Brielle raises an eyebrow. “A phase?”
“People change,” I say, keeping it simple. “Drake’s just... experimenting. The leather jacket thing won’t last forever.” I hope. Unless we’ve completely screwed the timeline, in which case Brielle might end up married to some other idiot entirely.
“I guess that makes sense. I mean, I’ve definitely tried on a few different personalities myself. My favorite is the reverse harem princess. But I’ve sort of passed that baton to Skyla.”
“Thank you, I think. So maybe give him a chance? As a friend, I mean. No pressure. No boobs necessary.”
“My boobs are always necessary, Oliver, and don’t you forget it.”
We push through the crowd toward the pool, where the party has hit that tipping point where bad decisions start looking like great ideas. The underwater lights cast everything in blue and green, making us all feel as if we’re living at the bottom of an aquarium.
We don’t get three steps out before we spot our mark.
Sure enough, Drake is standing by himself near the deep end, leather jacket and all, staring into the water as if he were contemplating a drowning—his own. There is definitely something different about his posture; he’s far less of a brooding rebel and more of a guy who’s regretting his fashion choices.
“There he is,” I tell Bree.
She follows my gaze and frowns. “He looks like he’s about to jump in and take off all of his clothes.”
“Or he’s having second thoughts about the whole rebel-without-a-cause thing.”
“I like my line of thought better,” she sniffs. “Maybe I should lend him a hand and push him.”
“Let’s not add assault to tonight’s list of bad decisions. Try talking to him first.”
As we get closer, I can see Drake’s reflection in the water. He’s fidgeting with the chains on his jacket like he just realized he looks like an extra from a bad biker movie who didn’t make the cut.
“Drake,” I call out.
He turns, and his face lights up with genuine relief. “Logan.Dude, thank God. I’ve been standing here forever trying to figure out how to ditch this stupid leather crap without looking like a total moron. You wouldn’t happen to be in the market for a leather jacket? I’ll let you have it for fifty bucks.”
Brielle snorts with a laugh, and Drake’s eyes snap to her. “Oh. Hey, Bree.”
“Hey, yourself,” she says, and I watch her give him a once-over despite the ridiculous chains. “So, you finally figured out the whole biker thing isn’t working?”
Drake groans, yanking at his jacket like it’s trying to strangle him. “Yeah, turns out, I’m more debate club than motorcycle club. Who knew?”
“I could have told you that,” Brielle says with a grin that makes my chest tight with hope. “Remember when I tried to be all mysterious and wore nothing but black for like a month? You called me Wednesday Addams every day until I gave up.”
“That was different. You actually looked hot in black.”
“Did I?” Brielle gasps at the thought before sticking her boobs out as if they were a peace offering.
“Yeah, you did. You always look—” Drake’s line of vision drops to her nipples. “Geez. You look freaking hot. I mean, whatever.” He yanks his jacket down to cover the obvious situation developing south of his belt. “This leather thing was stupid.”
“It was pretty stupid,” Brielle agrees, but she’s smiling, and her boobs just jutted out another notch. “Though I have to admit, the whole bad boy thing had potential. You just went a little overboard with the accessories.”
And just like that, they’re talking. Really talking, with all the teasing and chemistry that’s been building between them for months. This is exactly what’s supposed to happen. And by the looks of it, Bree’s boobs agree, too.
I watch them for a few minutes, feeling ridiculously proud of myself for making this happen. This is how it’s supposed to be. This is how their story starts.
Then I stay two seconds too long.
“So, Logan,” Drake says, turning to me with an expression that sets off every warning bell in my head. “Have you and Bree been hanging out a lot lately?”
“We’re friends,” I say, already not liking where this is headed.
“Friends,” Drake repeats, and there’s a dangerous edge to his voice. “Right. So, you just happened to rescue her from some dumb bastard, and now you’re what, comforting her? That’s right, I saw the whole thing.”
