by Riley Ross, Sally Slayer, Kaydence Rayne, & Dovey Mayali Cralk
*****
“Hey,” he called out shyly, in an attempt to get her to put down the book. He felt a bit guilty for interrupting what looked like an engrossing read, but he had felt a nearly overwhelming desire to come see her. It had been years since he had even been able to speak to her without anyone around and he would be crazy not to jump on this opportunity.
She looked up at him, her eyes widening in false surprise, and shut her Kindle's case.
“Hey yourself. I didn’t expect to see you outside this summer. Figured you’d be busy locked up in your room.”
He shrugged, but kept his eyes locked on hers. “There were more interesting things outside.”
He smirked as her cheeks turned red and she averted her gaze away from him. He could hear that she was trying to keep her breathing steady and her heart was pounding rapidly. It was one of the benefits of being what he was and he was somewhat glad she didn't also possess these talents. His own heart rate had gone up just being near her. After having been forced to keep his distance for so long, he felt a rush of adrenaline just being this close.
“You aren’t even in your swimming suit.” She was trying to sound unfazed by his appearance, but he could see through her nonchalance. It was also amusing to see her trying to act as if she wasn't checking him out. He was wearing a plain white t-shirt that contrasted his dark skin, and jean shorts.
That made him grin sheepishly, “Sure I am. I just didn’t want to invite myself into your pool.”
She laughed, “Yet you invite yourself into my backyard?”
Shrugging, Seth smirked at her, causing her stomach to tense up nervously, “I didn’t think I needed one anymore. You practically live at my house. Figured we were sharing.”
Before she had a chance to mention something about his absence, he removed his t-shirt and shorts, leaving him in just swim trunks.
Alyssa’s eyes all but popped out of her head and he heard her breath catch and heart race wildly as he practically stripped in front of her.
She suddenly felt quite self-conscious while he was in just his bathing suit, standing before her, looking amazing. She knew he worked out; he had been on several sports teams and she knew they even had a home gym in their garage, but it had been a long time since she’d seen this much of him up close. It was a wonder she wasn’t drooling.
They hadn’t been alone together since her last year of middle school, about three years ago, and he definitely did not look that this. Alyssa was suddenly unable to think straight; this day was turning out to be much more than she had anticipated.
All of her plots would be for naught if she couldn’t get into the pool where the cold water would slash some sense into her. Quickly, before she lost the nerve, she jumped up out of the chair and took a dove into the freezing water. As it surrounded her she found her nerves loosening up, and she popped her head up over the surface.
“Are you going to just stand there or did you come over to swim?”
Taking a few steps back, he did a running jump and landed right next to her in the water.
"Seth!" She shrieked as she wiped away the water from his splash out of her eyes.
"Oh no," he teased, "Did I get you wet? In a pool?"
Her eyes narrowed and she poked him, hard, in the chest. "Do you want to start with me?"
This only made him laugh harder. She knew that she was one of the least threatening people in the world, even when she was annoyed. Which she clearly wasn't. She had missed this; being with him and how easy it was to feel relaxed.
Unable to keep her serious face, it wasn't long before she cracked and started laughing as well. "You're such a butt," she groaned, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I am, aren't I?" He snickered, and she had to hold herself back from wanting to get closer to him.
The tension in the air could be cut with a knife, which snapped Alyssa back into reality. It had been years since they'd hung out, even though she'd tried to get his attention many times. To see him here, alone with her, it was weird. Sure she was enjoying herself, but there was still something in the back of her head that was sending out signals that this was just too strange. Try as she might to ignore it, she was just too stubborn and couldn't.
Unfolding her arms from her chest, she took a deep breath. Better to get this over with now rather than later. "Hey, can we talk? Like, seriously?"
His mind was swarming with thoughts and he was unsure if saying yes would be the wise thing to do in this situation. He had known before his parents had warned him to keep his distance from Alyssa that he had started to develop feelings for his younger sister's best friend, but he didn't realize how strong they'd gotten while they'd been apart. If he told her no then things would go back to how they were, which would admittedly be the wisest move. But he was tired of always doing what he was supposed to do all of the time.
"Sure. What do you want to talk about? I've got all day, so we have time if that's what you need."
She looked a little put off by his answer, as if it wasn't what she was expecting, for him to agree. Giving him a small smile, she turned and walked over to the edge of the pool, appearing relieved. "Let's go sit up on the deck. That way it'll take away the temptation to splash you if you say something that pisses me off."
He snorted and followed behind her. When she turned her back to climb the steps though, he closed his eyes and clenched his fists tightly. He knew there would be no going back after this but he was ready.
When Seth had made it to the chairs, she threw him his shirt and dragged a cooler of drinks between them. "Take a seat," she started to say and then let out a quick laugh. "I sound like a shrink!"
"And bossy," he added playfully while pulled the shirt over his head.
She glared at him and took the seat next to his, silently sending up thanks that he would be more clothed while she attempted this conversation. He was far too distracting otherwise.
"I suppose I should just come out and say it, because I can't stop thinking it. I would like to clear the air between us. Because, well, I haven't really seen you in years. And don't try to say some crap like, 'I see you every day', because it really isn't the same..."
"I know," he cut her off, "and I have an explanation for it." He really did, but he had to be careful with what he told her. He couldn't risk telling her everything or it would compromise her safety.
She froze. This wasn't going as planned at all. She expected him to protest or something. She had a whole speech planned!
He took her silence as a go ahead to continue, "You're a distraction."
What?" Her voice had risen an octave and she look confused. "I never kept you from your homework or sports activities or any of that."
"Let me finish before you interrupt me,” he growled devilishly, “You were always impatient."
Sighing, she leaned back in her chair and mumbled some incoherent words at him under her breath.
"You never meant to distract me from those things, but I was having a hard time focusing when you were around. Why do you think I hung out with you and Rachel so often?"
"You're protective of your younger sister."
He nodded, "Yeah, I was. At first. But after a few years, what was the point? You were already practically family. My parents and yours went out on double dates together. I didn't want to hang out with you and Rachel anymore and I didn't want to sit in my room during my free time and study all the time, or attend the practice for whatever sports team I was on currently when you were around. I just wanted to be with you."
Instead of saying something incredibly cool and letting him know that's what she had been hoping he would say, her mouth dropped opened, her heart practically leaped out of her chest, and she wasn't sure how to reply to him.
He couldn't help but grin a bit, having a good idea about what was going on in her mind. Seth had always been pretty confident with himself; the leadership training that he had been forced to attend for most of his life had he
lped with that.
She was looking over at him but her eyes were glazed over as she was trying to process everything. It was something she did when she was thinking hard about something. He took that opportunity to scoot his chair close enough to lean next to her and whisper in her ear, "What are you thinking?"
Alyssa jumped out of her chair, startled because of his sudden closeness as well as the feel of his breath on her skin. "Don't do that!" She shrieked, plopping back down on the chair but not moving away from him. It was the distraction she needed to give herself the confidence to continue their talk.
Seth laughed lightly at her and leaned over to brush away the stands of her hair that had fallen into her eyes. "You're beautiful, did you know that?"
"Don't say that," she grumbled, swatting his hand from her head. "You can't just shut yourself away from me for umpteen billion years and then just pretend it didn't happen."
"Touché," he nodded in agreement. "I guess I got a little carried away. I'd been holding myself back from you for a while and I only just realized that it was impossible. I'm pretty sure that I'm in..."
"Don't say that either," she shoved his chair back to give them a more space, suddenly starting to feel suffocated. "You might have known about your feelings for me for years but I've had less than an hour."
Covering her face with her hands, she took a deep breath. Everything felt way too overwhelming and she needed to get away.
"I need to go." Alyssa stood up, trying not to make eye contact with him.
"Wait," he grabbed her hand, looking confused. He didn't understand what was going on. Isn't this what she wanted? Did he do something wrong?
She turned back to him, her eyes met his briefly, and she suddenly felt guilty for trying to run away after he confessed his feelings to her. "Just..." she started, searching for the right words to say, "I need some time to think. How about I make us lunch? Meet me back here in about an hour, okay?"
He couldn't just tell her 'no' and demand inside her house. There were laws against that. Plus, he was already breaking enough rules hanging around her now. He had to be careful how he did this. After a couple seconds of consideration, he agreed. His parents would still be out at that time so he wouldn't have to worry about being caught.
"I'll see you then. Just don't burn anything."
She scoffed at him and then walked into her house. As soon as she closed the door behind herself, Alyssa leaned her back against it and waited for her heart to stop pounding. It took a little bit to get it under control, but once it was she turned around and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in when she saw he was no longer in the backyard. In her mind everything was rushing around at a million thoughts a second. Part of her was ecstatic that he was showing her such positive attention, but there was still something about it that made her feel wary. To her, it felt like everything went from 0 to 100 in mere moments.
There was an hour before he would be back and she needed to distract herself while she had the time.
"What am I supposed to do?" She whispered to herself while her eyes were closed and her forehead was pressed against the backdoor. Breathing in and out, she allowed herself a moment to calm down before moving into the kitchen. She wasn't much of a cook, her skills were limited to boiling noodles and pouring pre-made sauce on top of them. Still, she had told him she was going to make him lunch so that is exactly what she was going to do.
The hour passed pretty quickly and the table was set for two with a big bowl of spaghetti and loaf of garlic bread still in the foil wrapper before he had made it back. She'd seen how much he ate and hoped this would be enough to satisfy his hunger. Alyssa wanted to impress him, even if she wasn't sure if he was toying with her emotions.
