“Then we grew up, and he dropped me when it mattered the most. The end.”
He unlatches our hands, stalking toward my house.
“And the girl he was talking about? Lyla? Who is she?”
Was she his first girlfriend? His first love? The girl who broke his heart and made him… Will?
Does she really look like me?
“No one.”
His stubbornness sets me off.
“Will, I swear to God, say ‘no one’ one more time and I’m kicking you in the balls.” I stick my finger in his face.
In response to that, he laughs.
Yes, laughs.
And I know this is arguably the worst moment for laughter, but it feels insanely good to see him smile. It takes me back to the beginning. Back to the nicknames, the jokes. This is the reason I caught feelings in the first place.
Our back-and-forth banter, the teasing.
That laugh.
I missed it.
Straightening out his hand, he asks me for my keys, which I dump into his palm.
“Come on, let’s get you inside.” He unlocks the door.
I’m not sure why he’s sticking around. My guess is he thinks I’m too drunk to function. I’ll admit drinking Zoey’s cocktail for her might not have been the best idea, but overall, I feel fine. But I can’t tell him that. I’m scared if I did, he’d leave.
And, at the risk of pissing off sober, done-with-boys, Kass…
I don’t want him to.
Knotting my arm around his shoulders, he pushes the front door open and helps me inside the kitchen.
“He was lying, by the way.” He catches me off guard.
I frown.
“She doesn’t look like you.”
I know he’s talking about Lyla.
He shuts the door as quietly as he can. “He just wanted to start shit between us. That’s so Dixon. I guess he thought… we were together or something.”
I wish, Dixon, I wish.
I want to ask him a thousand more questions, discover what Dixon did to make him so angry, who Lyla was to him, but something tells me I’ve gotten all I can out of him tonight.
“Let’s get you into bed.” He eyes me when he thinks I’m not looking, his gaze lingering on my V-neck for a second too long. I flush when he chews on the inside of his cheek, forcing his eyes off me. Does he really think I don’t see that?
That I don’t feel the tension when he looks at me?
Last time I was with this guy, his hand was in my freaking pants. I’ve been trying to ignore it, but I can’t repress my fervent need to finish what we started.
Kass, wake up! He literally called you his sister an hour ago.
Remembering what he said makes me angry—furious. With everything going on, I didn’t have nearly enough time to process it, and while I know he was probably just trying to get Alex off his back, I can’t let it slide.
“So, I wanted to ask… do you often make out with your sister?” I ask as he ushers me up the stairs.
He tenses.
“You weren’t supposed to hear that.”
I can’t stop myself.
“You weren’t supposed to say it.”
His poker face slips off for a second.
“I didn’t mean it. I don’t see you like that. I can’t. And believe me, I fucking tried.”
My anger fades away too fast for my liking.
“Is your mom home?” He changes the topic.
“Nope, night shifts again. And Winter’s sleeping.”
He nods and peels my arm off his shoulders when we reach my bedroom door, letting go of me to twist the knob. I could pout when he moves away, my inner self whining, “Already?” I hate how addicted I am to his touch.
“Hey, look, we’re alone! You can stop pretending like I’m just your friend’s sister now.” I scurry inside my room.
I’m not done being bitter, apparently.
“I don’t have to pretend. That’s what you are.”
“Really?” I arch an eyebrow. “So, you’re telling me you spend the night with all of your friends’ sisters? That you get into fights for all of them? That you text them all the time? Do you kiss them all? Alex’s little sister has always had a crush on you—is she next?” I snort and drop on my bed.
He focuses on every single thing in the room but me. “Look, I don’t know what came over me. That kiss was a mistake. Let’s just… put it behind us, okay?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Are we talking about the first kiss or the one where you fingered me?”
His mouth dips open.
Take that.
He clears his throat, slapping his too-cool-to-care façade back on. “I’m going to get you a glass of water. Why don’t you change? You need to sleep it off.”
Just as he’s walking to the door, it dawns on me. I need to get him out of my life. I told him I was trying to get past it. This is not getting past it.
“You never told me how you felt.”
He stops.
“I confessed my feelings to you. Your turn.”
He whisks his head back. “I don’t know what you want me to say, Kass.”
At first, I don’t either.
Until it becomes clear.
“Say you don’t like me.”
He’s startled. “What?”
“I… I think that’s what I need to get over you… For good.”
If he really doesn’t care, he needs to stop with the jealousy, the getting me alone and telling me he misses me, the hints and signs. He needs to let me go. He debates on his next move for a few seconds.
“Fine.” He blows out a breath. “I’ll say it.”
I never thought I could be satisfied and disappointed all at once. I nod, bracing myself for impact.
He steps closer.
Here it comes.
“I like you, Kass.”
My brain malfunctions.
“I like you. Of course I do. How could I not? You…” He cups my cheek, and my eyes fall closed. “This.” He traces along my cheek with his thumb. “I may be cold sometimes, but I would have to be fucking heartless not to feel it, too.”
My heart does a whole-ass backflip.
“And fuck, you’re stubborn. And blunt. But I like that.” He feeds the space between us, inches away
