Her breath was erratic now, her fingers gripping the front of my shirt like a vice. I pulled my lips off of her and looked back into her eyes.
She was hungry. The green irises were now molten lava. I wanted to touch her, taste her, sink into her. But she was my best friend, and I needed to take it slow. But my desire for her was so strong. It was overwhelming.
I bent down, my lips hovering right over hers.
So close.She closed her eyes, angling her face up to mine.
She wanted me to kiss her.
Her breath brushed my lips, and I swear I could taste her.
But I wanted her to work for it a little bit, too. I stepped back,biting my lower lip and holding in the tiny smirk I wanted to give her. She opened her eyes slowly, and when she saw that I wasn’t going to give in to her, a flash of pure anger rolled over her face.
She turned her back on me, hair spilling across the pillow like a halo as she lay down in her bunk. I stood there, pulse still pounding. I’d agreed to this fake-dating shit for her. And yet, here I was, falling for it. For her.
She could at least give me the benefit of the doubt.
But because I was such a fucking gentleman, I plugged in the nightlight I’d brought her, setting it close enough for the glow to spill over her. She didn’t turn around. But then she reached out and caught my hand. It was a quick brush of fingers before she pulled back like a petulant queen.
I shook my head with a soft smile because I was a fucking idiot and thrived off this shit.
I turned off the main light, took off my clothes, and climbed into the top bunk, the frame creaking under my weight.
“Goodnight, Trouble,” I said into the dark.
There was a long pause before I heard it.
“Goodnight, Max.”
My phone pinged at the same moment hers did. The screen’s glow illuminated her face in the dark. I didn’t need to lean over to know what it said.
I had already read it.
JACKSON KENSWICK
That little kayak date was cute.
Too bad you’ll never escape me.
The message was childish, but it made my jaw tighten. He was still circling her.
I let out a breath and looked up at the ceiling.
I had fucked up.
As soon as I saw her, a part of me I had locked up became obsessed. To be honest, I had been lowkey obsessed with her for years. I had stolen pieces of her journal, smelled her shirts when she wasn’t looking, and even thought about stalking her during the school year. But I had never acted on it, because I was a standup guy. She would kill me when she found out how fucking obsessed I was with her.
I don’t know why, but every time I was around her, I became a completely different person. And for some reason, this summer was when I decided tolet everything implode.
I rubbed my hand across my face, blowing out another breath.
I had let my brain rationalize the most insane parts of myself, and I had crossed a line she didn’t even know I could cross. A line I told myself tonevercross.
I wanted to protect her because I loved her. I was just finally coming to terms with it. I knew Mackenzie had secrets. I had guessed a while ago that she was running from someone, and that all these ‘aunts’ and ‘uncles’ weren’t family members.
Her drawings gave her away. I just didn’t know the extent of her trauma.Yet.
I couldn’t fault her for hiding it from me, because I had secrets of my own.
