Page 14 of Treacherous
Warmth crashes over my body. If this is how it feels to kiss her, part of me wants to pursue the fire for the rest of my life.
Our noses brush as I pull back from her. But I don’t move more than two inches away. I try to catch my breath but it only forces me to inhale Willow’s perfume.
Lavender circles around my body, placing me in a trance. I can’t look away from Willow’s pink, swollen lips. I did that to her. And I want to do it again.
I am so fucked.
Present Day – Hockey House
“When the fuck did this happen?” Jazmine says, bringing me out of my mind.
I inhale sharply. I hate reliving that day; it forces me to acknowledge too many feelings. Willow and I agreed that what happens in the treehouse stays in the treehouse. And she just broke that promise.
“You were never meant to find out,” I mutter to Jaz, but my angered gaze lingers on Willow.
“It’s just a game, Jayden.” Willow mumbles.
I grit my teeth, refusing to say anything else. Is it childish of me? Probably, but that day is like a ghost that lingers near a haunted house to scare kids who try to trespass. I can never shake that thrill that shoots up my spine or the sharp pain in my chest whenever I relive it. The silence is palpable and my eyes remain firmly on the cup in my hand.
Toby clears his throat. “Okay, moving on.”
The night continues, but I’m no longer paying attention. After another hour, Jaz and Theo head home, giving me the perfect excuse to escape the room.
I hover behind my desk chair, reaching out to unpin a photo from my corkboard. I brush my thumb over the woman in the picture–her blonde hair is straight, landing on her collarbone, bright blue eyes that sparkled when she looked at the rain and a candid smile. Tears form and instinctively, I rub them away.
Allison was my first girlfriend. Besides from my first kiss, she was my first everything, yet those happy memories are tainted by the last one we had together: her dying in my arms after a collision with a drunk driver.
It wasn’t long after Willow and I kissed that I asked Allison out. I don’t know if the beginning of our relationship was because of her or because I was running away from rogue emotions that flared in my chest where Willow was concerned.
The worst thing is, I still don’t know the answer and to be honest, I don’t want to know.
Chapter 5
Willow Rogers
Burnt orange leaves crunch underneath my footsteps, while the cool breeze nips at my skin. The trees rattle, their hums following me as I walk along a busy path.
Despite the beach being in my backyard for most of my life, I have always been a cold weather enthusiast. Curling up with fluffy blankets and wearing multiple layers of clothing are two of my favourite things to do when the time arrives.
The change in weather also signals the beginning of the hockey season.
Although we have had gym sessions together, my first challenge is coming later today. It will be our first training session on the ice since I arrived and nerves are flaring inside me.
I despise nerves in all their forms because it serves as a reminder of the past. My ex-teammates never seemed to grow nervous for game days, which in turn, caused my anxiety to spike through the fucking roof.
Eventually, I learned to mask my ticks and emotions, not wanting to be ridiculed for caring about my performance.
I asked Jaz about the psychology of nerves and anxiety and her response seemed to match the reason I was feeling the way I was most of the time. Being nervous means, you want to succeed in whatever activity you are undertaking.
“Willow!”
I smile, waving to the girls who are sitting outside of Gold Rush Plaza–a cafe that recently opened and is perfectly situated for college students. Short, brick walls with lush greenery form a hedge around the front of the cafe, providing some privacy to the customers.
I walk through the arch entryway and weave between other tables to reach my friends.
Jaz and I agreed to have fortnightly brunches, whether it is at a cafe or one of our places, because it has been so long since we have been in the same place. Plus, I much prefer to debrief our lives in person than on the phone.
It’s even better that I have become instant friends with her previous roommates, Athena and Sofia. I met them last year when I visited Lakewood for a weekend. The girls were the silver lining of the weekend because otherwise, it was a complete disaster.
