Secret Rulebook of Cheating

Rule #9: Get It Out of Your System

“Hey,” Jason greeted as he came near.

“Hey.”

I was the first to arrive at the meeting point – a fountain with a statue of a boy riding a turtle, at the corner of Worcester Common. I was leaning against a railing nearby, playing with my phone, until Jason’s “hey” filled my hearing. And mind. Not that he had been out of there since I last saw him at the Beach Bar. That night was stuck in my brain and I felt like my left and right hemispheres had been in a boxing match since then. In one corner, there was the revelation of the way he was with girls. It had red flags all over and a big ‘Run away!’ sign. But instead of pushing me away, it was like the pull I felt toward him had intensified. Because in the other corner was that same revelation but from that angle - it somehow made him more available.

And it made me utterly uncomfortable.

“Rob and Dan aren’t here yet?” he asked casually.

“No, but they should be any minute now,” I said as I checked the time on my phone and slipped it in my purse.

Jason leaned on the railing next to me, whiffing a scent of a masculine perfume – musk, definitely. I focused on maintaining my normal breathing rhythm.

“Any idea where we’re going?”

The blue in his questioning eyes was too close for me to handle so I looked away – at the fountain. Which wasn’t working. “Nope. They said something about a new bar.”

A moment of silence passed. Which only made me shift in my body awkwardly because I had a feeling he was watching me. Just keep a casual conversation up, Nicole! You can do that. I was about to utter the first thought that came to my mind - ask him how the rest of the night had gone at the Beach Bar after Rob and I had left, leaving him there with… – Yep. That’s when I stopped myself. There was nothing casual about that and I certainly didn’t want to know the spicy details.

“You never told me how you guys know each other,” Jason broke the silence first.

I looked back at him. Indeed, he was watching me and watching him back was consuming in a way that boded no good. “I went to school with Rob,” I answered. Talking was good. It was distracting.

He adjusted himself on the railing so that his body was slightly oriented to mine. “So you know each other for a long time?”

Just keep it cool! “Yeah, I guess you could say that.”

“How come I haven’t met you earlier then?” Did I imagine it or he leaned closer? And I was uncomfortable for a whole different reason now. “I mean, I’ve known Dan since we were kids though we had lost contact for a while. We bumped into each other at this party last year and he and Rob and I have been hanging out every once in a while since then.”

“I don’t know,” I said, processing the new information. They’ve been hanging out for the last year and we never crossed paths until that trip to the summer house. “I guess they kept me hidden, knowing how you’re with girls.” I was only half teasing.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He tried to look offended but he was clearly entertained.

I opened my mind to answer when-

“Sorry we’re late,” Rob’s voice cut in. “Princess Dania here had to do her hair.”

“Hey, you’re the one who spent an hour in the shower!” Dan shot back.

“You should be grateful about it. You wouldn’t like me sitting next to you after running for an hour on the football field.”

Dan scoffed. “It’s not like I’m dying to sit next to you now.”