Page 25 of Ordinary Secrets (Secrets Trilogy #1)

25

TREY

I didn’t intend to stay the night. I’ve never stayed the night at a woman’s place before. I’ve never wanted to. With Arella, it was too hard to leave. We tried to say bye. I even got my shoes on at one point. When we kissed at her door, somehow, my shoes came off and we ended up back in her bed. Then I just... never left. How could I when she fell asleep in my arms, looking so peaceful? It would have taken a bomb threat to move me.

My beautiful angel wakes up with a sleepy smile plastered over her face. She gives me a look that says, I’m happy you’re still here.

I am too, baby. I spent the whole night admiring how at peace she looks when she’s asleep, and I’ll happily do it again.

“How did you sleep?” Arella asks after we brush our teeth. I’m grateful that she had one of those free toothbrushes from her dentist for me to use.

“I slept well,” I lie. “Dreamt of you,” I lie again. It’s not like I can tell her that I didn’t sleep at all. I’d have to explain that I have a special body that doesn’t need as much rest as hers does. That will lead to explaining that I have other special characteristics and abilities she’s only seen in movies. Then she’ll run away screaming, and I’ll go to z-prison for exposure.

Five minutes later, I’m slouched at Arella’s kitchen table with a plate of waffles in front of me as she flips some eggs over in a pan.

“Are you okay?” she asks.

“Yep,” I lie for the third time this morning, and I hate myself for it.

When can I stop lying to her? I’m not okay. Not even a little bit. My mind is racing with thoughts I can’t reel in. I’ve been having breakfast with Arella almost every morning lately. But today, it feels... different. It’s hard to put into words. The only way I can describe it is that I want to do this today, tomorrow, the next day, and every day after that. Knowing that I can’t crushes me.

“You’ve been quiet this morning,” she says.

I have to think about my response because I want whatever I say to her to be the truth. “I’ve just got a lot on my mind.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really. We don’t have time, anyway. I have to be at a video shoot at nine. I also need to run home to grab some clothes first.”

With the hot pan in hand, she scoops an over-easy egg onto my plate. Then she continues cooking her egg. I’ve never told her that I prefer my eggs runny. Throughout our many mornings together, she’s figured it out. She’s been making eggs for me like this ever since.

“What’s the video for today?” she asks as the toaster pops.

“It’s a cover of a Justin Timberlake song. This shoot was supposed to be a while ago. It’s been rescheduled twice.”

Arella slides a piece of toast onto each of our plates. Then she gives me three pieces of bacon and two for herself. Once she settles across the table from me, she says, “Should we leave right after breakfast?”

I pick up my fork but don’t poke anything with it. “Actually, babe, I was thinkin’ you should stay home.”

“What? Why?”

“Because you were sick yesterday. Don’t you wanna rest?” I hate myself. I can’t stop lying. Her being sick has nothing to do with why I think she should stay home.

“I’m recovered now. Besides, I always go to your band stuff with you on my days off.”

And I’ve been thoroughly enjoying it. During band rehearsal, she usually lounges on the sectional, working on her baking blog while I work. During video shoots, she helps out the crew any way she can. At our shows, she’s in the crowd, singing along to the words. I like having her around, and people ask about her whenever she’s not.

Besides me, the person who misses Arella the most when she’s gone is Liz. Those two get along like fuzz on a peach. Once they’re together, it’s hard to separate them. They’re constantly bonding over their mutual love of boy bands.

Last week, I caught them laughing hysterically about something. When I went over to ask what was so funny, neither of them would tell me. They were probably making fun of me, but I don’t care. It made me happy to see my two favorite people laughing together.

I don’t know what happened after I left Arella with Liz and Emmy at the July Fourth party, but ever since, Liz hasn’t made a peep about my strange attachment to this Ordinary. If anything, she’s been encouraging it by inviting Arella out to everything our band does. I wonder what changed Liz’s mind. I’m sure she still thinks that having a relationship like this with an Ordinary is bizarre. Hell, I think it’s bizarre.

Throughout history, Zordis have always been friends with Ordis, but never lovers. It’s not that we see them as less than. It’s that since we can’t reproduce with them, we just biologically don’t see Ordis that way. At least, we shouldn’t . So, why do I? Is there something wrong with me?

I finally stick my fork into my perfectly cooked egg. “How ’bout I come over tonight after the shoot? If you want, I could stay the night again?” Hearing those words come out of my mouth sounds as unnatural as it feels to say them. Typically, I’m packing Arella’s laptop for her because I can’t get her to come to work with me fast enough.

My girl is too smart for her own good. She narrows her eyes at me. “What’s the real reason you don’t want me to come? Yesterday, you didn’t care that I was contagious, and now that my symptoms are gone, you’re insisting that I stay home?”

I sigh as I set my fork down. Neither of us has eaten a thing yet. “The treatment for this video was written way before we met. There’s stuff I’m gonna be doing today that I think would be better if you didn’t see.”

“Oh... like, what kind of stuff?” The way she hesitantly asks that question tells me she already knows.

“Like, you know . . . stuff—with another girl.”

She hides her discomfort behind biting into her toast. “Who?”

“She’s an actress. Bailey. I’ve never met her.”

Arella ponders that for a moment, then relaxes her shoulders as if to say, This is no big deal . Her eyes tell me otherwise. “Wouldn’t I see the video later on YouTube anyway?”

“That’s true.” Selfishly, I want her to come. I don’t like being away from her. I guess she could go into another room while we film the intimate scenes. So, if she’s up for it...

I hike my duffel bag full of outfits for the day higher up my shoulder as we climb the front steps of a little house in East LA. Whoever picked this spot as our filming location did a great job. The house looks beautiful. Colorful flowers line the walkway, and a cute floral welcome sign hangs on the front door.

Arella stops on the porch and fidgets with the ends of her hair. I grab her hand to make her stop, then kiss her knuckles. My duffel bag falls to my feet with a thud as I turn to face her.

“It’s not too late to leave, babe. If you don’t think you can handle what I told you is gonna happen today...”

“Technically, you haven’t told me.” She cups her sweaty forehead to shield her eyes from the sun. My Zordi eyes have already adjusted to the brightness. “All you said was that you’ll be doing stuff with another girl. What, exactly, is stuff ?”

I grip the back of her thighs and lift her onto the porch ledge. Naturally, she spreads her legs for me to slide between them. I hold her tight to make sure she doesn’t fall.

“This video is about a girl who’s been hurt so much that she’s too afraid to get into another relationship. Throughout the song, I do things to show her that it’s okay to fall in love again. We’ll be cuddling. There are kissing parts. We’ll be half naked. If you still want to stay, remember that it’s just acting. It doesn’t mean anything. At the end of the day, it’s you I’ll be going home with.”

She doesn’t hesitate to smile. “Okay. Just promise me you’ll kiss me tons when you’re done tonight.”

“Deal. I’ll even start now.” My intent is to give her a short, soft kiss, but as soon as our mouths collide, I can’t pull away. She tastes so good... My cock hardens as her fingers trail through my hair. I press my dick against her inner thigh, and she giggles adorably.

She’s the first to lean back. “Should we go inside now?”

“In a sec. I need to calm down first.” After a few cars pass, I readjust myself. “’Kay. I’m good now.”

The crew is scattered around the house, setting up lights and tripods, while others are standing around chatting. Everyone’s emotions jump at me from all directions, so I rake my mind power into a three-foot circle. As soon as I do that, someone enters that circle. Their energy is upbeat.

“Ey! There he is!” It’s Mateo, a Hispanic man in his late twenties wearing a Giants baseball cap over his thick curly hair. The top of his cap comes up to my nipples at best.

“Mateo!” I let go of Arella’s hand to give him a man hug with a quick thump on the back.

As usual, he gets right to business. “We’re gonna start with them performance shots first. We won’t need the rest of the band after that, so they can leave early. As for you, you be stuck with me all day.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s you who’s stuck with me.”

Playfully, he punches my shoulder. “Ey, you ain’t too bad to look at.” He turns to Arella, whose hand I’ve returned to holding. “Who’s this?”

“This is my girlfriend, Ari. Babe, this is Mateo, my favorite video director. He’s got a knack for getting some unique shots.”

“Ah, don’t play me up too much. Good to meet you, pretty girl.”

I don’t miss the way Mateo’s eyes skate up and down my girl’s body. As he shakes her hand, I have to hold myself back from shoving him away. I know I shouldn’t be this possessive of her, but knowing it doesn’t stop me from feeling it.

“Nice to meet you too,” Arella says with a smile that would send most men to their knees. No wonder Mateo’s still staring at her.

“Where can I change?” I point at my duffel bag.

Mateo finally peels his eyes off what’s not his and hooks a thumb behind him. “There’s a bedroom back there.”

I practically drag Arella with me as I head that way.

In the small bedroom, I dig through my duffel to find a purple dress shirt and black dress pants. Arella’s planted on the end of the bed while I change my clothes and finish my outfit with a black tie. At the mirror, I’m rolling the sleeves up to my elbows when Arella’s mouth parts behind me. The look in her eyes is all desire and something else I don’t recognize.

I flip around with my arms out. “How do I look?”

“Yummy,” she says breathlessly.

As if she’s magnetizing me, I feel a pull to her. My feet move toward her before I even process that I’m doing it. I slip a knee between her legs, spreading them apart. I have every intention of giving her a light kiss until she yanks my tie and falls back onto the mattress, forcing me on top of her. I catch myself with a hand on either side of her head. I don’t kiss her lightly after that. I kiss her hard, while clawing at her body to come closer to mine. I can’t get enough of?—

Knock-knock.

Arella freezes beneath me. I debate ignoring the intrusion until I sense that the person isn’t moving from the door. Reluctantly, I stand.

“I’m not done with you yet,” I whisper.

After adjusting my hard-on, I open the door to reveal a woman I’ve never seen before. She’s pretty for an Ordinary. Nothing compared to Arella though.

“Hi.” She hooks a finger behind an ear to pull back her long blonde hair. “I wanted to introduce myself. I’m Bailey.”

“Trey.” We shake hands. “This is my girl, Ari.”

Arella still looks flushed from our kiss as she offers Bailey a small wave. “Hello.”

I can’t tell how she feels. Her face gives nothing away. Is she uncomfortable? Jealous? I want to tell her she has no reason to be. This would be a great time to be a Telepath instead of an Empath, except neither works on her anyway.

I grab Arella’s hand and give it a squeeze. It’s my silent way of telling her that I’m not attracted to Bailey at all. When I look at Bailey, I just see a person. That’s it.

And that’s what Zordis should see when they look at an Ordi. They shouldn’t see anything sexual. They shouldn’t see someone they want to devour all the time. Most of all, they shouldn’t see someone who makes their heart race as much as Arella makes mine.

There’s gotta be something wrong with me. In the past, I’ve read articles on the z-net about Zordis with mental conditions that cause them to have Ordi fetishes. They’re put in rehab and therapy to correct it. Do I have one of those conditions? I don’t know. Either way, it’s not something I can think about right now. It’s time for take one.

I make my way to the backyard, where the crew has set up a gazebo in the garden decorated with flowers. As we film, Arella lounges on a lawn chair, watching us. I’m glad she came to work with me today. I always perform better when she’s around.

Fifteen takes later, Mateo calls out, “Cut! That’s a wrap for the full band scenes!”

Without wasting a second, Arella hops out of her chair and begins helping the crew haul stuff back inside. I’m about to go to her when a hand on my forearm stops me.

“Ey, man. You nervous ’bout your scenes with Blondie?” Mateo nods his head toward Bailey, who’s chatting in a triangle with Liz and Emmy.

“No. Why?”

“Of course you ain’t. You’re prolly used to kissin’ strangers all the time. Bailey’s not though, so I was hopin’ you’d go break the ice with her.”

“What do you mean?” I already know what Mateo means. He’s not the first director to ask this of me. Typically, I’m down for it. Today, I’m not.

“You know, just make her feel comfortable with smacking lips with you before the cameras roll. It’ll make the shots look more natural.”

“She’s an actress.” I wave a nonchalant hand through the air. “She’ll be fine.”

“Even actresses get nervous, lover boy. Just go ease her nerves a bit, ’ight?”

With that, Mateo twists on his heel and heads inside. I have no intention of breaking the ice with Bailey. If she’s nervous, she’s just gonna have to get over it.

I glance to where Arella was earlier. She’s gone now. I scan the rest of the backyard. No Arella. She’s probably back inside.

I’m about to yank the back door open when someone calls my name.

I turn around with a fake smile on my face. “Oh, hey, Bailey.”

“Mateo said you wanted to talk to me about somethin’?”

Damn you, Mateo. “Uh, yeah,” I say, going along with it. Might as well get this over with. The faster we can get past her nerves, the faster we can film, the faster I can go home with my girl. “Let’s talk over here.”

Bailey follows me to the side of the house.

I stop under the shade of a tree and rub a hand behind my neck. “So, uh, I figured... um, that we’d kinda get used to kissing each other before the cameras roll.”

Bailey’s explosion of nerves fireworks through my head.

Great. Now she’s making me nervous. “You cool with that?”

She nods eagerly. “Sure.”

Taking her face into my hands, I press my lips against hers. She tastes like mint gum and not like Arella at all. Well, she’s not Arella, so what did I expect?

Bailey’s not a terrible kisser. She’s just... different. I prefer the way Arella runs her fingers through my hair. And the way she lets out those soft breathy moans. And how her kisses always give me tingles that shoot down to my toes. The worst part is that Bailey doesn’t smell like lavender and springtime. She smells of vanilla and coconuts. Gross.

Feelings of desire rush through me, but they aren’t mine. I expand my powers to latch onto someone— anyone— else. Within seconds, it masks Bailey’s emotions from my head. I don’t want to want Bailey, and I especially don’t want her emotions to control how I feel.

Disgusted, I pull back and drop my arms to my sides.

“Wow,” Bailey says breathlessly.

At least one of us enjoyed it.

Without a word, I rush inside to go find my girl. Call me a dick for leaving Bailey like that, but I don’t care. I need Arella.

She’s not in the kitchen. She’s not in the living room either. My chest gets heavier with each step I take throughout the house without seeing her. Where is she? I need to hold her to feel like the world is right again, and it needs to happen within the next five seconds.

Oh, fuck. What the hell am I gonna do once I complete my mission? Will my world ever feel right if she’s not in it? Will I ever be able to kiss another woman without thinking of her? I know the answer, and it makes my lungs tight.

Maybe once I complete my mission, I can continue my relationship with her. I’ll just have to hide her from the zovernment and make sure that she never finds out about my powers. I could stop using them, couldn’t I? I’ll do anything if it means I can keep her.

Then again, how will I explain to Arella that we can never get married? The Supes monitor all marriage licenses to ensure that our Zordi laws are followed. Maybe I can forge marriage papers to make her think they’re official.

I’ll also have to come up with an explanation as to why we can’t have children. Telling her that I’m of a different human species with the inability to mate with her won’t go over well. I could tell her that I’m infertile or we could adopt. How hard can it be to forge adoption papers?

Then again, what would happen to Arella and our fake family if I’m caught and taken away? How long will I go to z-prison for? Actually, having a secret Ordinary family with forged papers is totally grounds for a death sentence.

My chest aches as I continue my frantic search for her. When I finally find her, it’s in an upstairs bedroom with Liz and Emmy. She’s stationed on an accent chair, about to say something, when I drop to my knees in front of her. Desperately, I clutch her face and press my lips against hers.

It takes her a second, but eventually, she eases into me and kisses me back. Our embrace is rough and intense. Still, it feels like coming home.

I slide my tongue into her mouth and bask in the familiar taste of her. The familiar scent of her. The familiar way she feels against me. The more we kiss, the more my anxiety flushes away.

Finally, after who knows how long, I pull back. We gasp for air as I press my forehead against hers and brace my arms on the chair.

When I open my eyes, her brown ones are looking back at me. That deep bliss and panic in my chest returns, rushing through me like a hurricane. It washes away the unease while also drenching me with pain.

I can’t live the rest of my life without this girl.

I can’t.

I won’t.