“Tell me about it. I was the one that had to witness them dry humping.” Em shivers dramatically.
“We were not dry humping.” I smack my remaining card down.
“It kind of sounds like you were.” Levi smirks.
“Levi, stop letting Emma influence you like that! You’re supposed to be the sweet one.”
Jake settles his beer down on the floor and leans towards me. “Enough laughs and games, Kami. Let’s cut the bullshit. The kiss sounded hot, and the mutual dislike you have for each other could be building up some sexual tension. It happens. I’ve been there, not including the whole twin sister’s ex thing. I wasn’t lying when I said that the sex can be great, but it does come with consequences, and in your case, there’s a lot more at stake. The red flags are big, my friend. Setting the alarm, throwing you over his shoulder, the kiss itself, they’re obvious warnings.” He leans back and gives me a pointed stare. “My unsolicited advice, stay away from him.”
This elicits a surprised face out of all three of us. Jake really isn’t one to give advice. I’m not ignorant of the fact that what I did was stupid and dangerous. I didn’t plan for the kiss to happen, and as soon as I saw Emma’s face when she caught us, I regretted it. It was the first time he and I ever crossed that line. Obviously, something’s changed within our time apart. Maybe what Jake said about there being a fine line between hate and lust is true. It wasn’t a romantic kiss, far from it. It was rough, messy, and hot. It felt like years of pent-up anger all thrown intoone simple act, and it felt good. But he’s also right about me staying away from Cameron.
“Point taken. However, I do have class twice a week with the guy, and he’s my partner for the rest of the semester. I'm stuck with him for now.”
The room goes silent. “I think this calls for something stronger.” Jake stands, goes to our fridge, and takes a bottle of vodka out along with some chasers.
“When did you put that in there?” Em asks.
“When you guys were getting the games ready.” He looks around the room. “Where are your shot glasses?”
“One last breath, in and out.”Moving my arms up, inhaling deeply, and back down on a strong exhale. I clap my hands, letting everybody know that the class is over, and thank God it is. Those vodka shots last night were a mistake. I only had three, but mixing them with two beers, it was enough to make today’s workout a lot tougher.
Since none of the guys could make it to my class due to our ever-conflicting schedules, it gives me the opportunity to use the pool for the first time this semester.
I’m done packing my things and start heading toward the locker room to change when I get a phone call from Ana. Shit, I haven’t spoken to her on the phone for over two weeks now. With a deep sigh and guilty conscience, I click the green button.
“Hey, Ana.” My voice sounds a lot happier than I feel.
“Hermanita, hi. It’s so nice to hear your voice, and before you ask, no, I’m not drunk. That’s not why I’m calling.”
That relieves some tension off my shoulders. “Okay, hermanita, good for you. Why are you calling then? Is everything okay?”
“Everything is fine. I called to ask you about our birthday plans for this weekend.”
Well, that’s new.
“Mom and Rafael have our usual at-home dinner planned, but our tía and cousins can’t make it for some reason or another. I zoned out when mom explained why.” That sounds more like the Ana I know. “Anyways, are you up to going out, maybe to a club with my friends?”
Not her friends. They’re the absolute worst kind of people. The drunks who expect you to babysit them or the other kind of drunk that picks fights for no reason. Besides, I’m only staying home for one night, she knows this. I’m coming back Saturday afternoon to celebrate withmyfriends that she’s always refused to acknowledge. On the other hand, I went out with her and her friends multiple times since she met them, and every time, they somehow got into trouble and never dealt with it properly. When I tried to talk to Ana about it, she refused to listen. So I stopped hanging out with them, always coming up with excuses whenever I’d be invited to tag along. This is the first time she's asked me to come out to a party in months.
“Can we stay in and watch some of our favorite movies with Mom like we used to? We’re both going out Saturday night anyways.”
Please say yes. Please say yes.
“But why? Why don’t you ever want to go out to the club with me anymore?” Her high-pitched, whiny voice causes me to pull the phone away.
“I can’t risk missing my bus to get back on campus because of a massive hangover. I promise we can go out during winter break,” I say, feeling bad for not being able to go out together on our birthday.
“You promise?”
“Yes, I promise.” And I mean it.
“Okay. I’ll see you this weekend, hermanita. Love ya.”
“I love—” and she hung up.
I press my forehead against one of the locker doors and groan. I’ll never be able to get drunk around her again now thatI’ve kissed Cameron and might blurt it out. She doesn’t even know that he goes here. If she did, she’d be all over me with questions.Que desastre.
Putting everything into my locker after I’ve changed into my full-body black bathing suit, I grab my towel and head toward the pool. The pool in this gym is used for a couple of things, half of it being split up for classes or lounging, and the other half is separated into four sections by lane rope for people who want to practice their laps. Classes in the pool are done for the day, so I hang my towel up near the door of the locker room and step onto the side where everyone is relaxing. Once I’m in a comfortable spot, I close my eyes while I float, relax, and clear my mind.
