Queen of Diamonds

Chapter 34

Chapter 34

"What the hell was that!" I whirled around now out of my character.

"What?" Derek roguishly smiled. "I'm just playing the part."

"Yeah, a little too well there, Whittaker," I reprimanded him. "Now I'm all hot and bothered," I panted, teasingly. "And what if someone saw?" I panicked.

"Who cares. We're acting," he chuckled, slinging his arm around me in a more plutonic side hug.

"Oh, so that was all just an act to you?" I begged to differ.

"Well, no," he shrugged. "But it was a good excuse and the perfect cover if someone did see."

"H-have you told anyone?" I stumbled over the question.

"Told anyone what?" he asked, unable to fill in the blanks.

"That we, you know. That you," I tried to say the words but was coming up short.

"That I kissed you?" he laughed, like I was a preteen trying to tell my crush I liked them for the first time.

"Shh!" I teased, looking over my shoulder. "Yes."

"No," he replied, still grinning from ear to ear.

"Not even Nicki?" I asked surprised. Even I told my best friend.

"Well," he started to reconsider. "I may have mentioned something to Richy," he trailed off.

"Richy!" I screeched. "Him of all people!" The last person I wanted to know anything about my personal life was my most hated richie. Actually, I take that back. I think I hated Ruby more than Richy, but it was close. Well, maybe Andrew would be the worst person to know but Richy was a really close second. Unless Richy told Andrew in which case, I'm screwed either way.

"I'm sorry, it just kind of came up. And I thought maybe if he knew then he would leave you alone," he tried to justify himself. Derek did say after the last richie party that he would make an effort to stand up for me but this wasn't exactly what I had in mind.

"Well, that didn't really work," I grumbled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he replied tensing up.

"He was just being an ass to me earlier," I answered in a rush not wanting to even remember it. "I still can't believe you told him," I groaned.

"What you didn't tell anyone?" he asked raising his brows at me, waiting for a confession.

"No," I lied, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Ava," he persisted, not buying it one bit.

"I might have told Kara," I caved.

"I knew it," he shook his head in amusement. "That's it?"

"Who else am I going to tell?" I shot back. Was I supposed to tell the whole world and scream from the rooftops that my lifelong childhood crush finally kissed me after 17 long awaited years? I mean, if someone were to scream from a rooftop that wouldn't be the most ridiculous reason. But not me. Unfortunately for Derek, because of my own poor decisions, I was trying to keep this under wraps for as long as possible.

"I don't know, maybe your new gal pal Sarah?" he guessed and not a bad guess at that because he was right. But he didn't need to know that so I was holding to my half-truths.

"Nope. Just Kara," I said sticking to my fibbing guns.

"You can tell whoever you want. It's not like we have to keep it a secret," he said. Like hell we are. "We just haven't really talked about it so I haven't said anything to anyone."