Three Strikes

As his lips descended on mine the room burst into catcalls and whistles. His fingertips cupped my face as he moved his mouth against mine gently. Too startled to move, I stood still for a minute before I kissed his back. We broke apart seconds later to see my parents smiling approval. Frankie’s jaw had dropped as he looked on, childishly disgusted. Nick and Kevin were clapping and Denise and Paul looking on happily. Joe grasped my hands and smiled down at me, breathing a little heavier. “Sorry,” he whispered huskily.

I just smiled, standing on my toes to kiss his cheek when I answered, “D-don’t worry about it.”

Joe’s signature smirk weaved its way onto his face. “Render you speechless, did I?”

Rolling my eyes I shook my head. “Just surprised me is all.” I smirked myself. “You might want to work on your technique though, Jonas.”

He mock glared at me and took my hand, leading us back to where Nick and Kevin stood with little Frankie. Frankie glanced at me and pretended to gag.

“You don’t think I’m pretty, Frank?” I asked the pre-teen, bending to his height.

“You made out with my brother!” Frankie wrinkled nose and stepped away from me. “Gross!”

Joe smacked his head lightly. “Frank, don’t be mean. Rose is going to be your sister pretty soon,” he told his youngest brother. “And besides! You love Rose! Remember you used to have a massive crush on herrrr,” sang Joe, winking at Frank whose eyes had widened and he stormed off in a huff.

“Nice going, Joe,” sighed Kevin, going after his brother. Nick just looked at Joe.

“Like you never had a crush on Rose when we were younger.” Nick folded his arms and stared his older brother down. I coughed lightly, cheeks turning a light pink.

“Oh really?”

Nick grinned at me, his curls bouncing with the movement. “Sure did.”

“Rose,” Joe said sternly, grabbing my waist in hopes of dragging me off somewhere.

I removed his hands, “No, I think I want to listen to this. “Go on, Nick.” I said, smiling wide at Joe’s obvious discomfort.

“Joe fancied you way back. You can’t deny it Joe, remember? 4th grade you tried out for the school pla-”

“That’s enough.” Joe said, almost picking me up as he pulled me away from his sibling. We moved towards the tables that were covered in silken white lace, littered with confetti stars and moons in silvers and purples. I sat down as did Joe. He loosened his tie; it was past midnight and people were still milling around. It was an LA party, after all. “They went all out didn’t they?” Joe stated the obvious, looking at all of the decorations and food.

“I don’t even want to think about the cost.” I agreed as Joe picked up the small shiny stars before throwing them at me. I plucked them from my hair and laughed. “Real mature, Jonas.”

“Back atcha, Fletcher.” Joe stared over at me. “And ignore Nick. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about half the time.”

I rose my brows, “So you didn’t have a crush on me back then?”

Joe rolled his eyes and threw another star; it landed on my shoulder. “Not in the slightest.” He said bluntly, taking a glass of wine from the waiter who appeared to his right. The man walked off, leaving me and Joe to bathe in silence. “You okay?” Joe asked me as he downed his wine. “You look pretty down.”

“You shouldn’t be drinking so much. If your Mom catches you-”

“Stop avoiding the question,” said Joe, placing his empty glass down. “Seriously, though - what’s up?”

“Nothing.” I mumbled, standing up and walking away from my ‘fiance’. I wasn’t about to admit that his answer had irked me or that I’d been hoping for the opposite. I’d rather have agreed to be handcuffed to Marie for the rest of my life than admit to that. No, Joe was just going to have to figure it out by himself.

But I sincerely hoped he wouldn’t.