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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PEPPER IS ALREADY WAITING OUTSIDE, shocking me into a stupor as I pull up her driveway. Half of me expected to have to beg for her to even talk to me again. Yet she's standing by the front door, bundled up in her favorite coat.
The second she climbs into the truck and shuts her door I blurt, "I'm so sorry."
She looks at me in shock for a moment like she expected to walk in to an argument. I grate my hands against the steering wheel and rehearse the speech I've wanted to give to her ever since she stormed out of my house in an emotional wreck.
"Sorry," I repeat, "for not telling you about Mason and using that as a way to...sleep...with you again." Each word feels heavy and gross coming off my tongue. Saying it out loud makes me feel shittier than I have all weekend.
"I...I forgive you," she mumbles. "Though I just don't understand why you would lie to me. You're my best friend, Lucas." Large brown eyes pierce my resolve with their intensity. "Is sex really more important to you? I didn't want to keep sleeping with you for a reason."
Tell her how you feel. Tell her you like her.
The sincerity in her voice, the regret in her eyes, the thought of confessing my feelings for her, it all makes my heart do insane flips within the confines of my chest. I'm a coward. There's no way I can tell her what I feel when she's so upset. "It wasn't that important to me," I say softly and put the truck in reverse to back out of her driveway.
"Do you hate me?" she whispers.
"No." I glance at her in shock. It's just the opposite.
"I made such a stupid mistake," she admits in a bitter tone. "I never should have kissed you the day Mason broke up with me. I should have let myself feel the pain. I didn't even give myself enough time to be lonely. If I had, maybe we wouldn't be here right now."
I'm glad you kissed me. I'm glad this happened.
I can't say it. At least, not yet. It'd be a bald-faced lie to say that telling her hasn't been eating at my soul ever since the first night we were together. She just doesn't see it in us yet. In her that she has to feel the same way. Until she does, I'm afraid telling her could ruin everything. Amber's advice comes barreling back to me in rapid waves. What if she's right? The truth might awaken something in Pepper. When is a good time to tell her?
"Mason thinks that we like each other. I keep telling him it was just mistake, but he won't listen to me. I mean, the last time we were together I didn't even..."
But I do like you. I want you to like me too.
"He said he wants us to start dating."
I nearly slam my foot on the brakes and I whip my head to her so fast my head aches. "Mason said what?"
