If I Told You I Loved You, How Far Would You Run?

“There are three parts to winning Ryan back,” Pete states, pen and pad of paper in hand. “Part one—making him jealous.” He writes 1) JEALOUS on the paper.

“You and Pete are all over that, obviously,” William says with a little smirk. “Part two is making him want you.”

“What?” I ask, watching Pete write hot sexy SEXY after a number two.

He looks to meet my questioning gaze. “Bilvy here is a genius at dressing people, making them smoking hot,” he says with a lazy grin. “That’s why he’s here. To look over your wardrobe and to help you look your best.”

“That way, even if you weren’t making him jealous, Ryan would still want you,” William says.

“And what’s the last part?” I ask.

William grabs my shoulder and leans over to whisper slyly in my ear: “You’ve got to give him a few opportunities to apologize and ask for you back.”

“HEY! Stealin’ my boyfriend? Not cool. Not cool,” Pete says with a laugh, tugging William away from me.

“You’re sure this is gonna work?” I ask uncertainly.

“It never fails,” William promises just as Pete goes, “Oh hell no.”

“Well, that’s reassuring,” I say with an eye roll.

William shoots Pete a glare before dragging me off to examine every inch of my wardrobe.

After a couple of hours of teaching how to properly put on eyeliner and how to properly arrange my hair and how to properly put together sexy outfits, William is satisfied with me.

“There,” he says tiredly. “You’ve learned all that you can from me.”

“Thanks,” I say with a genuine smile. “I appreciate it, William, really I do.” Because, for the first time, I feel like I might actually have a chance at winning Ryan back.

But then another thought occurs to me. “What if he’s not gay?” I ask in a small voice.

“Brendon, honey, you could make any boy go gay,” William says reassuringly.

“Haha, no,” I laugh nervously. “You’re thinking of Ryan, not me. ‘Sides, Pete, didn’t you have your eye on him earlier?”

Pete snorts. “You gullible moron,” he says, rolling his eyes. “I was just trying to warn you that someone else might steal him if you didn’t get your act together.”

“And that’s exactly what happened,” I say unhappily.

“But on a happier note, you have me now,” Pete says, wrapping his arms around my neck.

“No offense, Pete, but that’s not a huge consolation,” I tell him flatly.

“Brr—you two need some warming up to do before you can make Ryan jealous,” William says.

Pete shoots me a sly grin. “I’m good at heating people up,” he says. “Real good.”

“You suck,” I say with a laugh.

“On you,” he says quietly and smashes our lips together.

“Ew,” William squeals, averting his eyes as Pete starts kissing and sucking and nibbling on my neck.

I’m scrambling madly for some witty comeback, but the feeling of Pete’s teeth against my skin drives all thoughts from my mind except one:

Damn, that feels good.

A distant corner of my mind recognizes William’s voice as he leaves my room, saying, “Heh, I’ll leave you two at it then,” but all I can focus on is the way Pete is harshly sucking on my neck.

He chuckles quietly when a desperate moan escapes my lips. “You like that, don’t you, you bad boy,” he says smugly against my skin.

Pete’s voice jolts me out of my haze and I push away from him. “No!” I gasp. “I … this isn’t fair to Ryan.”

“Fair? FAIR?” Pete shouts back. “You think Ryan’s being fair to you by dating that ho? Do you?!”

His anger scares me; Ryan was never this fierce, this intense, this furious with me, even after all I did to hurt him. “Stop,” I beg in a small voice. “You … you’re scaring me, Pete.”

The fury drops from Pete’s face and he surprises me by taking me in his arms and gently rocking me back and forth. “Shh, shh, it’s okay, Bren. I’m sorry,” he murmurs, stroking my hair. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“I’m fine,” I say with a loud sniff that contradicts my words.

Touching his nose to mine, Pete grins. “And look on the bright side of things, now you’ve got a lovely hickey to show off to Ryan,” he says mischievously.

“WHAT?!”