Deadly Love

13. Airplanes

I stand frozen as Eric moves his lips against mine. As I finally realize what he is doing, I pull away quickly while an angry voice says, "Time to go back, everyone. Now."

I fully remove myself from Eric's embrace and walk awkwardly next to him, seeing Mr. Alessi send me a glare from the corner of my eye.

"Cadence," Eric says at the same time I say his name.

"Sorry, you first," he tells me.

"That...shouldn't have happened, Eric. You're my best friend; I can't lose you, but I don't have feelings for you in that way." I look into his eyes and see a tinge of disappointment flash through them, followed by a look of regret.

"I've been meaning to do that for a while, I just figured when in Times Square..." he responds with a forced smile and light tone. "I'm glad you know how I feel about you, though. Maybe you'll change your mind one day?" he adds hopefully.

"Eric... my feelings aren't going to change. I'm so sorry if I've hurt you at all, but we can't be together like that. We're best friends, we have been since kindergarten," I say with a sympathetic smile and wrap my arm around his shoulders.

He looks at the ground before looking at me and saying, "Okay. At least you know now." He smiles at me.

I open my mouth to respond but am cut off when someone forcefully grabs my arm. Eric looks in our direction but just shakes his head as he sees that it is Mr. Alessi.

"Ouch!" I exclaim. "What the hell?"

"Cadence," Mr. Alessi growls, pulling me to the back of the group. He's seething.

"Let go of me, that hurts," I whine. He immediately lets go and rubs my arm, grunting, "Sorry."

I wrap my arms around myself to preserve the warmth and look at him, waiting for his rant to begin.

"Why did you kiss him?" he asks me quietly.

I roll my eyes at his bluntness and he clenches his jaw. "He kissed me, I didn't kiss him back."

"You let him kiss you, Cadence. You didn't push him away," he says through gritted teeth.

"I was shocked!" I defend myself. "I'm not sure why it matters to you though," I add in a mumble.

This time it's his turn to roll his eyes. "You told me that you guys are not together."

"We aren't," I tell him emphatically.

His face is illuminated by the street lights and I see his lips form into a straight line. "Explain that then, Cadence. Why did he kiss you?"

"I don't know, Mr. Alessi," I groan. "I guess he's harbored feelings for me and thought it was a good time to let me know."

"Of course," he mutters. I glance around to see if other students notice us talking but they are all in their own conversations.

"Okay, well if that's all..." I trail off and walk away, but he grabs my waist and pulls me to him, so that my back is facing his front. I immediately go tense as he rubs his hands up and down my sides.

I feel myself relaxing into his touch as he brings his mouth to my ear and whispers hotly, "Don't do that again."

"Mhm," I mumble, only partly listening to what he is saying as I'm focused on the euphoric feeling of his wandering hands.

"I mean it, Cadence," he snarls. "Don't kiss other guys, especially not in my presence."

"Why not?" I ask, just to anger him.

"You know why," he seethes. He gives my hips one last knead and disappears from behind me as he jogs to the front of the group.

I force my legs to walk and catch up to the group, even though my mind is swirling. I relish in the thought of his hands on me. He was so gentle, yet so intense. We start our walk back to the hotel, Mr. Alessi leading the way while showing us famous sights around Times Square.