AllFreeNovel
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“This is something else.” Peyton whispered as we followed Bryan into the glass building attached to his house. It was like a tropical oasis, the air balmy, and mood lighting bouncing off the walls.
“Check this out.” Bryan went over to a switchboard and pressed a button, and a synthetic waterfall sprang into action, sluicing off the rocks positioned in one corner of the pool.
“What do your parents do again?” Peyton asked him, earning her a smirk.
“Impressed, Blondie?” he teased, and she waved him off. “My dad is an investment banker in the city.”
We were no strangers to money. Sofia and Aaron lived in a huge house on the lake, and Uncle Cam and Aunt Hailee had a beautiful five-bedroomed place down the street from our house. But Dad, despite his success in the NFL, had always taught us about the importance of working hard and saving hard for the future. Neither Poppy nor I would need to worry about college tuition, but we didn’t have a house like this.
The girls wasted no time stripping down to their bathing suits and joining the guys in the water, and soon enough the glasshouse was filled with the sounds of laughter.
“Hi,” Kaiden said, perching on the end of my lounger. He draped my legs over his thighs and ran his fingers up and down my bare skin, and my heart somersaulted.
“Hi.” I gave him a weak smile, frowning when I noticed the red welt along his jaw. “Kaiden, what happened?”
“Oh, this.” He touched a finger to his face. “It’s nothing.”
“It doesn’t look like nothing.” My eyes narrowed.
“Me and the guys were goofing around. I promise, it’s nothing.” A reassuring smile tugged at his mouth but quickly fell. “Listen, about last night. I was an asshole.”
“You hurt me,” I confessed.
“I know, and I’m so fucking sorry. But you kinda threw me for a loop, Lily. This is new for me and lying to Coach? It’s not easy. Especially not with Monroe out of the picture. And…” He trailed off, his eyes darting away from me.
“And what?” I asked, coaxing him back to me.
When his eyes lifted to mine again, what I saw there made my heart ache. “I can’t help but wonder if you’re ashamed of me or something.”
“What? Why would you think that?”
He shrugged, raw vulnerability shining in his eyes.
“Kaiden, not telling my dad has nothing to do with you. It’s about me. This is the first time I’ve ever felt… something for a boy before. It’s new and confusing, and honestly, a little scary. I need time to process that. To understand it before I share it with everyone. Especially my parents.”
“It’s the first time I’ve ever felt something for a girl either,” he said.
“Yeah?” Hope bloomed inside my chest.
“Yeah. You knocked me on my ass, Lily.”
“So you’re okay with waiting?”
“If that’s what you want, then yeah, I’m okay with it. But I don’t want to wait until the end of the season, Lily. I can’t.” Heat flared in his gray orbs.
“Deal.” My gaze flicked to our friends, needing to break the intensity between us. It was destabilizing. Intimidating. All-consuming.
I was completely losing myself in Kaiden Thatcher, and it was as equally terrifying as it was exhilarating.
“You could always join them,” Kaiden said.
“I can’t.”
“Can’t? Or don’t want to?” His gray eyes pinned me in place, sending a ripple through me.
“I… water scares me.”
“It’s only deep at one end. If we stick to the shallow end, you’ll be able to stand, and I’ll be right there with you. I won’t let anything happen to you, Lily.”
