15. Deacon
Chapter fifteen
Deacon
I spent the next hour and a half in The Union working on a discussion board for class. When it was time to meet Lyla after class, I made it to the doors of East Hall just as she was leaving the building. Her mouth curved into a small smile when she saw me. She’d never say it out loud, but she was happy to see me.
“Still here, huh?” she teased, pulling out her phone. “First things first, I need your number.”
“Easy enough.” I took her phone, and we exchanged information.
Lyla pulled her hair to the top of her head and secured it in a bun. “Let’s do a high-level summary, shall we?”
It tugged on my heartstrings to see a motion Cassie did so often when we did schoolwork together. I loved when she put her hair up. It meant she was thinking about something.
“I’m the fun and witty girlfriend who will make your ex-girlfriend jealous and wish she was with you again. Being with you will convince my dad that the Usher video was a mistake, because I’m a put-together woman who is done playing games and is ready to start her business. We will convince everyone around us that we’re a happy couple. Did I leave anything out?”
I nodded approvingly. “That pretty much covers it.”
“Cool. ”
“Cool,” I echoed her casual tone.
We walked across the courtyard to the education building. Once we rounded the corner of the steps, a girl who seemed to know Lyla stopped us.
“Hey, Lyla! When you get back to the apartment, can you pull the chicken from the freezer? I want to make those chicken tacos we found on Pinterest last night.”
“Yeah, I can. Deacon, this is Keira.”
Keira eyed me suspiciously. “Hey.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said. I waited for Lyla to explain who I was but decided to do it for her when she didn't. “I’m Lyla’s—”
“Keira, this is my boyfriend, Deacon,” Lyla blurted.
Keira’s eyes bounced between the two of us. “Wait, what?”
Lyla opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came.
“We started dating yesterday,” I added, hoping to help the dumpster fire scene we were starring in. “We met a few weeks ago when I picked up my roommate from your place.”
Keira pursed her lips. “Interesting. Don’t forget the chicken.”
Once Keira was far enough away, I looked at Lyla and laughed. “Damn.”
“What?”
I ran my hand through my hair, unsure how to respond. “Is that how you’re going to act whenever we’re in front of people? We might as well give this up now.”
“I thought that was totally fine for our first encounter!” she exclaimed, whacking me in the arm. “What was so bad about it?”
I crossed my arms and took a step closer to her. “What am I allowed to do in public? In your head, how does a couple act when they’re around people? ”
Her lip curled in response, and I held back more laughter. “I don’t know, cute boyfriend shit.” She gestured toward my hip. “Like you can hold my hand.”
I raised my hand and pressed my mouth into a hard line. “Cute boyfriend shit, huh? You say the sweetest things to me, baby. Do you even know the basic things of being in a relationship?”
She brushed off my comment. “Ehh, see. You’re already breaking rule one.”
My eyebrows shot to the top of my head. “There are rules?”
“Yes, we haven’t gotten to them because I had to stop myself from throwing up when you called me the B-word.”
“Pet names in relationships are normal, Brooks Books.”
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she wore a confident grin. “That brings me back to rule number one. Remember, this isn’t a real relationship.”
“Okay,” I said slowly. “Go on.”
“Rule number two is we don’t lie. There’s no reason to. Not if this is gonna work. Rule number three is you can fuck around with whoever you want. Just keep everything private. We have an image to maintain. And rule number four is no love. You cannot fall in love with me, Deacon Scott. You seem like the fall-head-first type, and there is no room for that here.”
I processed the well-written rules she thought about during her session on Shakespeare.
“Not a real relationship, no lying, fuck around in private, and no love,” I summarized.
“Perfect.”
When she turned to leave, I grabbed her hand. If that’s all I got, I would take full advantage of the contact. She didn’t pull away, and I decided to push my luck for as long as I had it.
“Are you gonna tell me who hurt you now, or . . .”
“Rule number five.” She smiled coyly. “Don’t ask about each other's past.”
We spent the remainder of our walk talking about Lyla’s Shakespeare class. Lyla read a lot in her downtime. It was charming to see the softer side of her that came with telling someone a story. Just as she was preparing an argument against the communication in Romeo and Juliet , we arrived at the pickup spot for the Falcon’s Pointe shuttle.
“I mean, if the play had occurred today, everything would’ve been solved with a simple text message,” she insisted.
“‘What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other word, would smell as sweet,’” I quoted fondly. “I always liked that line.”
She looked at me with a new appreciation for the conversation. “I think that’s one of the most intriguing parts. If it wasn’t so forbidden, would there have been the attraction in the first place?”
I peered up at the sky and cocked my head. She tugged on my hand when I was taking too long to answer. She kept a tight grip for someone who just laid out multiple terms and conditions.
“I think if you want something bad enough, you find a way to get it,” I declared. Even though Cassie and I weren’t together, I still had hope. If we didn’t work out, it wouldn’t be because I didn’t try.
The shuttle rounded the parking lot and halted a few feet in front of us. Before Lyla could slip away, I pulled her hand to my mouth and skimmed my lips across her fingers. She eyed me playfully, daring me to try something else while we had a small audience.
“I’ll be seeing you, Lyla Brooks.” I kissed her hand, giving her one last smile before she got on the shuttle.