Love, Lies, and Deception(43)

“Okay, I see how you want to be. Now I’m definitely not going easy on you tonight,” Justin insisted, scowling at me and everyone else.

Kristian clapped him on the back. “You’re such a sore loser. I, of all people, know how competitive that girl over there is,” he said, hooking a finger over his shoulder to point at me.

“Don’t I know it, too,” Emily teased, shutting her bedroom door and joining us. “Luckily, we all love her.”

Kristian winked. “That’s right.”

Alec pursed his lips and snatched me up in his arms, claiming my lips with his, possessing me. Glancing at Kristian, Alec grumbled in my ear, “I swear, girlfriend or not, I’m going to have some competition of my own. I guess I just need to keep reminding him that you’re mine.”

I sighed and rolled my eyes. “He’s happy with Natalie, trust me. You have nothing to worry about. We’ve slept in the same bed before and he’s never even touched me. He has a little more respect for me than that.”

Biting his lip, Alec smirked and let his hands rest over my ass, pressing himself against me. Emily whistled from behind us, and I heard Justin mutter something about getting a room. Alec grinned wickedly at me. “I do, however, know what game I’ll be playing with you tonight, and it doesn’t involve the Xbox,” he whispered gruffly in my ear.

He let me go and I tried desperately to keep the blush from creeping into my cheeks. Quietly, I pulled him over to the corner and asked, “Did you by any chance tell your aunt what was going on?”

He nodded. “Yeah, she knows. Come to find out Detective Michaels lives a couple houses down from her. She was going to talk to him this afternoon. She also wants me to lay low for a few days until everything calms down, but of course, we already knew that.”

“I agree,” I uttered. “I have a strange feeling we’ll be hearing from the police soon.”

“Pizza’s here!” Emily hollered out when the knock came at the door. Alec and I smiled at each other and took a seat on the couch. The moment Emily opened the door, the smell of marinara sauce and garlic filled the room.

My stomach growled. “Thank goodness. All I’ve had today was donut holes.”

Alec chuckled. “Donut holes?

Kristian sauntered into the living room and sank down on the loveseat across from us. “Yep, donut holes. It’s one of her favorite study foods. Well, that and chocolate milk, but I’m sure you knew that since you two are seeing each other now, right?”

He had a smug look on his face, so I pierced him with a questioning glare, one that told him to stop what he was doing.

Alec smiled and faced Kristian head on. Apparently, he wasn’t going to let his antagonizing bother him. “Actually, no, I didn’t know that. I would love to hear more about her though since you’re her friend. I’m sure you have plenty of stories you could tell.”

Kristian rested his elbows on his knees and leaned forward. A gleam sparkled in his eyes when he spoke, “Oh, I have plenty of stories I could tell, but that’s the joy of dating right, to get to know one another? Take for instance, your likes, dislikes, fears, and all the in-between stuff. I’ve spent years getting to know her, and if you’re interested in getting to know the real her you’ll find out yourself. You can’t always have things handed to you, can you?”

Kristian smirked and lifted an eyebrow at Alec before guzzling his beer and leaving us. Alec was just as shocked as I was. “You know, if he didn’t have a point I probably would’ve flown across the room and beat his ass.”

I laughed. “Yeah, I was getting nervous there for a moment. You looked like you were about to explode. ”

Alec shrugged. “I’m working on all of that. I haven’t gotten into a fight in a really long time, and I don’t want to start now; especially, with your best friend. Although, I still stand firm about guys and girls not being able to be just friends. He doesn’t look at you like you’re just a friend.”

“You have nothing to worry about,” I said before leaning over to kiss him. “He’s just looking out for me.”

“Well, he better watch out, Marissa. My tolerance only goes so far,” he admitted.

Everyone had already started digging into the pizza, so Alec and I got up to fetch our plates. I was about to grab a slice when a knock came at the door. Exasperated, I glanced at Emily and asked, “You did send a tip with the pizza guy, didn’t you?”

She scoffed, showing me the pizza in her mouth. “Of course! I gave him an eight dollar tip.”

I put my plate down and answered the door, surprised to see Detective Michaels pacing around outside. “Detective Michaels, what are you doing here?” I asked. The warning in my gut screamed loudly when I saw the expression on his face … something was wrong.

He peered over my shoulder and acknowledged Emily, Kristian, and Justin with a nod before locking his gaze onto mine. “Good evening, Marissa. I’m sorry for the intrusion, but I really need to speak to Mr. Holden. When he didn’t answer downstairs at his apartment, I decided to check up here.”

Alec came up behind me. “Is everything okay, Detective?”

“If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to speak to you outside,” he insisted.

Alec nodded and squeezed my arm before kissing me on the forehead. “I’ll be right back.”