But as Will once said, that’s the thing with high hopes…
They break your heart.
Kassidy
Seven weeks later
“What the fuck?”
It’s just before 6:00 a.m. when Alex’s voice jolts me awake. Out of it, I rub my eyes, crippled with back pain, and catch myself wishing I’d stayed at my own house last night instead of crashing with Will. Not a fan of the shitty inflatable mattress he calls a bed. I usually don’t make a habit of staying with him. He sleeps in Alex’s pool house, which means Alex could walk in on us any second and…
Wait.
Realization smacks me right across the forehead. My eyes fly open and I sit up straight, nearly having a cardiac arrest at the sight of Alex standing inside Will’s temporary home, staring at us with this striking shock in his eyes.
“Alex, wait… This isn’t… It’s not what you think,” I lie.
Will and I are lying in bed.
Together.
Cuddling.
Might take more than “It’s not what you think” to get out of this one. I shake Will’s shoulder, who groans as an answer. I shake him again.
“What?” he growls, his cheek propped on my stomach, and blinks a few times. I motion to Alex, and Will sits up, taking forever to comprehend the shit we’re in.
I expect him to panic, back me up, feed Alex a bunch of excuses, but instead, Will—being Will—yawns, stretches, and says, “Oh, hey man.”
Smooth.
“What in the hell? You two?” Alex’s gaze sways between Will and me for a second. “But… you said you were just friends.”
“And you said you didn’t scratch your mom’s car last week. Look at us. Like two peas in a pod.” Will grins.
I elbow him.
“Don’t listen to him. There’s a perfectly rational explanation for this,” I sputter.
Why am I even bothering?
We are so busted.
Alex scoffs. “You mean to tell me you didn’t fuck in this bed last night?”
“No, we didn’t,” I say truthfully.
Will shrugs. “She’s right. We fucked in your hot tub.”
My eyes grow three sizes.
“Will!” I screech.
When I convinced Will to confide in Alex about his homeless status, I was hoping the Holmeses could spare him a room until he got his own place. Alex’s parents reluctantly agreed to let Will use their all but empty pool house, only allowing him inside the house to use the bathroom.
No one was home yesterday and Will convinced me to spend the night with him against my better judgment. I told my mom I was sleeping at Morgan’s. He assured me Alex and his family wouldn’t be back until later. And well, from the looks of it…
He was wrong.
“You had sex in my hot tub?” Alex blurts out.
“To be fair, you did fuck that Mia girl on my bed last week. Call it even?” Will suggests.
My mouth drops.
Alex did what?
Does Morgan know?
Holy shit!
Granted, last I heard they’re not on speaking terms anymore, but I thought Alex wasn’t over her. At least, until now. I can’t believe he’s still with that Mia chick.
“I told you nothing happened.” Alex clenches his jaw.
“Right.” Will snorts. “That why I found a condom wrapper in the pool house? Because nothing happened?”
“Nice try changing the subject. How long has this been going on?” Alex points an accusing finger at us.
I make eye contact with Will.
We seem to share the same reasoning.
He’s already figured it out.
No point in lying anymore.
“Since the kegger,” Will admits.
“Two goddamn months?” Alex spits.
It is crazy to think it’s already been seven weeks since Will and I exchanged I love you’s and worked through our issues. Seven weeks of sneaking around, kissing in dark corners, and ultimately, being so happy we make single people sick—and by people, I mean Morgan and Ethan, who are the only souls that know about us as of now.
Oh, and Alex.
Alex nods in understanding. “Of course. She was the only one who could pull you out of the bar when you lost your shit… Jesus, how the hell did I miss this?”
“Don’t beat yourself up. We’re pretty good at sneaking around.” Will attempts to soften the blow.
Alex’s eyes light up.
“Does Kendrick know?”
Here it is.
The defining moment.
“Not exactly.” Will cringes. “We were kind of wondering if you could—”
That’s Alex’s detonator.
“You finish that sentence and I’m out of here.”
His reaction was to be expected. Alex had to cover for Blake and me with Kendrick once before, and he hated lying.
“Dude, it’s not like that. We just didn’t get a chance to tell him ye—”
“Yep. I’m out. Got to give Kendrick a call.”
Alex stomps off, slamming the door.
“Shit,” Will mutters. He doesn’t miss a beat, leaping to his feet and chasing after Alex with nothing but the bedsheet covering his ding-dong—his fault for sleeping undressed. I don’t know how I wanted Alex to find out. But I know this… It didn’t include Will chasing after him naked.
I can hear everything as Will catches up to him.
“Look, I’m not asking you to cover for us for three fucking years here. I’ll tell him as soon as he’s back. I just couldn’t do it over the phone.”
“Do you realize what you’re asking from me?” Alex scolds. “You want me to lie to our friend again so you can keep tapping his sister behind his back. Out of all the girls, man. All the girls in the goddamn world. You had to choose her!”
“You think I wanted this? That I meant to fall in love with my best friend’s sister?” Will snaps.
A beat of silence.
“The hell did you just say?” Alex says in disbelief.
More silence.
“It’s true, I… I love her, man.”
Butterflies wreak havoc in my stomach. Hearing him say that will never get old.
“And I don’t want to fuck this up, so please, I’m begging you, don’t say anything. Let me talk to him.”
Alex hesitates, keeping quiet for long seconds.
“Fine.”
Thank God.
“Thanks.” Will exhales.
“Don’t thank me yet. There’s a reason I came into the pool house at
