was an actress, and she was good, I’d started to think that I could see through her routines. But tonight, she was fooling all of us with this whole sweetheart act. Her hair had dried in loose waves around her makeupless face, and she seemed just fine with it, just like she somehow managed to make those awful sweats look adorable. She was swimming in them, and that only made her look touchable and soft as opposed to the untouchable goddess who’d stripped down to her bikini in front of us earlier. But it was the smiles and the laughter that really threw me. Gone was the uptight, prissy little snot, and in her place was a laidback, funny, playful teenage girl. If this was an act—and it was, I mean it had to be—then she was starting to fool even me. And I knew better. I knew what she was about.
Okay, fine. Maybe she’d fooled me once back in her apartment when she’d inexplicably hit on me to make some sort of point to her sister. That conversation kept coming back to me as I watched her tonight, but it made less sense than ever.
All I knew was the closer she got to Brandon, the more I wanted to leap between the two of them and tear them apart.
Not because I was jealous. I wasn’t. Sure, she was drop-dead beautiful. And yeah, there might have been a moment there when she’d come out of the lake looking hot as hell. When she’d discovered her clothes were ruined, I might have felt a surge of pity. That vulnerable, naked look in her eyes hadn’t lasted long, but it had been long enough to knock the wind out of me.
For a second there, she’d seemed so fragile. Vulnerable, and hurt, and sad and… and then the moment had passed, and she’d become the firecracker I’d come to know throughout the course of this interminably long day.
I should go home. I really should. Any other night I would have, but something about this didn’t feel right. I couldn’t seem to tear my eyes off them… off her. The thought of leaving her here alone with Brandon brought up a tension I didn’t want to describe.
It wasn’t jealousy. It wasn’t.
But it was close.
I didn’t want to think about it too much, so instead, I forced my gaze away to look over at Amber.
Poor Amber. Still the same sweet, besotted girl Brandon and I had known from childhood. She’d moved away but had always come back over the summers. These last few, she hadn’t—she’d gone on to have a life of her own, I imagined. She never really talked about her home in Upstate New York. Once she’d moved back, it was like her years away had never happened. She picked right back up where she’d left off—with me and Brandon, and with her other friends. The girl was friends with everyone. Now, she was back in our lives for real, and thank goodness for that. Brandon deserved someone nice.
Sure, there were other “nice” girls in our class, but Brandon didn’t click with any of them. And me? Well, I’d been there done that with any girl even remotely interesting. Except for Amber. It was hard to look at her and see anything other than a sister since we’d known her our whole lives.
Amber who’d only ever had eyes for one person… and that person was currently wiping gooey marshmallow from a laughing Lila’s lips.
My chest burned at the sight, and I turned away abruptly to face Amber straight on. “You doing okay?”
She blinked and then looked back up at me. For a second there, I couldn’t read her eyes. But then the fire flared to life and so did she. Her easy smile was a little apologetic. “Is it that obvious?”
Yeah. It was. Anyone could see she had a thing for Brandon. I wasn’t a liar, but I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, so I didn’t reply directly. “It’s okay to admit you’re jealous.”
She tilted her head to the side and studied me. “Why? Are you?”
I scoffed, but it felt unnatural. Forced. “Of course not. I barely know the girl.” I could feel her eyes on me, and I shifted uncomfortably.
“I guess I was misreading things then.”
I shot her a look, and she gave me a gentle smile.
“I just thought maybe there was a spark there. When I saw you two talking, it seemed like maybe…” She trailed off with a shrug.
“Nope,”