38. Hope
Chapter thirty-eight
Hope
NOAH
“Dude, you promised!” Alex whined, his unearthly volume causing me to wince.
“I’m a little busy right now,” I hissed back, recalling a previous event that was much similar to this one. Silas groaned and continued to kiss me.
“DUDE. THIS IS IMPORTANT.”
“Put it down,” Silas said softly, his warning low and seductive. “Or I’ll do it for you.”
“I can’t right now, Alex.”
“Who is there with you?”
“It doesn’t matter. Bye.”
“Wait!” he screeched. “I need your help, and you PROMISED!”
I moaned in agitation. “I know Alex, but–”
Silas snarled and ripped the phone from my ear, turning it off with the swish of his hand. I couldn’t help but feel a moment of guilt at the way I left my best friend hanging, but all those thoughts were flushed away as Silas proceeded with his irresistible kisses.
“You don’t like that annoying pest, do you?” Silas asked suspiciously, his face now buried in the crook of my neck.
I tried desperately to concentrate as Silas’s hands slid to my hips, unzipping my pants leisurely.
“Of course not. He’s my best friend. That’s all.”
“You sure?”
An acute memory of me kissing the very person we were talking about caused me to pause a bit too long.
I wasn’t about to tell Silas that story.
Not only had I been invited by another girl to the movies and went, I had unexpectedly met with Delane, and had to tongue my best friend for the opportunity to speak with her privately.
Not that I didn’t appreciate the kiss, but I assumed that whatever Silas and I were about to do would be far more enjoyable than making out with Alex. The mouth remained shut.
“Positive.”
My cell ringer pierced through the air with an exasperating shriek. Silas cursed.
Before Silas could pitch the phone from the bedside table, I answered it. I didn’t have to look at the screen to tell who called.
“Alex. What. Do. You. Want!” I barked, dodging Silas as he attempted to snatch the phone from me again.
“Please help me, Noah! You swore! You SWORE!” His high pitched crying only intensified my aggravation.
“Fuck, can’t you wait five minutes?” I looked at Silas who was staring at me expectantly.
“He’s a persistent little fuck, isn’t he?” Silas questioned with a scowl.
“Okay, now I’m sure I heard another voice!”
I sighed, worn to my limits. “Yes Alex, you did. I’m trying to fuck Silas Thorne right now, and you keep interrupting us.”
Silence over the phone. Silas raised an eyebrow, amused.
“BLAHAHA! You’re hilarious, Noah!” Alex squealed from the other end.
I rolled my eyes. The dolt couldn’t even see the truth when it was literally shoved into his hands.
“Ok, ok, so speaking of the Thornes—you HAVE to come to my house right away! I need to win Serenity over!” he bellowed.
“Serenity?” That seemed hard to believe.
Silas pushed himself up on his elbows, his facial expressions changing instantly. “What?”
My eyes widened and I covered the phone with one hand, realizing my fuck up in mentioning his sister’s name aloud. “I mistook what he said.” It was a lousy attempt at a save, but it was all I could think of.
Silas studied me with a glare.
I went back to the phone, trying my hardest not to look like a damn culprit. Of course my best friend would want my help with Silas’s sister. Of all the fish in the sea, he’d want the one with a shark for a brother.
“Hello? H-HELLO!” Alex was wailing into the phone.
“Uh, yeah?”
“Are you coming? Did you hear me? Serenity is here. I invited her over to watch movies, but she still thinks I’m your boyfriend, so I won’t get to do anything! YOU HAVE TO FIX THAT!”
“I’ll see what I can do.” I finally surrendered to the blubbering of my best friend.
“YES! I LOVE YOU Noah!” he exclaimed.
“Yeah, yeah.”
When I set down the phone, I noticed that Silas was still staring at me.
“You’re going, aren’t you?”
I sat up, running my fingers through my tangled bed hair. “Yeah. He needs my help setting up some party stuff for these chicks he invited over.”
If looks could kill, Silas’s would have me six feet buried in dirt already.
“Why was my sister brought up in this conversation?”
I should’ve known he wasn’t going to let that one go at all.
I was torn. Silas was…well I didn’t know what to call him, but he was my something.
More than a friend but not a boyfriend. What do you call that?
A fuck buddy? I had known Silas longer, but even so, I couldn’t abandon bro code with Alex. So, I lied.
“Oh, uh, he had told me he wished Serenity was one of them. He wants her to go to the party.”
Silas made a face. “Ugh. I don’t want to know about his lust towards my sister.”
I chuckled.
“But I have heard her mention his name before. I tutor my friend “Alex” she says.” Silas pronounced Alex’s name like it put a bad aftertaste in his mouth.
I couldn’t help but think how ecstatic Alex would actually be if he knew Serenity acknowledged his existence beyond school. And to her brother no less.
I was oddly amused. Great, now I had something to keep from Alex, too. Fair is fair.
I turned away from Silas, throwing my legs over the side of the bed and closing up my pants.
“Don’t go for that,” Silas said angrily. He took me by the shoulders and pulled, so that I was on my back looking up at his upside down form.
“I owe him one,” I whispered.
“Yeah? You owe me like, a hundred,” he insinuated, leaning down to kiss me. “We can count that as one.” Silas’s nose grazed my chin as he pressed his mouth to mine for a second time. “Two,” he counted with a sigh.
My eyes fluttered closed. If I looked at him any longer, I wouldn’t be able to leave at all.
“Only ninety eight more to go,” he hummed into my ear. “That should give us about an hour longer.”
“I can’t.”
“You could.” His offer was causing me to become seriously turned on.
“We can always finish this another time,” I offered, attempting to sit up.
“If you stay,” Silas countered with a cock of his eyebrow, pressing me back into the bed. “I can finish you right now.”
He dug his nails into my shoulders, keeping me pinned to the bed with such intensity it brought pain. Delicately, he traced his tongue up the tender part of my neckline. When he started biting the sensitive skin beneath my ear lobe, I melted. I was a floundering fish caught in Silas’s net.
“Ssssh,” Silas soothed with a smirk, before returning his lips to me.
“I–” My words were lost in my throat. From my jawbone to my ear, Silas led his immoral kisses back and forth.
Every time his tongue brushed over that specific spot, my muscles jerked in return.
Recognizing my reaction to that sensitive area, Silas increased his level of torture, his lips and tongue sucking so hard that I knew he’d mark me.
My chest heaved. “I should... go...” God, it felt so wonderful.
By this time, the hold on my shoulders had gone slack, but I wasn’t trying to go anywhere.
My breath was coming out in little rasps, and I yearned for Silas to move closer. He moved his lips to my mouth, sliding his tongue along my lips.
“I... should really…” I whimpered helplessly. I tried to escape the craving growing within me, but it wasn’t working.
I arched closer, my mouth hanging slightly ajar in an attempt to recapture the breath that was so rightfully my own. Silas went back to my neck, his hands creeping forward to my chest, fondling my taut nipples.
“I...”
Without thinking twice, my fingers wandered upwards, stroking through the long hair that hung over me like a veil.
I inclined Silas’s face towards me now, only desiring to be as close as possible to that sinful tongue.
I forgot why I complained moments before. I bit my lip, parting my mouth for him.
“Silas–”
A strangled gasp rose from deep within me when that smothering pleasure changed to pain in a split second. Silas bit down harshly on my neck, merging the sensations into blissful agony. I became hard almost instantly, moaning loudly into his mouth as it imprisoned mine.
This kiss was different, backwards even, but still filched my soul from my body.
We broke for a second before I gripped the back of his head, forcing him back down. Our tongues battled, hot and seeking. We split again, and I took the liberty to roll over, and rise to my knees so that he was no longer hovering over me.
“Why did I want to pass this up again?” I asked, hurriedly pushing him onto his back. I mounted him, ready to rip my shirt off and take what was mine.
“Hmm, I think it had something to do with helping Alex,” he replied with a smile.
I stopped in my tracks, the image of my friend suddenly overpowering all sexual thoughts. I sighed and gazed down at the smirking Silas.
“What a buzz kill.”
He looked content.
“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” I questioned.
“Now, why would I do that?” he inquired innocently.
I glowered at him.
“Alex is your best friend. You should go,” he assured.
I scowled. “But–”
“Go,” Silas jerked his head towards the door. “Before I change my mind.”
The moment I arrived, Alex dragged me into the kitchen, and tried to stage what he thought a breakup would sound like. It was absurd, but I went along with it because I had too.
“How could you say that to me?” Alex shouted, looking at me and ushering with his hands as if I knew what to do next. I hadn’t, in fact, said anything yet.
“Uh…I’m sorry?”
Alex made a face and shook his head. “Meaner!” he mouthed.
“Uh…actually, I’m not sorry Alex. I meant everything. I was only using you for my…” I blanked. “For my image!”
Alex’s mouth dropped and he clutched his heart. “You’re image? What about my heart?”
I rolled my eyes. I couldn’t believe this.
“I said,” Alex gestured with his arms, making a big motion, “what about my HEART?!”
I glared at him. He was so fucking dramatic that I couldn’t take him seriously.
Then I thought about it for a moment. I knew what to say now. I was about to put on the award winning performance. And the Oscar goes to…
“Alex, I don’t give a shit about your heart,” I retaliated darkly. “I never did.”
Alex looked stunned. His eyes widened.
“I don’t love you. I don’t love anyone. I could never even possibly dream of loving another person. I don’t even love myself.”
It was dead silent.
“You just got caught in the crossfire. Collateral damage.”
I might have let the moment get too real, because even I was caught off guard by the venom in my words. Alex looked like he was going to cry. Good. I drew back and out of the house, making sure to slam the door loudly for added emphasis.
If Serenity bought it, I wasn’t sure how I’d feel. But I paid my debt and was on my way. What a pointless and bothersome waste of five minutes, when I could have been getting off instead.
Alex was lucky that I cared enough about him to get blue balls.
The fact that I had nowhere else to go but home afterward was even worse. I couldn’t go back to Silas; he was heading out when I prepared to go to Alex. My hands were tied. Home sweet home it is.
A high-pitched squeal greeted me as soon as I opened my front door.
With excitement, my mother rushed to greet me.
Since David had been working nights with Damian, I had been returning home a little more frequently the past few evenings, so I wasn’t sure why she acted as if I had just returned home from war.
“My baby!” she cried with a smile. Her arms opened to me in a tender greeting.
I made an effort to conceal the petrified expression on my face as I slipped into her arms. “Hey, mom,” I hesitated. “What did you do?”
She giggled and flashed me a paper.
“We’re hosting a party!” She laughed giddily.
I grabbed the paper from her and read:
In reference to HPF companies' recent success, we cordially invite you to:
The Empirical Masquerade.
This breathtaking ball will be held at the Grand Ballroom, in the Hansen Family Mansion, on the night of September 17th at 7:00PM.
It would be of our greatest pleasure for you to attend.
Sincerely,
Mr. and Mrs. David Hansen
“Why are we hosting this party?” I asked, handing the slip back to my mom.
I felt the exhaustion just thinking of the formalities I’d have to endure.
Damian got crazy about this type of stuff.
He really was born for this lifestyle, and me, not so much.
Was there really a need for a ball? And in one week nonetheless?
“It’s all courtesy of your father!” she exclaimed. “The community nominated him for an award, and he won. He recently helped close a massive case and put some awful people behind bars. Our whole family is coming to celebrate him! Isn’t this just exhilarating?”
I shook my head. Why didn’t they just hand him the Nobel Peace Prize while they were at it? What a load of crap.
“Aren’t you...excited, dear?” My mom asked, noticing my gloom.
“Sure, mom. Great for him. Can I go to my room now?”
She frowned. “Sure, honey.”
I turned to head upstairs.
“You can invite whomever you please, hon. You get a plus one,” she added before spinning on her heels and scurrying away to gab with one of the housekeepers.
“Noted,” I remarked, more to myself as my wheels began to turn.
DELANE
“Hey.” I answered Noah’s call with a smile.
“Hey, are you at school?”
“Uh, yeah, why?”
“Come outside. I’m in B Lot.”
“Umm, alright.”
I hung up my cell phone and scurried out of the rec area and into the parking lot of our campus. It took me a bit to walk across to the second lot, but just as I suspected, Noah was there, waiting for me, leaning against a car that I couldn’t name if my life depended on it. It looked expensive.
“Hi.” I grinned.
He smirked and moved closer to me. I faltered almost instantly, remembering our interaction from before.
“Um, was there something that you wanted to...” I stared into his dark eyes, growing lost. “...to tell me?” I completed the question, holding my breath.
“My family is having this thing,” he said with a shrug, pulling a folded piece of paper out of his back pocket and handing it to me.
I read over the fine print, the golden droplets of text flashing the words: Empirical Masquerade.
“I want you to come with me.”
My breath began to come out in weak, short intakes. My heart raced. Was he joking?
“Is this...like...a dance?” I asked shyly. It was my expectation that he would turn away, saying it was all a prank. In the center of my chest, a knot was starting to form.
He smiled and my eyes darted to the ground. I touched my cheek and almost screeched at the heat that was radiating from it. He hadn’t even responded yet, and I was immediately flushed.
But that smile...
“Yes, there will be dancing, Delane,” he laughed lightly. There was momentary silence before he inquired. “So, will you come?”
“As a...date?” I felt ridiculous for asking.
Maybe he just would like it if you came to the party and you’re making something out of nothing.
“Yes.”
I blinked. “What?”
“Will you come to the party as my date, Delane?”