Out of Breath (Breathing, #3)(113)

I stalled a moment. ‘Do you remember in high school when you asked me if I thought I’d have sex with Evan, when we first started dating? After you asked, that’s all I could think about, because you made me think about it.’

Sara started laughing. ‘Yeah, that was hysterical. You couldn’t even function around him for like a week, and I was convinced your face was going to remain red forever.’

‘Yeah,’ I mumbled. ‘Anyway …’

‘Wait, did you have sex with Evan?’

‘No,’ I shot back loudly.

‘But you want to?’ she blurted again, not allowing me to explain.

I buried my face in the blanket and screamed in frustration.

‘Omigod, you do,’ Sara concluded. ‘Wow. I didn’t think you two were there yet.’

‘We’re not really anywhere … yet,’ I argued. ‘It’s just … well, he won’t be sleeping in here any more.’

Sara produced a wide smile. ‘Right.’

‘Sara, stop looking at me like that.’

‘You two are ridiculous. Figure your shit out so you can get on with your lives together already.’ She gave me a weirdly sympathetic look, then got up from the bed. ‘The girls will be here soon. We figured we’d spend the day on the beach.’

I nodded faintly, still stunned by how forward she was with things that I still couldn’t admit to myself.

And just like that … we were back in high school again. I couldn’t look at Evan, or be within three feet of him, without my body kicking into hyper-alert. I couldn’t stop thinking about him, even when he was standing right in front of me. And, basically, my conflicted brain wasn’t capable of doing anything about it.

‘Emma?’ I called to her again as she stared off in the distance. She blinked her eyes, snapping out of it.

‘Huh?’ She gazed up at me with her brown eyes wide and cheeks pink.

‘The girls were looking for you,’ I told her. ‘They’re in the kitchen getting lunch together.’

‘Okay, thanks,’ she said quickly, shifting her eyes away from mine before slipping off the hammock. She ran her fingers through her hair to flatten it, still unable to look at me. I watched her curiously as she entered the house.

‘Emma,’ Sara said impatiently, ‘go shower and then come help us.’

‘I’m going,’ I heard Emma reply.

As I walked into the house, I could hear the sound of the cabinets closing in the kitchen.

‘They’re going to be okay, right?’ Serena asked.

With the music playing in the living room, they obviously hadn’t heard me come in. Not sure what to do, I turned and started for the stairs.

‘They’ll figure out they can’t live without each other eventually,’ Sara concluded. They were oblivious, not realizing that their voices carried through the kitchen opening, echoing off the tall ceilings. They had no idea how well they could be heard out here.

‘Really? You think they’re going to forgive and forget?’ Meg questioned sceptically. ‘I think they’re only going to keep hurting each other if they can’t just be frickin’ honest. Emma’s two steps from going over a cliff if she doesn’t open up and let someone help her.’

I grabbed the railing as I tripped on a step.

‘That’s not true. She’s getting better. I can tell,’ Serena said passionately. ‘Besides, it’s obvious they love each other. I mean, look at them. She was only half a person when they were apart. She’s different now.’

‘And what happens if he doesn’t forgive her? And ends up walking away?’ Meg challenged.

‘Dude, what are you doing?’ Jared asked from the top of the stairs. I stared up at him and clenched my teeth, silently begging him to keep his mouth shut. We both overheard Sara say, ‘I wish we could force them to be completely honest with each other.’

Jared laughed. ‘You’re listening to them talk about you. Nice.’

I rushed up the stairs, convinced they’d heard him. ‘Shut up, Jared. I wasn’t doing it on purpose.’

‘Yeah, right,’ he chided. ‘You were totally eavesdropping. But I don’t blame you. I mean, if they were talking about me, I’d absolutely listen. Wait. Were they talking about me?’

‘No,’ I said, with a shake of my head. ‘You’re evidently not as f*cked up as Emma and me. Besides, I wouldn’t stick around to listen to Sara go on about how incredible you are.’

‘She said that?’ He grinned proudly.

‘No,’ I scoffed.

‘If you’re done eavesdropping, I brought that huge duffle bag with the sports gear that you asked me to bring. Wanna toss a football around or something? I think James is out on the beach already.’

‘Sure, but let me see if the girls are all set first.’ I headed back down stairs noisily, so that this time they knew we were coming.

The girls were eerily quiet when I poked my head into the kitchen. ‘Need any help?’

Meg and Sara kept their expressions neutral, but Serena’s eyes sparkled mischievously. I looked at her questioningly. A smile broke across her face, which prompted a sharp elbow jab from Meg. ‘Ow! What was that for?’

‘No, we’re all set for now,’ Sara told me. ‘You guys can bring everything out in a little bit.’