Best Served Fake

twelve // very mafia of you

Watching the expressions play across Kai Delaney's face—shock, confusion, amusement, consideration—I thought that I may have just made one of the worst decisions of my life. And I'd made lots of bad decisions, up to and including the decisions to date Tommy Aster and befriend Sydney Collins.

Kai's lips parted and closed again, as if he'd thought of something to say but hadn't yet settled on the exact words to use. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, had been examining my ankle until I'd dropped a bombshell on him; now, he looked at the ceiling as if it could give him the explanation he coveted.

The silence was stifling. I watched him in tense anticipation, until it didn't seem as if he was planning on saying anything, and the flurry of words fell unbidden from my lips. "I mean, it's just that... We could help each other, right? I don't really need the money for the car yet, so you could take the whole year to pay me back. And for me, well, Sydney was basically obsessed with you. And Tommy, well, quite frankly, he really fucking hates you." Kai raised an eyebrow, and my eyes widened defensively. "Don't pretend I'm not right. You and Tommy have always had this strange dude-bro hatred for no apparent reason. I always asked him about it, but he kept trying to tell me that there was no backstory, and you were just an epic dick. It seemed sort of legit to me, because you are a bit of a dick, but I always thought it was in a funny way. As it turns out, he is the epic dick."

Kai opened his mouth to reply, but I was on a roll. The Queen of England herself couldn't have shut me up in that moment. I could've talked for the goddamn Olympics.

"Anyway, they would be totally furious if we were a thing, and given that they're mega assholes, which you totally agreed with, by the way, I kind of like the idea of getting back at them. Not—" I added hastily. "That this was my idea. Do you know Madeleine? I work with her, she was the really hot chick in the year above us. Anyway, her and Cole Knight suggested the idea. And at first, I was like, 'no, Valerie, that would be stupid' and then I decided that it was stupid but worth it and... anyway, will you do it?"

I was breathing heavily by the time I'd vomited my words into the space between us, involuntarily spilling every thought that floated to the surface of my consciousness, like a tidal wave of verbal diarrhoea. I peaked through a curtain of my hair at Kai, expecting him to look taken aback. Instead, he'd slipped right back into amusement. "I have never heard anyone say so many words in such a small amount of time," he said, fascinated. "Have you considered rap? I think Eminem would give you a verse."

"I—what?" I'd... talked a lot? That was what Kai took from my impromptu speech? I mean, it was true, but the volume of my words didn't seem as pertinent as the content.

"I just don't think I ever heard you say much, other than snarky comments," said Kai, thoughtfully. "Not that you were quiet, exactly, just that you—"

"Got lost in Sydney's shadow," I said with an eyeroll. "I've heard. That's kind of the point of this... conversation. I want to put myself firmly outside of that shadow, and I want you to help me do it."

"Little Valerie," said Kai, bending closer to me. Even the ice on my ankle couldn't have cooled the burning that seemed to thrum low in my stomach. Nervousness, anticipation, and maybe even a hint of desire, because yeah, Kai might've been a bad idea, but he was a gorgeous bad idea. "Are you blackmailing me into dating you?" He didn't seem particular disturbed by the notion. In fact, he remained completely amused.

"Yes?"

Kai grinned. "Very mafia of you. I'm weirdly kind of into it."

I scrunched my nose. "That is weird."

"Says the girl blackmailing me into dating her. Pot, kettle."

"It's not quite blackmail," I said. "Don't be a drama queen. It's a favour. You don't have to do it. I'm not going to do anything if you say no, I promise. I can understand why you wouldn't want to do it."