Best Kept Lies (Best Kept #3)

Chapter 44: How Quickly Things Can Change

"Tyler!" Maggie calls out. "Turn off the video game and come help me cook!"

I look at Tyler from my spot on the floor. "You guys already sound like you're married," I tell him.

Tyler lets out an annoyed sigh because he has to pause his game. "I was married to that woman the moment I met her," he responds. "But I wouldn't have it any other way." He slides his controller onto the coffee table and starts his venture out of the living room.

Jasper's still sitting on the couch, right above me. "You'd never know that they haven't known each other forever," he comments.

"I know," I agree. "Sometimes I just wanna punch both of them in the face though because they're so cute. I look at you and wanna slap you because you're so cute."

Jasper raises a brow and sets the controller aside. "You're not really going to slap me though, right?"

"When I say I wanna slap you, I really mean I wanna kiss you," I explain my poor excuse of logic.

Jasper still watches me curiously. "So you wanna slap me...with your lips..."

I nod and kneel in front of him. "Yep, that's it."

"Do you have this thought on a regular basis?" He questions, his words slipping out slowly.

Again, I nod my head. "At least five times a day. I'm thinking about it right now actually."

"Slapping me?"

"Which translates into I want to kiss you right now."

Jasper starts to smile, his dimples pressing in. "Are you about to waste an opportunity?"

I brace my palms against his knees and lift myself up to kiss him. But before I can meet his lips, I hear Maggie's screech in the kitchen. Jasper and I both jump up, nearly falling over in the process. Jasper's ahead of me, but I run behind him until we emerge into the kitchen.

Maggie's standing in the middle of the kitchen with a face covered in what I imagine to be spaghetti sauce, even though it sort of looks like blood. "What the hell happened?" I asked, timidly stepping around Jasper. "It looks like the end of Carrie."

"This asshole," Maggie jerks her finger in Tyler's direction, "thought it would be funny to splash my face with sauce." Then she uses her hands, wiping down her face and then smearing it down the front of Tyler's black and white flannel.

Tyler's mouth drops open. "At least it wasn't cooked! And now you ruined my favorite shirt!"

"You ruined my face!" Maggie retorts. "And I'm wearing my work shirt and you ruined it too!"

Tyler picks the jar up from the counter and quickly dumps it over Maggie's head without thinking twice about it. "How's that for ruined?"

Maggie gasps. "No you freaking didn't!"

Tyler just grins. "It looks like I just did."

Maggie looks like she's about to explode. She scrapes the sauce from the top of her head into her palm and then throws it square in Tyler's face. It splashes Jasper and I in the process. "Maggie!" I yell.

She quickly covers her laugh when she looks at me.

Tyler turns around to see Maggie's damage. "Holy shit." He laughs.