Zenon's Game Chapter 87

His pink lips curled into a s*e*xy smirk at me and he raised a finger, pointing outside. 'Let's go,' he mouthed.

Axel popped up on the stage with a mic in his hand and yelled, "Thank you to our beautiful mermaid! And now, ladies and ho-r-ny gentlemen, I want to introduce you to my best friend's brother. Jake Albert on the guitar!"

My eyes tore away from Zenon by the bar and towards Jake, who stepped up on the stage with a guitar in his hand. 

"Candace!" Heidi hissed, "What are you doing?  Zenon is giving you the s*e*xy eyes.  You can't look away!"

I couldn't help it.  Was Jake about to sing?

He cleared his throat and pulled the mic closer to himself, "I wrote this song about a girl I met in class this semester."

Then he put his guitar strap over his shoulder and tested a few chords.

A girl he met in class... we met in English Lit.  Was this what he was writing in his notepad?

Now I know I call Zenon Albert a demon, but his brother has the voice of an angel.  When Jake sang, it was smooth and s*e*xy.  Deep and dramatic.  And the lyrics shook me to my core:

She don't realize,How those eyes hypnotizeAnd those lips never tell me lies.

Hey girl, you got me twistedI'm hung up to dry,And you resisted.

She says comedy is tragedy,That makes me the joker,In my own twisted fantasy.

Hold me on my motorbike,As I take you out of this galaxy,Squeeze the air out of my lungs,Don't worry babe, I'll fall to gravity.

She don't realize,I was the new kid and she was invisible,But I see my future in her eyes.

This was about me.

It was all about me.  The time the teacher called on us to analyze comedy and tragedy.  The time I rode his motorbike on the way to the Surfside Shack.  

The humidity was getting to my head.  Thankfully, I had my sister next to me.  She didn't know much about the song, but she knew enough to hold onto me.

She hissed, "You better decide between Zenon and Jake in this moment, because that boy is about to walk out."

I looked at where she was pointing.  Zenon looked... unreadable.  He had seen my reaction to Jake's music and his expression had changed.  He put his drink down and walked away.

My sister was right.

Since when did she get so sharp?

"My advice," she continued, "Is go."

And she let me go.  I ran through the grotto, with the sound of Jake's guitar echoing in the air around us.  I couldn't deal with it now.  Zenon was the boy I started this journey with.  I couldn't lose that now.

He was obviously an athletic guy, and he moved quickly.  People moved out of the way for him, but not for me.  I struggled to wade through the drunk crowd.  I reached the staircase by the time he was already at the top.

"Zenon!" I called his name.

He either did not hear me or chose not to.  I sprinted up the stairs, holding the banisters for support.  I took a break midway because, let's face it, I'm not athletic.  And then I continued.

I ran through the house, where Gloria was cutting into her apple pie.  She waved me goodbye as I threw open the front door, forgetting all about my shoes.  

That's when I saw him, walking through the grass towards his car.  I ran barefoot in the wet grass, feeling the chill of the night air hit me.

"Stop! Zenon, stop!"

Tears leaked from my eyes. He turned towards me questioningly and saw the pain in my eyes.

"Stop," I repeated, though he already had.  Stop.  I was exhausted and drained of all emotion and all I wanted was...  

I didn't think I realized how much I missed until I saw him walk away.

"I don't want to stop anymore," he said, "I stop everything when you call my name. I want you to know how I feel... and that I've never done this with a girl before."

I frowned at the intensity of his words. At the overwhelming intensity of this instant.

He said, "If you like my brother, go to him."

I shook my head and the tears continued to roll down my cheeks. The emotion was pouring out of me.

I was scared to lose Zenon.

He saw that words were no longer capable of expressing my emotion. 

He spoke again, "You don't know what you want, do you?"

His voice softened as he saw my pain. My confusion. Doesn't he know how hard it is for me to believe he likes me? Doesn't he know how hard it is to be another girl in a crowd of devoted obsessed ones? Doesn't he know that I'm scared to have my heart broken?

I've had it broken once before. But this time it would be different. If Zenon broke my heart – I knew that was something that could never be fixed.

"I know what I want," I said. "I want you to stop walking away."

He stood close to me and his body was a protection against the cold wind. He held my head in his hands and gently pulled my face towards him. His lips stopped an inch before touching mine.

"I've been here the whole time," he said.

Sometimes it's about waiting for the right moment.

"And I've wanted to do this for a long time," he whispered.

His lips came crashing down on mine, stronger and deeper than last time. Passion that came from within. I opened my mouth and my tongue explored his, getting more and more demanding. He smiled through our kiss, as my arms wrapped around his body, feeling the muscles across his back. I wanted more, so much more.

He pulled me towards him, pressed my body against his and kissed me so deeply, it took my breath away. He kissed the tears on my cheeks and my forehead. Then he held me, and let my head bury itself against his strong shoulder.  

I felt safe.