Pepper never meant to lose her best friend. Lucas never meant to fall in love.
Yet the aftermath of broken hearts leads them to blur the lines of their friendship forever. When Pepper is dumped by her boyfriend and Lucas is led on by his crush, they...
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SMOKE FILLS MY LUNGS while I trace a path along my porcelain ceiling. Odd shapes jump out at me and my vision blurs as I follow this game for too long. Queasy aches squirm through my body and I attempt to shake them out; shake off the weight of disappointment.
It's fine.
She didn't enjoy herself and neither did I.
Like she said...we're best friends.
I have no clue why I wanted to sleep with Pepper so bad yesterday. Was I that desperate for affection? Instead of kissing her back, I should have turned her away like any good friend. If anything, sleeping with her while she was so vulnerable was a douchey thing to do.
Yet everything felt right the moment we came together.
In those ephemeral moments, stopping or even rationalizing was out of the question. It felt too good to want to stop. How could she not feel the same way?
I don't regret a second of it, but the horror that had written itself all over her face tells me she does.
My chest constricts, grasping a hold of my lungs. I take in another drag of my vaporizer. The tightening releases.
Pepper has every reason to be upset and uncomfortable. Hell, she's still obsessing over that idiot, Mason.
It's not like I like her in that way. We just have great chemistry.
It was sex.
Everything will be normal again.
A shadow looms over me, blocking the sun rays that cascaded me from my bedroom window. I glance up and lock eyes with my older brother just as he snatches my vaporizer from my loosened fingers.
"You know Dad hates when you smoke this crap. It kills your brain cells." Humor twitches the corner of his mouth.
I sit up with a grunt and snatch it back from him to take another hit. I blow smoke through my nose and smirk. "That's all a myth, you know? This is the medical stuff. So, it's actually good for me."
He snorts and extends a knowing hand to me. "Perfect example of your brain cells dying. I never thought I'd see a competitive swimmer sacrifice his lungs like this."
A sharp pang strikes my chest. I narrow my eyes. "Not a competitive swimmer anymore. You know that."
I haven't come close to entering a meet since our parents divorced. That was nearly three years ago. The medals dangling along the wall in the far corner of my room are ghosts of what my life used to be all about.
Water. Cutting through water like breathing air. If I could breathe the oxygen nestled in the waves that surround me, I would. Swimming was once my haven. It still is whenever I can sneak into the school and use the indoor pool. Melting into those waves brings me absolute calm and euphoria intertwined.
