I blinked, looking up at both girls, and finally wondered aloud,

“What's going on?"

Teary-eyed but smiling, Sam barked a short Laugh and bent forward to give me a quick kiss. And after pulling back just far enough to gaze into my eyes with an expression of utter adoration, she stroked my cheek and said, "I love you too, Matty. Will you be my boyfriend?" eK

-- CHAPTER 50: Marionette --

“And you said, 'yes'."

It was a statement, not a question. Lying flat on her belly across a lounge chair in the backyard with her feet up in the air and ankles crossed, Alice set her chin down on her interlaced fingers. It was officially "Belle and Mari Thursday", but the girls had invited Alice to join us. Given the tenor of the situation, sex did not seem to be planned anyway.

Reclining back against Matty's Chair, I shrugged. "Of course I said yes. No way in hell was I gonna say ‘no’.

Alice narrowed her eyes as she scrutinized me.

Mari smiled merrily from the lounge chair on the other side of me, seated sideways, and commented, "I still think it's sweet."

Belle sat beside Mari, her elbows on her knees with her hands clasped together, lost in thought. Mari tapped her shoulder and asked, “How did

Sam react when he said yes? Did she swoon into his arms? Did she get filled with so much love and passion that it swelled inside her like too much air and start bursting throughout her entire body?"

Belle blinked and regarded Mari in confusion for a second. But she sat up straight, nodded, and said, “Basically, yeah. I mean, you saw the way she was at school today. Have you ever seen Sam so bubbly and excited on campus? She normally walks around all, ‘I'm the Queen. Bow before me or get outta my way.'"

“And today she was like a six-year-old whose parents told her she was going to Disney World,” Alice drawled. With eyes narrowed, she then gestured to me.

“Matty, on the other hand..."

All three girls now scrutinized me, and I raised both eyebrows questioningly.

“What?”

Mari made a face. "You're right."

“I know I'm right," Alice muttered dispiritedly.

“Someone's gotta tell her," Mari sighed, her shoulders sagging.

"Yeah. Matty's gotta tell her," Alice pronounced. "It can't come from one of us."

I arched an eyebrow and sighed. Looking at Belle, I gestured at the other two and asked, “Can you translate?"

Belle pursed her Lips and tilted her head to the side.

“You gotta tell

Sam you don't want to be her boyfriend.”

I frowned. "Why in the world would I ever do that?"