Chapter 37 Camp Out (3)
Both Ziegler and Tasha held hands as they walked back into camp. Ziegler felt proud to have achieved a milestone while Tasha Cobbs' stomach tightened. James who hadn't minded Tasha jerked his head to notice the scene playing before him when Aurora tapped him.
Ziegler was right, James hadn't gone into the woods with his new girlfriend like she'd initially thought, Tasha said to herself. He was right here all along, eating with his girlfriend.
"Where have you two love birds run off to? Dinner is almost finished, thank goodness you're right on time." Bradford turned to them.
"My girlfriend was having some trouble, so we decided to take a brief walk. I hope we didn't have you worrying," Ziegler put in, turning to smile down at Tasha.
Girls awwnned at Ziegler's words. While Mr. Bradford had no choice but to let them off the hook. "You should inform me next time, I do not want any of you guys getting pregnant under my watch." He emphasized.
Tasha returned his smile. Her eyes snapped towards James, his face had faltered to a frown. That was it, the hint she needed, she said. James was interested.
Together, the two walked to where Nellie sat around the made bonfire. Nellie shifted in her seat nervously, eying Ziegler from the corner of her eyes. She grabbed Tasha's arm who sat in between, after Tasha had collected her plate of porridge.
"Where the hell were you, and why the fuck is Ziegler calling you his girlfriend?" Nellie whispered, flopping her obscuring auburn hair.
Tasha thought about revealing the truth to her best friend. Nellie Stevens might not like the idea and might even be against such a motion. Telling a lie would help curtail some truth, she reasoned.
"He asked me out," Tasha whispered back.
Nellie shifted her gaze to look at Ziegler who was spooning into his porridge already, then settled her eyes back at her best friend. "That's. A. Fucking. Lie. I don't believe you," she said.
"Do you have a problem with me asking Tasha out?" Ziegler jerked his gaze to them.
The two friends froze. He was sitting on the other side of Tasha. He had been eavesdropping on their conversation, and Nellie felt cheated. He would steal her best friend from her, Nellie thought.
"Of course not," Nellie replied to him after clearing her throat.
"Tasha is my girlfriend and I plan to make every bit of our relationship enjoyable," he leaned in and planted a firm and swift kiss on Tasha's lips.
Tasha was shocked, and so was her friend. Nellie had to turn her eyes away.
"Are you alright?" Ziegler asked Tasha, noting her numbness.
Tasha nodded. Then he tried another kiss, his breath warm on her face. Her heart hammered, then she wheeled her face from him. She was supposed to call his act into order but that would expose her lies to her best friend and James.
And speaking of James, he was directly staring at her. Aurora was talking to him but he wasn't even listening to her. Tasha felt pleased despite the way her heart had lurched out of her. This was working.
"Alright, listen up guys! Since we're already done with dinner. We will begin with the introductions. And I would go into the details of the description of our honorable club," Mr. Bradford stepped into the center of the circled benches.
He stood three steps away from the bonfire, jostling his eyes now and then. "I would begin then Aurora would follow after, next is James, and so on," Mr. Bradford paused.
"As you all know, my name is Tyler Bradford, a teacher and a coach. I created Tubus Hub with my dear wife, Annalise. She isn't here unfortunately but she sends her greetings. Together we're the founder of Tubus Hub. Our goal is to push young stars like you into college with the right form of information and career paths."
When he finished, everyone clapped then Aurora stood up. She smiled, clasping her hands as she spoke. As Tasha watched her speak so eloquently, she began to see another reason why James had his whole attention on her.
But that changed when Tasha stood up to introduce herself, gawking now and then at Ziegler in such a sweet and affectionate way.
Before they all parted for the night, Ziegler never forgot his good night kiss. Tasha who had at first been nervous about his abrupt kisses, began to feel at ease.
"I like your act. You should be an actress," Ziegler said into her mouth.
"You make me forget myself," she laughed.
"We might have to step up our game, Tash," he called her fondly.
Her stomach tightened at the way he fondly called her. The way he stared at her, the way he made her feel on top of the world. But what step up was he talking about? They had stolen countless gazes at each other and kissed whenever Mr. Bradford wasn't looking- all for the role of a fake relationship.
"What do you mean, Ziegler?" Tasha asked him.
"We want James coming straight to pour his heart at you. The soft kisses aren't enough, we need intense and crazy kisses."
Tasha's nipples beaned into nuts. Won't this get out of hand? She asked herself.