Crush: A YA Romance Collection

by Lavinia Leigh

  “Don’t sell yourself short, Lyss! A first place trophy is nothing to be modest about,” my dad stated. The nickname my dad used wrapped itself around my neck and made it hard for me to breathe as a cute waiter, who I recognized as one of Austin’s friends, Luke, came over to the table. He placed down two bowls of bread sticks and proceeded to ask us for our drink orders. I could barely focus on my surroundings as everyone went around the table saying what they wanted. All I could think about was my dad’s voice on repeat saying, “Lyss.” Seriously, why the hell did he have a nickname for this girl?

  “Thanks,” Alyssa responded, eyes twinkling at my dad before she turned to face the waiter and flashed him a brilliant smile. “I’ll have an unsweetened iced green tea with a bowl of lemons on the side please.”

  I raised an eyebrow at her specific drink order, which caused the waiter to smile knowingly at me as he turned to take mine. “I’ll have a sprite, no ice, and a bowl of cherries.” If she could have a bowl of lemons, I should be able to have a bowl of cherries.

  Still smiling at me, Luke said, “That’ll cost a dollar extra.”

  “That’s fine, I’m not paying.” I winked at my dad and the senator before glancing back to the waiter. “Thanks, Luke.”

  “No problem, Jade.” He winked, before turning to take Damien’s order.

  “Coke,” was all that came from his mouth. He looked almost as unhappy to be here as I felt. His arms were crossed over his chest and his eyes were dark and brooding. The only thing that didn’t fit in with the rest of his actions was his posture. I had to hand it to him, the boy had good posture.

  Luke jotted the drink down on his notepad, took my dad and the senator’s drink orders, and said, “I’ll be back in a moment with your drinks, and your bowls of lemons and cherries,” before scurrying away from the table.

  Alyssa furrowed her eyebrows and turned toward me. “You know him?”

  “Yeah,” I shrugged. “He hangs out with this guy I know.”

  “Sounds like you know a lot of guys,” Damien’s deep voice caught me off guard. I half expected “coke” to have been his only word all night. He seemed like the quiet type at first, but maybe I had gotten the wrong impression of him. Damien smirked at me, as if he had been able to read my mind, as he reached into the bowl nearest to him and pulled out a long bread stick. He took a bite and chewed slowly, keeping his dark eyes on me. Unlike his sister and his mom, everything about Damien was dark. From the tanned skin to the black hair that swayed just above his eyes.

  His mother cut in. “Damien, that’s rude.”

  Ignoring her words, I spoke. “From what I said, you could only infer that I know two guys.”

  Damien’s eyes searched my face. “We both know that’s not true.” His smirk was back as he leaned forward onto the table. “I know girls like you.”

  “Oh, do you? Sounds like you know a lot of girls.”

  He shrugged his broad shoulders and took another bite, staring at me in thought. I waited for him to speak again, but he didn’t. Glancing around the table, I realized that I seemed to be the center of attention. Dad had his arm draped over the back of Senator Jacobs’ chair, Alyssa had turned in her seat so that she was looking straight at me since she was sitting next to me, and Damien sat next to his mother across from me. Since everyone seemed to be looking at me, I decided that I should say something to start a conversation.

  “So, Senator Jacobs, um, congratulations on the engagement.” I improvised, my words getting higher at the end and coming out more like a question than a statement. “I didn’t even know there was one until a few days ago.”

  “Thank you, Jade, but you’re more than welcome to call me Tara if you like. I feel like that’s more familiarized than Senator Jacobs. That’s just so formal,” she said, ignoring my remark.

  “Okay, thanks, Senator.” I preferred calling her Senator Jacobs; Tara was too familiar for me. “Don’t be insulted when I don’t call you that though.” Just then, Luke came back with our drinks and went around taking everyone’s orders. When he got to me, I ordered spaghetti with extra meatballs. He gave me another wink, before dazzling Alyssa with his perfect smile. “When I first found out about the engagement,” I waved my hand between her and my dad, “it was from an article in the newspaper. Obviously I was shocked that my father would be getting married without even telling me that he was dating someone. Now I know that the reason he didn’t tell me wasn’t because of you being some evil woman, but because of me.”

  “Jade,” my dad warned.

  I raised my hand, telling him to hold on. “I was just going to ask, in the article I read, it mentioned you, my father, Alyssa, and I, but why didn’t it mention Damien? Until now, I didn’t even know he existed.”

  The senator cleared her throat, looking for a way to answer my question, but as soon as she opened her mouth, Damien cut her off. “Well, I probably wasn’t mentioned because I’m somewhat of a disgrace to my mother’s reputation.”

  Alyssa giggled. “Somewhat? That’s the understatement of the century.”

  “That’s not true,” Tara said at the same time that my dad said, “You aren’t a disgrace.”

  I shrugged and looked at Damien. “Welcome to the team. I’m a disgrace to my dad’s reputation, and he’s not even a senator.”

  Dad leaned forward, his elbows on the table, and gave me a stern look. “I never said that you were a disgrace to my reputation.”

  “Well, not in so many words, but let’s face it, Dad, you’re embarrassed of me.”

  Senator Jacobs took a sip of her drink before speaking. “The reason you weren’t mentioned in the article, Damien, is because you have a juvenile record, therefore I couldn’t risk the public knowing that their senator has a son who is a…” she paused.

  “Delinquent,” Damien offered.

  “Well, yes,” she agreed. “You understand, right?”

  He smiled. “Yeah, I wouldn’t want to ruin your stupid reputation.” Damien shrugged his shoulders. “I figured that the other reason you didn’t have my name stated in the magazine is because my dad didn’t die.” He leaned his chair back and glanced at the kitchen doors as Luke came out with our food on a large tray. “Let’s eat.”

  “Wait, what? Your dad didn’t die? I thought that he passed away and that’s why Senator—I mean—Tara, is remarrying,” I said as my father flashed me a glare.

  Damien watched Luke’s hand as he set his plate down in front of him, then looked up at me and smirked. “Nope. I’m from my mom’s first marriage, Alyssa’s from her second. My dad’s alive and well.”

  Alyssa glanced down at her linguine as it was placed in front of her. “Yeah, it was my dad that passed away,” she mumbled, not looking up.

  Awkwardly, I rubbed Alyssa’s back. “Sorry to hear that. I had a friend whose parents passed away in a car accident. She was adopted by the family of the guy who pulled her out of the car before it burned. It’s rough, but she did amazing things with her life afterward from what I heard.”

  Alyssa raised her head and cracked a small smile at me. “Thanks.”

  I shrugged like it was no big deal, but I honestly wasn’t even sure how what I said could have helped. It was just the first thing that came to mind.

  I retreated my hand and picked up a fork, blowing on my food before twirling my fork into the spaghetti. “So that’s why you two look so different.”

  “Yeah, my dad’s Hispanic and Alyssa’s was white,” Damien responded.

  “Cool,” I mumbled.

  I was about to take a bite when my dad said, “Say your grace, Jade.”

  I looked up into his eyes to see if he was joking, and I could just tell that I was in for shit later. Clearly he didn’t appreciate my behavior, or maybe it was how I chose to dress for our outing. After saying my grace, I began to eat. The food was delicious. I used the rest of my bread stick to sop up the spaghetti sauce and ate it like that.

  After a few minutes of awkward silence, Senator Jacobs d
abbed a napkin at the corners of her mouth and said, “So, Jade, I have to ask, do you enjoy swimming?”

  At the mention of swimming, Alyssa tilted her head down and began shoveling food into her mouth. It was as if she was embarrassed and didn’t want to take part in this upcoming conversation. Whereas Damien sat up straighter, if that was possible with his already perfect posture, and furrowed his thick eyebrows curiously.

  “Uh, yeah, I do. Why? Do you have a pool at your house or something?” I stabbed my fork into a giant meatball and took a saucy bite out of it. I chewed and watched as the senator leaned over and lifted her black Coach purse off of the ground and placed it onto her lap.

  She dug into her purse and pulled out two things. One of which was a newspaper and the other was a magazine. “I was just wondering. I subscribe to a wide number of magazines and newspapers so that I can read up on all of the political information that’s circulating in the public, and I just so happened to find these very interesting. I think you might too, actually.”

  Next to me, Alyssa held her head so low that it looked like her face was resting on her plate. Senator Jacobs handed me the newspaper and magazine across the table and as soon as it was in my hands, my heart stopped. Plastered on the front of the magazine was a naked picture of the front view of Brooke and me climbing the fence of the pool, which took up the background. My cheeks flamed as I read the words, “Senator Jacobs' Hot New Stepdaughter Caught Skinny Dipping With Her Lesbian Lover,” in bold black print at the bottom of the cover. Apparently there were more pictures on page 43 and 44. Quickly I flipped to the page numbers and stared horrified at the pictures of Brooke and me running across the street, swimming in the pool, diving naked into the water, and even ones of me getting undressed. How long had we been watched?

  The only thing on the cover that wasn’t pertaining to me and my lesbian lover was a small picture of a blonde girl about my age that was labeled missing. If anything, she should be the one blown up on the cover, not me in my birthday suit.

  I glanced up at Senator Jacobs’ smirking face. “Look at the newspaper.”

  I bit my lip as I looked at my dad, who looked confused. He must not have known about this. Damien leaned his body across the table and whistled as he saw the picture of Brooke and me naked.

  “Can I get your lesbian lover’s number?” he joked.

  “Not on your life,” I replied snarkily. I felt my cheeks begin to burn as I flipped to the newspaper. The whole front page was a picture of me standing on the side of the pool stark naked, with just my private areas and my chest blurred out. In large print over the front, the words said, “If Only Mom Could See Me Now!”

  “Apparently Damien isn’t the only one that I have to worry about,” Senator Jacobs said starkly. “I will have to check further into your past now, Jade. I can’t have anything like this getting leaked to the public. Especially not with elections coming up and all of these easily swayed voters.”

  That was the last straw. I felt violated and used because they had used Brooke and my little adventure as news, and now Senator Jacobs was going to do a freaking background check on me. My heart pounded in my chest as angry tears welled up in my eyes. Before anyone had a chance to notice them, I pushed my chair backwards and stormed out of the restaurant, clutching the articles tightly to my chest.

  Chapter 5

  As soon as I was through the front doors of the restaurant I placed the two articles under my arm and pulled my phone out of the little pocket in my jean jacket. The first thing I noticed was missed calls from Brooke and Austin. Without hesitation I called Austin back, deciding to talk to Brooke after I was away from here. I needed someone to pick me up, and Brooke wasn’t capable of doing that considering how her only means of transportation were her legs and a six-seater bike she had stolen from a family on the beach last summer.

  The phone rang loudly in my ear for a moment until Austin picked up, answering with, “It’s about time you called me back!”

  I stood near the curb in front of the restaurant, sighing before saying, “I told you guys that I was going out to eat with my dad and the senator.”

  “Yeah, but this is important! Have you seen the newspaper?”

  A groan rumbled in the back of my throat. “Oh God, did you see it too?”

  “Shit, Jade, it’s all over the Internet. Some freak even wrote a fan-fiction about you and Brooke,” he paused for a moment to think about how to finish his sentence, “doing lesbian activities. What the hell is wrong with people?”

  Despite how angry I was, I couldn’t help but smile at that. Just wondering about how much Brooke laughed after seeing that made me a tiny bit happier. “I honestly couldn’t tell you that if I tried. Now to the reason why I called; can you come and get me?”

  I could just imagine him rolling his eyes on the other end of the line. “So that’s why you called me, hmm? You need a ride.”

  I breathed a heavy sigh. Now was not the time for him to launch into a lecture on how I only call him when I need him. “Seriously, Austin, I really need you.”

  “I’ve waited a long time to hear you say that. I need you too, Jade. Or should I say want? I want you.”

  I groaned into the phone. “Be sexual another time. Right now I seriously need you to come and get me.”

  “Where are you?”

  Glancing around me, my eyes scanned our surroundings. “Uh, it’s that fancy Italian Bistro right next to the bowling alley.”

  Austin sighed into the phone. “Okay. Wait outside, I’ll be there in fifteen minutes tops. You’re lucky I’m in the area.”

  “Yeah, yeah, just hurry up,” I mumbled under my breath.

  “What was that you said?” Austin questioned.

  “Thanks!” I called into the phone hurriedly before hanging up, hoping that he’d heard my thanks and nothing else.

  I stuffed my phone back into the pocket on my jacket and turned to glance at the restaurant to see Damien standing not even two feet away from me. I hadn’t even noticed he was there. He was like a sleuth he was so quiet. His dark eyes traveled slowly up my body, noticeably stopping on the low neckline and necklace that accentuated it.

  “Excuse me?” I spoke, causing his eyes to flicker up to mine. “You should take a picture. It’ll last longer.”

  Damien cracked a smile. “Well since you offered,” he responded in a smooth voice, as he shoved his hand deep into his back pocket, pulling out his phone. He held it up, taking a picture, then turning the phone sideways and snapping another one. Afterwards he put his phone away. “Two lasts longer than one,” he joked.

  Not believing what had just happened, I turned fully toward him. “You’re not so bad,” I spoke, saying that more for myself than for his benefit.

  He furrowed his eyebrows curiously. “Uh, thanks?”

  I held my hand out to him in a shaking gesture, happy when he placed his hand in mine and shook it gently. “I know we met inside,” I said, leaving my hand in his, “but I want you to know that I’m not that girl from the magazine. So let’s start over. Hey, I’m Jade. I’m not a lesbian, not a nudist, and yes, I have a birthmark on my right hip.”

  Damien smirked, saying, “I’m Damien, my mom’s a bitch, I hate Italian food unless it’s pizza, and I noticed your birthmark. Those pictures were really clear.”

  A small laugh escaped my mouth at the last thing he said. “Either they were clear or you were looking way too close.”

  “No that can’t be it. I saw the birthmark a little, but I don’t think I saw all of it.”

  “All of it? It’s just a small tan splotch.”

  Damien’s face turned serious as he said, “That sounds different from what I saw. You should just show me and then I can compare it to what I remember from the picture.”

  Shaking my head, I laughed again. “Inside I thought you were quiet and brooding, now I just think you’re perverted.”

  “Perverted? No. Imaginative? Yes. Besides, I don’t really talk much when I’m with my mo
m. We have this thing where we kind of ignore each other to an extent. Alyssa is her prized child.”

  I nodded my head, my dark hair bouncing. “I could tell. Alyssa seems to be the good one out of you two.”

  Damien walked closer to me. He raised his hands gesturing to himself and feigning a shocked expression. “I’m good too.”

  “You don’t look good.”

  “I’m hurt. You don’t think I look good, because I think you look fine,” he complimented with a flirtatious wink.

  I tilted my head. “You know what I mean. You don’t look like a good guy. You look like the kind of guy that father’s hide their virginal daughters from.”

  Damien crossed his arms, a playful smile on his lips. “I’m insulted Jade.”

  “Hey, it’s not a bad thing. Girls usually go for the rebel, mysterious types anyway.”

  “Are you one of those girls?” he questioned, meeting my eyes.

  Just as my mouth opened to reply, a horn honked, gaining my attention. Austin’s jeep pulled up next to me, waving me into the car, and the look on his face wasn’t one of excitement.

  “That’s my ride.” I pointed.

  Damien looked from me, to Austin, then back to me. “Would you mind if I came with you? I doubt my mom’s going to be too pleased with the fact that I came to check on you when she specifically told me to leave it alone.”

  I shrugged, heading to the car. “Fine with me.”

  Damien followed behind me out into the street. I opened the passenger door as he pulled the back door open.

  “Your dad didn’t try to hide you from me,” Damien said, just before we hopped into the car.

  “Well, there’s a reason for that,” I replied, before turning to Austin and saying, “My hero,” in a fake southern twang and covering my chest with my hand.

  As the doors closed and we pulled off, Austin nodded his head in response to my statement. Then his eyes flickered up to the rear view mirror. “Who’s that?”