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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SILENT FURY has engulfed Pepper's entirety. Self-hatred has coiled within me for every second of it.
She didn't like it. She didn't like it. She didn't like it.
The mere vocalization of it ripped my chest to shreds while simultaneously slapping me across the face. How could she not have enjoyed herself? Remnants of that night has been flickering through my head all morning.
We kissed, got sober, she asked me if I liked it, then we had sex. Amazing sex. Did she fake it? My heart clenches at my brother's warning echoing through my brain. Maybe she pretended to like everything.
Did she? I have to know. My entire existence is aching to discover the depths of her feelings about that night. I wasn't the only one who felt something euphoric. It's impossible.
Though questioning her in her current state is not an option. She's been sulking over Mason ever since she saw him lip-locked with some other girl, a stranger sporting a visitors pass around her neck.
Judging eyes and gossiping tongues have followed the pairing I've yet to find myself caring about. It doesn't bother me in the slightest that he's moved on so fast. If Pepper would just focus on me and forget about Mason for even a moment, I'm sure we'd be able to decipher the nature of this chemistry crackling between us.
She kissed me so that has to mean that some part of her likes me. She wants me. I know she does. Because if she doesn't, what the hell am I supposed to do with my growing attraction to her? Despite the melancholy that clings to her in shades of grey and black, it's impossible not to marvel at how beautiful she is and how I've never noticed it as much as I do now.
As we sit in class, history teacher droning on about information I'll forget the moment we're released for lunch, I find myself watching her as she watches Mason a few seats over. Every time her pretty, large brown eyes drift to him as if begging him to notice her, I beg her to notice me sitting at the desk right next to hers.
I catch the exact moment her pain and disappointment set in as she glares at her desk and begins picking at her already chipped nails.
If she turned her head to me just once, she'd be looking into the eyes of a guy who would care for her so much more than the moron she's longing for. I have cared for her so much already. We've been best friends for years and I adore her more than anything on this planet.
Everything about her is delicate and effortless. She's a girly girl, the type I'm usually not attracted to, but something endearing about it has been veiled and is now uncovered. Her lips are full and softer than any pair of lips should be allowed, always glossed or traced with a matte shade that compliments her caramel skin. The vanilla scent of her body and perfume of her curly hair is mesmerizing.
