Last summer, I hated the beach party. This year, I have replaced those bad memories with good ones, better ones. Last night was amazing. There is a new weight lifted off my shoulders and I feel lighter somehow, like telling Eden my secrets has taken away some of the pressure pushing down on me.
I shower, pull back on last night’s clothes, then fetch myself a glass of water in the kitchen. As I gulp it down, I use the remainder of what is left of my phone’s battery to check up on the outside world that I tuned out of last night. I have missed calls from Tiffani and Dean. Messages from them too, asking where I am and if I’m okay and if I’m up to no good. Sure, I was up to no good, but not the kind they’re thinking of.
Just then, my phone rings in my hand, and it is TJ calling. I clear my throat and answer it.
“Hey,” he says as soon as I pick up. Before even giving me a chance to get a word in, he asks, “Are you still at my apartment?”
“Yeah,” I admit. Shit, he knows I’ve spent the night here now.
“Okay, well, get out,” TJ orders with a laugh. “This girl has kicked me out, and I haven’t slept, so I really don’t want to have guests to entertain when I get there.”
“Sure. Thanks, by the way,” I say, glancing at the clock on the wall. It’s only nine, so it’s still early for a Sunday morning. I’ll need to wake Eden, but as I’m hanging up the call, I can already hear her muffled voice calling my name.
I grab her clothes that I’ve folded for her and head back to the bedroom, slowly elbowing the door open. Eden is sitting up in bed with the sheets hugged to her chest, our eyes meeting.
“I was just about to wake you up,” I say, smiling at her. I can’t help it.
“I thought you left,” she says quietly.
She thought I left? She thought I would really disappear after what happened last night? “I’m not that much of an asshole,” I reassure her, then glance over to the window. I’ve never really done this before, the waking up with someone new thing, but I would never leave. “You’ve got nothing to worry about.” When I look back at Eden, I realize she is staring at her clothes in my hands. I walk forward and set them down on the bed. “Here,” I say, but I’m feeling… I don’t know. Not embarrassed, but more unsure, anxious.
“Are you okay?” Eden asks. Her voice is raspy. Should I have gotten her some more water?
“Sorry. I’m—I’m not really used to, like, this,” I admit, but my cheeks are blazing with heat. The only girl I’ve ever been with is Tiffani, so thisis totally new to me. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be doing. I don’t know what shewantsme to do. I figure that talking would be a good start. “We should probably talk about, uh, last night.”
Eden blinks at me, then lowers her voice in the most attractive way possible and asks, “Was I bad?”
“No, no,” I say, rolling my eyes as I laugh. God, she’s so innocent. She has no idea that spending last night with her has been one of the best moments I’ve ever experienced. “I meant more along the lines of…you know, where do we stand now?”
She looks at me, and I look at her. Wheredowe stand? This is so much more than just harmless flirting and accidental kisses, but can it even go much further? Can this ever develop into an actual relationship? Even if Tiffani wasn’t in my life, it doesn’t change the fact that Eden and I are stepsiblings. What we did last night… Maybe it was wrong, but maybe I don’t care. Eden matters to me more than what other people think of us.
“I’m not sure,” she says after a while. She frowns. “Where do you want us to stand?”
“I’m not sure,” I repeat, sighing as I shove my hands into my pockets. Last night meant a lot to me, and I really hope Eden feels the same way. It would destroy me if she didn’t. “Answer me this: Do you regret it?”
“No,” she answers without missing a beat, and relief fills me. “Do you?”
“You know I don’t,” I murmur, a smile capturing my lips again. I grab her clothes and bring them to her, placing them in her lap. “We’ll figure all of this out. Eventually. But for now, get dressed, because we really need to go,” I tell her. We need to be gone before he gets here. “Troy-James just called and he’s on his way home.”
Eden blushes and pulls the sheets tighter around her, hiding her chest. “Can you, uh, give me a sec?” she mumbles.
“You’re acting like I haven’t seen you naked,” I joke, but I realize that she is clearly uncomfortable, so I nod and head for the door. “Be quick.”
I head back through the apartment and tidy up the living room, even plumping up the cushions, and then I call a cab. It’s the only way we are getting home today, because there is absolutely no chance of me calling anyone I know for a ride. How damn suspicious would that be?Hey, can you give me and my stepsister a ride home from someone’s apartment first thing on this fine Sunday morning? No way. People would definitely find that too weird, so I’ll stick to the cab. It says it’ll be here in five, so I finish cleaning up, tipping all of the broken shards of glass into the trash can just as Eden emerges from the bedroom fully dressed.
“I called us a cab,” I tell her, checking my watch. It’s nearing ten. “I know it’s weird, but I can’t exactly ask someone for a ride without having them wonder what the hell we’ve been doing. We can’t look suspicious, remember? The cab driver won’t know us. It should be here any second.”
“Where are my shoes?” Eden asks, and it’s only then that I realize she’s barefoot. As she runs her fingers through the ends of her tangled hair, her gaze searches the apartment.
“I don’t know,” I say. I look around too, but I haven’t seen them while I was tidying up. They’re just shoes though. It’s not the end of the world. “But we need to get outta here.”
“But my shoes—”
“I’ll buy you a new pair; now come on,” I cut in. They were Converse, I remember. Iwillreplace them if I need to, if it’ll keep her happy. I head over to the door and pull it open while Eden reluctantly joins me, then I lock up and hide the key under the doormat like TJ asked me to.
Eden sprints off into the elevator without me, and I quickly join herinside before the doors close. The floor must be cold, because she is bouncing on her feet. We are about to head home, and I already know that we are going to be in trouble. Our parents wouldn’t have wanted us to go to that party, and they wouldn’t have wanted us to stay out all night, and they definitely wouldn’t have wanted us to sleep together. “I don’t think we should mention last night to our parents,” I say quietly as the elevator heads down. I can only imagine what would happen if they ever find out. I think we’d be disowned, honestly.
“I don’t think we should mention last night to anyone,” Eden says with a small laugh, but then she goes silent. The color drains from her face, and she stares at the elevator doors. Is she thinking the same as I am? It’s like panic has cut straight through her.
