*

      TAYA's POV:

Our school had just won the first game of the season and everyone was ecstatic. The excitement levels were off the charts.

But as everyone else flocked over to Zippy's, our town's favorite local diner, to celebrate our homecoming victory, I found myself surrounded by my only friends in the world, Hallee and Gabe at a Walmart parking lot. We were sitting in Hallee's car, blasting LANY on the radio and munching on a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos.

"Gabe, you need to settle this argument once and for all," Hallee said.

"What's this all about? I'm hungry, I thought we were going to Zippy's?" he whined.

"We will once this argument is settled. Now listen to this, Taya here has decided to make a deal with Judah. They're going to do the kissing scene for real and not only that, they're becoming kiss buddies; friends with kissing benefits—"

"But, we're only doing it for the play," I cut her off quickly. "Judah agreed to take the play more seriously and I agreed on some extra practice time together. You should be proud of me Hals, I took one for the team,"

"Yeah, except you didn't. I know you only did it because you wanted to make Blake jealous. And don't try to deny it, I was there, I saw everything,"

You really can't get anything pass her.

"Fine! So what, I wanted to make Blake jealous? You'll get two hardworking actors working on your play and I get a chance to get back at Blake, it's a win-win solution. Everybody's happy, right Gabe?"

"Uh... sure," he looked lost.

"Nothing is ever that simple, my dear. Trust me, I've read more romance novels than you can count. You're playing with fire and this is gonna end up biting you in the ass. Tell her I'm right,"

"Uh... she's right," he complied.

"You worry too much Hal," I shook my finger at her. "I got this under control. Now finish your Doritos and let's skedaddle,"

"I'm telling you Tay, I have a bad feeling about this," Hallee said as she put the car in gear and we pulled away.

"Oh Hallee, you have such little faith in me. This is Taya 2.0 we're talking about," I whipped my hair in the air for an added dramatic effect.

I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

*

After getting some Loco Moco at Zippy's last night, Hallee dropped me at home and I just went straight to bed. When I got up in the morning, or actually afternoon, I saw that the house was already empty. Having the house all to myself, I decided to lay low for the day and enjoy the luxury that was Saturday.

Saturday was my favorite day of the week. I could wake up whenever I want and lay around in my PJs all day. I didn't have to worry about homework yet because we still have Sunday.

I was just rolling around lazily in the living room, watching Netflix, and eating junk food, when I remembered I hadn't checked my phone at all since I got home last night.

    Blake Harrison [5 Missed Calls]

I was grinning a sinister smile at the notifications on my screen, clearly what I did yesterday at the game was working. For a second, I thought of calling him back, but suddenly a new notification popped on the screen.

    Unknown Number Calling

Furrowing my eyebrows slightly, I decided to pick up the call.

"Hello?"

"Hey stranger," said a familiar husky voice.

"Judah? How did you get my number?"

"I've had my ways,"

"You got it from the theater club's log sheet, didn't you?"

"Bingo!" he chuckled. He sounded exceptionally chirpy.

Cutting straight to the case, I said, "What do you want?"

"On a scale of 1 to America, how free are you right now?"

"Huh?"

"I'm coming over, for practice,"

"Right now?"

"Can you open the door?"

"What—"

The doorbell rang suddenly. And sure enough, I opened the door to find Judah there, standing tall in his signature denim jacket and tight jeans.

"Hey there Blondie," he was smirking with those stupid dimples on display.

Meanwhile, my jaw had fallen to the floor.

"Nice PJs. Aren't you gonna invite me in?" My hands instinctively went to cover myself. I just realized I was only wearing my old tank top and unicorn patterned short shorts.

I ran off to the living room and wrapped an oversized cardigan over me. He took that as an opportunity to walk right in and closed the door shut. He took a short look around before taking a seat on the sofa.

"Nice place," he commented.

"Uh, excuse me?" I snapped my fingers at him. "I can't believe you just showed up unannounced like that. I mean, what if I was busy or if I was out somewhere?"

"But you're not," he pointed at the used blanket and the almost-empty tub of ice cream on the floor. His head then motioned to the re-run of Friends that was playing on the TV.

I rolled my eyes and proceeded to cleaning up the junk food on the floor.

"Where are your parents?" he noted the quietness in the house.

"My dad's being deployed in South America, he's in the Navy. My mom runs a bakery in town, she's out all day today. And my brother's out somewhere... probably at the beach, chasing after some poor girl,"

"Oh," he nodded shortly. "Shall we begin, then?" he took out the folded-up script from his back pocket.

I blinked at him several times, as I still couldn't believe what was happening. How could he just show up like that? No manners and no mercy. Nothing seemed to faze this guy. 

"Hold on, let me get mine," I groaned lazily before making my way up to my room.

I guess this is what I get for making a deal with a delinquent.

I used this opportunity to quickly comb my hair and fixed my face a little. I pulled my hair up in a messy bun, as I hadn't even showered yet.

Sheez, he could at least give me a warning.

I squirted some Lavender body mist over my neck and arms before I grabbed my script and headed out.

"Let's start at page 70," I called out as I sat next to him on the sofa.

I waited until he got to the right page and said, "Ok, I'll start. You ready?"

"I was born ready,"

I took a deep breath and prepared myself—getting into my character, Rose the Vampire girl.

"Jack, I have to go," I breathed.

"No, stay," he said, and his tone wasn't flat like before.

"We can't be together, I'm sorry, but this had to end,"

"No, I'm not letting you go," he was really into his character, and I was taken aback for a second at how good he was.

"But you have to. It's over between us,"

"Mmm, Blondie, you smell good," and then the old Judah was back. I guess I spoke too soon.

"That's not in the script!" I snarled. "Focus!"

Rolling his eyes, he got back into character.

"Fine, I'll let you go, Rose. Kiss me and I'll let you go," he said again.

This was it, the cue that we had to kiss.

Our eyes stared at one another, his dark amber eyes on my dark brown eyes. Then he started leaning in slowly and I concentrated my gaze on his lips as I inhaled the familiar cigarette scent. My heart was beating out of control.

Gah! I can't do this!

"Wait! I need to get some water," I got up to my feet in an instant and went for the kitchen. 

I came back moments later with two glasses of water, but he just shook his head when I offered him one. I sat back down and took a deep breath. He looked at me with those piercing eyes and I gulped instinctively. Then he leaned in closer and...

Nope!

"Uh—bathroom!" I squeaked just as our mouths were about to touch. He suppressed a frustrated groan under his breath, but I just stood up quickly and headed for the bathroom.

Pull yourself together woman! You did it last time, why was it so difficult now?

I returned to the living room after a few minutes. He was just slouched against the sofa, a bored expression on his face.

"You don't need to go feed your fish or something?" he said flatly.

"Ha-ha, shut up, I'm ready," I rolled my eyes and took the seat next to him.

He sat up straighter and cracked his neck, signaling that he was about ready too. Then his hand went to grab the side of my face, locking me in place. He leaned in and I found myself frozen and unmoving.

"So, is your girlfriend okay with this whole practice kissing thing?" I blurted just as our lips were an inch apart.

He was irritated. His grip on my face tightened slightly before he let go and pulled away.

"Girlfriend?" he breathed.

"Yeah the redhead that was with you last time?"

"...Ava? Nah, she's not my girl. She's just a friend,"

"Oh, you guys seemed friendly, so..."

"Well, we have some sort of an arrangement. She's got something I need and I got something she wants,"

"So, it's like friends with benefits?"

He rolled his eyes in annoyance but he kept talking.

"Her brother Max is a dealer, she could hook me up with some good stuff. And in exchange I give her a good time,"

He explained all that as if it wasn't anything serious or illegal. My jaw had fallen to the floor and he just sat there, cool as a cucumber.

"You.. take drugs?" I gaped.

"They're prescription drugs and I stick to a healthy dose," he blew out an irritated breath and raked his hair in exasperation. "Look, Blondie are we just gonna talk all day or what?"

"Sorry, I'm just nervous—"

"You weren't nervous last night,"

"That was different... maybe it was the adrenaline rush,"

"Right, because you wanted to make your boy jealous. And now he's not here," he said, somewhat mockingly.

"You know what your problem is? You're too uptight. If you really wanna get back at the dude, don't do it half assed. Live a little, Blondie. Be reckless. The world can take it,"

He didn't even give me a chance to compute all that and suddenly his one hand was on my cheek. He leaned his face closer and I couldn't take the nervousness anymore, so I just closed my eyes and waited for the inevitable.

His lips landed gently on mine. I wanted to respond but I didn't know how, so I just sat there, frozen like a damn statue. 

"You're too stiff. It's like sucking a damn mannequin," he remarked.

"Ugh, I knew this isn't gonna work," I pulled away and sighed.

"Stop overanalyzing it. Come here," he motioned for me to come closer.

"Tilt your head a little," his hands went to the side of my face and tilted it slightly.

"Chin up," he said again and I complied, my chin was leaning upward.

Then he went closer until his lips were hovering over mine, our lips slightly grazing each other.

"Open your mouth a little," he said.

I complied as his lips met mine again and he kissed me lightly.

"Like this?" I tried to copy what he was doing.

"That's too much. Remember, less is more," he replied, not breaking off the kiss.

"Like this?" I said, slowing myself down.

"Ok, that's good," he murmured.

He sucked gently on my lower lip, taking his time with every movement. His tongue grazed my lips gently, instantly causing my mouth to part.

"Follow my lead," he breathed.

So I did. I sucked gently on his lower lip, tasting his taste and taking my time doing it. My tongue grazed his lips sweetly and seductively, not too much, just a little taste. A muffled groan escaped his throat.

That boosted my confidence, so I decided to experiment some more. My hand trailed up his neck to the back of his head. My fingers ran through his lush dark hair, tugging on it slightly.

He responded by grabbing a firm hold on my neck and deepening our kiss. When I refused to part my mouth open, he bit on my lower lip, causing me to gasp. He took the opportunity to slip his tongue inside as he began to taste each and every corner of my mouth.

I let our tongues tangle between each other and another groan escaped his lips. My hand gripped his hair tighter as a low moan escaped mine.

"Shit!"

Judah abruptly pulled away and stood up, causing my eyes to jerk open. He turned himself around and walked a few steps away from me.

"Judah?" I called out.

"Hold on a second," he said through gritted teeth.

Then he bent down, his hands gripping his knees tightly. He looked as if in pain, but I wasn't sure of what was going on because he had his back on me.

"What are you doing? Are you having cramps?"

"Just stay there!" I was about to stand up to get a closer look when he shouted to stop me.

And that was when I realized what was going on with him and what he was trying to endure.

Holy mother of god.

*

*

*

To be continued.

A/N: First day of practice, and a very eventful one at that ;)♡

What do you guys think happened to Judah? Let's hear your thoughts.

Don't forget to click the star and you can take this unicorn home! 🦄

XOXO,

aflyingwhale