“You fucked everything up for ‘just a bit of fun?’”
I nod. “I guess I did. You know what us guys are like. We act first and realize how badly we fucked up later.”
Kaylah sighs and leans heavier against me, wrapping her arms around in the process. “I still hate you.”
“I know, but not as much, right?”
“Not as much.”
A smile plays on my lips as a wave of relief crashes through me. My sister doesn’t hate me. “You know I love you, right? And I promise that I’ll never hurt you like that again.”
“Keep it coming. I hate you a little bit less now.”
I laugh. “Don’t push it.” Kaylah pushes up off my shoulder, rolling her eyes as she gets to her feet. “Wait. We’re good?” I ask, still needing that confirmation.
“Yes,” she groans. “We’re good. Well, mostly.”
I cringe. “So…that means you can stop screwing around with Jesse, right?”
Kaylah’s brows pull down as she looks at me in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
“You’re only dating him to annoy me,” I state.
“No, I’m not. I really like him.”
I gape at her as though she’s gone insane. “You realize who you’re talking about, right? Jesse Ryder literally goes out of his way just to make life hard for me.”
Kaylah shrugs. “As if you don’t do the same to him and his brother.”
“Yeah…but.”
“No,” she cuts in. “No buts. I’m with Jesse and I really like him so please just keep your big head out of it and let me figure this out on my own. You know, he really likes me. He treats me better than anyone I’ve ever known.”
“Even me?”
“Even you.”
I scoff before grumbling under my breath. “Bullshit.”
Kaylah lets out a frustrated sigh before taking her cereal bowl to the sink and putting the milk back in the fridge. “You know,” she says, skipping over my last comment and giving me one of those looks that after knowing her all her life, I’ve come to recognize as fishing for information. “I think I like Elle. We could be friends.”
I narrow my eyes on her. Where’s she going with this. “You should be. She’s great. Maybe go out for coffee or something like that, you have a lot in common.”
“Great idea. Big brother. Perhaps we could be best friends.”
My eyes fly open as I throw myself to my feet. The last chick she deemed as ‘best friend’ material instantly went onto the ‘off-limits’ list and I cannot let that happen to Elle. “No,” I demand. “I saw her first. She’s mine, not yours.”
Kaylah leans against the fridge, crossing her arms as she looks at me as though she’s about to win something. “Oh, really?” she says, still fishing. “She’s yours, is she? Does Elle know that?”
I grin. After last night, she’s better fucking know it. “What do you want, Kaylah?”
“Admit that you’re in love with Elle. I’ve seen the way you both look at each other. It’s nauseating.”
My mouth drops. “I…um.”
“Admit it and I’ll let you off the hook.”
I press my lips into a firm line. Am I in love with her? I’ve never really thought about it. I can’t stop thinking about her, she makes my heart race like never before, and when she smiles, my whole world brightens. Kaylah’s right, this is definitely more than just some silly crush. So much more.
“Shit,” I groan, falling back into the chair. “I love her, don’t I?”
“Fuck yeah, you do,” Kaylah shouts, jumping up and down in her excitement. “MOM! YOU’LL NEVER GUESS WHAT JACKIE JUST SAID.”
Not a second later, Kaylah is gone from the room and I’m left sitting here with the realization that I’m screwed.
Chapter 12
Elle
I sit in Mr. Thompson’s classroom, tapping my pencil against the desk while watching the clock as it slowly ticks towards the end of class. It feels like I’ve been sitting in this seat forever. When will this day end? It’s as though someone up above woke up this morning and decided they wanted to test my patience today.
I’ve had to deal with Phoenix cornering me again, only to shut her down, as usual. I’ve had some footballer strutting around like king shit, bump into me and knock my coffee right out of my hands. I forgot that I had a math test, and to top it all off, I walked in on my parents this morning.
Yeah, today seriously needs to end.
The bell finally sounds and I push up out of my chair, desperately needing to give my ass cheeks a rub, but I don’t. That’s the last thing I need to get caught doing today. Who knows what kind of awful comments something like that would bring? Attending Broken Hill High is like walking on eggshells. Every move has to be perfectly timed and done with grace, otherwise, you’re a sinking ship. Though, no one ever said navigating high school was supposed to be fun…or easy.