The Ambush

Sitting here craning my neck wasn’t going to let me see anything. Placing a knee on the seat, I turned to look towards the back of the bus. Most of Kaylee was concealed by the seat in front of her and the other teammates who were also watching the action, but it was clear what was happening. She had her back to me, facing James. Her body moved as she humped herself against him. She wasn’t bouncing too much, but she had his head pressed against her chest as she rode him. I could hear her teammates cheered and urged her on. Every so often, I caught sight of James. He seemed to be moving from one breast to the other, licking and nibbling at her nipples.

“She like that with you?”

Surprised, I jerked to find Zoe sliding into the seat with me. She had a smug grin on her face like she had won something. It’s when I realized this was all planned. Zoe wanted Kaylee back there with James. As to why, I couldn’t begin to fathom.

The surprise of her arrival hadn’t worn off yet. “Of course she isn’t. She’ll never be happy with a guy who’s cock is—” It was her turn to look surprised as she looked down to find a bulge in my pants.

Shit.

I quickly sat down, covering it with my hands. I wasn’t sure if I was embarrassed or angry. Zoe’s shock wore off before I could figure it out. “I thought it was broken.”

“What?”

“Your cock. Kaylee said you don’t like sex.”

“I never said that.” Anger rushed to my cheeks. It was fortunate that Kaylee’s antics in the back held the attention of the other girls. No one was paying us any attention. “And why the fuck do you know about this?”

She rolled her eyes. “How do you think? Kaylee tells me everything.” My face paled as the anger flushed itself. “So, yeah. I know you can’t—or perhaps won’t—fuck her. Though it seems more the latter.” Her eyes lingered on my crotch as her smile grew cruel. “What, afraid she’ll toss you aside after you inevitably disappoint her in bed?”

I could feel my temper flare. This girl really knew how to get under my skin. “What the fuck is your problem with me?”

She winced and her entire demeanor shifted. “Sorry, that was uncalled for.” Once more, Zoe had thrown a curveball. Apologizing? Zoe? Something was off. “Look, I didn’t come over here to fight.”

I scoffed, crossing my arms. “Wow. Great job.”

She clearly bit something back. Damn, she was trying hard. Her voice was tense like she was forcing herself to be calm. “I know we aren’t on the best of terms, and a lot of that is my fault—”

“All of it is your fault.”

She brushed that off with a wave. “I know you hate me and I deserve that, but can you please at least hear me out? Give me until Kaylee finishes. Please.”

My arms relaxed slightly. “Wait, did you give your place with James to Kaylee so you could talk to me?”

“Of course.”

My jaw clenched. My girlfriend was back there fucking a dude because Zoe wanted a chance to talk to me? “Or you could have fucking asked, like a normal person.”

She looked at me like I was an idiot. “Yeah, and would you have come with me if I asked to talk with you privately?”

“No.”

“Well, then I stand by my decision.” Before I could say anything else, she surprised me by pressing her finger against my lips. “Shut up. Just… let me say my bit.”

Glaring at her, I said nothing and she removed her finger slowly, as if ready to return if I opened my mouth to speak. Simmering, I waited for her to continue. “Okay,” she said with a deep breath. “How much has Kaylee told you about me and her?”

“Nothing.” As much as I wanted to ask, it never came up and I was afraid to press the issue. Things had been weird at lunch, and Kaylee was clearly struggling with something. I knew I should have asked her. Offered a friendly ear to listen. But I was terrified at the same time. For the first time, things were going in the right direction. I was in a relationship with Kaylee. A real relationship with the potential for something serious in the future. I was still struggling with having watched her have sex with other guys. No, the time with Adam had gone far beyond that. She had invited me to participate, without actually participating. Even after all this time, it was still messing with me. I don’t know if I could handle hearing about her and Zoe. Not yet.

Unfortunately, it seemed Zoe wasn’t going to give me a choice in the matter.

Zoe didn’t seem to like that answer, but she didn’t say anything more about it. “We’ve been together since freshman year.” She stared at me, trying to gauge my reaction. I wasn’t quite sure what to do with that. I figured that was the case, but hearing it confirmed— “Like, together. Sex—”

“I got that.”

“I’ve always known that I put more weight into our relationship than she did, and she made it clear that she wanted a boyfriend. I couldn’t help but feel that maybe if she didn’t find one…”

“I understand,” I said slowly. I did, in a way. I even felt a little bad for her. A tiny, little piece the size of a bacteria. If that. It was clear that Zoe really liked Kaylee, but so did I. I wasn’t going to back down for anyone. “But I don’t see how I fit into this.”

“For some reason I can’t even begin to figure out, she’s always been drawn to you. I noticed it in freshmen year, and it’s only gotten worse.” She looked down at her lap where her hands rested. “She’s wanted this for a long time, but was afraid that if she tried pushing the relationship into something more, she would break what made it special.”

“So you’ve been a complete asshole to me because I was friendly with Kaylee?” I shook my head, feeling disgusted. “And now that Kaylee and I are dating, you feel the need to make peace? Fuck you, Zoe.”

Her fists tightened into fists, and for a second, I thought she was going to hit me. The blow never came. “You have no idea what it feels like to have the person you love constantly talk about someone else. To look at someone else.” Her voice was low like she was expelling a pain that extended into her very soul. “Knowing that at any moment, she would drop you for someone else without a second thought. I’ve been horrible to you. I know that and I’m not asking you to forgive me. You have been this monster in my life. This constant presence looming over Kaylee and me since the beginning. None of it excuses what I’ve done, but I still hate you because of it.”

Stunned, the world around me seemed silent as I stared at Zoe. A war could be raging around me and I wouldn’t have noticed. That little bacterium that felt bad for her? Well that had some babies and was now considerably larger than it had been a moment ago. I still didn’t like her, but understanding had shifted the needle from hate and loathing to just anger. Her hatred for me made complete sense now. I didn’t like it considering I had no control over any of the reasons why she hated me, but I understood where she was coming from. She was absolutely right that I had no idea how she felt. Would I react the same way if Kaylee suddenly started talking about Sean like she was developing feelings? Would I be able to sit there and watch day after day, those feelings grow into something that I knew would eventually take her away from me?

God, that would be fucking torture.

It didn’t take me long to realize that no, I wouldn’t. That wasn’t me. I would hate it, but attacking Sean? Making him feel like a piece of shit every day because I was in pain? I couldn’t do it. No way. Confident that I wouldn’t be like Zoe didn’t make me hate her again. Different people reacted differently. I was pretty proud of myself for figuring that out. Maybe Liam’s sagely ways were rubbing off on me after all. I needed to hang out with him more.

I took a deep breath, running my hand through my hair. “I really don’t know what to say, Zoe. I’m sorry this happened to you, but I love Kaylee too and I’m not giving her up.” My gaze hardened as I looked over at her. “And I’m not sharing her.” There was an absolute certainty to my voice that left no room for argument. Despite that, it felt a bit odd saying that aloud considering the girl in question was currently riding another guy's dick at the back of the bus. Sex wasn’t what this was about though. If that’s all Zoe wanted, maybe I’d be a bit more flexible on the matter. As Paige would tell me, ‘It’s only sex, Scott. It doesn’t mean anything.’ That wasn’t what Zoe wanted. It wasn’t what I wanted either. This was about something beyond that, and I was willing to fight to the bitter end for it. Zero question.

She wasn’t looking at me, pointing towards the aisle. Feeling a bit bad, I reached out and awkwardly put my hand on her shoulder. It was super awkward, but I gave her a comforting squeeze. “I can’t imagine what this is like for you, but I’ll do my best to let the past stay in the past. A clean slate. I don’t know exactly how long—”

Before I could react, she suddenly swung around and placed her head in my lap. Shocked, I didn’t know how to react. Doubly so when I realized she was crying. Hands awkwardly hovering above her, I looked around quickly. No one was paying us any attention. “Uh, Zoe? This is uh…” She only seemed to sob harder. The entire situation was made worse because my erection still hadn’t gone down completely. Fucking teenage hormones. Despite the conversation, there had been just enough stimulation and pressure to still linger. Even now, with her face right there, I could feel the fabric of my jeans rubbing against it.

Not knowing what else to do, I awkwardly patted the crying girl on the back. “It’s uh… It’s going to be okay?”

“What the fuck is this?” If blood could freeze, mine would have. Head shooting around, I found Kaylee standing there in the aisle, glaring down at us. There was a fresh sheen of sweat on her flushed face.

My breath caught for half a second. She looked pissed. “This isn’t—”

Zoe shot up, completely dried-eyed with a slightly surprised look on her face. “Kaylee! Finished so soon?” Kaylee said nothing, her eyes never leaving me. No, it wasn’t just at me. Following her gaze, I found that Zoe had somehow managed to unzip my jeans. It wasn’t a lot, but it was just enough. I had even felt her doing it and never placed it.

I watched in horror as Zone made a show of running her fingers over her lips. “I noticed your boyfriend here was struggling with a rather large problem, so I helped him out a bit.” She turned just enough so that her wink and smile could be seen by both of us.

“Move,” Kaylee said in a voice that promised murder.

“Sure thing,” Zoe said, sliding out of the seat. Standing, she met Kaylee’s glare with a neutral face. “What’s wrong?” she asked with sickly sweetness. It was the same fucking type of voice Paige used. “Didn’t you promise we’d share?” Her smile widened. “I shared my prize,” she said with a nod towards the back of the bus.

Kaylee held her gaze without a single word passing between them before the coach shouted at them to take a seat. Deathly silent, Kaylee took Zoe’s place next to me as I hurriedly zipped my jeans up. The erection was gone. Disappearing like a dog that had shit in the middle of the hall and had someone step in it.

I felt like a fucking idiot. Zoe had played me. She shot me duel middle fingers as she headed towards the back of the bus. Across from my seat, I found one of the juniors giggling. She’d had help. Of course she did. She hadn’t been looking away from me, she’d been waiting for Kaylee to finish.

Fucking idiot. Sagely wisdom my ass. I’d been played like a fucking band practice trumpet.

“Kaylee—”

“Not a word.”

“But—”

“Scott, I’m fucking serious. Not. One.” That zipped my lips faster than anything, knowing that from this moment on, I had taken a vow of silence.

The worst part is Kaylee didn’t look at me once the entire bus trip home. I felt awful. This wasn’t my fault. I wanted to explain things to her, even if they just sounded like an excuse. After all, despite how bad it might have looked, it was clearly staged. There was no way Zoe could have done anything with my zipper open that little. She had to understand that… right?

This… this could have been the end.

My torture wasn’t over when we arrived at school either. She was up before the bus came to a complete stop. I was about to say something when her dagger glare cut the words off before they were given breath. Pushing her way past some of the girls, she was off the bus before I could get out of the seat. Off the bus, I just caught her figure as she slipped into the school.

Someone shoulder checked me and I didn’t need to see them to know who they were.

“Now, we can start on that clean slate.”

Before I could say anything, Zoe merged into her other teammates, the last sight of her being the wide smile on her stupid fucking face.

Standing out in the chill night air, the bus doors closed and the engine rumbled as it pulled away.

“You okay, Scott?” I jumped at the familiar voice. Turning my head, I found Mrs. Hardy standing next to me.

“Y-yeah,” I said, feeling like everything was crumbling down around me.

“You sure? You seem a bit pale.”

“Just a bit tired,” I said with a fake smile.

She nodded and I couldn’t tell if she believed me or not. Regardless, she seemed to accept that. “Got a ride home?”

My throat tightened. “Yeah. Kaylee…”

“Oh right. You two are dating now.” She gave a soft chuckle. “Don’t mess that one up. A guy like you isn’t going to be that lucky twice,” she said before heading after the others. A part of me felt like that was a little mean for a teacher to say, but I didn’t care one bit. In my mind, I’d already fucked it up.