Toe the Line(20)

She shrugged. “Sure.”

I gritted my teeth. Fuck.

There was only one reason you went to the rocks, and that was to hide behind them to make out or have sex. Bree and I had been there together countless times. It used to be exciting, but I was just biding my time with her this summer. She seemed to only want the same thing—a fuck buddy—but that was getting old. There wasn’t any mental stimulation or deep conversation. I’d never needed those things in the past, but they seemed to matter lately.

After we made our way down to the rocks, I found myself distracted by the fact that James and Noelle had disappeared. As Bree and I situated ourselves in our own hiding place, she noticed my inability to…focus.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, stopping our kiss.

“Nothing,” I said, pulling her close and kissing her harder so she didn’t see the look on my face. Also, now I could look behind her in peace to see if I could spot Noelle and James.

She started to pull down her pants, but I stopped her.

“Not tonight, okay?”

A look of shock crossed her face. “Why not?”

“I don’t have a condom,” I lied.

I couldn’t exactly say I wasn’t sure I could get it up. The only time I ever had trouble in that department was when something was upsetting me.

“It’s okay. I’m on the pill,” she said.

“I don’t go bareback. Sorry.”

Bree looked as if I’d just told her that her cat died. “I can run home and get something.”

“Actually, I just want to chill tonight. I’ve got some things on my mind.”

Bree pouted. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. Nothing terrible. Just some…stuff going on at home.”

She brushed her hand along my cheek. “You can talk to me, you know.”

It didn’t feel natural opening up to Bree like it had with Noelle. Then again, the issue right now was Noelle, if I was being honest.

“Do you mind if we just take a walk?” I asked.

She shrugged. “Sure.”

After a few minutes of wandering through the rocky area, I finally spotted Noelle and James. They were talking and laughing. I let out a sigh of relief. That seemed innocent enough. I had no idea if they’d been messing around before, and it wasn’t any of my business, I supposed.

When Noelle spotted me, she stood up. “Oh, hey. I was gonna head back to the house.”

James looked bummed. “Already?”

“Yeah.” She turned to me and winked. “Some of us have to get up and run in the morning.”

“I should walk you back,” I said.

“No.” She shook her head. “James is going to.”

My chest tightened. “Oh. Okay.” Grinding my teeth, I looked over at him. “Thanks.”

“No problem. I’ve got her.” He smiled over at Noelle.

He’s got her. Perfect. I swallowed what felt like bile in my throat.





CHAPTER 8


NOELLE


PAST



ARCHIE SEEMED ESPECIALLY quiet during our run this morning. Sure, we’d agreed not to talk while we were actually jogging, but he didn’t say anything when he came out to meet me, either. He just started running, and I followed.

At first I’d chalked it up to him being out late last night. Maybe he was just half asleep. But we’d been jogging for nearly an hour now, so the air should’ve woken him up.

When we stopped to take our usual break at the top of the hill, he remained silent.

“Is everything okay with you?” I asked.

“Yeah. Fine,” he panted. “Why?”

“You don’t have much to say. Normally, I have to scold you to keep you quiet during our runs.”

“I’m good,” he said curtly.

“You sure?”

“Yeah. Let’s go back to the house. I’ve got shit to do.”

Okay…

As we started our trek home, I decided maybe he was just in a crappy mood for no reason. That happens sometimes. We all have bad days.

When we entered the house, he went straight upstairs to shower without greeting anyone in the kitchen.

After a half hour, he came back down, all dressed up for his internship. He tried to sneak out without saying anything, but I caught up with him.

“Hey,” I called from the doorway. “Don’t forget. We have a session tonight,” I added in a low voice, not wanting his father to hear.

He scratched his chin. “We do? I would’ve forgotten.”

My heart sank. He forgot? “Um…yeah. We do. After dinner.”

“Okay.” He nodded. “I’ll be there.”

? ? ?

I spent the rest of the day anxious—and confused. I tried to keep myself busy by going to a local farmer’s market, but I mostly ruminated there as I picked fresh strawberries and petted the goats.

My date last night with James had been a lot of fun. We seemed to get along really well, and I did find him attractive. When we went to the rocks, he even gave me the most amazing kiss. But I remembered thinking about Archie in the middle of it, which was unsettling—and so dumb, considering what Archie had likely been doing with Bree at that moment.