Winning my Best Friend's Girl - Piper Rayne Page 0,43
water and she startles.
“Jesus, enough with the damn fireworks.” I flip off the boaters.
Don’t they understand? I’m getting my heart broken right now. I watch the embers of the firework fall down, and a swift current of air whooshes off the lake, rustling my hair. I watch as a glowing ember lands on her shoulder, igniting the fabric of her shirt.
“Stella!” I yell, but she’s already turning her head to investigate the heat searing her skin.
I tackle her and we fall into the water. She sucks in a big breath when we pop back up above the surface.
“Thank you,” she says.
I shrug.
“Your future is here and mine is anywhere else,” she says. “Please understand, Kingston, it’s what’s best for both of us. But never think you were alone in this. The pull? I feel it too, which is why I need to leave.”
I open my mouth to retort, but something catches my eye over her shoulder, and I see that there’s a fire on the boat that was setting off the fireworks.
“Shit, Stella, go get help.” Diving under the water, I swim to the boat, but by the time I reach it, the fire is blazing, and the people have jumped overboard.
“Help!” a woman cries out into the dark night. “My daughter. She can’t swim.”
Following the voice, I reach them and grab the young girl, whom I swim back to the shore. Once I get her onto the dock, I dive back in to make sure everyone else in the water can make it to safety.
A half hour later, a crowd is gathered on the dock, watching the boat burn. The fire department boat is nearby, spraying it down, doing what they can. I look around through the gawking townspeople, but there’s no Stella.
She’s already gone.
Seventeen
Stella
I startle awake, looking around my surroundings. The cabin. Basement bedroom. Right.
Allie is next to me in bed, wearing her eye mask that says Rise and Grind. Not wanting to disturb her since she stayed up later than me reading, I grab my zip-up hoodie and tiptoe out of the room. But I stop as I hit the top of the stairs, hearing noise coming from the kitchen.
I debate on tiptoeing back downstairs, but a large body blocks my view of the hallway.
“Stella,” Lou says. “Thought I heard something. Did I wake you?”
He’s in a pair of pajama pants and a T-shirt, thank God. I feared it might’ve been Kingston without a shirt and I’d just faint and free-fall backward down the stairs.
“No. I’m just an early riser.” I tuck the book I brought with me under my arm. I used to enjoy reading until I started med school. But Allie’s always talking about her fictional characters as if they’re real life people, so I grabbed a book on a whim at the hospital gift shop.
I follow him into the kitchen as Lou says, “Coffee?”
“That would be great.”
He eyes my book while pouring two cups of coffee. “You’re a reader?”
I shake my head. “Not much since high school, but I figure after skiing, what else am I going to do?”
“There are a lot of things I can think of to pass the time.” He puts the cream and sugar on the counter in front of me.
“Which would be?” I raise my eyebrows, hoping he isn’t thinking something sexual. We need to discuss where this thing with us stands, and with Kingston in the house, I’m definitely not comfortable dating Lou.
“There are a lot of beds here.” He waggles his eyebrows.
I shake my head. “Lou…”
He puts up his hand. “Yeah, I know.”
He keeps saying that, but yesterday at the hot tub, he asked me if I wanted to skinny dip later that night. We need to clear the air.
“Can we talk?” I ask.
“Not if it involves the word Kingston.”
“You’re a great guy, Lou. Some girl is going to be lucky to scoop you off the market, but I’m not that girl.”
“Because you got a thing for King?” There’s hurt in his eyes, and I feel badly.
From what I’ve witnessed, he and Kingston don’t have a competitive relationship like Kingston did with Owen. They have the usual ball-busting behavior guys have with each other, but it’s clear they appreciate one another’s friendship. Kingston and Owen were never like that. Owen was always jealous of Kingston.
“Truth?”
“Be careful. I am the guy’s best friend.”
“I do, and I have no idea what to do about it. But I know that if I ever choose to move in his direction, I