Kiss and Break Up (Magnolia Cove, #1)(39)

I threw myself off the bed, stumbling to my feet.

“Wait, where are you going?”

“I have a boyfriend,” I said, my hands scrubbing at my cheeks. “I can’t, ugh.” I gave up trying to talk, too wrapped up in my latest mistake and what it could mean for Byron and me.

“Hate to break it to you.” Dash smirked, his kiss swollen lips rubbing together as he watched me pace the fluffy pink rug in the center of my room. “But he’s not your boyfriend.”

I halted. “What?”

“He’s no more your boyfriend than I am. If anything, we’re more together than you and Woods are.”

Exasperated, I laughed, sounding crazed as I shook my head and held back a scathing retort. It wasn’t Dash’s fault I’d messed up; it was my own. And although he wasn’t making this confusing place we’d gotten to any easier to traverse, I wasn’t about to put the blame on him.

Needing to catch my breath and gather my thoughts, I was halfway to the door when a crash down the hall met my ears.

I turned my wide eyes to Dash. “I thought people knew they weren’t allowed up here?”

Dash stood from the bed, taking his time to meet me at the door. “They do know. Wait here.”

I didn’t. I followed him down the hall to the parlor located between my room and my dad’s.

The frosted doors had been shut, but that didn’t mean much. We could still see the naked back of a woman pressed up against them, and we could definitely hear her moans. “Jack,” a soft voice said.

The door banged, a male groan reaching us as the female let out a squeak. I gripped Dash’s arm. “She okay?”

The doors started rattling, and Dash grinned, patting my hand. “Oh yeah, I’d say Willa’s doing better than okay.”

“What? Wait,” I said when he started pulling me back down the hall. “Willa? Jack.” My mouth fell open. “She’s having sex with her brother?”

“Stepbrother,” Dash amended. “Now let’s go kick these assholes out. I don’t wanna be cleaning until three in the morning.”

My feet unglued. “But they’ve been siblings since they were babies. It’s, it’s …” Willa’s silence about boys and the daydreaming glow to her eyes; it all clicked into one shocking piece.

Dash stopped at the top of the stairs with a brow raised. “Like what we just did?”

I groaned. “That’s not really the same.”

“Keep telling yourself that, and maybe then you’ll get over whatever hang-ups you’re holding on to.”

“What the hell, Dash?” I followed him to the kitchen where he grabbed some more trash bags.

“Chill, it’s your birthday. Let’s just …” He sighed, resignation sinking his shoulders. “Finish it in style.”

“By cleaning?”

He glanced out the window at all the guests, most of whom I didn’t even recognize. “First one to get a full bag gets dibs on where we order pizza from.”

I snatched the bag and raced out of the kitchen, laughing as Dash cursed, then gave chase.





Dash



It scares me.

I’d waited her out the rest of the weekend, confused out of my mind over what I should do. Or if I should even do anything.

When Monday morning rolled around, and I realized she’d be driving herself to school, annoyance, anxiety, and anger festered into one giant ball, leaving me liable to snap at just about anything or anyone.

I arrived at school late on purpose, not wanting to risk seeing Woods clamor for something he didn’t and never would get to have. By the time I slunk into second period, I was primed and ready to fight, my feet shifting in agitation beneath the desk.

“Dash,” Annika cooed when the teacher slipped out to use the bathroom.

I didn’t bother turning my head around.

After a tap on my shoulder, a pink gel pen was roaming up my neck.

I flicked it away, and Annika giggled. “Heard Peggy had some party last weekend.”

“And?” I asked, scooping a handful of sour gummies from my pocket and slipping them in my mouth.

“And you didn’t invite me,” she said. “We had fun at Wade’s, right?”

She’d sucked my dick like an addict, but not even her skilled mouth compared to the hesitant exploration that’d gone down in my bedroom with Peggy.

My best friend was turning my mind into a sludge pile of confused desperation. “I don’t want a repeat, if that’s what you’re rambling about.”

She made a tutting noise. “You came so hard. I don’t believe you.”

“Because I wasn’t thinking about you.” I didn’t feel bad for saying that, not one fucking bit. She had it coming with her incessant pestering. “Take a fucking hint and find someone else’s balls to bust.”

“You’re a piece of asshole shit, Dashiell.”

My teeth gritted, but I ignored the jab as Mr. Denkins reentered the room.

I wasn’t sure how much longer I could take this. This feeling that ate and ate and ate at my chest, leaving nothing but bleeding need behind.

She wanted me, that much I was certain of whenever I’d gotten my hands on her, but as soon as they were off, I was back in the friend-zone. A place I thought we’d stay, that I’d been content to stay, for the rest of our lives.