I Hate You More

by Moody, Alexandra

  The girls and Miles had arranged to come to my house for the day, and I felt like there was potential for disaster brewing. Dad was away at a work conference for the weekend, and I was sure Tessa planned to take full advantage of the situation. Whatever she had up her sleeve, I felt certain she’d be upping the ante when there was no chance of any adult supervision.

  “So, did you guys all bring your swimsuits?” Tessa asked, as we sat around my room.

  I frowned as I watched my two grinning friends and a very resigned-looking Miles. He was already pulling a textbook from his bag and seemed like he wanted no part of what was about to happen. Given the fervent look in Tessa’s eyes, I was beginning to suspect I’d be on team Miles before this conversation was through.

  “You want to go swimming?” I asked. “What happened to Operation Pest Control?” I lowered my voice when talking about the plan because I wasn’t certain if Chase or my brother were home and didn’t want either of them to overhear.

  “This is a part of the plan,” Mia replied.

  I frowned, still unable to work out what they were getting at. “But you don’t even know Chase is home.”

  “Actually, we do,” Tessa said. “I told Shane that we were coming over for a swim and that if he wanted to join us we could make it into a pool party. He was pretty excited.”

  “And you’re sure Chase will be here?”

  She nodded. “About as sure as I can be. I overheard Shane talking to him about it. He didn’t violently object, so I’m pretty certain that means he’s coming.”

  I shook my head at my friends. “I still don’t understand how this helps with the plan.”

  Tessa glanced at Mia before she responded. Miles was fully focused on his textbook now, so it was clear he was too distracted to help back her up. “Well, I was thinking that at some point during the party you could get him alone and try to talk with him,” she said.

  “About…”

  “I don’t know—about anything.” Tessa shrugged. “Just strike up a conversation that can get the two of you connecting.”

  “That doesn’t seem like much of a plan.”

  Tessa let out an irritated breath and crossed her arms over her body. “I can’t exactly write you a script. But if you two don’t start talking like two people who can actually stand each other, this will never work.”

  I was doomed. I had no idea what to say to Chase, as we had absolutely nothing in common. Even if I could come up with something to say, chances were high that the conversation would end pretty quickly. He had no interest in speaking to me, and it was a little hard to have a conversation when only one person was doing the talking. It probably didn’t help that I’d very recently accused him of something he didn’t do.

  “I was actually thinking you could agree to the truce he offered,” Tessa continued.

  My eyebrows lifted at that. “What?”

  “Well, it would only be pretend on your end, but if you agree to the truce, then we have a better chance of him lowering his defenses around you. I think Operation Pest Control is more likely to succeed if he believes you want to get along with him.”

  I bit down on my lip as I considered her idea. I had a feeling she was right. Chase was never going to believe I wanted a relationship with him if I didn’t start playing nice. Agreeing to the truce might be a necessary evil.

  “Okay,” I said.

  “Okay?” Tessa replied. “So, you’re going to give it a try?”

  “Yes, but I can’t see it working. Especially not after what’s happened the last couple of days.”

  “Have a little faith in yourself,” Mia said. “But, just in case, we have something that will probably help…” She walked over to my drawers and rifled through them before she pulled out a red bikini. It was from last season, and I’d only worn it once over the summer as I’d grown a lot since the year before. I’d been pretty quick to buy myself a new bikini when I’d seen how little of my butt and boobs it covered.

  “How does that help?” I asked.

  Mia lowered the bikini as she frowned at me. “Well, you’ll wear it, of course.”

  “You want me to wear those scraps of material in front of Chase and my brother?” I scoffed. “I may as well be naked.”

  “Exactly.” Mia grinned.

  I slowly took the bikini she held out to me. This was definitely not how I imagined today going. “I still don’t understand how this will make it any easier for me strike up a conversation with Chase.”

  “It will probably stun him into silence,” Mia admitted. “At least he won’t be able to argue with you

  “Look, Ally, you were the one who was worried he wasn’t attracted to you,” Tessa reminded me. “In that bikini, he won’t be able to take his eyes off you, and he’ll be hanging off your every word. Trust me. This is step two with a hint of step one.”

  “I don’t remember asking you to parade me around like a piece of meat,” I grumbled. Chase hadn’t been impressed when I’d been wearing a short skirt at the club last weekend. I hardly thought that less clothing was going to help the situation. But, apparently, my best friend had lost her mind.

  “My brother is going to ridicule me for the rest of eternity,” I said, as I eyed the bikini again.

  “I’m sure he won’t,” Mia said.

  She clearly didn’t know Shane well enough because I could see from Tessa’s sly smile that she knew ridicule was exactly what would happen.

  “Look, if you think Chase is already attracted enough to you, I’m happy for you to put on your regular swimsuit,” Tessa said.

  I shot her a glare. From the knowing glint in her eyes, she was well aware she had me backed into a corner. I had to actually admit that Chase was already attracted to me if I wanted to get out of wearing the bikini, and since there was no way that was happening, I was left with no choice.

  “This is so not going to work,” I muttered to myself. “But at this point, what have I got to lose?” Aside from my dignity, of course.

  Mia jumped up and down and clapped her hands. “Yes, I knew you’d be game.”

  “I guess I owe you ten bucks,” Miles told her.

  My eyes flicked between my two friends. “You guys were betting on me?”

  “Yeah, and I can’t believe you made me lose,” Miles said with a laugh. “There was no way in hell I thought you’d agree to this.”

  “You guys suck,” I said.

  “Yeah, but you love us anyway,” Mia replied.

  “I suppose.” I left my room and went to the bathroom to change. The house was quiet, but I could hear the splashes of water outside that meant the boys were already in the pool.

  I spent about ten minutes staring at myself in the bathroom mirror once I had the bikini on. It was even worse than I remembered. I’d never minded my curves before, but right now, I was really wishing I didn’t have quite so much of my butt on display. The whole outfit was mortifying, and I couldn’t believe I was considering wearing it. By the time I finally worked up the courage to emerge from the bathroom, my friends had already left my bedroom and made their way outside to the pool.

  “Traitors,” I muttered under my breath as I slowly walked downstairs. I’d been planning to hide in the middle of my group of friends as we made our way outside. Now, it felt like I was making some kind of dramatic entrance, and a part of me wanted to run back to my room and bury myself under my bed sheets.

  My embarrassment only became worse as I walked outside to discover that Shane had invited round a whole heap of his friends. There must have been ten boys hanging around the pool, and the moment Shane laid eyes on me I wanted to die.

  “Where the hell’s the rest of your swimsuit, Ally?” he called out, as I walked over to join Tessa, Mia, and Miles. They were lounging next to the pool, and the moment Shane shouted, everyone outside looked in my direction.

  A few of the boys jeered as I put my finger up at my brother. I didn’t even bother looking to see if Chase was among them. I couldn’t bear to
see his reaction. He’d probably be laughing at me with the rest of them or, worse, have no reaction at all. I had predicted this part of the plan was going to fail, and it had barely taken sixty seconds to prove me right.

  I quickly hurried over to my friends, who were giving me reassuring smiles as I joined them.

  “I’m going to kill Shane,” I said, as I stood over the sunbed Tessa was lazing on.

  “I think he was legitimately concerned,” Tessa replied.

  Of course, he was. He was probably worried the stripper rumors would start all over again come Monday. The bikini did absolutely nothing to quell them.

  “Why didn’t you guys tell me he invited all his friends over?” I asked.

  “Well, I didn’t think you’d agree to the bikini if you knew,” Tessa said with a shrug.

  “And I don’t see how it’s a bad thing,” Mia added. “Shane’s friends are hot.”

  I looked over at the guys and saw no sign of Chase. He wasn’t standing on the edge of the pool or splashing around in the water. It seemed all of my embarrassment was for nothing, and I found myself getting annoyed with my friends.

  As I searched the crowd of boys, I noticed Luke was with them. He was standing next to Jason and my brother, laughing at something one of the boys had said. As they were talking, he glanced in my direction and caught my eye. His lips curved in a wide smile, and he lifted a hand in a subtle wave. I waved in return, smiling myself.

  “I’ll be back in a second,” I said before wandering over to him.

  “Hey, Ally,” he said, as I approached. He pushed a hand through his wet hair and maintained eye contact. I was pretty grateful that his gaze didn’t dip down to check out the rest of my body in the skimpy bikini I was wearing. It seemed like Luke was one of the good ones, and I was surprised by how comfortable I felt standing in front of him despite the fact I was half naked. There was no flutter of nerves or hint of worry about how I looked.

  “I didn’t know you were coming today,” I said.

  Luke shrugged. “Shane invited me, and it sounded like fun.”

  “Well, I’m glad you could make it.” I gave him a smile before I continued. “How are you settling in at school?”

  “Is it pathetic if I say I’m enjoying it?”

  I laughed and shook my head. “No, not pathetic. But it is school. If you’re enjoying it, you must be doing it wrong.”

  He grinned, revealing his cute smile. Luke really was gorgeous, and given how nice he was, he seemed like exactly the kind of guy I should be trying to date—if I could date that was.

  “Have you met my friends?” I asked, nodding in their direction.

  “Not yet.”

  “Come on, I’ll introduce you.” I took his hand and pulled him over to where the girls were still sunning themselves. As I touched his skin, a small wave of sadness rushed through me. The truth was, I actually wanted a boyfriend. I wanted to experience the rush of falling in love. I wanted someone to share my deepest thoughts with and someone to support me whenever I was having a bad day. My attempt to fake a relationship with my sworn enemy was the closest I was ever going to get to that while I was in high school. If I somehow managed to get Chase to date me, it wasn’t going to be the stuff of epic romances that was for sure.

  I made the introductions quickly, and as Miles and the girls fell into an easy conversation with Luke, I decided to take the opportunity to sneak inside and change my bikini. If Chase wasn’t out by the pool, there was no way I was going to continue to parade around in it. Especially not when Shane’s friends kept leering at me. I kept catching them staring at my ass and it was making me super uncomfortable.

  I snuck toward the house and only relaxed once I was inside. I half expected the girls to drag me back out if they caught me trying to hide in the house. Thankfully, Luke seemed to be charming them and they were completely oblivious to the fact I’d escaped.

  I swiftly moved upstairs, but as I turned the corner, I ran straight into a hard and naked chest. Two hands landed on my hips as I swayed unsteadily on my feet, and I sucked in a shallow breath as I slowly looked up from the impressive tanned muscles before me and into Chase’s eyes. My skin burned beneath his touch, and my heart raced as I silently stared at him.

  He seemed surprised at first, but as realization seemed to kick in, he swiftly stepped back, his hands dropping to his sides and clenching into fists. I took a step back of my own, cursing the way my body protested at the move.

  It was like Chase’s hands had branded a hot mark against my skin. It tingled despite the absence of his touch, and a strange new feeling began to rise up in me—an unexpected longing for the feel of his touch to return.

  I folded my arms over my chest and dug my fingernails into my arms in an attempt to wake myself up from whatever spell Chase had cast over me. My heart continued racing, and my skin still prickled at the memory of his touch. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. Sure, Chase was standing there without a shirt on and looking incredibly hot, but it wasn’t the first time I’d seen him like this, and I certainly hadn’t reacted this way before.

  Normally, my heart quivered in apprehension when he was near, but right now, it was fluttering with a different kind of nervousness. I really wished my body wasn’t urging me toward him again.

  “Why aren’t you outside with your friends?” Chase asked. His voice held a hint of accusation in it, like I’d done something wrong by being inside. As his gaze flicked down to look at the skimpy bikini I was wearing, his expression only hardened.

  He definitely wasn’t impressed with what I was wearing, and I felt a sense of defeat. I should have known there was no way he’d find me appealing, even in such a skimpy bikini, and I definitely wasn’t about to tell him that I’d come upstairs to change out of it.

  “Why aren’t you?” I replied.

  “I knew you were out there,” he said. “I figured it was better for both of us if I stayed away.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Exactly what I said,” he replied.

  I guessed our confrontation the other night was why he wanted to avoid me. He was probably still pissed that I’d accused him of something he didn’t do. I didn’t know how to tell him that I knew the truth though, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to hear the reasons behind why he’d fought Declan. It was best if I just pretended neither of those things ever happened.

  I glanced down at his attire and grew confused. “You don’t look like you intend to stay away. You’re in your board shorts…”

  A flash of some unknown emotion crossed his eyes before his expression hardened once more. “I changed my mind,” he replied, stiffly.

  “Because?”

  He pushed a hand through his hair and let out an irritated breath. “Because I live here too. I could see everyone swimming from my window and it looked like fun. I’m not going to hide in my room just to avoid you.”

  His words were surprisingly sharp and seemed to cut right through me. For some reason I didn’t like hearing him admit he wanted to avoid me. He must have noticed the hurt in my expression because he quickly kept talking.

  “Damn it, Ally, I’m not trying to upset you. I just know you don’t believe me about the posters and that you don’t want to be anywhere near me.”

  I started to frown as I looked into his eyes. They were surprisingly sincere and I got the feeling that he was honestly trying to do the right thing by me. It was really considerate, but also slightly concerning as my plan was never going to work if I let him avoid me at all costs. I was going to have to fix this or things between us would remain as frosty as ever.

  “I believe you about the posters,” I murmured.

  Chase stilled as he looked at me, confusion swirling in his gaze. “You believe me?”

  I nodded. “Yes, and I’m sorry for assuming the worst of you.”

  His eyes looked like they were about to burst right out of his head. “You’re sorry…”

  I nodded. “Declan admi
tted the truth, so I know it wasn’t you. I know I messed up, and you don’t have to avoid me over it.”

  “You’re really apologizing?”

  Was it really so hard to believe? It was like I’d spoken my apology in another language, and he couldn’t seem to understand it.

  “Can you please not make a big deal out of this? It has been known to happen,” I replied. “I should probably also thank you for putting Declan in his place over it.”

  “I didn’t fight him for you,” Chase replied stiffly. That was one thing I still wasn’t sure I believed. The kids at school couldn’t stop gossiping about how Chase had pushed Declan up against a wall and demanded he apologize to me. Declan had responded by refusing and trying to fight back. It didn’t sound like it had been much of a fight, but I’d seen the bruise on Declan’s face and had experienced his apology first hand.

  “Well, thank you anyway,” I said, with a slight frown. I guessed it didn’t matter what motivated Chase’s actions because it had still resulted in Declan receiving a small taste of what he deserved.

  Chase let out a heavy breath and nodded, though he looked even more uncomfortable with my thanks than my apology. “I should probably get outside. Shane will be wondering where I am.”

  “Oh, of course.” I quickly stepped aside so he could move past me. Chase stared into my eyes for several long seconds before he finally tore his gaze away and started down the corridor. Once he began moving it was like he couldn’t get away from me fast enough. I stood there staring after him for a long time, confusion churning in my gut.

  It wasn’t until he was out of sight that I let out a breath. Was it really so hard for him to believe I’d apologize when I was wrong? And why was he so defensive when I thanked him? My plan to get him to date me was obviously floundering. I hadn’t managed to bring up the truce yet, and he’d barely seemed to notice my bikini.