Page 6 of Off Limits

It’s little things—a touch on my arm that makes warmth spread through my body. An overheated gaze that makes my heart race. His wide smile that makes me want to melt right where I stand.

Two weeks before college classes are set to start, Chelsea meets a guy at the store. Walking out of the backroom on one of the days Lochlyn isn’t here, I find her unabashedly flirting. As we leave that night, she tells me that she invited him over to her house to swim the next day and that I absolutely have to be there.

That’s how the next day we’re all hanging out by the pool. Lochlyn is tense; his eyes trained on Brendan. It’s a little awkward, with Chelsea and Brendan on some weird pseudo date, and then me and Lochlyn, who are, of course, not. I’d love to be here on a real date with him, though. The reminder that we can’t be together seems moot at this point.

Chelsea and I are standing by the edge of the pool as Brendan tries to convince her to go in, but she keeps refusing, having spent too much time straightening her hair to ruin it.

I’m busy laughing at Chelsea when I’m suddenly falling into the water below, with strong arms wrapped tightly around my waist. As my head breaks the surface, I see Lochlyn treading water, eyes fixated on me. I can’t seem to pull my gaze from his.

Until I hear Chelsea screaming, “What the hell, Lochlyn! That wasn’t nice! And you got me soaked!”

“Sorry, Chels,” he yells, eyes still locked in on me. Before I can think or feel anything, he turns away. “Just trying to get Shay to have some fun.” Pushing himself up and out of the pool, he reaches a hand down for me. I take it, and with a hard tug, he’s able to pull me out, one-handedly.

I stumble a bit, falling against his hard chest. His hands are gentle on my hips. When my eyes find his again, I’m stunned still, in awe of how he feels against me. Where my palm rests over his heart, I feel it hammering away, just like mine is.

Chelsea’s next to us in a second, pushing us apart. “Hands off, Loch.”

He lets go and takes a step back, running his fingers through his soaked locks, a few stray strands falling back in his face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was just helping her out of the pool.”

“Mhm, I bet that’s what you say about all the girls before they fall into bed with you. Not my best friend. No way.”

He rolls his eyes and sighs. “I’ll go get us some towels.” After stripping his shirt off, he walks inside.

Lochlyn pulling me into the pool isn’t that abnormal. It happens at least once a summer. The part that’s different this time is that he wrapped his arms around my waist. Normally, he gives me a shove, pulls me in from below, or takes my hand as he jumps in. It doesn’t help my resolve that I can’t have him.

I’m so lost in my thoughts that I don’t notice he's returned until he’s wrapping a towel around my shoulders. Sitting on the pool chair opposite me, he puts his knees on either side of mine.

“Sorry, Shay, just trying to have some fun.”

“It’s fine, I’m fine. I’m used to it.” I smirk, pushing him gently against the shoulder. A smile lights up his entire face, causing mine to expand even further.

“I’m nothing if not traditional.”

“Well, you got your pool toss in this summer. Cutting it close too. Don’t you leave in a few days?” An ache settles in my chest at the thought.

“I do, yeah.” He nods slowly as his face turns to the ground, using the towel to wipe under his nose.

“It must be nice, getting an apartment.”

“I don’t know. Campus has its perks. But it will be good to have some more space. You’ll see next year.”

“Yeah, I hope so,” I say, nodding. One thing I’ve had to learn not to do is let that hope rise too far in my chest. It’s not worth it. The loss of Dad taught me that nothing is guaranteed, and tomorrow isn’t promised.

“You’ll get there, Shay. You have to trust that.” My face must not look convincing because he rests his hand on my knee, causing me to look up as warmth spreads from his fingertips through my body. “You will.”

Nothing can happen. He’s your best friend’s brother.It doesn’t matter how many times I reiterate this motto. It doesn’t help. I still want Lochlyn Reynolds.

Chapter 3

Classesstartformeand Chelsea a few days after Lochlyn leaves. We’re both a little nervous, not really sure what to expect. But we have our first class together, which helps.

A few weeks in, and we’re sitting outside at a local café with two girls, Rachel and Eve, whom we met our first day. We like them enough that we decided to see them outside of school. They’re nice and easy to get along with.

“So, why’d you two start at WCC?” Eve asks before taking a sip of her coffee.

It’s a perfectly innocent question, one I’m curious to know about her myself. But for Chelsea and me, it’s a little more complicated.

“Uh, well, my dad died.” Any time the topic of Dad dying used to come up, I’d beat around the bush and avoid talking about it. But at a certain moment in time, I realized…what’s the point? It doesn’t change anything. Dad’s still dead, and I’ve likely just rambled some other nonsense. So, now, I rip the Band-Aid off.

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