“It’s okay.” She sighs, the edge to her voice softening. “It was just a kiss. No big deal.”
A sour taste fills the back of my throat but I nod through it. “Just a kiss.”
“Glad we agree.” She smiles but it’s no more real than the lie that just passed through my lips, and I hate that it’s better this way.
Without another word, she swims toward the ladder and curls her hands around the bar, shaking as she climbs out of the pool. I watch her, unmoving, my stomach knotted with regret.
“I’m going to bed.” She grabs her towel from the lounge chair, her tone void of emotion as she stands tall.
My phone rings again and Jenna stares down at it as she walks past, letting droplets of water fall to the screen. “It’s not even him.” She scoffs, and I swear her lip curls in disgust as she turns toward the door. “It’s Becca.”
Fuck. My eyes slam shut as I flinch. “That’s not—”
“I don’t care.”
“I care,” I call out after her, pulling myself out of the water, knocking the vodka over, ignoring the remnants as it spills onto the deck. “She’s a friend. It’s a joke.”
“Doesn’t matter.” Jenna waves me off like it’s nothing, though I’m not stupid; I already know her better than that.
“Jenna—”
“Fuck off.”
Yep. She’s pissed. But I goddamn deserve it.
Of all the fucking people who could be calling me right now, it had to be Becca. She set her photo as a close-up of her chest, her tits practically spilling out of her bikini. Joking that it might prompt me to think about sex every once in a while. Hoping I’d go and get laid. Apparently, I’m an irritable motherfucker when I’m abstaining. Not that I do it on purpose. I don’t prioritize my sex life. My hand works fine and sex has never been memorable for me. It’s always just been a need.
In this case, the joke is on Becca because her photo fucking backfired. If she hadn't called, I’d be having sex right now.I wanted it.
Gotta love friends.
Despite being summer, the chill of the night air follows me inside, and I’ve just made it to the landing when Jenna’s door slams down the hall, making me shiver for a different reason. I throw my head back and groan, not bothering to hide the sound as frustration consumes me.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
I can’t decide what’s more messed up…the fact that I kissed her or the fact that I pulled away.
I’m not usually a big drinker, but with the vodka no longer disrupting my brain, I have too much sense to think. And I don’t need that right now.
A quick change and a phone call later, I’m running downstairs to meet Kai, jumping in his car to head God knows where, but immediately feeling better.
Because at the very least, now I can breathe.
Asoft pounding rouses me ahead of my alarm, and it’s not until I sit up that I realize it’s my head.Fucking Kai.My groan rumbles in the back of my throat, and I cough as even that pains me.
Give the guy an inch and he’ll take a fucking mile. Or in Kai’s case, tell him I want to drink and he gets me fucking plastered.
After checking the time, I drop back to the pillow and smile, sinking deep into the cloudy comfort. I could stay here all day. If it wasn’t theoneday a year that I actually set a morning alarm.
Speaking of…it feels like no time has passed when it blares in my ear and I groan again, forcing myself to get up.
Hitting go on my latest playlist, an image of Jenna plays on my mind. It hasn’t left since she walked away. Her taste still lingers on my tongue. No matter how hard I try, I can’t shake her.
When I’m done getting ready, I pull up my messages to Kai and type random letters, distracting myself as I walk past Jenna’s door.
At the last second, I fail, glancing up to find her door open, and I falter. With her bed made, the vacant room has my stomachsinking.Did she leave?My eyes bounce to Jack’s room to find it equally bare, and a burning sensation wells in my chest.Are they together?
Were their doors open when I got home?Were—
