AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I take my drink from her and down the entire thing in one go, ignoring the question in her raised brows. She hands out the other two drinks before shouting to Brady that we were going to the bathroom, and we’d meet them back at camp. She then grabs my hand and drags me back through the crowd.
We don’t say a word until we’re standing in line for the toilets.
“Okay, spill,” Wren says. “What’s going on?”
“I think I’m falling for Conrad.”
If I didn't feel so torn apart, the look on Wren’s face would be hilarious. “Okay, I was not expecting that.”
I groan and drop my head into my hands. “I can’t help it. I… He’s not the same guy he was six months ago, Wren. He’s changed. I tried so hard to stay away from him.” I look up to meet her gaze. “I really did. But I can’t. He makes me feel things I never thought I’d feel again. You haven’t seen how he is when we’re alone. I feel wanted.”
She shakes her head and pulls me in for a hug. “Oh, Ives.”
“I don’t know what to do,” I say, clinging to my best friend. “Brady’s going to hate me when he finds out.”
“No, he won’t.”
“He will. He hates Conrad.”
She presses her lips together, not saying anything to disagree with me. My stomach sinks. “There’s a lot of bad blood between them, but at the end of the day, I know he just wants you to be happy.”
“I wish I could believe that.”
Wren sighs. “I think you just need to be honest with him.”
The thing that terrifies me the most about Brady is how quick he can cut someone off. I watched it happen with our dad. It would completely break me if he did that to me. Despite that, I’m tired of lying. In spite of all my efforts not to, I’ve fallen for Conrad. He somehow managed to break down all my walls and made me feel things again–incrediblethings.
We get to the front of the line and I let Wren go ahead of me. After my turn, I step out of the portable toilet and bump straight into Tom.
Fuck. I glance around for Wren, but she’s nowhere to be seen.
“I told her I’d wait for you,” Tom explains. He rubs the back of his neck. “Can we talk?”
I simply nod and follow him over to a shady area. He sits down, resting his arms against his knees. I sit next to him so I don’t have to look him in the eye.
“So, you and Conrad, huh?” he asks, breaking the awkward silence.
“Tom, I–”
“It’s alright, Ivy.”
My jaw drops as I look over at him, stunned. “W-what?”
“I’ve seen the way he looks at you, like he’d burn down the world for you.”
My cheeks flush. “I… we…” I shake my head, not knowing what to say. “Are you going to tell Brady?”
“I was wondering why you two had barely spoken to each other and then I saw…” he shakes his head. “Anyway, I was going to say how good it is to see you happy again. I haven’t seen you this happy since… well, since Lachy.”
I wrap my arms around my stomach, waiting for the usual pain that comes with hearing that name–but it doesn’t come. Instead, I lean my head on his shoulder and say, “Iamhappy. Conrad makes me happy. But like you said, it’s complicated.”
He wraps his arm around my shoulder. “I’m sorry, Ives. Have you tried talking to Brady yet?”
I snort. “Have you met my brother? Dude is the king of holding grudges. He hates Conrad. I don’t see him getting past that.”
“You never know,” Tom says. “They’ll be around each other all weekend. Maybe they’ll move past all that bullshit.”
“Why don’tyouhate Conrad?”
