Mutual Hatred - Love Game (11 page)

When the doorbell rang around seven, Taryn let it ring twice before answering.

"Don't want to seem too desperate," she called over her shoulder.

Shaking her head, Shelley got up and followed Taryn to the door. Surprise, surprise! Alex Taylor stood on the porch, one hand in his jeans pocket, the other holding out a single red rose.

Aww, how sweet.

Taryn was smiling like an idiot at this gesture, so Shelley felt it was time to ruin the moment. "Where's James?" she asked brusquely.

It was like Alex was in a trance. "He's uh…in the car," he finally replied, eyes still on Taryn.

Shelley grabbed her purse and trotted past Alex. She heard him tell Taryn, "Damn, you look beautiful."

Think he meant it?

Oh, most definitely.

But Shelley stopped short when she saw the black BMW parked in front of Taryn's house.

Oh, hell no!

Taryn had told her she'd be going with James Watkins, not Brandon!

Duped. She'd been duped!

And by her own best friend, no less!

An evening with Brandon Miller. It should have been every girl's dream come true, but it was Shelley's worst nightmare.

Taryn was going to pay for this.

Shelley could see Brandon's outline in the driver's seat. She opened the door to the backseat and promptly said,

"What the hell? I'm supposed to be with James!"

Brandon swiveled around in his seat. "He's right next to you, Sinclair."

That damn smirk was back. Stop it!!

Shelley glanced to her left and sullenly said, "Oh. Hi James."

James mumbled a hello back and resumed staring out the window.

Some date.

"So what are you doing here?" Shelley asked Brandon.

"Thought I'd tag along and keep the peace between you and James," was his cool response.

"Couldn't find something better to do?" Shelley asked haughtily. "Not even a date?"

"Actually, I'm his date. Hello Shelley," said Destiny Hoyt, turning around in her front seat as little as possible to face Shelley.

Shelley's mouth dropped open. It took her about two minutes to register who was sitting on front of her. Destiny Hoyt!!

Destiny Hoyt, with her platinum blonde hair and electric blue tips, didn't seem like the kind of girl Brandon would date, but to each his own. Brandon was what most people would call a prep. On the other hand, Destiny was a rocker chick. But Destiny Hoyt was pretty and smart, so she got why Brandon would like her; Shelley couldn't understand why Destiny would go out with Brandon though. They were completely different people and she was positive Destiny had a boyfriend.

"Heyyyy Destiny," said Shelley, regaining composure. "Did Brandon pay you to go out with him? Because if he did, it's not worth the money."

Destiny let out a full, throaty laugh. "No. I'm here because ahh…long story. I'll tell you later," she said with a wink.

Brandon rolled his eyes. "Let's make this an easy night. I don't talk to you, you don't talk to me," he said to Shelley.

"Fine by me," replied Shelley, leaning back in her seat. She looked out the window. The two lovebirds were finally making their way down Taryn's walkway to the car. But instead of getting in, Alex led Taryn to his own black Mustang parked across the street.

"So if they're going in his car, why are
we
going on the date with them?" Shelley asked aloud to no one in particular. "They could just go somewhere else at any time."

"To make sure everything stays PG," Destiny said dryly. "Alex can get pretty frisky. Remember when he went out with Alexandra? She was terrified!" Seeing the panic in Shelley's expression, Destiny hastily added, "But he likes Taryn, I'm sure. He'll be a good boy."

Oh, he
better
be.

"So where are we going?" Shelley asked brightly.

"To the beach!" said Destiny gaily, waving her hands above her head. "Where we can take a long walk on the beach, hand in hand, staring out at the ocean and watching the waves crash against the sand as the sun sets."

Sounds like we have another Taryn on our hands. And that is
just
what the world needs.

Not.

The restaurant Alex had chosen, an Italian eatery called Maggianno's, was on the pier and they had a table overlooking the ocean. Shelley was glad they had the view; it was a refreshing sight compared to the google-y eyes Taryn and Alex were making at each other. And Shelley got the feeling that Taryn would want to be alone with Alex tonight, no chaperones.

As if Shelley would let that happen.

After dinner and making small talk with Destiny and James, Shelley suggested that they all go walk on the beach. Taryn and Alex immediately agreed and hustled out the door after paying the bill. Destiny, Brandon, James, and Shelley slowly followed behind. Even though James hadn't been much of a date, Shelley was keeping a close watch on him out of the corner of her eye. Eventually he disappeared with another girl, mumbling something about escorting her to her car, and Destiny said she had forgotten something at the restaurant. When Shelley and Brandon had offered to go back with her, Destiny had quickly shouted,

"No! You stay and keep watch on Alex and Taryn."

Brandon glanced at Shelley and said, "I'd rather not. Besides, I don't want you going back to the restaurant by yourself. You might get kidnapped or something."

Destiny snorted and shook her head. "Don't be ridiculous. Stay here!" she said firmly.

Without waiting for an answer, Destiny turned around and began walking back to the restaurant.

Ah, alone at last.

Wonderful. Just fantastic.

Oh, joy.

Brandon settled himself down on the sand. Taking his lead, Shelley sat down next to him. Alex and Taryn weren't too far ahead; the two had stopped to watch the sunset.

"So what's a girl like Destiny doing with you?" said Shelley, trying to sound unconcerned.

"Desi and I go way back," Brandon said casually, "Family friends."

Shelley narrowed her eyes. "Nothing more than friends?"

"Jealous?" Brandon smirked.

If looks could kill, Destiny would have been short a date. "You wish."

"For your information, I'm going with Destiny to get back at her boyfriend. Apparently he was cheating on her, so she wants to give him a taste of his own medicine."

"Wouldn't it just be a better idea to dump him?"

"Well Destiny hasn't told Jack she saw him yet," said Brandon, picking up a fistful of sand, only to toss it to the side. "Naturally he'll get pissed off because he hates me."

Shelley fished for a mirror in her handbag. "Jack and I would be good friends, then."

"Jack's an ass," Brandon said indifferently, watching Shelley fix her hair.

Shelley chuckled. "Jack's an ass," she repeated, "Jackass!"

Brandon immediately understood and the two burst out laughing.

"You know, you have five smiles," he said somewhat randomly as she collected herself.

"Mmhm. Corny pickup line stolen from 'Win a Date with Tad Hamilton?'" Shelley asked sarcastically.

"No, you really do have five smiles!"

"And your mom is the queen of England."

"You have one where you think something is funny but you're not sure if it's supposed to be," continued Brandon, completely ignoring her, "Another for when something IS funny; it's your genuine smile. One you use when it's like you just remembered something; inside jokes with yourself. You have a polite smile; the kind you give people you don't really like."

"That was only four."

"I'm getting there," Brandon said patiently, "You save your last one for me."

Can someone say bullshit?

Shelley scoffed. "Don't try to pull a fast one on me, Miller. I'm not falling for your attempts to be suave."

"It's the truth," Brandon said rather earnestly, "You have this different smile when you're with me. It's like you're actually happy."

Was she ever happy when she was with him? I think we all know the answer to that.

"Don't lie to yourself," muttered Shelley. "So you
actually
took the time to notice my smiles?"

"I notice everything about you."

Maybe he meant it, but Shelley thought it was not only creepy, but also a lie.

"Are you Luscious Lloyd?" she asked suspiciously.

"Who the hell is that?"

"Never mind," she said quickly, "Never mind."

"Sinclair, do you have a stalker I should know about?" growled Brandon.

"No," Shelley said quickly.

"No you don't or no you do?" he asked slowly, as if talking to a little kid.

"No I…Wait, what?!?"

"Just answer the question," Brandon said stonily, "Do you have a stalker?"

"Why do you care if I have one or not?"

"I don't."

Deny, deny, deny. It's the answer to every question you want to avoid.

"Then it shouldn't matter to you if I do or don't have a stalker."

"Then define 'Luscious Lloyd'," he countered.

"How would you know if he was a stalker or not? He could be anyone!"

Shelley thought had him right where she wanted him. The best part was that they both knew it.

"I am not Luscious Lloyd," Brandon said firmly. "Why would I want to stalk you?"

Okay, well, everyone's allowed to be wrong.

"You're like…bipolar or something, you know that?" said an irate Shelley.

"I'm bipolar because I'm not your stalker?" Brandon asked incredulously.

"No!" she said loudly. "God, like sometimes you can be a complete ass. But other times you're just so damn nice to me. What the hell do you have up your sleeve?"

"Nothing," Brandon said innocently, "Would you rather I was an asshole all the time, then?"

"No. But it's just bizarre when you say nice things to me. That's like defying gravity."

"A guy can't say nice things to his coach?"

Shelley laughed derisively. "Oh, you're just a suck-up!"

"You can suck my-"

Brandon was cut off by the return of Destiny, who had a male friend in tow.

"Brandon, I hope you weren't going to say what I
think
you were going to say," warned Destiny.

"Oh, I was," Brandon assured her as he stood up and offered Shelley a hand. "What the fuck is Jack the ass doing here?" he added, directing this to Destiny's friend.

The person who Shelley presumed to be Jack the jackass flipped Brandon the bird.

"Stay the hell away from my girl," snarled Jack.

"Actually, I'm not your girl. Brandon and Shelley, you two are about to witness something I should have done a long time ago," said Destiny.

And with that, she slapped Jack so hard that everyone in the vicinity looked around for the cause of the noise. Jack stumbled and clutched his cheek.

"Little bitch! What was that for?" he bellowed.

"That's for cheating on me with Shannon Moore!" Destiny shouted back.

Brandon decided to join in the fight. He punched the other side of Jack's face.

Ouch. That looked like it hurt. Someone would definitely be sporting a black eye tomorrow morning.

"And that was for calling my friend a bitch," Brandon barked.

Shelley could only watch in horror. She knew she should stop it before anything bad happened, but all the same she was glued to her place.

She could feel Jack's eyes on her. "You're not gonna punch me too, are you?" he asked warily. "I can't say I don't deserve it."

How fascinating. Jack could get punched and take it with his pride still intact. Any other guy would have denied everything. But Jack was taking responsibility for his actions.

He could give other males a pointer or two.

"No," said Shelley, shaking her head. "I think you've had enough. Come on guys, let's go," she said, tugging on Destiny's sweater.

Surprisingly, Destiny allowed Shelley to pull her away without any complaint. Brandon followed.

"You should have kicked his balls," he said to Shelley.

"Nah. He's not worth it," Shelley retorted.

"Thanks guys," Destiny said quietly.

Shelley cast her a sideways glance. "He's a jerk. He totally missed out on someone first-rate."

"He didn't even say sorry," said Destiny, shaking her head sadly, "And I really thought he was a gentleman, too."

"There aren't very many nice guys left in the world, Des."

"Brandon's a nice guy." Destiny was winking at Shelley so noticeably it was unnerving.

"Don't even think about it," Brandon and Shelley said simultaneously.

"See, you kids already think alike!" Destiny said gleefully. "There's definitely chemistry between you two."