Page 14 of Honest With You

“Hey, where did you go just now? Are you okay?”

With a small smile, I force a nod.

“Sorry, I was just thinking about my sister. What were you saying?”

A slight frown touches his lips, but he doesn’t push, he just shifts so he’s sitting across from me.

“I was just asking where you live. Like in San Diego?”

I smile and nod with more enthusiasm now, splashing my legs in the water.

“Yeah, actually like ten minutes from here.”

His eyes are transfixed on where my legs are dangling in the water. Then I mention where I live and they snap back to meet mine and he pins me with a stare so intense I nearly fall into the water.

“Please tell me you go to CMH?”

I tilt my head in amusement, “Yes. I do. Why?”

“Ava. That’s whereIgo.”

“Really? I haven’t seen you around though?”

He stares at me longer than should feel comfortable but somehow, I am.

Then, he once again shifts until he’s sitting next to me, our shoulders touching.

Goosebumps pebble my skin at the contact, heat rushing through me.

“I just got back today. Spent the summer with my cousin.” He bumps me with his shoulder, just like he did when we were kids. “So this means, we’ll be seeing each other more now huh?”

I pick at an imaginary lint on my dress to avoid meeting the intensity of his gaze. It’s doing weird things to me, like making my heart race and my palms sweat.

“Yeah. I suppose a lot actually. We might even have a few classes together.”

He pumps his fist. “Hell yes.” Craning his neck, he reaches out and tips a finger under my chin. The motion leaves me breathless. “I thought about you a lot.”

I blink up at him, the same sentiment on the tip of my tongue.

I want to ask him what he means. Ask him why he didn’t keep in touch then.

But years of self-preservation warn me to keep him at bay.

Ava blinks up at me. Those beautiful brown eyes with flecks of gold—like those crafted chocolates my dad gets my mom after an argument—do a dance between mine.

In this light, her eyes look almost like melted gold. Molten. Burning me from the inside out.

I want to ask her a whole lot of things, tell her what she’s missed since we last saw each other but when I felt the familiar tug in my heart at the feel of her in my arms, it took everything in me not to blurt it out in the first place.

I never felt even a smidge of what I feel for Ava with any girl I’ve been with. Like in the back of my mind, instinctively I was holding back. Knowing I needed to save pieces of myself just for this girl who blew my mind at thirteen.

My gaze zeroes in on her soft pink lips, but I reign in what little self-control I possess. This isn’t the time to land one on her.

I tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear and let my hand fall back. I nudge her playfully to ease the tension flowing from her and tip my head back to look at the warm orange glow of the sky.

“There’s a place not too far from here that has the most amazing view of the sunset. Do you want to go sometime? I can give you a tour of your new city. Show you all the cool hideout spots we keep a secret from the tourists.”

I can feel the heat of her stare, but I ignore the urge to stare back at her again. Instead, I give her time to process and answer me.

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