Secrets by Melinda Metz - Fingerprints - 4 Read Free Book Online

used to a guy in Salkow’s league, you don’t downgrade to a Fascinelli.

Chapter 4
    The doorbell rang about two minutes after Anthony left. Rae let out a groan. Oh God, he’s back. He forgot to tell me
    that one of the guys gave him the congratulatory butt pat after the game, something I absolutely need to know
    tonight. She stood up and headed to the front door, walking slowly. Maybe he’d take the hint and go away. The doorbell rang again. Typical Anthony. Rae picked up her pace and grabbed the doorknob, then jerked open the door. The coat of wax on her fingers protected her from picking up any thoughts. “Wh-” she started to demand.
    Then she realized it was Marcus standing on the porch.
    He smiled at her, his trademark Salkow smile. It still kind of worked on her. Kind of. “Hey, I know Ishould have called first, but I thought if I called, you might tell me it wasn’t a good time to come over, and then I wouldn’t be here.
    ”
    Rae snorted, then swung the door open wide. What choice did she have? “Well, since you’re here, you might as well be here inside.” Marcus headed for the living room as if he still came over almost every day, as if he hadn’t ditched her and hooked up with Dori Hernandez while Rae was in the hospital. Yeah, he’d broken up with Dori. And yeah, he’d made it very clear he wanted Rae back. But still.
    Marcus flopped down on the couch, legs apart in that guy way. “Make yourself at home,” Rae muttered as she took a seat in the chair across from him.
    “Great game today. Did you see it?” Marcus asked.
    “No. I’ve been sick. Thanks for asking,” Rae told him.
    Marcus gave her the smile again. “You’re cute when you’re grouchy. Seriously, sorry you’re sick. You want me to…
    get you something? Um, Kleenex?”
    Rae shook her head. “I’m okay. The antibiotics have pretty much kicked in.”
    “It was fun at Sliders that time, wasn’t it?” Marcus asked. He went into his Frankenstein voice,the voice he’d kept using when they’d had lunch at Sliders together. “Frrriennnd.”
    “Yeah. It was fun,” Rae answered, her answer coming out sounding more tentative than she meant it to. And why wouldn’t it? Her feelings about Marcus were all in a jumble. But that day at Sliders had been good. There had been actual moments when Rae felt like she and Marcus were Rae-and-Marcus again. She smiled at him, not a big Salkow kind of smile, but a smile. “Fuuunnnn,” she added, doing Frankenstein herself.
    “Okay, you admitted it was fun,” Marcus said, leaning forward, his green eyes intense on her face. “And fun is good. People want to have as much fun as possible. Which means you’re going to say yes when I ask you to go to the party at McHugh’s with me tomorrow night.”
    Rae swallowed, hard. Yeah, he’d been acting friendly, trying to get her back. But this was a serious offer. An immediate one. She was glad she was sitting in the chair and not on the couch next to him. Even from this distance the Salkow magnetism was pulling on her. Anthony had some of that going, too. More than some. Maybe more than Marcus, even. When she was close to him, like in the car, she-
    This is not about Anthony, Rae told herself sharply. That big poo head.
    “You want me to run through that again?” Marcus asked. “I know it’s sort of complicated. See, you admitted you had fun with me. People want to have as much fun as-”
    “I got it the first time,” Rae told him. Then she realized she should have let him keep going. It would have given her a few more minutes to think.
    Did she want to go to the party with Marcus? It would make a statement, that’s for sure. People would assume they were back together, even if they weren’t. And Marcus, he’d make assumptions, too-that they were getting back together even if they weren’t officially back together yet.
    Rae felt thorny anxiety vines twining through her body. She wasn’t ready for this decision. If Marcus was just