Page 42 of Reckless Encore

He couldn’t.

But somehow, he did.

She ached to soothe him. To fix the mess between them. If only she knew how. They almost seemed like strangers now. Enemies, even.

Chase inched toward her and leaned against her shoulder. “What’s going on with you two?”

“Huh?” She met the concern in his eyes with a shake of her head. “Nothing. We’re just…moving in different directions, I guess.”

Different paths.

Different lives.

“Come on, Soph. Tell me what’s going on.”

Her stomach squeezed. “It’s a long story.”

Long, painful, and embarrassing.

“We’ve got time. We’re stuck here all weekend.”

True. And she felt the need to share the crap building inside her. It just didn’t seem right to share anything with anyone, apart from her best friend. She had always relied on Tyler for support. Now she didn’t know who to turn to.

She took a step back from the circle of drinking friends and sank down on the cold grass. Chase followed, sitting close.

“Go on.” He nudged her with his elbow. “Nobody will hear us.”

Her reluctance didn’t revolve around being heard. She didn’t want to betray Tyler’s trust. No matter how successfully he acted like their friendship had ended.

“Everyone is going to start asking questions soon,” Chase added. “If you want to keep whatever this is a secret, you need to figure out a better plan than ignoring one another. I could help… but only if you fill me in.”

She shot him a glare. “Fine.It started three years ago.”

“Wow.” He raised his brows. “You weren’t kidding about the long story.”

She turned her attention back to the inky-black lake, the placid water a vast contrast to the tumultuous waves overwhelming her. “I fell for a guy in my math class. He was the popular kid, but he still spoke to me. Always noticed me. Whatever I did, whatever I said, he’d remember, and it was nice to finally be noticed. Before that, guys had never really paid me attention because they were scared of my dad. You know what he’s like, and everyone at school does, too. So, when Trent asked me out, I went a little crazy with excitement. At least until I spoke to Tyler about it.”

“Let me guess,” Chase whispered. “That’s when you realized you were in love with him.”

“No.” She shook her head. “It wasn’t like that back then. I told him about the date, and then freaked out about my absolute lack of experience. I’d never dated before. I’d barely held hands with my first boyfriend at the start of middle school. I’d never kissed anyone, let alone done any of the things people were saying Trent had done with other girls. I got anxious about it.”

“And?”

She sighed. “And Tyler suggested we practice on each other.”

“That is such a player line.” Chase snickered.

“It wasn’t a line. And he’s not a player.” She had never doubted his intentions. “Neither one of us had experience, and it was nice to think I could share those moments with someone I trusted.”

“So…you kissed?”

“Yeah, but that was a long time ago.” Years in the past. Back when things between them were a hell of a lot easier.

Chase waved her on with a swirl of his hand. “Keep going.”

“The kiss was…” Nothing could describe it. They’d been hiding in her bedroom. Her dad had been downstairs somewhere. Excitement and fear had collided the moment their lips met, and everything changed in an instant. “…perfect. I’d never know what butterflies truly felt like until that moment. It was soft and sweet, and as I was kissing him, I couldn’t imagine ever kissing anyone else.” She placed a hand to her stomach. “My tummy had twisted and turned. I didn’t want it to end.”

“But this was years ago, right? What happened after?”

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