A/N: Clueless Mercy being schooled is the highlight of this chapter for me. I own nothing but my mistakes. Thanks for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following this fiction that really is really tame for me even though it will become filled with drama by the end.

Chapter Four

Sam smacked his palm against the ring of the steering wheel and then followed the same path with his forehead. He didn't know if Mercy was being incredibly naïve or incredibly stupid. She was catering to Matt's every beck and call and it was starting to bother him. Even more than usual. Mercedes was so smart in everything else, but in regards to relationships and men, she was completely clueless.

Apart from his emotional two-timing, the guitarist was an okay guy. Which was why Sam hadn't put up too much of a fuss when he noticing that Mercy was crushing on him in the beginning. He'd observed Matt's movements. Saw the way he treated Mercedes. Saw the way he made her happy.

Sam figured he'd do, after a little bit of training of course. Once things became official, he had planned to sit Matt down and talk to him about his commitment to Mercy. Let him know that if he so much as sniffed at another woman, he would be there to cut his arm off.

But that conversation never happened because Matt never made things official. Instead, he had to watch Mercy sneak around with him when he was dating April and then watch her get her hopes up when he wasn't. His opinion of the guitarist had shifted drastically. If Matt really cared about Mercy, why would he continue to use her and keep her from moving on to someone else who could love in her return?

This madness? This drama? It wasn't what Sam had signed off on.

"There's nothing I can do about it now," Sam mumbled to the emptiness of his truck. He sighed and sat up, reaching for the key in the ignition. As he casually glanced out his windshield, he spotted a tiny woman in high heels, a short skirt, and a pleated blouse strolling past his vehicle.

He did a double take when his eyes landed on her pale skin, blue eyes, and thin red lips.

Is that… April?

Sam's gaze darted to the mall and then cantered back to Matt's girlfriend. Her expression warned that she was coming in like a tornado. Was she going to confront Mercy? His heart clenched at the thought of Mercy getting a verbal smackdown because of a jerk like Matt.

Sam jumped out of his truck and pulled out his cellphone, dialing Mercy's number. He placed the device to his cheek and power-walked past April.

"Come on, Mercy. Come on!" He dialed again and again.

She wasn't picking up.

Sam jogged inside the mall and stood in the middle of the first floor, his eyes roving the stores in the six-tiered building. There were two arcades here. If he made a mistake and went to the wrong one, April could get there before him and Mercy would be screwed.

He had to think. Mercy loved bowling. She'd choose the arcade with the bowling alley. Then… he'd run into the one on the left and hope for the best.

Sam glanced over his shoulder and saw April heading straight for the arcade he'd chosen. Satisfied that he'd made the right call, he rushed in and searched for Matt and Mercy. Lights blinked in his eyes. The roar of games beckoning him to go to take a turn filled his ears.

Since most kids were still in school at this hour, the arcade was empty. He spotted Mercy's white blouse and blue jeans immediately. Striding up to her, he grabbed her arm and spun her around. Her body seized and she prepared to do one of her kickboxing moves on him when she recognized his face.

"Sammy!" Her brown eyes widened. "What are you doing?"

"Let her go!" Matt stepped forward and shoved Sam's chest really hard. He stumbled back but managed to right himself before he crashed into a game of Wack-A-Pack. Matt's eyes burned a hole into him. "What gives?"

Sam ignored the guitarist and pushed himself up, taking her hand again. "Mercy, you've got to leave. Now."

"Why?" The confusion caused a tiny wrinkle to form between her eyebrows. "What's going on?"

"She's not going anywhere, Sam." Matt snatched Mercy's other arm, eyes locked on him. "Why don't you mind your own business?"

He tugged her toward him. "Mercy, listen to me. Ap—"

Matt dragged Mercy in the opposite direction. "Are you deaf, man? She's a grown woman who makes her own decisions. Leave her alone."

Mercy's head swung between the two of them, her face a mask of bewilderment. She opened her mouth, probably to insist they let her go. Before she could, Sam heard the click of heels above the noise of artificial lasers and electronic music. It was too late.

April was here.

"Having a game of tug-of-war without me?" she said, her high-pitched voice drawing shocked expressions from Matt and Mercy.

"April!" Matt flung the hand he'd been holding like it was diseased. He took a step toward his girlfriend. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard you were on a date." She slid her gaze to Mercy who ducked her head like a child caught stealing cookies. "I figured you'd forgotten to send me an invitation. Which wouldn't make sense because I'm the one you're supposed to be going out with."

"I thought you were working or I would have invited you," Matt said, stopping just a few inches from her. "Did you get time off?"

April's eyes sharpened to knives. Her heels tapped the tiles as she marched closer to Matt. Sam could hear the horror-themed sound effects coming from a game nearby and it fit the mood perfectly.

"Is that really what you're concerned about right now?" she asked, poking her finger in his chest. "That the best you could come up with? What are you doing here? With her?"

Tensions rose. The situation was escalating and the way Matt was cowering before April, he wouldn't be much of a shield for Mercy. Sam lifted his chin, searching his mind for a solution. Any solution. His mouth started moving before his brain caught up.

"You misunderstood. Matt's not the one on a date." Sam drew his arm around Mercy's shoulders. Felt her little gasp of surprise. Felt his heart quaking in response to it. Wondered if he was going absolutely crazy.

April's eyebrow popped high. "Are you saying…?"

"It's not a date-date." Matt chuckled, his confident swagger returning. "Since they're brother and sister," Sam growled, but he said nothing at the risk of blowing their ruse. Matt continued the lie. "We're just hanging out together. You want to join us?"

"Is that… really all it is?" April asked, her voice frothing with suspicion.

"Even if it was just me and Cedes here, you wouldn't have to worry. You're my girlfriend. She's my best friend. You're the two most important women in my life. I would never do anything to hurt either of you."

He felt Mercy deflate at those words. Sam moved his arm from her shoulder to her waist, providing the support she needed to keep standing. If he didn't need Matt to sell this story right now, he'd launch himself over there and hit him.

"If that's true," April said, "then you won't mind if I stick around."

"See, Cedes?" Matt tossed a forced smile Mercy's way. "I told you we'd be able to go bowling today. And you thought we didn't have enough people." He slung his arm over April's shoulders. "It's like you knew I needed you, babe."

Fury burned white-hot in his chest. Even though Sam had started this lie, he'd be the one to end it. His hand fell away from Mercy and he took one step forward, jaw locked tight when he felt a gentle touch on his wrist.

"I'm fine," Mercy said, her gaze still glued to the floor. "Let's play."

He turned her to him and held her cheeks in his hands, soothing her hair away from her face so he could look into her eyes. "We don't have to stay here."

"I want to." Her strained expression said otherwise, but Sam respected her wishes and nodded.

They moved as a group, selecting their bowling shoes and settling on a booth. Mercy trudged along beside him like a zombie, not a hint of a frown or a smile on her face. He cast her worried little looks but she didn't register any of them.

"Mercedes," April said, a taunting lilt to her voice, "why don't you go first?"

Sam snapped to attention. "Why don't the guys go first?"

"I'll do it," Mercy said softly. She picked herself up and slogged to the mouth of the bowling alley. Sam's gaze scanned her sagging shoulders and buckling knees when she swung the ball. It hit the gutter from the start.

"Come on!" April yelled. "You can do better than that." She patted Matt's thigh. "I'll go next."

The women passed each other, Mercy with her head down and April with her head held high. Mercy settled into the seat next to him. Matt was careful not to look at her. Sam squeezed his hands into fists and knelt before her, using her loose laces as an excuse to lean close.

"Say the word and I'll take you out of here."

She shook her head, on the verge of tears. His heart broke for her. April was making a statement, staking her claim. It was a message that Mercy needed to hear, but it wasn't easy to stand back and watch her endure so much pain.

He almost wished Matt would wake up, dump April and date her. Almost.

Mercedes felt numb inside. She didn't know how to respond to this ridiculous situation. Not even bowling—her favorite activity—and Sam—her favorite person—could snap her out of the fog she was under. And he was trying. Poor Sam. He was doing his best to coax a smile from her.

"Great job, Mercy! We got some points!" He jumped to his feet and held his hand out for a palm slap. She gave him a half-hearted tap and he ruffled her hair, a move that usually drew her ire. He knew she didn't like anybody touching her hair. Instead, she let him do as he pleased and took her seat.

"You avoided the gutter this time," April said, sharp blue eyes looking through her. She sat on Matt's lap, her slender arms wound around his neck. It was the position April found the most comfortable despite how awkward it looked.

"Thanks." Mercedes pulled her lips back to reveal her teeth. It looked more like a feral snarl than a smile, but she did not have the energy to put her heart into it.

The sound of falling pins shot through the air. Sam had delivered another strike. Mercedes looked at the scoreboard. The numbers were laughable, despite Sammy's effort. She was dragging their team down with her gutter balls.

Disappointment welled within her and Mercedes felt like lashing out. It wasn't that she was trying to suck, but it was kind of hard to play her best when Matt kept ignoring her, April kept glaring at her, and Sammy kept pitying her.

"Looks like you won this round fair and square," Sam said when the game played a trumpet sound and announced the winner. He held his hand out to Matt. Mercedes noticed the way Matt flinched the longer Sammy held on to him.

"How 'bout a celebratory kiss?" April announced. She twined her slender fingers on Matt's shoulders, spun him around and planted her lips on his face. It was not a display of affection as much as it was a mark of ownership, complete with tongue and sucking noises.

Mercedes looked away as her heart shattered, came back together, and then shattered all over again. She knew she had no right to feel like this. In theory, she'd always understood that Matt and April kissed and even slept together. But Matt never mentioned those moments. Never talked about it with her. In general, whenever he mentioned April it was to complain. About how she was self-absorbed. How she liked to wear fake nails and eyelashes. How she treated him like crap. It almost felt like his physical relationship with April happened in some other life, some other time.

Now the illusion had finally gone up in smoke. She had evidence of what their intimacy looked like. The lines she'd drawn between her and Matt because they were 'just friends' were crossed by April because she had the right to do so. She had the right to touch him. To hold him. To sit in his lap. To stick her tongue down his throat. She had the right to draw comfort from him. Call him 'babe'. Celebrate with him. Mercedes didn't even have the right to concede to April because she hadn't been in the running in the first place.

"Ehem." Sam coughed into his fists. "Should we grab something to eat? I'm hungry."

"Yes!" April pulled back, leaving a dazed Matt to rub his bottom lip. "I could use a snack. Babe, could you get me my favorite BBQ chicken tenders from the place I like so much?"

Matt blinked and seemed to return to himself. "April, you know their lines are always long. It'll take hours. How about we get something else instead? I think there's a restaurant here in the arcade. Their wings are okay."

"Babe." April grabbed Matt's hand and swung it, pouting and moaning, "Don't be like that."

"Fine." Matt sighed. "Cedes, you want anything?"

"I'm not hungry," she said, marveling at the fact that her voice had come out without cracking.

"Don't be ridiculous." April turned to Sam. "You, go with Matt so he doesn't mess up our orders. You know exactly what Mercedes likes. The ladies will wait here and have a nice, long chat." She sidled to the chair and draped her legs across it.

Sam's mouth puckered. Mercedes knew he was going to disagree and piped up before he could. "I think that's a great idea."

"You sure?" Sam said.

Matt squirmed. "April, how about you come with me and we leave those two alone?"

"Go! Shoo!" April wiggled her fingers until the guys were out of sight. They kept turning their heads and looking back at her. Mercedes' shame compounded with every glance. Did she seem that pathetic?

April moved to the seat right next to Mercedes. She drummed her dark nails against the table, her long nails drawing Mercedes's eyes. To be honest, Mercedes thought April's nails were gorgeous. Had Matt been lying to her this whole time?

"It's been a minute since we've been able to talk," April said. "Just the two of us."

"That's right."

Awkward silence pervaded their booth. Mercedes tilted her head and listened to the pop music blaring from the speakers. A minute passed. Then five. She resisted the urge to check her phone and send a text to Sam to come back and rescue her. When were the boys returning?

"I'm jealous of you," April said suddenly and Mercedes glanced up.

"What did you say?"

"You have two handsome men who would do anything for you. And that's not even mentioning that one of them is my boyfriend."

"April," she took a deep breath and clarified, "Matt and I are just friends."

"I know. He's told me a million times. But see, it's hard to believe it. You're not 'just friends'. You're 'best friends'. There's a difference." She licked her lips. "Some of my duties as his girlfriend overlap with yours. It's confusing. But it shouldn't be."

"If I made you feel…"

"You know how you made me feel," April snapped. "Don't act innocent."

Mercedes wanted to defend herself. Wanted to point out that she'd only gotten this close to Matt because he told her that he had broken off his relationship with April. Wanted to assure her that she'd never set out to be Matt's side piece and that her feelings were already going strong by the time he'd announced that he was with April again.

"I'm sorry."

April scoffed and brushed a lock of hair away from her forehead. "That apology means nothing to me."

"I can't give you anything else."

"I wouldn't want it even if you offered." She sat back. "You're a selfish, immature, idiotic hussy chasing after a man who doesn't want you, you know that, Mercedes?"

"Excuse me?" Her temper sparked. Sure, she'd crossed a few emotional lines with Matt, but it wasn't like she'd slept with him. April had no right to talk to her like that.

"You have a gorgeous man hanging on your every word, doting on you as if his very life depends on it, desperate to make you happy and you treat him like he's nothing."

"Matt and I aren't like that."

April chuckled. "Did you think I was talking about Matt? No, dear. I'm talking about Sam."

"Sam?"

"It so obvious that he likes you. Are you stringing him along too?"

Her fingers curled into fists. "I'm not stringing anyone—"

"Tell the man you love him or let him move on. That's the right thing to do."

"Didn't you hear Matt? Sam's like a brother to me."

April threw her head back and laughed. "I have never seen a brother look at his sister the way that man looks at you."

"No." Mercedes shook her head. "You're wrong."

"What's the big problem anyway? He's not even black. How could you be related to each other? Unless your family adopted…?"

"He's not adopted."

April rolled her eyes. "You don't have any friends that are girls, do you?"

Mercedes frowned. "I have a few—"

"If you did they would have told you this a long time ago. Sam likes you. As a man. Not as a friend. Definitely not as a brother. That man wants to kiss you. Touch you. Hold you. Back you up against that pool table there and—"

"Ew! Stop!"

April smirked. "Are you grossed out because you're that innocent or because you wouldn't want to do something like that with him?"

Mercedes raked her fingers through her hair. "See… I don't get how this is any of your business?"

April nudged her arm. "Oh, come on. It's so obvious I'm wondering why no one pointed it out to you before. The only person I'm not sure about is you. Are you attracted to him? Like sexually?"

Mercedes spotted Sam trotting toward them in the distance, his arms laden with plastic bags. She blew out a breath and whispered, "Thank God."

April rubbed her chin. "Should I ask Matt what he knows then?"

"Don't bother," Mercedes said, uneasy with April using Sam to get to her. "I'll ask him myself."

April's eyes widened.

"Sorry we took so long," Matt said. "I told you the line—"

"Sam," Mercedes stared straight ahead, "do you have feelings for me?"

The air zipped out of the room. Sam felt sweat beading on his temple and above his upper lip. He wondered if a spotlight had opened up in the roof of the mall to shine directly on him. Matt's jaw dropped. April smacked the middle of her forehead. Mercy just looked smug.

"Well do you?" she asked.

"Do I what?" He played dumb in a valiant attempt to gather his thoughts.

"Like me?"

"Of course I like you," he said easily and then froze. Mercy's smirk fell from her face and she blinked rapidly. That's not what you were supposed to say, you idiot! Sam struggled to turn the situation around. "I mean, why wouldn't I like you? We've been friends since I was ten."

"Oh." Mercy let out an audible breath. "Well, in that case, I like you too."

His eyes bugged. "Y-you do?"

"You do?" Matt sputtered.

April elbowed him in the side.

Mercy nodded, brown eyes sparkling with affection. "Why would I not like him? We've lived in the same house together. He knows me better than I know myself."

"Oh…kay." April squirmed. "Wasn't that a sweet moment? Now that we've gotten that totally not-awkward confession out of the way, let's split up here."

"Split up?"

"Yes, babe." April stood and grabbed Matt's arm. Her fingers wound around his skin like claws. "I want to eat with you. Alone." She turned to Mercy. "Remember what I said, Mercedes. My opinion hasn't changed even after that little show you put on."

Sam waited until they'd left before he sat down. "What was April talking about?"

"Nonsense." Mercy narrowed her eyes at their back as the couple merged into the crowds flocking the mall for the lunch hour. "I almost wished she'd taken off her earrings, put on vaseline, and grabbed my hair. She messed with my head instead and it's harder to come back from that."

"Did she say something about me?" He wondered aloud, struggling to pinpoint where her random question about his feelings had come from.

"Nothing that's worth repeating." Mercy smiled and stood. "We should head out too. I don't want to skip my afternoon classes."

Sam ate lunch with Mercy and dropped her off in front of the university. Things were still a little awkward between them, but he hoped they'd get better. He had a sneaking suspicion that April had said something about their relationship. Mercy needed a day or two to bounce back from that. Whenever something like that happened, she would avoid him.

It wasn't the first time an observer had pointed out how close they were. Especially when Mercy used to introduce him as her brother when she was around a guy she was interested in. The inquirer would take one look at his white skin and one at her brown skin before asking more questions.

Mercy usually took those moments in stride. She'd never reacted so strangely before. If he'd been a little slower, she would have found out his true feelings. He had to be more careful in the future. Act so that no one suspected the truth.

Eager to get his mind off the disastrous morning, he headed to the café and got his laptop in place. The waitress knew his habits by now and placed a cup of coffee near his hand without a word. He smiled at her and then opened up his document, watching the cursor blink on the screen.

It took Sam a few minutes to get into the story, but he was off and away by the time his mug was half-empty. The hours disappeared like onions shedding layers and he was on his fifth refill by the time someone tapped his table.

"I don't need more coffee, thanks," he said without looking up. Mercy would be ticked if she found out how much he'd chugged down today. Ever since she read an article on the harmfulness of excessive caffeine she'd been on his case.

"Sam?"

He glanced up and came face-to-face with Penny. "Hey," he said with a smile. "Are you here to see me?"

"I'm here to get some energy," she said, pointing to the counter. "I just came from a meeting with Detective Jones. There haven't been any leads on my case yet, but the police are still looking. Hopefully, they will find something."

"Would you like to join me?" he asked, pushing out the chair to make room for her.

Penny's eyelashes fluttered. "I wouldn't want to intrude."

"It's no intrusion. I need to rest in between writing sprints so I don't go crazy anyway. Please. You'd be doing me a favor."

"If you insist." Penny smoothed the hem of her flowery blouse and took the seat across from him. The waitress appeared and they gave their orders. Sam found that he was hungry again and chose a ham sandwich from the menu.

"So," he said when the waitress trotted off, "I've finally noticed you in here." Not mentioning if she hadn't said his name, he probably wouldn't have noticed her presence.

She giggled. "Finally. I've always been curious but I didn't have the guts to ask." Penny folded her hands together. "What exactly do you do on that laptop? Are you a techie?"

"Techie?" He scrunched his nose. "No, not at all. I'm a science fiction writer."

"I'm impressed." She smiled. "Have you published yet?"

"Not to brag but I'm rather prolific. And I started young. It's actually a funny story. You know Mercy and I lived a bedroom down from each other. She's not very good at keeping her nose out of my things and she stumbled on one of my notebooks with a story I was working on."

"Let me guess. She encouraged you to publish it?"

He snorted. "I wish. Mercy doesn't do things the normal way. She published it herself. A few weeks later, she told me she wanted to show me something and led me to the website where she'd uploaded the chapters. My story had a handful of followers and one comment already."

"You were popular."

"Not even close." He smiled. "But it lit a fire in me. I knew I wanted to write so I went to classes and graduated with a dual degree in science and writing. I devoured every book in the genre I was interested in publishing my stories in. I wrote manuscript after manuscript and sent them to publishers hoping to hear back from them. But I never did."

She leaned closer, her brown eyes focused on him. "And then?"

"Then someone read the first book Mercy had uploaded to that free site. He contacted me and that's how I met my agent. If Mercy hadn't taken my stories and put them online, I would have never gotten to where I am today."

"So you make a lot of money?"

"I'm no James Patterson, but all my books together give me a nice cushion. I'm also thinking of publishing a few of the stories independently through Amazon. That should help put more of the profit in my hands instead of the publishing house's."

"Wow." She rested her chin on a fisted hand. "It sounds like you have it all together at such a young age. I'm jealous."

"I was just lucky enough to figure out what I wanted to do early in my life. Thanks to Mercy."

Penny straightened and he wondered if he'd said something wrong. "You sure do mention Mercedes a lot."

"I do?" He tried to retrace the conversation. "I guess she's in a lot of good memories." Sam smiled, picturing his younger years. He'd been through the most traumatic experience in town, but he never felt like a victim. Not with Mercy and her family supporting him. "She's the reason for most of those good memories."

"Have you ever thought of making new memories… with someone else?"

His eyebrows scrunched together. "I don't understand?"

"Have you ever dated anyone, Sam?"

He coughed into his hand. "I'm not sure what that question has to do with…?"

"Have you ever liked anyone outside of Mercedes?"

"I don't like…"

"Aren't you curious?" She leaned close, so close he could make out the tiny mole near her nose, the flaking of lipstick from her upper lip, and the lighter flecks of brown in her eyes. "Don't you want to know what it would feel like to have your love returned rather than pining for someone you can never have?"

He stiffened. "You have the wrong idea."

"I didn't mean to offend you," she said, backing off. "I can get a little intense sometimes. Especially when it involves someone I have a crush on."

"Who?" He poked a finger in his chest. "Me?"

Penny's lips curved upward. "You're cute when you're clueless, you know that?"

"I'm flattered, Penny, really. But—"

"I know. I know. You're not emotionally available. That seems to be my type lately. It's better this way. Forgive me. I hope we can at least be friends."

He let out a breath, relieved that she wasn't pushing it. Sam hated hurting someone's feelings, especially a girl as kind and open as Penny.

"I would like that."

"And if you want," she said slyly, "I'll willingly let you use me to make Mercedes jealous. Just… keep that in mind."

He laughed. "Who knows? Maybe someday, I just might take you up on that."