Page 29 of Wicked Serve

Her hair is in a sleek bun. Water droplets cling to everything; her earlobes, her eyelashes, her lips. I take a step forward, unable to help myself. “I promise I’m not stalking you.”

“This campus has never felt so small.”

“I know.” I take a few steps forward. “You’re everywhere I look.”

“You aren’t supposed to be here anyway,” she says, a stubborn note in her voice.

“But I’m glad I am.”

When the words leave my lips, I realize they’re true. I am glad to be here. The situation aside, it led me back to Isabelle. Even if nothing permanent can come of this, being around her in any capacity is better than not being around her at all. I like knowing she’s on the same campus as me, never far away.

She blinks, her expression shuttering. “You keep saying things you don’t mean.”

“I’m not a liar, Isabelle.” I take a couple more steps, until I’m on the edge of the pool. This is a terrible idea, but I owe her an apology or ten, and I want nothing more than to do it while she’s in my arms.

So I jump in.

“Nik!” she shrieks as I surface, hair plastered to my forehead, water up my nose.

I grin at her. “Warmer than the Atlantic, for sure. I’d skinny-dip in this.”

She wrinkles her nose, even as she smooths my hair back. “You’re such a boy.”

I wrap my arm around her, tugging her into the shallow end. She lets me, although she has a frown on her face. I push her against the wall of the pool as I brush my lips to hers. The moment she kisses back, something unwinds in me, relaxing my limbs. I taste chlorine on her lips. She’s deliciously warm, letting me crowd her with a leg between hers as she wraps her arms around my neck. We had dozens of moments like this over the summer, giving in to that itch wherever we were. If we weren’t somewhere private, we’d make it private enough. I never laughed more than during adventures with her, and that has to count for something.

I can’t date her, and I can’t fall for her, but I can’t give her up, either. Not yet. Even if I’m running the risk of any tenuous trust with her brother falling to pieces.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper against her lips.

She pulls away, her eyes searching mine. “You didn’t say goodbye,” she says haltingly. “You left me like it meant nothing.”

“I know.”

“Did it? Am I the idiot here? Caring about you when you didn’t give a shit about me?”

“No. It was never like that.”

“Then what?” She kicks at me underneath the water. Her voice gets stronger. “What the fuck, Nik?”

I hesitate. Once I explain myself, I can’t go back. The truth always changes things. She might decide to put up a real barrier, no matter my feelings, and I’ll have to respect it.

But if she doesn’t—if we fall back into what we had before—

I fist my hand in her hair and pull her into another kiss. Deep, lingering, until I can’t breathe anymore.

“I didn’t say goodbye because I didn’t want to.” I stroke my thumb across her cheek. “I didn’t want to shut the door on us.”

Chapter 14

Izzy

I’m shivering, but I’ve never felt so warm.

Nik’s words hang in the air, winding through the memories crowding my mind. Days on the beach. Nights in the city. Slow mornings wrapped in daisy-patterned bedsheets and afternoons in deep blue. Frozen lemonade and outdoor markets and matching white linen. A fire in my belly, laughter in his eyes. Love bites and chocolate kisses and echoey museum exhibits. Tequila in my mouth and salt on his lips. Midnight dim sum and noontime beers and New Girl on mute in the middle of a thunderstorm.

This warmth is different from the sparks that erupted the first time he kissed me, and much more dangerous.

He didn’t want to say goodbye.

---