Page 15 of The Boy I Hate

Pushing at his chest, she scrabbled to sit as fast as she could, but it was too late. When she whipped around, the girls from across the lake were making their way through the trees, and weren’t hiding the fact that they’d noticed them. Samantha pulled in a breath, squeezing her eyes shut. Thank God it’s not Renee. Thank God it’s them and not Mr. and Mrs.Montgomery.

The girls continued to laugh, making their way down the path again and back to their cabin. But all Samantha could think about was her and Tristan’s kiss. About how easily it had happened, how quickly it had deepened, and what would have happened had the girls had not come along tostopit.

Samantha sat forward, wrapping her arms around her thighs and resting her chin on her knees. All of a sudden there was a hard pit at the bottom of her stomach. One that was large, and growing rapidly by thesecond.

Tristan moved beside her. His arm brushing her leg as he pulled himself to sit. “Youokay?”

She nodded. “Yeah.” But her mind kept rolling with fear. What would’ve happened had it been her best friend coming to look for her? What would shehavesaid?

“You?” she asked, trying to push the thoughts to the back ofhermind.

“I’m good,” he said. His voice low and textured, but there was something else. Curiosity, or maybeconfusion.

She took a deep breath, trying to figure things out. Why had he kissed her? Why now? Why her? The girl he’d never seemed to noticeonceuntil tonight. She began playing with the rocks again, because she was too inexperienced to know what was expected after a kiss like that. Too inexperienced to know if the tingles she felt all over her body was a normal reaction. If a kiss between practical strangers was always so mind consuming andpassionate.

She’d kissed her best friend’s brother, something she never would’ve expected in a million years. But that wasn’t the worst of it. What bothered her most was that she wanted to do it again. A thousand times overagain.

Tristan stood, grabbing her attention as he offered his hand and pulled her up to stand beside him. She wobbled slightly, her legs like soft rubber that refused to hold her. He reached out to wrap his fingers around her waist. To steady her at the small of her back before she fell. She swallowed, not sure what to say. He’d taken a part of her. A precious piece she’d been saving for that special person, but she herself had told him there was nothing owed after a simple kiss. Nothingpromised.

“We should get going,” he said softly, exerting the slightest amount of pressure to pull her forward. As though he wanted her next to him. As though he wanted her lips as much as she wanted his. “Before we get intotrouble.”

She looked up, knowing he was right. If she stayed out here much longer, she wasn’t sure what would happen. She could feel the pulsing of her body, the blood coursing through her veins in every spot where he’d touched her. She reluctantly moved away and walked steadily toward the dock, taking all her concentration to do so. She fetched her towel from the edge of the platform, only turning when she heard him move behind her. The red-striped towel clutched at her chest, her eyes vulnerable, but she didn’t see the boy she hated any longer. She saw Tristan. A guy who all the girls wanted, and who was misunderstood by the masses. He wasn’t the self-centered heartbreaker she’d always thought him to be. He was kind, he was thoughtful—and he was the first boy who had ever said she wasbeautiful.

They walked back to the cabin in silence, but it was a different silence. Because under the surface was something else. A shared secret; a kiss she vowed to remember for alleternity.

The porch light was still on, like it was earlier, but so much had changed since they left. She’d walked out that door as an innocent girl, and come back with that part of hermissing.

He walked ahead of her up the steps, pausing a moment before pushing the door open. As if he was waiting for something. For her to stop him, for her to tell him it was a mistake. But she remained silent, and eventually he walked into the house aheadofher.

“Thanks for coming out tonight,” he said, as he held the door wide for her toenter.

She ducked under his arm, careful not to get too close, then nodded. Because for the life of her, she couldn’t think of anything else do. Her mind was still mush, her pulse still racing. She tightened her grip on her towel and chewed her inner cheek. Because God help her, she was completely unaware of what happened next. Did they talk? Not talk? She looked up to the loft, where Renee’s faint snore still traveled down the staircase. Guilt washed over her and she turned back toTristan.

He stood against the closed door, his face intense, but his body relaxed like always. She wanted to explain, to tell him she should never have let it happen. But before she could, he pushed himself from the wall and walked down the steps to the basement. He didn’t say a word, and was gone from sight before she could even comprehend hisleaving.

But he left the door open—just a crack, and she knew what it was. An invitation for her to join him—and she couldn’t stop staring at it. Her stomach flip-flopped, and her knuckles became white where she clutched her towel too hard at her chest. It was an invitation for another kiss. To get to know the man she’d never allowed herself to truly see. But as sure as she was about the invitation, as sure as she knew he wanted her to take it, she couldn’tdoit.

She turned toward the stairs, not allowing herself to think about what happened. Not allowing herself to wonder what would happen if she were to follow him down tohisbed.

She fetched her pajamas from her suitcase, slipped them on, all while hoping and praying Renee wouldn’t wake. She climbed into bed on the queen-sized mattress, thinking she’d just made it, when her best friend turned around and grumbled in hersleep.

Renee’s expression was groggy and tired, and she slowly opened her eyes. “What time is it?” she asked, with a voice full ofgravel.

“Almost eleven,” Samanthawhispered.

Renee closed her eyes, but her lips transformed into a reluctant smile. “Those girls from the lake came over tonight,” she whispered. “Just a littlewhileago.”

Samantha’s throat went dry, and her stomach churned with sour grapes.They told her. They told Renee what they saw. Told her about her andTristan.

Renee rolled to the nightstand and grabbed a red and white can of soup from the bedside table, before turning back. “They brought me this,” she said, shaking the can half-heartedly in her hand. “Chicken noodle.” She studied the label, tracing the words over and over with her fingertip. “Do you want to guess how long it took them to ask aboutTristan?”

Samantha shook her head, her eyes shut as hot tears threatened to spill through her lids. A thousand excuses rushed to her mind, but none of them were good enough. None of them would make a difference. She’d kissed Tristan willingly. She’d kissed her friend’s brother, and the only reason she’d stopped was because those girls hadinterruptedthem.

“Do they think I don’t know?” Renee asked, her head tilted to one side as her face filled with disgust. “Do they think I’m so stupid that I don’t realize what they’re doing?” She placed the can back on the end table, the frustration and emotions oozing from her skin. “I’m so sick of people being nice to me just to get to my brother.” Her voice was harsh and broken, but there was something else there, too. She wasdefeated.

Samantha pulled in a sharp breath, realizing what her friend was telling her. That those girls hadn’t told her what they’d seen in the woods. In fact, they’d probably come from seeing Renee when they found her and Tristan on therocks.

Renee closed her eyes, sandwiching her hands beneath her head and pillow as she faced Samantha. “At least I have you.” She yawned. “The only person I cantrust.”

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