Betrayal Codes

Chapter 14: Cole

Libby is stressed about something — I can tell. Her chest is moving up and down faster than usual and she just threw her head back onto my shoulder. But Aiden is in a devilish mood. If I give all my attention to Libby, he's going to give me hell about "who my priorities are."

So I wrap my arms tighter around Libby and snappily answer the rest of Aiden's questions. "Why'd you get together?"

"Because we liked each other."

"Liked?" Cleo and Tucker are watching us like a tennis match; back and forth, back and forth.

"Jesus, like!"

"How serious are you?"

At that, Libby makes a hurt-animal noise. "Not serious."

"Hmph." Aiden sits back, arms crossed, signaling we'll continue this discussion by ourselves. With him being done, I focus on Libby.

"Hey, you okay?" I whisper into her hair.

"Cole, I can't–"

Taylor comes strutting into the lobby, interrupting Libby with her thunderous stiletto footsteps. "I brought food!"

"Thank you!" Tucker runs over and snatches the bags from her. He sifts through them for his food and drops the remaining bags back into her arms once he finds it. "Fso humphry," he says through a mouthful of baked goods.

"Ew, chew with your mouth closed," Taylor scolds. She passes out everyone else's food, winking at Libby and me as she hands us ours. "You two are so stinkin' cute!" Libby kicks her in the shin.

"Lib, come on." I push her off my lap and guide her away from the group. Once we find a secluded corner, I pull her into a giant hug and let her finally share. "What's up? Why were you so jittery back there?"

I was right. She's very stressed. Her face is pinched up and her voice is an octave higher than usual. "Cole, don't you think we're going too fast? Like, we just got together last week!"

"So?"

"Literally last week we kissed for the first time and now we're announcing our togetherness and you're making jokes about sleeping together!" She heaves a sigh. "It's just moving so fast. I'm scared." She says the last part so quietly I would have missed it if I wasn't so close.

I unwrap my arms from her and replace them onto her shoulders, pushing her away a little so I can look at her face. "Libby, I'm so sorry if I made this feel so fast. Truly. I didn't mean to hurt you. I just feel something so special for you, it's hard to keep it tamped down."

"I know. Me too. And I promise, I'll let you do whatever, but later. Maybe in a few weeks. Not right now. We need to take our time with this, okay?"

I squeeze her shoulders. "Of course. Just let me know how far you want to go before we start anything from now on."

"Okay," she smiles.

"Starting now. I want to kiss you so badly, but you have to give me permission first." My face morphs to match hers in a giddy grin. She's so beautiful, so perfect, so...

"Permission granted." Gently, I brush my lips against hers, restraining myself and practicing control. It doesn't last very long because soon, her arms are slinking around my neck and caging us in. I let her be the leader and don't push for more. I use all the self-control I can manage to not press her against the wall and kiss her until tomorrow. If she let me, I would happily do that.

Not even two minutes later, she unlatches her mouth from mine, dropping her hands from my stomach where I wasn't aware they had traveled. "We should go back."

"Sure." We head back to the others, my arm slung around her shoulders, hers around my waist. It doesn't even reach the other side.

"They're gonna tease, you know," I murmur.

"I know. I don't care."

"Good."

Sure enough, the comments come. We carefully ignore them and dive into our food. At some point, Shay comes down to join us. Surprising everyone, she comes around the back of the small couch Tucker's taking over, kisses his head, then hops over the back to claim the spot next to him. "Tay, did you forget my food?"

"Never," Taylor tosses her the last bag of food.

"Thanks."

At this point, Tucker has finished his food and drapes himself over Shay. It's an odd picture to see this strong, tattooed man half-smothering this small, innocent girl. Of course, Shay is stronger than anyone gives her credit for, but unlike Tuck, her appearance fools you.

"So now we have two couples in the group?" Taylor observes. "Well, shit."

"I can't help that all the girls love my puppy-dog aesthetic," he winks. And I don't even laugh because the thing that's bugging me is that instead of giving them a disappointed, hateful look as he did with Libby and me, Aiden gives Tucker an approving nod.

"What the fuck, Aiden?" I exclaim, rising quickly and accidentally almost sending Libby to the floor. The others are startled by my outburst. "You give Libby and I the third degree but congratulate Tucker?"

He gives me a warning look. "Cole. This is not the place."

"'This is not the place' my ass! What's wrong with talking about it here? Why shouldn't we discuss this with both parties?"

"Cole," Libby murmurs, taking my hand and trying to pull me back into the armchair we were in. I shake her off.

"What's so different about Tucker's relationship that you are happy about–" I press on, but Tucker shoots up, grabs my arm, and drags me away from the group like I'm a ragdoll.

When we're well out of earshot, tucked behind a corner, he presses me against the wall, one hand clenching my shirt, a murderous look in his eyes. Suddenly, I'm scared for my life. Tucker has never shown me his dark side.

"Shut the fuck up," he hisses. "You cannot talk like that in front of them. You can't just speak your mind because you're jealous, Cole. Hasn't the Band taught you anything? Yes, the girls have done a horrible job keeping up their covers, but we have to do better. For Aiden, for Peter, and for our lives, Cole. Our fucking lives. And you just about blew our covers a minute ago."

He sucks in a deep breath, trying to reel himself in. He lets me go, but I stay frozen against the wall. "Think for a second, Cole. Why do you think Aiden hated your relationship but approved of mine? Think!" I try to, I really do, but having seen the other side of Tucker has made my mind go blank. "Are you faking you and Libby's relationship? For the good of the mission?"

"No."

"Exactly. Even though I'm attracted to Shay, our whole 'relationship' is fake. My attraction only runs so deep. So I asked Aiden if Shay could be my fake girlfriend because it wouldn't be as hard to fake it. I'm not saying I love her or anything remotely close to that. I don't. And honestly, I'm not sure I could ever love someone. My heart is too hard for that. I'm a criminal through and through.

"But you. You aren't. I know you feel something special for Libby, something deeper than attraction. And I know Libby feels the same way. So it's not hard to understand why you never agreed to the fake-dating thing and struck up a real relationship with her. But the fact that you did it because of your feelings has Aiden all tied up. He hates that you didn't consult him and did your own thing — followed your heart. God that's corny. How did that come out of my mouth?" He smiles half-heartedly. I appreciate his effort to lighten the conversation. "So while I got together with Shay for the benefit of the mission and — let's be honest — the sex," Tucker says matter-of-factly.

"That's so wrong," I mutter.

He ignores me and continues. "You and Libby are together for the purest reason and that's why Aiden hates it. So don't go blowing up everywhere before you think about who you are — who we are — and why this might be happening. Okay?"

"Okay."

"I'm gonna go fix whatever mess you caused back there and you can join us or go chill in the room. Just know, you're going to have a shitload of explaining to do when Libby comes knocking. But remember your cover." With that, Tucker spins around and heads back to everyone else.