Good at Games, Bad at Love (18+)

Chapter 12 - Now what?

I really need to interrupt Peter's long silence.

"Can we talk?" I sit on the couch and face him, even though I'm still a little embarrassed and don't really know why. He puts his shirt on.

"Now you wanna talk?" He lifts his eyebrow and smiles, and I'm relieved that he's talking to me again and looks like he's in a good mood. "I thought you didn't want any dramas." He smiles again, sits next to me, holds my hand, and I realize my Peter's back.

"It's too late, the drama's already here," I say and remove my hand because I don't want to get tempted again. I gesture in the space between us. I can't think straight and become very sensitive with skin on skin contact.

"Right." He pauses. "Well... the only thing to do is me breaking up with Becky, which I had already decided to do. And you break up with Hardin, and we can be together. Simple." He shrugs his shoulders as if it were the easiest thing in the world.

"It's not that simple," I start saying, but he interrupts me.

"I don't want you to be with Hardin anymore. He can't touch you anymore," His serious eyes are fixed on mine. Now is he being controlling? This is a new side of him. "I'm jealous and I want you all to myself."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not gonna be with Hardin anymore and I know you're not gonna be with Becky. But if we let everyone know we're together, our friends might not talk to us anymore. We'll be splitting up the group. This will get us into trouble."

I think the only way not to start all the drama that I went through in high school, is to keep this between us, a secret. I don't want to lose my friends or be judged by everyone. But can I trust him?

"Alright Kelly, I don't mind. I want to be real with me, with you and everyone else."

"Yeah, but I don't know if I'm willing to lose friendships over sex. Because that's what we are, friends who have sex." I want to make this very clear so he doesn't think we're in some type of relationship.

"Okay Kelly, whatever." He gets up and seems upset. "I'm leaving." He puts his jacket on, kisses me dryly on the cheek, and heads out. I can't understand this guy, what's his problem now? He sulks and leaves, and we didn't reach any consensus.

I look at my watch and it's already 5PM. I have to talk to Hardin as soon as possible. Becky's coming back tomorrow morning, I don't want him to be the last person to know. Above all, we're friends, and I owe him respect. Since I haven't respected him yesterday and today, the least I can do is not disrespect him any further by letting this drag on.

I text him asking if he's at his place, and he says he's with Marcus at Marcus' place. Damn it. That's all I need! He's gonna cross paths with Peter. Will Peter tell anything? I don't think he'd say anything. Still, I'm heading over there. I finish getting dressed, get a sandwich, put my makeup on, and go.

When I get there, Marcus opens the door and I'm face to face with Peter, Hardin, and Marcus. Peter and Hardin are sitting on the bed chatting and laughing until they realize I'm there. Peter looks bothered by my presence, not really knowing how to act. I can totally understand, I probably look the same. Does he think I'm here because of him?

It's amazing that as soon as I see him, my heartbeat shoots up and my body reacts as if acknowledging his presence. It's been like an hour since I was with him.

"Hi! I didn't know you were coming. Come in," says Marcus, all friendly.

"Yeah, I forgot to tell you she was coming, I told her to come," says Hardin, who gets up and kisses me on the lips. This kiss disturbed me and I decide not to look at Peter anymore, to avoid strange looks or facial expressions.