One Temptation

Sunset (Chapter 48)

I looked out over the view. The sunset spread across the sky in shades of gold and pink, the horizon melting into the distant mountains.

It was beautiful.

But no matter how much I tried to focus on the scenery, my thoughts kept pulling back to him.

I had spent so long convincing myself that West was just a complication I didn't need. That I was fine keeping things the way they were—distant, guarded.

He was the guy I used to hate, the guy I still pretended to hate when things felt too intense between us.

But the truth was, I didn't hate him anymore.

Not one bit. Sure he still annoyed the shit out of me, but that was one thing.

"Come on, Madi, you good?" Jake's voice broke through my thoughts, I blinked, looking over at the rest of the group.

They were all laughing, joking around. Lia and Cole were playfully shoving each other, Em was leaning back on her hands.

They were being ridiculous, carefree. And for a second, I wished I could be that way too. But I couldn't. Not with this tightness in my chest.

I glanced behind me, and there he was—West. He wasn't with the others either, not really. He was leaning against a tree, watching the sunset. He looked so calm, so effortless.

The second I caught his gaze, he walked over to me, "It's a pretty good spot,"

"Yeah," I agreed.

"Guys, group photo!" Lia's voice cut through, and I couldn't help but laugh as she tried to round everyone up.

West sighed, shaking his head with a smile. "Can't even escape them up here."

"Come on, it's not that bad," I nudged him, and we started walking toward the others.

We joined our ridiculous friends for the photo.

Lia, being Lia, took about one hundred photos. But I didn't mind, we were making memoires and they deserved to be remembered.

About ten minutes later, Cole was standing on the edge, pretending to balance on one foot while Jake cheered him on like an idiot.

"Mate, you're gonna fall and die," West called out, shaking his head, but Cole just grinned wider.

"Look at me!" Cole spread his arms out dramatically, and Jake shoved him, sending him stumbling.

Lia sighed, "You're all idiots, I swear."

Em was doubled over laughing. "We made it up the mountain to watch Cole fall to his death?"

"If you push him a little harder, you might get lucky," West said with a smirk, and Jake made a mock attempt to push Cole again. It was chaos.

I rolled my eyes at them, letting their laughter fade into the background as I wandered over to the edge of the cliff, away from the noise.

The sunset was. It felt unreal—like I was standing in a painting.

I exhaled slowly, letting the beauty of it all sink in.

This was the kind of view that made everything else seem small. Made you feel like maybe all the stuff spinning around in your head wasn't so big after all.

"It's beautiful," a voice cut through.

I turned to face West next to me. He wasn't looking at me—his gaze was fixed on the view in front of us.

"Yeah," I breathed, but I wasn't sure if it was the view or him.

West looked at me, his eyebrows furrowed, "Whats going on in that head?"