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It felt perfect. Our moment.
But, of course, someone had to ruin it.
Enter Max Palmer. He ruined our perfect moment that morning, and he's the man currently standing in the way.
"There's nothing going on with us, and you know it. She's a friend, and something’s wrong. I'm worried about her, and I was just trying to help."
"Looks like Max is providing her all the help she needs right now."
In an attempt to conceal my anger, I clench my hands into fists and push off the edge of the pool, letting my body sink down, down, down. The chill of the water is refreshing but not enough to cool the anger coursing through my veins. Mainly the urge to throw Piper over my shoulder, carry her out of the party, and force her to talk to me.
Me.
Not Max.
Not her girlfriends.
To confide in me.
I wait until my feet touch the bottom of the pool before kicking back to the surface. Wiping the water off my face, I open my eyes to find two sets staring at me curiously, and another knowingly.
"You're wearing all your clothes." Leave it to Declan to point out the obvious.
"So?" I'm aware I sound defensive, but there's no way to censor myself at this point.
"Since when are you afraid to show off that hot body of yours?" Declan's head whips in Kendall's direction as soon as her words register. Her smirk tells me she got the reaction she was looking for. "What? He works really hard for those abs. He should show them off."
"Are mine not good enough?"
"I didn't say that."
"Do I need to step up my game? Go to the gym with Julian every day?"
"Stop it, Dec. You know you're hot. Every last one of you guys take great pride in your appearance. Stop making it sound like I was putting you down, when I was only pointing out the fact that Julian's never been afraid to flaunt what he has."
"Okay, children." Brady splashes water at the two of them as I swim over to the edge of the pool. "Can we stop talking about how hot my roommate is? Please."
"Jealous, Brady? Did the well run dry?" Kendall's joke seems to hit a nerve because instead of splashing water at her again, the way he normally would, Brady stands, staring down at her for a long minute, before storming into the house.
"What the hell was that about?" In all the years I've known Brady, I've never seen anyone get to him the way Kendall just did. And I have a feeling she knows exactly what nerve she hit.
"Nothing." I would be more inclined to believe her if she didn't immediately go after him.
"K?" Declan calls as she swims toward the shallow end of the pool, but she doesn't acknowledge him. Wrapping a towel around herself, she darts through the open patio doors without even looking back.
"What the hell is wrong with everyone today?" Declan lets out a growl as he pushes himself out of the pool, taking a seat on the edge next to me.
I don't even know how to begin to answer his question. I said hello to most of my friends, but the only people I've had an actual conversation with today are Brady and Piper. I could tell that there was something heavy weighing on Max's mind when he gave his speech, but I assumed it was because he was thinking about his dad.
"You okay, man?"
"Why does everyone keep asking me that? Do I have a look on my face or something?" Scrubbing my hands down my face, wiping away the water that's still dripping from my head, I attempt to steel my features.
"Yeah, you do. You look like you want to murder someone."
Glancing in his direction, it takes all the strength I have to keep my focus on him when I catch sight of Piper disappearing into the house. "Just a rough day, I guess. Not really in the mood to be here."
"Same. It's hard coming back here sometimes."
