[BOOK2]
Friendship built their world. Love will break it open. ❤️
*****
I want her.
I want her more than I've ever wanted anything.
But I can't have her. Because the moment I admit that out loud, the moment I risk everything we've built, I could lo...
{Song of the Chapter:- Hands to Myself - Selena Gomez}
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The dim glow of the bedside lamp softened the edges of the room, washing everything in golden light, but it only made the quiet louder, heavier. The beach house should've felt safe, but tonight it felt like the walls were pressing in on me, daring me to spill the thoughts I'd been choking on.
Across the room, Becca sat perched on the edge of her bed, running her brush through her hair in long, patient strokes. Each pass whispered through the silence, a rhythm steady enough to ground me if I let it. She was humming something under her breath, soft enough it almost faded into the crash of waves beyond the open window.
I toyed with the fraying edge of my hoodie, twisting and untwisting it around my fingers. My throat was dry, my chest tight. The words clawed at me, but I couldn't seem to push them out. Until I did.
"Becs."
Her hand stilled mid-stroke, the brush pausing as she caught my reflection in the mirror. Her brows lifted, already sensing the weight in my tone. "What's wrong?"
I shifted on the bed, tucking my legs beneath me. "I need to tell you something. Something I should've said before." My fingers tightened on the hem of my sleeve. "Theo and I... we kissed."
The brush slipped right out of her hand, clattering to the hardwood. She whipped around so fast her braid whipped over her shoulder, eyes wide and blazing. "Shut up. No way. You and Theo kissed?!" She practically launched herself onto my bed, bouncing on the mattress like a kid. "When? How? Why do I not know this?!"
Her reaction tugged a laugh from me, nervous and shaky. "The night I broke up with Jake."
Her jaw dropped. "Are you joking right now?" She leaned in, grabbing my arm like she could squeeze the truth out of me. "Spill. Every detail. Now. Don't you dare leave anything out."
I exhaled slowly, the memory crashing into me like a wave. "It was a week ago. I was spiraling, Becs. After Jake... I just couldn't breathe. Theo took me to the park, let me rant. He was being... Theo, you know? Solid. Safe. And then—" My voice cracked as I shook my head. "I don't even know how. One second he was comforting me, the next... we were kissing."
Her gasp was loud enough to echo. "Oh my God. Isla." She clutched my pillow like it was a lifeline. "How did you not tell me this sooner? Was it good? Tell me it was good."
Heat crept up my neck as I remembered the press of his lips, the way everything inside me had gone molten in an instant. "It was... better than good," I admitted, my voice so small it barely carried. "But it made everything complicated. Afterward he said we should forget it happened."
Becca reeled back like I'd just smacked her. "He said that?"
I nod, feeling the weight of those words again. "Yeah, he said we should forget about it. That he didn't want to make things weird between us."
