Untouchable - Chapter 15
Thursday
Two more notes demanding a secret auditorium meeting.
Two more instances of whispered words in class when no one was looking.
And as if Matt knew I wouldn’t come for the fourth day in a row, there was another note staring back at me in my locker.
It was placed so perfectly I was pretty sure he hadn’t stuffed it through the slats.
He’d opened up my locker and put it right where I’d see it.
He knew the combination to my lock. He was officially being creepy. And disrespectful.
I lifted up the note and read his words.
Please tell me I’m not too late.
Too late for what? It was the weirdest note yet.
And even though it didn’t say to meet him in the auditorium at the end of school, he’d said he’d keep waiting in another note.
He’d be there. I slammed my locker closed.
Enough was enough. I didn’t care if this was some weird hazing the new girl thing.
Or a prank I didn’t understand. I wanted to have a good night with Felix.
And I didn’t want to spend any more time thinking about these stupid freaking notes.
Felix was supposed to walk home with me and Kennedy today. But neither had stopped by my locker yet. I’d just quickly tell Matt to leave me alone and have a great night.
I opened the heavy wooden door of the auditorium. The lights were off, and when the door closed behind me with a thud, everything was bathed in darkness.
I was mad at Matt for making me come here of all places to talk. Pissed that he kept trying to make me cancel my plans with Felix. Furious that he thought these notes could make up for the fact that he just sat there while Charlotte tore me apart in class last week.
But I was also a tiny bit scared. Maybe a lot a bit scared. I’d never been to the auditorium and my thigh bumped into one of the seats. Ow. “Matt?” I whispered.
No answer.
“Matt, this isn’t funny.” God, this was definitely a hazing thing. Any minute now Isabella would show up and throw red paint on me or something worse. Charlotte’s words about making me disappear came back to me. “Matt?” My voice trembled this time.
A floorboard creaked behind me and I turned so quickly I almost ran right into him.
“You came,” he said.
I was breathing hard, trying to hold back the scream that had wanted to come out a second ago.
“What the hell?” I shoved the note into his chest and ignored the fact that his pecs were so hard that the action hurt my hand.
Well, I tried to ignore it. Because I kept my hand there, splayed on his chest. I felt the rise and fall of his breath.
“Brooklyn.”
Him saying my name finally brought me back to reality.
I pulled my hand away, hating how cold it felt.
“You’re infuriating. You know, I actually thought you liked me when you followed me into the bathroom at that fancy party.
But I get it now. You came to my rescue in the bathroom so no one would see you helping me.
Because I was the help . I’m not good enough to be seen with in public. Isn’t that right?”
“Brooklyn…”
“And the silent treatment in the halls? You only ever talk to me when you have to in class. Or when people are too drunk to remember the night. Or when no one else is watching.” I threw my arm out, gesturing to the abandoned auditorium.
“Brooklyn…”
“You’ve made it perfectly clear that I’m beneath you.”
His Adam’s apple rose and fell at my words and for a second I forgot that I was mad.
Because everything about him was so beautiful.
And I hated that I could see how beautiful he was when all he could see about me was that I wasn’t good enough to be with him.
I’d never fit into his life. He was one of the Untouchables. And I was just…untouchable.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked. “What the hell do you want from me?”
He stepped even closer. “I want you to tell me I’m not too late.”
“For what?”
“This.”
His lips crashed against mine before I had time to realize what was happening. He buried his fingers in my hair, angling my face up to his.
And my body felt alive. Like I was truly breathing for the first time in a month. Like my heart wanted to keep beating again.
His tongue slid between my lips. He tasted like cinnamon. And I wasn’t a huge believer in desserts, but I had also never tasted one quite like this. God, I wanted more.
He groaned, and I had never heard such a carnal sound. I felt like I was on fire. And he was consuming me.
One of his hands fell from my hair, his fingertips running down my neck. He pressed his palm in the middle of my chest. Like he wanted to feel my heart beating. Like he wanted to know I was alive too. Like he wanted to see if my heart was feeling the same thing his was.
He pulled back far too soon. “Tell me I wasn’t too late.”
“For what?” I was panting. Desperate for a redo. My eyes gravitated to his perfect lips.
“To be your first kiss.”
Oh my God. Shit. I shoved him away from me.
Damn it! That kiss wasn’t meant for him.
I’d already promised it to Felix. Felix.
Shit. He was probably waiting at my locker for me.
God, what was wrong with me? “You’re a…a…
you’re a kiss thief, Matthew Caldwell.” Apparently it was easier for me to throw the blame on Matt instead of myself.
“You kissed me back.”
I swallowed hard. “I did not.”
“You did.”
It felt like it was a thousand degrees in the auditorium. I had to get out of here. God, what had I just done? “I did not,” I said back as my fingers fumbled around the doorknob in the darkness.
“I’m going to be all your firsts, Brooklyn.”
My hand finally made purchase with the doorknob. I flung it open. The bright light of the hallway was blinding.
“Every single one of them,” Matt said from behind me.
I ran out of the auditorium as fast as I could.
As far away from him as possible. Because I was terrified that he was right.
He could take everything he wanted. He was Matthew freaking Caldwell.
He never had to ask, he just took and took and took.
He’d stolen my first kiss. I wouldn’t let him steal anything else.