“Yeah,” he answers and closes his eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” He looks down and then back to me. “Don’t be sorry!” I move away from him, giving us some space. “You don’t have to apologize.” It’s really cute how innocent and sweet he is and how caring. “Let’s get out.”
We both get out of the pool and change back into our clothes in the pool house. Thoughts go through my head and I wish we could do more, but I tell myself to take it slow. We haven’t been together long at all and I don’t want to rush. Sex with Jayceon will be a bonus, not a priority.
Meeting him back in the common room of the pool house, he takes my hand and leads me back into the house.
“Help yourself to anything. I’ll be back.” He gives me a quick kiss and leaves me standing in the living room, breathless. I’m breathless.
Settling on the couch, I take out my phone and text Kendall.
Me: You’ll never guess what!
Kendall: What?!
Me: Jayceon painted a picture of me! OMG Kendall...I’m falling in love with him
Kendall: Really? Seona that’s amazing!!
Me: Yeah, he is! He’s different. There’s something about him and we’re taking things really slow…Like a snail’s pace!
Kendall: Shut the front door! You’re gonna deflower the virgin!
I burst out laughing, holding my stomach, wiping my tears. Only Kendall would come up with these sayings. Before I can text her back, I hear the door close and I immediately get up to see who’s here.
When I get back into the foyer, I see Alyssa. “Hey!” I wave, walking closer to her. “What’s going on?”
“What are you doing here?” she asks. Her tone is laced with bitterness. Her eyes look everywhere. “Where’s Jayceon?” She cautiously asks.
“Upstairs.” I smile, turning around towards the stairs. I’m not going to let Alyssa ruin my night or mood. “Jayceon!” I turn back to Alyssa and see bags of groceries in her hands. “What’s all that for?” She doesn’t answer and walks to the kitchen I’m assuming. Instead of following her, I head upstairs to Jayceon’s room. I’m not sure if he wants me up here, but I’d rather him be irritated with me than Alyssa. All the doors upstairs are shut, except for one at the end of the hallway.
“Babe?” I walk in and find him in just dark fitted jeans. That’s it. Oh holy hell on everything the sun touches. There’s no way I’m going to be good. His body is so sexy and oh shit! He has the V. The freaking V! Not realizing that I’m staring at his V, which leads to his dick, I lick my lips and can’t stop staring.
“Seona?” He asks, walking over to me. His finger lightly goes under my chin as he raises my face to meet his. “Should I give you a moment or something?” He smirks, knowing damn well I was checking him out. “I mean, if you need a few minutes to breathe, I can certainly leave.” Before I can answer, his lips find mine and wow, this kiss isn’t slow and passionate like our other kisses. There’s something fierce and hot. Shit. I want him.
“Slow down,” I mumble, pressing my hands against his chest. I can’t believe I’m telling him to slow down. “Alyssa’s downstairs. She had bags of snacks in her hands.”
“Shit.” He throws on a sweater and walks out of his room. Well then, I’ve never had that happen before.
Following him downstairs, feeling like a guy with blue balls, I walk down the stairs and hear a very heated discussion. I stop and lean against the railing to hear better.
“Every month, Jayceon. I mean, what are you even doing? We haven’t talked in days. Are you dating now or something?”
“Yeah we are, Lyssa.”
“Well, as your freaking best friend, I think you should have told me. Why are you keeping things from me?”
“I don’t know. I mean, it happened and she’s someone I really like.”
“It’s only like what, two weeks?! I’ve been your best friend for years.”
“I know, Lyssa. And I’m sorry I forgot. Will it be okay if she stays and watches the movie with us?”
“You don’t get it!”
Oh, this is uncomfortable. In a matter of seconds Alyssa storms out of the house and slams the door, causing me to jump. Okay, I’m officially confused.
Walking into the kitchen, I find Jayceon with his head low, gripping the counter. “You okay?” I rub his arm and back, hoping to at least make him smile.
“Yeah. Just confused. She’s acting ridiculous.” He sounds defeated and it makes me feel so bad. It shouldn’t have to be like this. He can have her as his friend and me as his girlfriend.
“Well,” I start to say, rubbing his back again, “I guess I’m the other girl. She was used to having you in her life and now that I’m here, she probably sees me as competition. Jayceon, she hates me. I don’t know what I did to her.”
“Hey,” he turns me around and looks at me. Pushing a strand of hair out of my eyes and behind my ear, he leans down and kisses my lip. “You didn’t do anything. Alyssa’s not used to this.”
“I know. I don’t want to get in the way, but we’re together now. Is she going to affect us?” I hope not. Part of me wants to talk to her, and make her understand I’m not going anywhere. “Should I talk to her?”
Shaking his head he answers. “No.” He walks away and turns back to me. “Why can’t I have you and her both in my life?”
“I’m not saying you can’t, babe. Go talk to her.”
He lifts his head and his expression turns hard. “No. Tonight is our night, Seona. I’m not gonna deal with her. She’s moody.”
Again, I can’t believe I’m making my boyfriend talk to his girl best friend. “Just go. I’ll be fine.” I kiss his cheek and pull away.
When Jayceon drops me off, he tells me he’ll stop by later and gives me another kiss. But this kiss is quick, not like the ones we’ve shared before. I watch him get back in his truck and pull out into the road. Walking into the dark house, I climb the stairs and slide into bed. Tears suddenly release from my eyes. I sent my boyfriend to another girl.
Chapter 19
Jayceon
It kills me to drive away from Seona, especially after what happened last night, but she’s right. I need to deal with Alyssa. She’s been my best friend for as long as I can remember. Plus, she is the only one who stood by me after all of the bullshit last year with Chaz. I get that I’ve been ignoring her, it’s just that everything with Seona happened so fast, it’s been hard to keep up. I still have every intention of spending the night with Seona, once I get everything settled with Alyssa. It felt like being pulled into two different directions earlier. A part of me wanted to go after Alyssa right away, but I couldn’t hurt Seona again. When I’m done dealing with Alyssa and her shit, I’m going back to Seona’s to spend the rest of the night with her.
I pull up in front of Alyssa’s house. The lights are on outside, but the inside is dark. Walking to the garage, I take a peek inside. Alyssa’s car is parked inside, so I know that she is home. Walking to the front door, I knock and wait. A few minutes pass with no answer. I bang harder on the door.
“Lyssa, I know you’re in there. Please come answer the door, we need to talk.”
Still nothing.
“Alyssa, talk to me,” I yell through the door.
Seconds later the light flips on and the door whips open. “What do you want Jayceon? Why aren’t you with your little slutty cheerleader?” She crosses her arms over her chest.
That just pisses me off. She hadn’t even really talked to Seona, so why judge her. With an irritated sigh, I look at Alyssa. “That’s not fair Alyssa. You don’t even know her.”
“And you do?” she snaps back.
“I’ve at least spent time with her and have gotten to know a lot about her over the last few days. You decide she’s slutty, based on what?”
Her hands clench in fists at her sides. “Based on the fact that she’s friends with Chaz. The one asshole in the whole building who has done everything in his power to make your lif
e a living hell. So excuse me if I’m not real forgiving.”
“If you had taken the time to get to know her, you’d find out that she hates Chaz.”
“Oh yeah, and that’s exactly why she sits with him instead of us at lunch. On top of that, you’re supposedly dating,” she snaps, using the cheesy air quotes to emphasize her point.
“Dammit, Alyssa. We just started dating.” I want to shake some sense into her. “Can I at least have some time to enjoy it? I’m sorry that I forgot about movie night and I want to make it up to you, but it wasn’t fair of you to treat Seona like shit without giving her a chance.”
Her eyes begin to glisten. “And what did you expect me to do?”
The tears threatening to fall, tells me there is more to this than Alyssa is letting on. Taking a step forward, I wrap my arms around her and pull her against my chest. In an attempt to comfort her, I rub my hands and arms up and down her back and I can feel her body begin to shake.
“Lyssa, you will always be my best friend. Please, tell me what has you so upset.”
She shakes her head and tries to push me away, but I hold her tighter. While everything with Seona is new and exciting, Alyssa’s my best friend. Whatever has her so upset, I find myself needing to fix it. Letting go of her with one arm, I push the door open and lead her inside, towards the living room. The room is pitch black. Thankfully, I’ve been to Alyssa’s house enough that I know my way around pretty well. I make it to the living room without bumping into anything and turn on the light. Her face is streaked with tears. She drops to the couch and buries her face in her hands. Her body trembles like she’s trying to gain control.
“Alyssa, please talk to me,” I say, walking over and dropping to my knees in front of her.
She mumbles something incoherent, but the sound is blocked by her hands. I pull her hands away for her face.
“Alyssa?”
The pain in her eyes hurts.
“You were supposed to choose me.”
My mouth drops open, eyes wide. Holy shit, I’m an idiot. How did I not see this coming? After that one night last year, we both agreed to forget what happened. We were both drunk at a party and ended up kissing. Then all the garbage with Chaz happened and it slipped my mind. But when I thought back on it, there were signs everywhere.
“What?”
She shot up from her seat. “You were supposed to choose me,” she started yelling. “I was there for you through everything and some floozy moves to town and less than a week later, you’re together. What the fuck, Jayceon?”
Following her movements with my eyes, I hold my hands up in surrender. “I didn’t know. Why didn’t you tell me?”
Her shoulders drop and she lets out a long sigh. “I thought you’d come to me when you realized all of the bullshit from last year didn’t matter.”
Now I feel like the asshole, I missed all of the signs, but the worst part is that it wouldn’t change a damn thing. Alyssa’s like my sister, that’s not something I could ever see her as. Seona was something that I’ve been missing and even though I could lose Alyssa because of it, I wasn’t willing to let her go. It hurt to think that might happen; hopefully there doesn’t have to be a choice.
“I never meant to hurt you.”
“But you did.”
“Alyssa, you’re my best friend and you’ve always been there for me, but I can’t let go of Seona. There’s something between us and I’m not willing to let her walk away from me without exploring what it could be.”
The tears leak from her eyes. “I know, I’m not stupid. I could tell by the way you looked at her that first day. But to think you’d ditch me for her…”
That statement causes my temper to flare to life.
“What are you talking about? I tried to get you to join us.”
“And what makes you think I want to hang out with her?”
Storming over to her, I wrap my arms around her shoulders. “You haven’t even given her a chance. Instead, you act like a bitch and storm out of the house.”
Her eyes flare. “Did you just call me a bitch?”
“No. I said you were acting like one.” Dropping my hands, I take a step away from her and run a hand down my face. “Forget it. Seona was wrong; it wasn’t worth coming over here to talk to my best friend. I’m outta here.”
None of this shit is worth it. All I want is for Alyssa to be happy for me, but her jealousy is so great that may never happen. Part of me feels bad that I’m choosing Seona over Alyssa, but there is something that tells me that Seona needs me as much as I need her. When I reach for the knob on the door, a hand wraps around my arm.
“Jayceon, please don’t go.”
Without turning around, I say, “Then give me a good reason not to walk out the door.”
Her voice trembles. “You’re my best friend and I need you.”
Looking back at her, I see the sorrow in her eyes, except I’m not sure what else there is to say. “Alyssa…”
“Please come back inside so we can talk,” she begs.
For a brief moment, I consider walking out anyway. Then I remember Seona telling me to fix this with Alyssa. I can’t go back to Seona without at least giving Alyssa the chance to talk. Either our friendship will come out stronger on the other side of this or it will be over.
“Fine,” I say, not wanting to make this too easy, especially since she just spent the last few minutes bashing Seona.
Her shoulders slump as she walks back toward the living room. Taking a deep, calming breath, I follow her. It’s been a long time since I felt this unbalanced around Alyssa. Everything with us has always been easy, and right now it just feels awkward.
She sits down, facing me on one couch and I choose to take the seat across from her. Her eyes watch me, while we sit in silence. If she doesn’t start talking soon, I’m leaving. And just as that thought crosses my mind, she opens her mouth and begins to speak.
“I’m sorry, Jayceon. This is all on me. I could have told you sooner and I didn’t.” When I open my mouth to ask why she didn’t, she holds up her hand to stop me. “Please let me finish.”
I nod my head for her to continue.
“Ever since that party, I knew I felt more for you than friendship. I kept hoping that you would come around and tell me you felt the same as I did. But you never did.”
“Alyssa, I…”
She shook her head. “You don’t have to say anything. I know you don’t think about me the same way I think about you. It’s clear to me that you have those feelings for Seona.”
In my need to comfort her, I get up and take the seat next to her, pulling her into a hug. “Alyssa, you know I care about you, right?”
Her eyes glistening with unshed tears, she looks me in the eye. “I know, I just wish it was more than friends.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I can see how much you care about her and after all you’ve dealt with the last year, I want you to be happy. I’m just so afraid that she’s going to hurt you.”
“She won’t,” I say with conviction.
She nods. “I hope you’re right.” Once again she falls into silence. “She sent you here?”
I smile. “She did. Seona understands how much our friendship means to me. Can you at least give her a chance?”
“Yeah, I guess I can. She put others above herself, unlike most of the group she hangs out with would.”
“She does.”
She sighs. “Go hang out with her.”
“I feel bad leaving you when you’re this upset. I don’t want to lose my best friend.”
She smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. “You won’t. I just need some alone time to process everything.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to hang out with us tonight?”
She nods. “How about you invite her to sit with us at lunch on Monday and I’ll do my best to get to know her and make up for tonight.”
Squeezing her tighter, I place a light kiss on the top of
her head. “I like that idea. Thanks, Alyssa.” Standing, I head towards the front door, turning back I look at my best friend, the one person who has been with me through everything and I feel bad walking out on her, but I know that’s what I want, not what she needs.
“If you need anything, just text me.”
“I will.”
I’m not sure she will. Hopefully, our friendship will be able to move past this and things can go back to the way they were. Knowing she needs time, I walk out to my car with every intention of heading to Seona’s. It’s not that late and I really want to thank her for tonight. The trip is short, but when I pull up to the house, all of the lights are off. Travis had said he wouldn’t be home and Seona doesn’t have a car. Curious, I walk up to the door and knock. No answers and I try the knob. It’s unlocked. Wanting to see Seona, I decide to let myself in and hope that she doesn’t get mad.
There is a small faint light coming from upstairs, in the direction of Seona’s room. Why would she leave the rest of the lights out? The moment I enter her room, I know why. She’s curled up in the middle of her bed and I can see where the tears have run down her face. This is the second time that I’ve come into her room and both times she’d been crying at one point. What happened to make her so upset?
Kicking off my shoes, I lie on the bed next to her and pull her into my arms. Slowly, her eyes flutter open and widen when she looks at me.
“What are you doing here?” she whispers.
I brush the hair out of her face and behind her ears. “I wanted to spend some time with you and thank you for convincing me to talk to Alyssa.”
Seona’s eyes shadow and she tried pushing me away, but I hold on and lower my mouth to hers. Her lips are soft and taste like wild strawberries. The kiss is short and when she pulls away, her brows are drawn down.
“You went there and came back here?”
Now I’m confused. “Umm…yeah. I want to spend some time with you tonight. I told you that tonight was our night.”
“But she likes you.”
Beautiful Lessons Page 14