Checkmate (Sequel to Game On)

Chapter 17: Too Good To Be True

"Morning, gorgeous", I hear a deep husky voice whisper in my ear. At first, I groan and turn my back to the sound before realization hits me and I shoot up into a sitting position.

"Woah, easy there, gorgeous", Nick chuckles, "don't want you to hurt yourself now, do we?"

"No", I mutter and stand up, "you're good at doing it yourself."

"Excuse me?" he says and stands up as well, walking around the bed to my side.

"Nothing", I hurry to say and try to walk past him but he grabs my arm, forcing me to stay. I look up to meet his gaze and he stares deep down into my eyes.

"No good morning kiss?" he questions and sneaks his arm around my waist.

I shake my head. "There's nothing good about this morning."

"Scratch that", he says, "just give me a morning kiss."

Biting my lip, contemplating whether or not to do it, I finally stand on my tiptoe to reach up to his level to peck his cheek.

Smirking, he moves his head in the last second and I end up kissing the corner of his lips. My face cringe in disgust, no matter how many times I seem to kiss him, I'm still as disgusted.

"Better hurry if you don't want to be late for school", he says and I stare at him with wide eyes.

"What?"

"You heard me", he smirks, "we are leaving in ten since we have to stop at your place to get your uniform."

Without saying anything else, he disappears through the door, leaving me standing there flabbergasted.

He forces me to come with him here but now he's letting me go back to school? I shake my head, not understanding what his real intentions are.

I check my clothes that still lies on the floor and notice that they still are damp. Sighing loudly, I realize that I have to stay in Nick's clothes until I get home.

Not really knowing what to do, I walk through the house and end up in the kitchen. I find a bowl of fruits on the table and pick up a red apple, munching on it as I wait for Nick to get ready.

He shows up a few minutes later, dressed in our school uniform and with green contact lenses.

"Ready?" he asks me and I nod, throwing the now eaten apple in the trash can on my way out.

I quickly place myself in the passenger seat and we drive off. It doesn't take long before we pull up by my house and I hurry to get out. Nick follows after me, his car beeping as he locks it, and we walk side by side to the entrance.

I pull down the door handle, expecting the door to be locked, but it easily open and I furrow my eyebrow. At least I don't have to use the spare key we have hidden in our yard.

"Hello?" I call out as I step inside. Nick follows close behind, standing so close that I can feel his breath against my neck.

"Celiné?" Martha answers from what I think is the living room, "how are you, honey? Is Parker okay?" I hear her footstep walking through the hallway and I start to panic. What if she sees Nick?

I look around and practically push Nick inside the wardrobe where we hang our jackets. Martha appears at the end of the hallway only a few seconds later and I breath out in relief and walk up to her at a fast speed and engulf her in a hug.

"I don't know how he is yet", I whisper, "but I hope he will be fine."

"Oh, honey", she almost cries, "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay", I tell her, "it's not your fault." Slowly, I pull back and give her a weak smile. "I have to go and change now if I don't want to be late for school."

"Oh", Martha seems to be slightly surprised, "you don't have to go to school today if you don't want to, I could tell them you're sick or-"

"It's fine", I cut her off. "I want to go", I lie. "I think it will do me good to have something else to think about."

She nods but I can still see doubt in her eyes. I understand her. If I would be able to stay home, I wouldn't even think twice about doing it. Sadly, I'm pretty sure that Nick wouldn't be very happy if I decided to stay at home.

"Very well, hurry up then", she says, forcing me a smile. I return it and then practically run upstairs and into my room. I get dressed in my school uniform and sigh in relief when I realize that she didn't question my outfit.

I quickly put on some dark makeup and then grab my bag and run down the stairs again.

"Bye, I'm leaving now", I yell as I open the wardrobe. Nick immediately step out and drag me towards the door after making sure that Martha is out of sight.

"Finally", he mutters as we make it to the car. I can't stop myself from smiling at the thought of him being stuck in the small closet.

As we drive towards school, I glance at Nick and a question I've been thinking on more than once pops up in my head.

"Nick?" I ask him, following his gaze that lies on the road ahead.

"Mmh?" he answers without looking at me.

"Why did you choose the name Shane?" Maybe it is a coincidence that he chose the same name as my ex-boyfriend or maybe it is something more to it than I know.

He takes his eyes off the road for a second to glance at me. "Why do you want to know?"

I decide to tell him a part of the truth. "I knew someone with that name."

"And so did I", he answers, his voice sounding bitter. As I glance over at him, I notice that his jaw is clenched and that his knuckles are white from tightening his grip on the steering wheel.

"You don't seem to... like him very much", I say, "but still you took his name?"

"Let's just say we didn't part ways very nicely", he mutters.

I probably shouldn't keep pushing him but still, I couldn't stop myself.

"What happened?"

Nick gives me a glare. "That's none of your business."

I suck on the inside of my cheek, keeping quiet as I understand that he won't tell me anything else. Even though there's more than one Shane in the world, I wonder if we think about the same on, however, I push the thought away. It's highly unlikely that it would be the same, I mean, what are the odds?

We pull up at the school's parking lot and the cars cringe and come to a halt. Just as I am about to open the door, Nick takes ahold of my arm and I turn my face towards him and raise an eyebrow at him.

"Don't think I'm letting you go", he says, "I'll watch your every move and you'll be here by my car when the school ends, got it?"

I gulp and nod. "Yeah."

Nick smirks and leans in to kiss me. I turn my face, exactly as he did earlier but reversed, and he ends up kissing my cheek instead.

"Don't play with me", Nick warns and kiss me again, this time on my lips. His lips seem to be hungry and the kiss gets rougher in a matter of seconds but I don't move a muscle.

"I could keep going like this for the whole day", he breathes out and I glance at the clock and carefully place my hands on his chest and push him away an inch.

"But sadly", I whisper against his lips, "class starts in five and I don't want to be late."

I follow his jawline with my index finger, keeping him busy as I reach for the door handle with my free hand. Quickly, I grab my bag and step outside, walking up the few stairs at a fast pace before entering the school building. I join the sea of students and as I glance behind my back, Nick is out of sight and I feel a small weight being lifted from my shoulders and heart.