Chapter 7

PIPER

I find Paisley with a cup in her hand and a smile on her face, sitting in a room surrounded by people.

“Never have I ever had a threesome,” a girl on the far side of the room says.

People begin to drink, my best friend included, which leaves me a little shocked. My mouth opens as wide as my eyes and I stare.

Noticing me, she giggles. “What happened to you?”

I’m still kind of thrown by what I just learned about my friend that the words don’t come out yet. She frowns, coming over to me, with a strange look on her face. My fingers go to my kiss-swollen lips. Can she tell what I’ve been doing in the dark? And who I’ve been doing it with? I mean she’s known Ethan just as long as I have. Okay, that’s not entirely true. Let’s forget the fact that I saw him seven whole minutes before she did. I can guarantee I know him far better than she does. From keen observation, and a desperate need to know.

“What do you mean?”

“You disappeared for like thirty minutes,” she says, sipping from her cup.

“I—uh,” I stammer. I’m not sure how to finish that sentence. I don’t need her to know what I’ve been doing. It’s too embarrassing. She’d probably just call me stupid and remind me of the fact that he has no real idea who I am—never has. I can picture her rolling her eyes at every word if I told her what I’ve been up to. Or worse…I can see her not believing me. She’s my best friend. But I don’t think Ethan would cop to kissing me at this party if he knew it was me, so it’d be my word against his. And she’s spent the last year, making her way to the in-crowd. She’s definitely in better with all these people than the friendship we’ve shared over the years.

I shake my head. “I got lost in this place.”

“Only you,” she rolls her eyes, not quite looking at me anyway. She’s looking everywhere except at me. So, I guess I wasted a lie.

I clear my throat. “You ready to go?”

She frowns, still looking around the room. “No. Not yet, Piper. Come on. We just got here.”

Really? It feels like we’ve been here all night.

I’m exhausted, and frustrated. And excited. I’m a mixture of things that all boils down to the way I just spent the last twenty or so minutes. Right up to the moment I realized I’d been played. Still, I’m overjoyed by what it felt like to have Ethan’s attention all to myself. Overjoyed and overwhelmed. It was a lot to take in, and honestly, I don’t know what to do from here. I surely don’t want to see him now, and witness something that might erase that feel-good energy still churning below the surface. Not with the stories I've heard about him and every other girl on campus. My eyes widen, as he steps into the crowded room, looking around like he’s determined to find something. Or someone. And my heart leaps into my throat.

“I’m really tired,” I tell Paisley, alternating between watching her and the way Ethan’s eyes are roaming everywhere. He’s looking back and forth around the room until he stops, his focus landing on me, and he freezes. At first nothing moves. Just my heart pounding loudly—heavily—in my chest. My lips part slightly, as he makes his way towards me, and I snap out of it.

“Oh my God. Is he coming over here,” Paisley asks, adjusting her boobs again.

Frozen to one spot, I’m forced to watch Ethan come towards us. People wave to him when he walks by. And he looks at each one with a political smile before continuing his trek across the room. My breath stalls, as I watch in slow motion his eyes find their way back to me. He stares at me like he wants to say something. Like maybe he’s figured it out, and I can’t tell whether or not my heart is more elated or terrified by the thought. But when he licks his lips—his gorgeous soft lips that were just teasing my own—I forget to care. All I can think about is the way his mouth tastes. And that all-consuming feeling that comes with his lips pressed on mine.

I stare, dazed, watching as he moves closer to us, weaving his way through the crowd. He reaches the space where the game is still going on, but doesn’t stop. He’s four paces away. Three. Two. And for a moment, his chest brushes mine. We lock eyes, and I try to swallow past my dry throat. But I’m holding my breath, as if my body thinks what just happened in the basement is about to happen again. My eyes remain on his, while he continues to move, placing a hand on my waist. I think it’s meant to move me out of the way, but there’s something there. Electric like what the two of us just experienced downstairs. Only, it seems I’m the only one to feel it this time.

“Ethan,” Paisley coos.

His eyes snap to her and he smirks. “Paisley.”

Then he moves on, making his way across the room to his friend. He’s talking to Jordan, the nice guy from my Algebra class last year, when I finally snap out of it, remembering the way that smirk of his was aimed at my best friend.

“I’m going to take off,” I tell Paisley.

“I’m not ready to go yet,” she says again. “You can find your way back. Right?”

She’s already applying lip gloss, not caring about my answer. With a deep breath, I say goodbye and leave the party on my own, knowing what happened tonight can never happen again. He’s a jerk. He played me. And even if he hadn’t, kissing Ethan was an anomaly. A once in a lifetime event and a chance to close a chapter for good on a stupid immature crush. Yes. That’s what I tell myself when I’m tucked away safely in my room. Kissing Ethan is how I’ll finally get over him. But then why does it feel like the start of something else?