Mr. Popular: A Falling For My Brother's Best Friend Romance

by Nicole London

  “Technically.” I say softly, and then I clear my throat. “He texted me an hour ago and said his car was still in the shop. It’s been there all week.”

  “Sure it is...”

  “It is! It’s not like your car hasn’t been in the shop before.”

  “Yeah, but if I knew that I had a date, I would borrow my dad or Zach’s car. I’d never let another guy drive my girl anywhere.”

  “Well you’re not him, and I’m not your girl.”

  “Thank God for that,” he says flatly. “Your date has no idea what he’s getting himself into.”

  “My date is Austin Prescott.” I look over at him. “He’s captain of the swim team, all star junior athlete, and unlike you, he believes in chivalry. There.”

  “There what?”

  “There, you can go ahead and call Zach back. You can tell him his name and he can find a way to show up in the middle of the movie and ruin tonight for me.”

  Silence.

  He pulls onto the highway and sighs. “I’m not going to tell Zach about this at all.”

  “Really?”

  “Really.” He gives me a reassuring nod, and he doesn’t say anything further. He turns the music up loud and we ride the rest of the way to the theater with the music as the only sound between us.

  When we arrive to the theater, Liam parks his car near the front and steps out first to open my door for me. But he doesn’t get back into the car.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m staying.”

  “Like, you’re going to come into the same theater with us?”

  “Never.” He rolls his eyes. “I'll be in Transporter 8 if you need me. And before you ask me anything else, how else do you plan on getting home?” He narrows his eyes at me, daring me to challenge him and ask him something else, but I don’t.

  We walk inside the theater together and he immediately attracts the attention of several girls in the lobby, so I walk away.

  I stand near the arcade entrance, waiting for Austin to arrive, grateful that he’s nothing like the other guys at Blue Harbor. From the rumors I’ve heard, most of the upperclassmen (Liam included) are the type of guys that take a girl out and spend the entire movie feeling her up. From the note, the roses, and the couple of times we’ve talked on the phone this week, he seems like the complete opposite.

  I stare at my watch and watch as ten minutes pass.

  Then twenty.

  Then thirty.

  The next set of movies start in five minutes...Did I get the meet up time wrong?

  As the lobby begins to clear out, I contemplate texting him to see if something has happened, but I notice a bright red mustang speeding into the parking lot. It’s burning rubber and making a wild turn into a parking spot. I squint as the driver’s side door opens, and recognize Austin as he gets out. He’s dressed in faded blue jeans, a white shirt, and he’s wearing a signature Blue Harbor letterman jacket.

  “Hey there, Mariah.” He spots me as soon as he walks inside, offering me a single red rose.

  “Hi.” I take the rose and immediately place it into my purse so I won’t sneeze. “I almost thought you were going to stand me up tonight.”

  “Never.” He looks me up and down. “You look really hot. How long have you been waiting for me?”

  Over half an hour... “Not long,” I say. “I thought you said your car was in the shop.”

  “It is. That’s my dad’s car.”

  “Your dad’s car?”

  “Yeah, isn’t it cool? I couldn’t resist taking a bit of a joy ride before coming to meet you.” He smiles. “You want to check it out after the movie?”

  I nod, and wonder why he didn’t offer to pick me up if he had access to a car.

  I’m sure he just forgot to tell you, Mariah. No big deal. No big deal...

  I pull out my phone and shoot a quick text to Liam.

  Me: Austin has his dad’s car. I’ll ask him to take me home.

  No response.

  “How did you get here?” Austin asks me, grabbing my hand and walking me over to the ticket booth.

  “My mom dropped me off.” I lie.

  “Oh...” He sighs. “Now I feel really bad. I could’ve picked you up. I forgot you’re a sophomore.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “Nothing. I just thought you had a car of your own. If I’d remembered I definitely would’ve came and got you instead of inconveniencing your mom like that. Forgive me?”

  “Forgiven.” I smile as he tightens his grip on my hand, as we wait in line.

  “Next!” The cashier calls out and he drops my hand, walking up to the window. He doesn’t look back and ask me what I would prefer to see. He just takes out his wallet and hands the cashier a twenty.

  I’m sure my eyes are deceiving me, but the cashier actually gives him change, and it looks as if he’s only bought one ticket.

  "Okay, you can buy your ticket now.” He turns around and smiles at me, and I fake a smile in return.

  “I’ll take one of the same, please,” I say, sliding the only money I brought along—a ten-dollar bill, across the counter.

  “You want to see Transporter 8?”

  What? I turn around and look at Austin. “I thought you agreed that we would see Autumn Falls.”

  “I did, until I saw the reviews. Did you know it was a chick flick? I don’t do chick flicks.”

  I bite my tongue and try to remain calm as I face the cashier again. “Yes, one for Transporter 8.”

  After she gives me my ticket, Austin clasps my hand again and walks me to the concession stand. He buys himself a large bucket of popcorn, two boxes of candy, and a large drink. He doesn’t even ask me if I want anything.

  Taking a deep breath, I try not to read too much into this. I’m sure he’s going to take me to dinner after this, or that maybe he bought all of those concessions for us to share.

  We make our way to the theater and I notice that it’s empty. I don’t even see Liam.

  Maybe he decided to leave after all...

  “Looks like we have the theater to ourselves.” Austin says, leading me over to two seats in the middle of the theater. “I’m really glad you agreed to let me take you out, Mariah.”

  “Me too.”

  “Popcorn? Candy?” He offers as the lights go down.

  “No, thank you.” I look over at him. “Is there any way you could drive me home after this?”

  “Of course.”

  “And are you still planning to take me out to dinner when the movie’s over?”

  “Actually,” he says, “I was thinking we could skip dinner.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I have something way better in mind.” He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “Something I think you’ll enjoy even more.”

  “Looking forward to that.” I smile, happy that he seems to be returning to the guy I was talking to on the phone over the past few nights. I sit back in my seat and we laugh through the endless previews together. He even holds my hand.

  Once the movie starts, he raises the arm partition that’s between us and moves closer so our thighs are touching. I lean into him, smelling the sexy cologne that he’s wearing.

  “One last thing,” he whispers, draping his arm around my shoulder. Then he leans in and kisses me on the neck. It catches me off guard a bit but, it feels nice. Different. When he leans into kiss me a second time, he aims for my lips but the faint scent of beer on his breath makes me move back.

  “What are you doing?” I ask.

  “Trying to kiss you.”

  “Right now?”

  “Yeah, babe. Right now.”

  “I don’t want you to kiss me right now.” My voice is a whisper. “And I hate to ask you this, but did you drink before you drove here?”

  “Not right before.” He places his hand on my thigh. “One of my teammates had a get-together and I stopped by and had a couple drinks before coming here.”

  “I thought y
ou said you checked on your car before coming here, saw it wasn’t fixed, and then you had to ask your dad to take his.” I swallow. “You made it seem like you’ve spent the past few hours bummed about your car. You never mentioned stopping by a party.”

  “It was a get-together. Not a party.”

  Annoyed, I pull away from him and turn my attention back to the movie, but he doesn’t let up at all. His arm that’s around my shoulder drops to my waist and goes up my dress and in one quick motion, he unsnaps my bra.

  “Austin, we’re in public.” I whisper.

  “No we’re not.” He begins to caress my stomach. “There’s no one in here to see us.”

  “I don’t care.” I try to push him off of me to little avail. “I want you to stop.”

  “Why? What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t want to do this right here.”

  “Then where do you want to do it?”

  “Nowhere.” I feel my cheeks heating. “I’m...I’m a virgin...”

  “Ha! Good one.” He leans close. “No girl at BH is still a virgin...Where do you want to go? My car?”

  “No.” I feel tears forming in the corner of my eyes. “I just want to watch the movie...”

  “You’re not missing much of anything, trust me. I saw this last weekend and it’s a C plus at best.”

  “What? Why would you invite me on a date here if you’ve already seen this movie?”

  “Why do you think?” He smiles and my heart drops. I feel so damn dumb and naive right now.

  “This is far more interesting.” He presses his lips against mine and I turn my head away.

  “Please stop...” I struggle to find my voice between the lumps that are rising up my throat. “Stop, Austin.”

  I try to pull away from him, but he’s using his weight to pin me to my seat. He’s pressing kisses I don’t want against my cheeks, using his free hand to squeeze my breasts through my dress, and I’m wondering why my mouth isn’t getting my brain’s signal to scream.

  He slides a hand under my dress and I gasp as he tugs at my panties. “Why else would you wear a dress and these type of panties if you didn’t want to have sex?”

  “I don’t.” My voice cracks and I feel warm tears falling down my face. I still can’t scream, though. “Stop...Please, Austin, just stop.”

  He doesn’t. He continues to ignore me, kissing my mouth as if the taste of my tears don’t bother him at all. And then he slides his hand inside of my panties.

  My mind starts to go numb and I’m in utter disbelief that this is actually happening, but suddenly Austin lets out a yelp and is jerked away from me. When I look up, I see Liam is standing over him, with a piece of his shirt’s collar still in his fist.

  Within a split second, Liam pins Austin to the floor with his foot and begins punching the shit out of him. Austin groans in pain with each hit, begging for Liam to stop, but he only hits him harder, only saying, “You clearly don’t know the fucking meaning of stop.”

  When Liam finally relents with his hands, he stomps on him one last time, and leaves him writhing on the floor. Without saying a word to me, he sits in Austin’s chair and motions for me to turn around so my back is to him.

  Confused, I numbly oblige, and the next thing I feel is him gently re-fastening my bra. He readjusts the strap of my dress and grabs my hands, slowly helping me to stand.

  “Let’s go,” he says leading me over a still-writhing Austin and out of the theater’s emergency exit doors instead of the lobby.

  He ignores the “Hey Liam!” calls from some girls who are outside waiting on their rides, and squeezes my hand even tighter. He opens the passenger side door for me, and as if he thinks I’m too weak to do anything for myself, he positions my body on the seat and buckles my seatbelt for me.

  When he slides behind the wheel, he cranks the engine and looks over at me. “Are you okay?”

  I don't say anything.

  “Mariah?” he asks again, his voice softer.

  I still don’t say anything, so he leans over and wipes a few of my tears with his sleeve. Then he pulls out of the parking lot and speeds toward the expressway.

  The entire drive feels like a blur. I can hear him asking me to “Say something, anything” every few minutes, but I can only stare out the window and replay what just happened over and over.

  Austin had been so sweet with the note, the roses, and the phone calls. I would’ve never thought he’d be such a jerk when we finally went out, or that I’d be so damn grateful that Liam didn’t listen to me.

  All of sudden, Liam’s car comes to a stop and the next thing I hear is “Welcome to Harbor Coffee. How may I help you?”

  “I'll have a vanilla bean latte with extra caramel,” Liam says, and then he looks over at me. “Is that still your favorite coffee?”

  I nod and he pulls up to the window to pay for it. He hands it to me and the taste of it distracts me for the rest of the ride. Well, until he stops the car again. This time at Abby’s Ice Cram parlor.

  I look over at him, confused as to why we’re here because this is a sit-in only place and I’m definitely not getting out of this car.

  “I’m just getting you something for when you tell Kelsey about your night later." He unbuckles his seatbelt and goes inside, returning ten minutes later with four pints of ice cream. Two containers of chocolate chip cookie dough and two containers of chestnut praline. My absolute favorites.

  Ten minutes later, when we finally arrive at my house, Liam cuts the engine and we sit in the driveway in silence. I notice that Zach’s car is thankfully long gone, and my mom’s van is in the driveway, but the light in her bedroom is off, so she probably won’t wake up when I get inside.

  “I’m so sorry this happened to you,” Liam says after a while, unbuckling my seatbelt. “You didn’t deserve that.”

  “It’s okay, I’m fine.” I say finally finding my voice.

  “It’s not okay, and you’re not fine.” He looks into my eyes before he gets out of the car. He helps me out once again and walks me inside my house. He puts my ice cream in the freezer for me, and takes my hand, pulling me upstairs and into my room.

  Hitting the lights, he helps me out of jacket and drapes it over my desk. Then he pulls my sheets back and motions for me to lay down.

  “I take it you’re going to tell Zach about tonight after all? Like, you’re not going to keep this from him...”

  He doesn’t answer, but the “Fuck yes” look on his face says it all. And for once, I’m kind of happy about that.

  I’m not sure what else to say to him, so I just remain quiet as he adjusts the pillow behind my head.

  I stare at him and as he stares right back I can’t help but think about how no matter whether we’ve been friends or enemies, he’s always been right there when I needed him. Even when I didn’t want him to be...

  SECOND SUMMER CAMP

  Mariah

  Subject: Camp Briar

  Dear Mom,

  Thank you so much for sending me all those cupcakes last week. I know how much it must have taken out of you to make all of dad’s favorites for the first time since he died, but I’m sure he’s looking down above and happy you did that. (I know I am. :- ) )

  No, Camp Briar hasn’t really gotten much better so far this year. Zach has stopped by a few times and walked me over to his camp to let me watch him scrimmage with Liam’s team, but that’s about it ... (Is it true the two of them want to go to Blue Harbor High this fall? That basketball team is the worst in the state ...)

  Anyway, I’ve gotta go. My counselor’s phone is about to die, and I’m supposed to be “engaging” with this party I’m at ... A party where literally every guy here has asked every girl but me to dance. (Why don’t the boys here ever ask me to dance? :- ( )

  Love you and talk to you later.

  Your daughter,

  “Baby Mariah”

  I log out of my email and slip the cell phone back into my counselor’s purse. I lean back in my chair
and watch everyone else dance around the main mess hall to terrible rock music. The girls are paired up with the guys as an even number, and even the counselors are joining in on the “fun,” making complete fools of themselves.

  I’d really tried to get out of coming to this party hours ago by pretending to be sick, but my bunk leader caught me sneaking into the pool and forced me to come.

  “Mariah Dawson!” The camp owner, Mrs. Jacobs, yells at me from across the floor. “You can’t sit there all night! Come dance with me and have a little fun.”

  I give her a faint smile and shake my head as she spins around and throws her hands up in the air.

  That’s definitely not the same beat everyone else is dancing to ...

  For a split second, I’m actually tempted to get up and join her, but I don’t. That would totally make me look lamer than I already am. I look away from her and hope she’ll get the hint and keep dancing with herself.

  Two songs later, when the DJ has decided to make things more awkward and play slow songs for couples, I get up and make myself a cup of punch.

  “Are you having fun tonight, Baby Mariah?” Madison bumps into me from behind. “Where’s the guy who asked you to dance?”

  Ugh ... I sigh and turn around to face her. “No one asked me to dance yet.”

  “Yet?” She laughs. “No one is ever going to dance with you. Not until you turn fourteen, unless they want to be branded as a pedigree.”

  “You mean pedophile.”

  “No, I mean pedigree.” She rolls her eyes. “I know what I’m talking about. That’s another reason no one likes you here. You think you’re so smart. Well, guess what? You’re not. You’re not smart at all.”

  I blink. I feel like I’ve literally lost a few brain cells by standing here listening to this.

  “Anyway,” she says, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “Me and the rest of the bunk are going to take a walk later to Wind Café and guess what?”

  “What?” I’m actually hoping for an invite. Everyone at the camp has been there but me and I’m too scared to walk there by myself. “Can I come this time?”

  “Of course not.” She smirks. “I was just telling you so you’d know exactly why you were going to be in the bunk alone tonight for a while. Maybe next time.”