions about where I was going. I would have caved.”

  I sighed, knowing she was right, but that still didn’t help me with her not being here.

  “Are you doing anything tomorrow?” I asked. Ideas for great dates were suddenly coming to mind. We had only gone on two dates so far because we didn’t want to be gone too long. Lately, Carter had been busy so she wouldn’t be a problem, and same with Ethan.

  “Just some studying, why?”

  “We are going out tomorrow,” I stated.

  “We are?” I could hear the excitement in her voice.

  “Yes, we are.”

  “What are we going to do?”

  “Huh…that is for me to know and for you to find out,” I said. I was not sure what we were going to do, but I’d figure something out. “I will come and pick you up at around nine or so. Sound good?”

  “But what about Carter?”

  “If she is awake, I’ll just say we have a study session.” I wanted to be a gentleman and pick up my girl at her place, not make her wait by my car.

  “Okay, that may work.” Macey yawned through the phone. I smiled in the dark at that.

  “It will. Now go to sleep, babe. You sound exhausted.”

  “Do not!” she said, but her voice was quiet.

  “Keep telling yourself that. We are getting up early tomorrow so get some rest. I will see you in the morning,” I said softly into the phone. Man, I wish I was lying there beside her. It was amazing that after doing something once, I now needed it. Through the phone I could practically hear her fading. When she was tired, she would literally pass out; this I learned when she stayed over at our house years ago.

  “Goodnight, Mace,” I whispered into the phone. I didn’t hear her response and knew she was already asleep. That was one talent I wish I had: to be able to fall asleep so damn fast. I disconnected the call. I forced myself to get up and plug my phone in before crawling back in bed.

  I needed to get up early tomorrow to figure out where I was going to take Macey. It’d been a long day today, and I could already feel my eyes starting to fall shut. Getting more comfortable in bed, I smiled into the darkness of my room as I thought about Macey. I was turning into a whipped boy, and I didn’t mind it at all.

  ***

  The next morning, I was up at seven. I wanted to search around for something I could take Macey to. I wanted to do something that we both would love. After a good hour of sitting in my room on the internet, I decided to call in the big guns. When I pressed dial, it didn’t take long for her to answer.

  “Hi honey!” my mom said into the phone. “Hi Mom.” My parents had been gone overseas to see our aunt and uncle Neena and Liam, so I hadn’t seen them in two weeks. During the week we had talked of course, because my mom couldn’t go a day without texting or calling us to make sure we were alive. “I have a problem I need help with.” I immediately got to the point.

  “Please for the love of God tell me you did not get a girl pregnant!” Mom yelled through the phone. My eyes widened at that and I choked on my spit. “I mean, we would love the child, but Luke, you have so much ahead of you. You are only twenty!” “Mom!” She just kept talking.

  “I thought we taught you to wrap it up! I told your father we needed to talk more about sex with you and your sister.”

  “Mom!” I yelled into the phone which made her finally shut up for a minute. “I did not get a girl pregnant.” My cheeks were red. I remembered clearly the awkward conversation my parents had had with me about sex. It would forever be engraved in my mind, it was that awkward and tense.

  “Thank God!”

  “I wanted to ask you for some advice.” I felt slightly awkward asking my mom this, but I couldn’t ask Carter.

  “What is it, honey?”

  “Well…I want to take this girl out, but I don’t really know what we should do,” I mumbled.

  “Is this your first date with her?”

  “No. I mean, kind of. The first time we went ‘out’ we just went to get dinner at the cafe on campus, but that is it.”

  “Luke, that isn’t a nice first date! Don’t worry, I will help. You have to make this date great so she doesn’t remember the first one, okay?”

  “Okay yeah.” I sat there silently as my mom told me all the places I could take Macey to. A few sounded too fancy or over the top for a second date.

  “You know what? I have the perfect place for you to take her.” My mom squealed into my ear. “You have to take her to the aquarium.”

  “The same place Dad took you?” I asked.

  “Yes. It was so romantic. I bet she would love it there.”

  “But, Mom, she has already been there,” I said, but I backtracked, not wanting my mom to know it was Macey I was seeing. I did not want to deal with my mother’s yelling and squealing, or Aunt Kay’s. “Or at least I think she has.”

  “Well even if she has gone, it will be the first she has gone with you. Trust me, she will love it.” My mom sounded so sure and with nothing else planned, I decided to go with it.

  “Okay yeah, I will. Thank you, Mom.”

  “No problem, sweetie. She must be great if you are telling me. You normally don’t tell us about your girlfriends.” And she was right. I had only had one real serious girlfriend before in high school, but with the other girls, I saw them for a week or so and I never told my parents about them. If I did, I would probably get a lecture about how to treat a woman right.

  “Yeah, she is really something.” I smiled.

  Saying goodbye to my mom and thanking her again, I got up to go shower and change. I only had an hour before I had to go get Macey. It didn’t take me long to shower, but getting dressed did. For some reason I wanted to
look really good for her. Now you just sound like a girl, I said to myself.

  I grabbed a pair of black jeans that were slightly faded at the knees, and along with that I pulled on a light orange long-sleeved shirt. I had no clue where the shirt came from, but I went with it. Pushing the sleeves up to my elbows, I searched around for my shoes.

  In no time I was dressed and ready to go. I made sure I had my wallet, keys, and phone with me before I left the apartment. Certain that Ethan was still in bed, I left without saying a word. I had twenty minutes until I was supposed to grab Macey, so I decided to quickly head to 95 Degrees and grab a coffee. She would probably like me even more if I showed up with something she loved. That was the way to a girl’s heart, let me tell you.

  Because it was pretty early for people to be up on a Saturday, it didn’t take me long to get our drinks and for me to head back toward her and Carter’s dorm building. I silently prayed as I climbed the stairs that my sister wasn’t up, or that she would open the door.

  When I reached the door, I took a deep breath before knocking. I held both of our iced coffees as I patiently waited for Macey. When the door did open, my words got stuck in my throat. She was dressed in a pair of tight blue skinny jeans that hugged her long legs and a brown sweater type thing. She had the sleeves rolled up to her elbows like me.

  “H-hey,” I stuttered out like a moron. “You look great.” I breathed out, snapping myself out of my dirty thoughts.

  “Thank you.” She blushed while tucking a piece of her hair away from her face. I noticed she did that when she was nervous or embarrassed.

  “I brought you a coffee.” I held it out for her. I watched as her eyes widened and she quickly grabbed it. Yup, I definitely made the right choice.