The water was hot as steam billowed around me.
I let out a groan as I put my head under the hot water, letting it slide over my face. This was what I needed, to relax, to think about anything but Junior taunting me. Again.
I was so calm and relaxed, I didn’t notice that he was back.
The glass door opened.
And a very muscled eight-pack greeted me like a bomb detonating.
“Hey.” He didn’t so much as blink as he held out his hand. “Can you toss me the body wash?”
With a curse, I grabbed the plastic bottle and chucked it at his perfect body, obviously on purpose. May it slip and hit his balls, rendering him unable to sleep around like I’d assumed he was doing all along.
I hid my hurt well because I hid it behind the shield of so much anger that I could have sworn I was hooked up to an IV of rage.
He caught the body wash with one hand and smirked. “Shoulda played baseball, princess.”
“I’m not the best with balls, you know that, I see something small and I want to squeeze.” I lowered my gaze and shrugged like he wasn’t completely hung.
He burst out laughing. “Funny, since I remember you grabbing a lot of balls back in the day, even licking them…”
I refused to shiver. “Go be gross elsewhere, dude.” I waved him off and grabbed my shampoo, and tried to ignore the way my body pulsed with awareness. He was so close, under the other showerhead, pretending like we didn’t hate each other like we didn’t have some serious issues.
It was almost like he was pretending we were friends.
And It confused me more than his hate ever would.
Because I didn’t know what to do with it, and it made me hope, and deep down, I was a romantic. I grew up watching relationships around me borderline on obsessive.
I wanted an obsessive sort of love, the kind that refuses to let go, even if it was unhealthy—it was what I wanted, what I was exposed to.
So, when Junior teased me, it gave me the wrong idea.
“Do me a favor?” I whispered while I massaged shampoo into my hair.
“What’s up?”
“Don’t—” I took a breath. “Don’t pretend we’re friends just because we’re shower buddies, don’t pretend our relationship isn’t fucked up when it is, because it’s not fair to me, and it’s not fair to you, especially when you go back home in less than two weeks, and we still have to work together without killing one another. I may actually murder you if you go from my friend Junior to my enemy in the span of thirteen days, got it?”
He seemed to think about it, and then he grabbed my shoulder and turned me around, so my back was to him, and then he was pulling me under the water and rinsing my hair.
My lips trembled.
My heart cracked in my chest.
It was so wrong it was right.
I hated him for making me feel vulnerable, for making me crave the closeness that I missed so much.
It was so hard, knowing what it was like to love someone, only to have them disrespect and betray you in front of your face and act like it didn’t matter like you didn’t matter.
He was sending so many mixed signals I wondered if he was actually going insane.
“What if I’m just your friend now, what if we both put down the weapons and try a different tactic, I’m here for two weeks, and regardless of our friendship we still have to work together until we fucking die—may as well make it enjoyable by not being at each other’s throats.”
I opened my eyes. “Is the great Junior Nicolasi waving the white flag?”
“I would never wave first.” He shrugged. “I’m just saying, this has been going on for over a year, maybe it’s time we tried not hating each other.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and said softly, “Junior, my hate is all I have. Please don’t take that too.”
His face completely fell. “Serena—”
“I’ll think about it,” I whispered in a hurried rush, and then I was stepping out of the shower and grabbing a towel, but not before a knock sounded on the bathroom door.
“Serena?” My dad’s voice filled the bathroom; he was clearly standing on the other side of the door, ready to expose both of us, all of the lies. It couldn’t happen. Not now, not ever.
My eyes widened. “Hey, Dad, I’m showering what’s up?”
“Oh, I was just looking for Junior. You see him?”
“He’s um…” I looked over my shoulder.
Junior gave me an arrogant grin. Ugh, he knew I was the worst liar ever. “He’s around somewhere, Dad. I just saw him at breakfast. Knowing Junior, he’s probably finding Coco number two, so he can ruin dinner again and get laid.”