All I've Never Wanted (27 page)

“Right. Sorry. Anyway, like I said, I really do like you, and it’s kind of an assholish thing for me to do, what with homecoming next week and all, but…er, I think it’s best if we told everyone the truth, you know?”

“Ok.”

“I’m sorry! I really—wait, ok?” He blinked at me.

I smiled in amusement at his face, resisting the urge to pinch his cheeks. He looked so cute with that dumbfounded expression replacing his usual smirk. “Yes, ok. What, did you think I was going to slap you or something? You did me a favor, for which I’m incredibly thankful, but you’re right. We should tell them the truth soon.”

Relief washed across Parker’s handsome features. “Oh, thank god.” He groaned, flopping down on my bed. “You have no idea how nervous I was all afternoon!”

“You, nervous?” I playfully poked him in the stomach. “Darn it, I should’ve made you squirm.”

“But you didn’t, because you’re such a nice person,” he said happily. “You’re the best, Maya.”

“I know,” I joked. “So who is she?”

Parker shot up so fast I was surprised he didn’t sprain anything. “What do you mean?” His cheeks turned red.

I snickered. “Who’s the girl you want to ask to homecoming? That’s the reason why you don’t want to fake date me anymore, right?”

He turned even redder. “No one! I mean, no one,” he repeated in a lower voice. “I just…it didn’t feel right, lying to my friends like that.”

“Sure.” I didn’t really believe him. “Oh, hey, what’s the big gift you guys are planning for Adri anyway? Carlo won’t tell me, which sucks, because I’m supposed to be part of it.”

“You’ll see. And don’t worry about it.”

I groaned. “Why does
everyone
tell me that?”

Suddenly, I realized something. The flush on Parker’s face seemed to have deepened a bit at the mention of a certain someone’s name, and my eyes widened in realization. No way. He did
not
have a crush on—

“So, we have to figure out how we’re going to tell everyone else we’re not really dating,” Parker said, breaking through my thoughts. “I don’t think they’ll be too happy to find out we’ve been lying to them.”

“Well, Carlo already knows,” I mused. “That’s one less angry person we’ll have on our heels.”

Parker shook his head. “He’s too smart for his own good. I’m not too worried about Zack. Adri…well, I have no idea how she’ll take it. I’m most worried about Roman though. I feel like he’s going to flip a shit when he finds out we’ve been lying to him about our relationship.”

I nodded in agreement, shuddering a bit as I imagined Roman’s reaction.

Turns out, I didn’t need to imagine it, because a second later, a very familiar voice roared, “What do you mean you’ve been lying about your relationship?!”

Parker and I froze, staring at each other with wide eyes before turning slowly around.

I gulped when I saw Roman standing there, sparks flying from his stormy violet eyes as he glared at us. He looked very, very angry.

I whipped my head around. “Parker! Did you forget to close the door?” I hissed.

Parker ran a hand nervously through his hair. “Haha, um…oops?”

Oops. That’s what he had to say. Oops.

I turned back to Roman with my sweetest, brightest smile, hoping that’ll calm him down. It didn’t work.

We are so dead.

CHAPTER 18

“Stop! You’ll kill him!”

I frantically grabbed a fistful of Roman’s shirt and gave it a hearty yank. He didn’t budge, but my hands slipped on the smooth cotton so I ended up falling backwards, right on my butt.

“Oof!” I groaned, glad the floor was carpeted. However, the pain dissipated in the wake of my fear as I stared, wide-eyed, at the scene before me. 

Roman had slammed Parker up against the wall and was huffing and puffing like an angry dragon. I was surprised I didn’t see steam pouring out of his ears. Meanwhile, Parker looked a bit scared—though not scared enough, in my opinion.

“It’s alright, Maya,” he said rather calmly, not seeming at all fazed by the fact that Roman looked like he was about to punch him in the face. “He won’t kill me. He’s supposed to stay in my family’s house in Oahu next summer.”

Roman let out a low growl, and I groaned. “Parker! Now’s not the time to be making jokes!”

I scrambled to my feet and attempted to pull Roman off once again. It didn’t work; he shrugged me off as easily as if I were a

feather.

However, after a moment, he finally let go and took a step back to glare at us, sparks practically flying from his violet eyes. 

“Were you ever going to tell me?” he roared, his voice loud enough to shatter glass. If all the glass in the room hadn’t been shatterproof, that is.

I instinctively whimpered and stepped behind Parker.

“Er…well, we
did
plan on telling you, sooner or later.” Parker cleared his throat as he straightened his shirt.

“I can’t believe it,” Roman muttered furiously. “All this time, I thought you two were dating. I even tried to get along with her!”

He jabbed a finger in my direction. “I even went to her house! With lollipops!”

Parker’s eyes widened, swiveling his head between Roman and myself. “You went to her house? With
lollipops?”

“That’s not the point!” Roman bit out, but his face had turned pink. Inanely, I wondered what ever did happen to those lollipops. “The point is, I would never have had to—to be so
nice
if you two hadn’t
lied
to me! 

Parker sighed. “Oh, calm down.”

I couldn’t help but stifle a giggle as Roman’s eyes almost popped out of his head. A vein pulsed dangerously in his forehead. “
YOU’RE TELLING ME TO CALM DOWN?!”

Oh boy. I immediately covered my ears with my hands to protect my eardrums, but I could still hear him loud and clear.

“How can I
calm down
when I just found out one of my
best friends
has been lying to be for
weeks?!”

“It’s not necessarily lying,” my big mouth piped up of its own accord. “It’s more like—like acting.”

Roman shot me a don’t-you-start-with-me look and I immediately shrunk back, wondering when I’d started fearing Roman Fiori.

“And why exactly were you two ‘acting’?”

That, I can answer. Eagerly, frantically, I launched into an explanation about my grandmother’s matchmaking schemes and how Parker just so happened to show up at the right time. “I mean, you’ve met my grandmother, you know how scary she is,” I babbled almost incoherently.

Parker’s loud guffaw interrupted me. “You met her grandmother?” he chuckled. “How did
that
go?”

I winced. Oh. Maybe now hadn’t been the best time to bring
that
little incident up…

Roman’s face turned purple. “I. Don’t. Want. To. Talk. About. It,” he hissed, glaring at me like it’d been my fault. The venom in his voice made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

Nevertheless, I huffed indignantly. Well, I never told him to wear the darn Mickey Mouse shirt, and I certainly never told him to come to my house in the first place. He had only himself to blame.

“You know, I don’t know why you’re so mad, Rome,” Parker commented conversationally, draping an arm over my shoulders. He really liked doing that, didn’t he?

Roman’s eyes turned to slits, and I bit my lower lip nervously. Couldn’t Parker be serious for just one second?

“If anything, you should be glad,” Parker continued. “Happy, really.”

“And why is that?”

For some reason, the gaze Roman leveled at his friend seemed to be almost a warning.

Parker smirked. “You tell me.”

Roman tensed. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said stiffly, but I noticed with relief that his anger seemed to have abated a bit.

“Sure.” There was a highly amused look on Parker’s face, although personally, I don’t see what’s so funny about the situation. “You know, this means Maya doesn’t have a date to homecoming…”

I scowled. Oh yeah. “Thanks for leaving me high and dry like that,” I mumbled. Guess I was just going to have to go alone.

I sighed. A senior going to her last homecoming alone. Am I cool or what?

“I’m sure you’ll find a date soon.” Parker’s jade-green eyes twinkled mischievously. “Right, Rome?”

I darted a quick glance in his direction. Roman seemed to have perked up a bit, but when he saw us looking, he scowled again. “I don’t know, I’m not psychic,” he finally snapped, a weird expression on his face. “You know what? I don’t have time for this. I’m leaving.”

With that, he stormed out of the room.

I rubbed my temple. His mood swings were giving me a headache.

Parker chuckled. “You two are a riot.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said tiredly.

“Of course you don’t, honeybee. You’re quite dense.”

My mouth flopped open and closed like a fish’s. “
I’m
dense?” I sputtered. “I don’t see how—“

“Come on, walk me out.” Parker cut me off and guided me to the door by my elbow.

If anything, he was the one walking
me
out. When we passed by Roman’s room, I couldn’t resist peeking through the half-open door. What I saw nearly made me laugh out loud.

Roman may be rich and good-looking, but the boy danced like a spastic chicken with its head cut off.

Although I couldn’t quite figure out why he was dancing in the middle of the day anyway.

*              *              *

“
Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa la la la la, la la la la,”
Zack hummed merrily as he pushed open the door of the Scion’s private bathroom and into the hall.
“’Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la, la la la la!”

He really had no idea why he was singing Christmas carols in October, but he was in a good mood today, and Christmas songs were just so
happy.

Now, if only he could find Maya…

Zack pursed his lips, his blond head turning from side to side as he tried to catch a glimpse of the half-Asian. Adriana had told him to invite Maya to their country cottage over the weekend—and to leave out the fact that everyone except Roman would have “sudden emergencies” that prevented them from going.

That wouldn’t be a problem, if he could only
find
her.

Suddenly, he caught sight of a bright flash of red hair. Zack squinted. Hey, wasn’t that Maya’s friend? What’s-her-name? He was pretty sure she was named after a city. Florence? Paris? Vienna? He racked his brain before it finally hit him.

“Venice!” he shouted, bounding down the hall towards the petite redhead.

She spun around, her jaw dropping when she saw him. “Are y-you t-talking to me?” she stuttered, pointing to herself.

Zack was confused. Was there someone else named Venice here?

He looked around. Nope. No other people were in the hall. “Yes. You are Venice, right?”

She nodded frantically, making her look like one of those bobble-head figures he used to collect when he was little.

Zack laughed. She was kind of cute. “Do you know where Maya is?”

“Erm, no.” Venice tucked a fiery strand of hair behind one ear. “I think she left, but I’m not sure. Why?”

Zack’s face fell in disappointment. “Oh, I just wanted to invite her to my family’s country house this weekend.”

“Oh.” Venice paused. “You know, I don’t think she can go this weekend. She has a date tomorrow.”

This time,
his
jaw dropped. “A date? With who?!”

Please say Roman, please say Roman, please say—

“James.”

Oh god that’s not Roman. Adri’s going to throw a
fit.

At the thought of his sister’s wrath, Zack shuddered a bit. Sometimes he couldn’t quite believe he managed to make it out his mother’s womb unscathed. Thank god he couldn’t remember anything from when he was a fetus because sharing that tiny little space with Adriana must’ve been a nightmare.

“Are you ok? Why did you shudder when I said his name?” Venice asked, furrowing her brow.

“Oh, no reason,” he muttered, trying to think of a plan. “Where are they going?”

“I think she said something about an amusement park.”

“An amusement park,” Zack repeated slowly. There was no amusement park in Valesca. The closest one was near La Terra.

There was no going around it. He had to call Adriana.

“Can you stay here for just one second?” He held up one finger to make his point as he speed-dialed his twin with his other hand.

Venice shrugged. “Sure.”

When Adriana answered, Zack quickly explained the situation. She didn’t react the way he expected.

“So why are you calling me?” Her voice crackled over the line.

Zack frowned. “Because, uh, I don’t know what to do now?”

Adriana sighed wearily. “Follow them, Zack. You follow them.”

“Follow who?”

“Maya and James, Zack! Maya and James! Follow them tomorrow and find out what’s going on between them!”

“Ok, fine. I was just asking. Jeez,” he huffed. She didn’t need to be so
snippy.

“But don’t go alone. Take someone with you.”

“Carlo and Parker?”

“No, Carlo’s got enough to worry about and I don’t trust Parker to get the job done. You were talking to Venice, right? Take her with you. She knows Maya well, so she can read her actions better than any of us.”

“Oh.” That made sense. “Ok. What—“

“Sorry, Zack, I have to go. My manicurist just came in. Text me if anything new comes up, ok?”

“Sure.” Zack pouted. She never had time for him anymore.

When he made his way back to Venice, she looked at him questioningly.

He flashed her a dazzling smile. “Are you up for an adventure tomorrow?”

*              *              *

“You copied me!”

“No,
you
copied me!”