Page 41 of The First Time

Chapter Thirteen

Layla

“How’s it going?” Charlotte asks while I’m enjoying a cup of coffee on our terrace in Como.

We just got back from Venice, and I can’t say that we got much sleep. It was amazing. Josh did things to me, made me feel things that I didn’t know were possible. My entire body is sore but in the best way.

He’s taking a shower now after spending three hours on the train this morning. We decided to relax a bit today and enjoy a day on the water by the pool. I hate to think about the fact that tomorrow is our last day here.

“Italy is magical,” I reply, then remember I was supposed to be on this vacation with her. “I wish you were here.”

She yawns. “Me too. We’ll just have to plan another trip once I’ve had this baby.”

I smile to myself, loving the idea of being an aunt to my best friend’s baby.

“Why aren’t you in bed?” I ask. “What time is it there?”

“Ugh, it’s four. I woke up and got sick, then couldn’t fall back asleep. I figured it was the perfect time to call you to see how it’s going. Is Josh behaving himself?”

Absolutely not. Josh is not behaving himself one bit, and I couldn’t be happier about it. A small smile breaks free, and I’m suddenly glad that we didn’t video call. She’d know I was hiding something in an instant.

“Ugh, he’s totally annoying,” I lie, trying to sound believable. “I still can’t believe you thought it would be a good idea for me to spend a week with him.”

She sighs. “Hey, I did the best I could for it being last minute. Is he really that bad? Does Asher need to call him when he wakes up?”

“No, no…” I stutter. “Don’t have Asher call him. He’s fine, I’m probably just being dramatic. You know me when it comes to Josh.”

“I still wish you would open up to me about why you hate him so much.”

“We can save that for another time. I should get going. We are going to go lie by the pool today, make it a slow day. I hope you can fall back asleep. Love you.”

After I hang up the phone, I lean my head back for a second. I hate lying to her, but I can’t just blurt out what happened last night. This is my brother’s best friend, and she just so happens to be living with said brother.

“Pardon me. Don’t mean to interrupt you. I know I can be soo annoying,” Josh says as he walks out in his swim trunks.

Fuck me,he looks good.

“Sorry, I panicked. It would be obvious if I did a total one-eighty and now happy with you here. It would be too obvious. You don’t want me telling anybody about what happened last night. Right?”

He shrugs. “I guess not.”

I’m not sure if I’m reading into things, but I think he’s kind of hurt that I’m keeping it a secret. It’s a bit surprising, considering only four days ago, we were both bitching about spending time together.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I just thought that maybe we shouldn’t…I mean, we don’t even know what this…” I motion between the two of us, stumbling over my words.

“Yeah, got it. We don’t know what this is. No need to explain.” He lowers his sunglasses over his eyes. “Shall we go for a swim?”

I grab my bag and follow him down to the pool. The vibe still feels a little off as we sit down. I’m desperate to get it back to where we were this morning.

“I’m gonna go in,” I tell him as I stand up and take off my cover-up.

I’m slowly descending down the stairs when I feel him behind me.

I turn around and smile. “You going to join me?”

I get in all the way and let my hands glide around the water.

“You don’t see it, do you?” he says as he follows me in further.

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