“She’ll just break your heart, Kash. You know she’ll always choose him, and then you’ll come running back to me.” Her voice comes out sickly sweet, and with that, she smiles, blows him a kiss, and walks out of the lounge.
Kash turns to me, no longer giving the situation any attention.
“Hey.” He smiles at me, and my heart warms.
“Hi.” I can’t help but feel the blush rise through my cheeks. I take a sip of my coffee to cover up the evident shyness that has just washed over me. Kash sits in the chair across from me, leaning forward, his arms on his knees. Lana’s words echo in my mind, and I think we’re about to address the elephant in the room, finally.
“Look…” he starts. “I have feelings for you,” Kash blurts out, and I freeze. Unable to move, unable to speak. Frozen by his outright confession, and confused about what my own heart is feeling.
“Now, before you say anything, I know, it’s fucked up. I don’t know when it started, or why, and believe me, I tried to make it stop. But I can’t. I think about you all the time. When I wake up, when I go to sleep, in the shower.” He stops himself from admitting too much. “That’s beside the point,” he stumbles over his words.
“The point is, I have feelings for you, and Austin is my friend; hell, he’s practically my brother. You are my friend. And I don’t want any awkwardness to come out of this. I just thought you deserved to know.” He leans back in his chair and exhales. His eyes come to mine, and he waits. A momentof silence passes over us, and I know I need to say something, but what?
“I—” I swallow down the lump that has formed in my throat. “Kash…” I struggle to find the words. How do I say anything back to him when I don’t even know how I feel? And what about Austin? I need to get out of here.
“I know this is a lot to digest. I mean it, I don’t want things to get weird. But Vix, I can’t keep pretending that I’m not into you.” We sit in silence for several moments while I try to wrap my head around the words Kash just spilled from his heart. There are so many things I would love to say, but so much I can’t right at this moment. I need to process my feelings, I need to figure out the messy storm that is brewing inside my mind. I really need to leave.Now.There’s only one person I think of that can help me through this mindfuck. Leah.
“Time,” I blurt, dropping my eyes to the floor. I pick up my book, shove it into my bag and grab my coffee cup. “I need some time,” I say and hurry out of the room before Kash can say another word.
TWENTY-FOUR
VIX - PRESENT
I thankthe gods above that Leah is alone in our room when I return. She smirks at me, and I grunt, burying myself in my pillows.
“Should I say I told you so now? Or would you like me to wait until you’re done telling me what happened?” she asks, hopping over to my bed.
“UGHHHHHH,” I groan louder.
“Oh shit, what happened?” she asks, pulling the pillows off me.
“Honestly? I don’t know. Too much. He didn’t hit on me.” I huff out a breath.
“Well, that’s a good thing, right?” she asks, confused by my frustration. Leah pulls me back up and looks deep into my eyes. “What. Happened,” she says, concern etched in her brow.
“He was sweet. He put a lot of thought into our hangout, stocking up on all my favourite things and picking a movie he knew I would like. It was… surprisingly nice,” I tell her, a small smile whispering across my lips. But then it vanishes.
“That’s the problem.” I shift my guilt-ridden eyes back to hers.
I explain getting spooked when Austin got home, the confrontation with Lana, and Kash’s confession. She sits, eyes wide, hanging on every word I say.
“Oh no, Vix…” Her eyes are sympathetic. I sigh, defeat blanketing my entire body.
“But do you feel the same way? Things are going so great with you and Austin, aren’t they?”
“I don’t know what I feel. At least that’s what my brain keeps telling me.”
“What does your heart feel?”
“Too much,” I reply, and she nods—a silent understanding.
“You need a distraction.” Her face lights up as she hops over to her nightstand to grab her laptop. “This,” she plops back down beside me, “is what you need.” She pulls up a page for a new nightclub opening an hour and a half outside of Halgrove. Expérience Nightclub.
I’ve never been someone who enjoys going clubbing. Where Austin and I are from, there weren’t many places to do so, but curiosity gets the best of me. I enjoy the dancing and fun nights we have at Booths, so how different could this be? A nightclub and bar for ages twenty-one and older. Opening night is tomorrow, and, of course, Leah is ecstatic about the discovery.
“We are so going!” she squeals, already rummaging through her wardrobe. “I think we need a shopping trip. Everything I have is so bleh.”
“Yes, please,” I concur, wanting nothing more than to get away for an evening of shopping and clear my head from the chaos bomb that has been dropped upon me an hour ago.
