If I had to stay in that house with Lola for another damn second, I would lose any ounce of control I had left and fuck the hell out of her.

Fucking her wasn’t the problem. It was leaving her afterwards that would be problematic. I knew the second I buried my dick inside of her that it would change me. She’d already changed me in more ways than I cared to admit, but having her beneath me and being inside of her would change me forever. I wasn’t sure I was ready for that transformation, and until I knew for sure, I couldn’t let it happen. That also meant that what happened last night couldn’t happen again, either. I only had so much resolve left inside of me and I was slowly losing control of what little I did have.

I hadn’t slept for shit last night. I’d only ever shared a bed with one other girl before Lola and that had been a mistake. Normally, we fucked and said our goodbyes. Something about sleeping next to a girl seemed too personal. It wasn’t that I didn’t want that kind of intimacy with Lola. Hell, I was fucking sure I wanted it more than my next breath. I just wasn’t sure I was ready for it.

I’d watched her sleep most of the night, and tossed and turned the rest. When I eventually came downstairs, Brie was sitting at the kitchen island drinking coffee. She looked upset. She wasn’t one to hide how she felt. If she had something to say, she’d say it. It was one of the traits that Riley liked about her. I didn’t get it at first—their relationship—but it worked. She kept him on his toes and I couldn’t deny how happy they were around each other.

When Lola had said her goodbyes last night, I hadn’t wanted to leave her alone so soon. She still had that dreamy, satisfied look on her face and it was enough to have me turning in for the night right along with her. It was obvious that Brie knew something had happened. Her eyes said it all—a silent plea that, oddly, I understood. She was worried for her friend and she had every right to be. When I’d had my fingers buried inside Lola last night, the feeling was too much. I knew I’d never get enough of her and that both worried and excited me. I wasn’t boyfriend material. Never had been. And Lola was the type of girl that deserved that kind of commitment.

“You hurt her and I will chop your dick off and feed it to my dog.” That was the first and only sentence Brie said to me. I nodded, wondering how the hell I would make it through the day without fucking her friend.

“Where are we going?” Lola asked as I pulled the four-by-four into what had to be the smallest car park I’d ever seen, careful not to curb the alloys.

“It’s a nice day. Thought we could take a boat out for a few hours.”

Frowning, Lola shrugged and pulled open the passenger side door. I tried not to stare too long at her arse as she climbed out and slammed the door behind her.

It wasn’t long before we reached the small boat. By the time we got there, the guy was already waiting for us. Once we’d exchanged notes and I’d handed over my licence, we were all good to go. I held a hand out for Lola as she warily climbed on board.

I’d only hired the boat because I needed to get away from Brie’s prying eyes for the day. At least this way I was certain I could avoid the sexual tension that surrounded Lola and me. If I could stop thinking about the way her arse looked in those tight jeans long enough to steer the boat in the right direction, it’d all be good.

Lola stretched out on the bow, her feet crossed at the ankle and her hands resting behind her back as she gazed out over the open water.

After the morning’s encounter in the bathroom, we’d hardly spoken a word to each other. Lola didn’t seem to mind, though. I had a feeling she enjoyed the peace and quiet as much as I did. The world we lived in didn’t leave much room for it. I grasped every possible opportunity I could because I was never sure when the next would come along.

Every so often, Lola would peer back at me. More often than not, she caught me staring at her and would offer a shy smile. Sometimes, I’d feel her eyes on me as I manoeuvred the boat through the bends.

We’d been on the water for a couple of hours when a speedboat passed by with a tonne of girls on board. I could hear them shouting and whistling, and I could’ve sworn one of them flashed her tits at me, but I was too preoccupied with Lola and the way her stance had changed. She’d heard them, too, and was gauging my reaction. I raised both brows and winked at her, causing her cheeks to flush a brilliant shade of pink.

Every. Damn. Time.

As much as I enjoyed spending the day with Lola, I was relieved when we pulled into the driveway of the lake house we were staying at. Being so close to her, yet unable to be close was becoming too much. I needed to sort my shit out and fast.

Lola went to the room the moment we got back to the house—something about needing to change or whatever. I had a feeling she was just as affected by my presence as I was by hers. I shouldn’t have enjoyed watching her squirm, but I did.

By the time she came back down the stairs, Riley and I had already fired up the barbeque and cooked the steaks on the grill.

“Wow, that smell is amazing,” Lola said, popping her head over my shoulder to examine the food.

“Wait until you taste it.” I winked and continued to alternate between flipping and prodding.

“I didn’t know you could cook.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Firebox.” I grinned over my shoulder, and as if on cue, she blushed again. Truth was, I couldn’t cook for shit, but as long as it wasn’t pink inside, I figured it was safe to eat.

Brie rounded the corner, drying her hands on a tea towel. “Right, I’ve done the salad, found the plates and cutlery, what else is there?” she asked, spinning on the spot.

“Ketchup,” I called out.

“Eww.” Lola shivered. “That’s just gross.”

“What, ketchup? Don’t knock it ‘til you try it,” I told her, but she continued to stare at me in disgust.

I chuckled, forked the steaks onto a tray and placed them on the table.

“Mate, this is one mean steak,” Riley said, shoving forkfuls of meat down his throat. I was surprised he could speak with the amount of food in his hole.

I tossed him a paper towel and shook my head. “Animal.”

Lola sniggered beside me and I watched as she cut the meat into the smallest of pieces before carefully placing them in her mouth.

Chicks, I thought to myself as I went about tucking into the meat.

I offered to wash the dishes after dinner, seeing as the boys took it upon themselves to make it. Not that I was complaining. The steak Taylor had cooked me was perfect.

The boat trip this morning had been a nice surprise. Taylor was full of them, and I wondered when the next one would come along and what it would be. I knew what I wanted it to be, but I had a feeling Taylor was more than willing to avoid that one. I couldn’t say the thought didn’t hurt a little. If Taylor wanted me then I would happily have given myself over to him. The truth was, the tension that surrounded us was thick and made me a little light-headed. Something needed to give before I snapped. Eventually, I would be forced to throw myself at him.

“Right, guys, it’s truth or dare time,” Brie said, clapping her hands.

I turned my attention back to the table where Brie and the boys were sitting. I remembered the last time I’d played and began to choke on nothing. “No way. Never again,” I forced out, patting my chest.

“What? C’mon, Lo, you have to. It’ll be fun,” Brie whined and I shook my head, mumbling under my breath that, no, it wasn’t fun, and no, I wouldn’t be putting myself through that again.

Taylor and I exchanged a glance. He knew why I was against the idea. I was hoping he’d take my side on this one, but he just grinned at me.

“What aren’t you telling me? Please tell me you guys haven’t already played this?”

“Okay, I won’t.” I shrugged and popped a tortilla chip in my mouth.

“Fine,” she huffed. “But I will find out one way or another.”

“Why don’t we just go for truth then?”

“Huh?” Brie frowned.

“If Lola doesn’t want to play truth or dare then just go with truth. If someone doesn’t answer or is untruthful then they take a shot. Simple.”

"But how do we know if the other person is being truthful or not?" I asked.

“There are tell-tale signs, Firebox. If you know the person well enough then you can easily tell if they’re lying.”

I wasn’t so sure about that.

“Fine. I guess it’ll have to do,” Brie said, rolling her eyes.

I still didn’t think this was a good idea. We must’ve drunk enough to sink a ship already and I wasn’t sure my mouth could hold back on me once it got going. Hopefully, this wouldn’t be too gruelling for me.

“Okay, me first,” Brie announced. “Lola, you’re up! I’ll start off easy and build them up. We each get to ask you a question and if you pass or lie, you drink, ‘kay?”

I nodded my head, letting her know I understood her stupid rules.

“What do you want to do when you leave college?”

I thought about the question for a moment and frowned. I had no idea what I wanted to do. “I don’t know. Maybe help people?” I said.

Brie scoffed. "Boring."

“Why?” I shrieked. “It’s the truth.”

“I’ve got one,” Riley cut in. I rolled my eyes, already dreading this one. “Your best kiss?”

“Pretty sure I’m at a disadvantage here,” I mumbled and pouted for effect. “Taylor,” I whispered.

“What?” Riley said, cupping his ear. “Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that?”

“Taylor. I said Taylor,” I yelled, waving my hand in his direction.

I didn’t dare look his way. I could already feel my cheeks warming.

“My go,” I heard Taylor’s smooth voice say, and I slowly lifted my eyes, daring him. “On a scale of one to ten—ten being the highest—how much do you want me to kiss you right now?” His eyes sparkled mischievously and I continued to glare daggers at him.

“Two. Maybe three,” I said, twisting my lips.

Taylor thumped his hand down on the table, causing me to jump. “Lie. Drink.”

“What? No.”

“C’mon, Lo. That was a blatant lie.” Brie laughed.

“I hate you. All of you,” I mumbled, but downed the foul tasting shot anyway.

“My turn, and this one is for you,” Brie said, pointing to Taylor. “On a scale of one to ten—ten being the highest—how much do you want to fuck my best friend?”

“Brie,” I ground out and nudged her arm, the liquid still burning my throat.

“That’s easy.” He shrugged. “Ten.”

I coughed and Brie shook her head, scrunching her nose. “Okay… Really wish I never asked now.”

When my heartbeat finally returned to normal, I glanced at Taylor to see him eyeing me curiously. Why did he have to say that? Now I definitely wouldn’t be sleeping soundly tonight.

“Okay, pansies, my turn,” Riley sang, clearly far too happy with his next question. “Who was a better fuck—Mel or Lola?”

“What the hell, Rye?” Brie shrieked, punching his arm.

I wanted to smack him, too. In the face. With a chair. But I couldn’t move. Taylor and I hadn’t had sex so really it was an unfair question, but the thought of Taylor and Melanie being together made my skin crawl. Was I jealous that she was privy to a side of him that I wasn’t? Damn right I was.

I snuck a glance at Taylor. He was clearly pissed off. His thumb traced his bottom lip and I watched as he cocked his head to the side. I already didn’t want to know what he was going to say next.

“That question is void because, as you know, Lola and I have never fucked, but seeing as we’re all being so honest,” he said, raising both brows, “how come you haven’t told Aubrie that you fucked Mel when you first got together?”

I couldn’t help the gasp that left my mouth. I shook my head. “Okay, I think we’ve all had enough to drink. Maybe we ought to— “

“No, Lo, let him answer,” Brie said, placing her hand on my arm. She seemed eerily calm, which was always more worrying than when she flipped her lid.

“Babe, listen,” Riley whispered before turning to face Taylor. “You’re a dick, man. Why’d you have to bring that shit up?”

Taylor simply shook his head. “You started it, mate.”

I stood up and shot my eyes to Taylor’s. What the hell was he playing at? As if things weren’t already awkward enough.

I made my excuses and went to bed, figuring they had a lot to discuss. I didn’t even bother saying goodnight to Taylor. If I was being honest, I was really fucking pissed at him for letting that out.

I made my way upstairs and crawled into bed, switching the light off beside me. The drive home tomorrow would definitely be an interesting one, that was for sure.

Just as I closed my eyes, I felt Taylor climb in beside me. He tucked my hair behind my ear and kissed my forehead. “I’m sorry about Riley. He’s a lousy drunk.”

I sighed. “It’s not Riley I’m worried about. Brie really likes him, Taylor.”

“For what it’s worth, he really likes her, too. He wouldn’t have gone near Mel if he hadn’t been drinking.”

As if being drunk out of your face was an excuse for hurting someone. Did he really think that was okay?

I sat up straight. “I get that he’s your friend and you feel like you have to defend him, but drinking doesn’t excuse the fact that he still did it… with Mel!”

Taylor sighed. “I’m not defending him, babe. I’m just saying that alcohol fucks you up. I should know…”

I scoffed. “Seriously? Why does everything have to be about you all the time?”

“What the hell? How is this my fault?”

“You should never have said what you did.” I shook my head.

“He asked for it. You heard what he said.”

“Maybe he did, but Brie didn’t deserve to feel like this.”

“I can’t believe you’re blaming me for this shit. Un-fuckin’-believable.”

“I’m not blaming you, Taylor.”

“Yeah? Well it sure sounds like you are.”

“Look, let’s just go to sleep, okay?” I breathed out a sigh and laid my head back down on the pillow. Obviously, this wasn’t going the way I’d hoped it would. “It’s late. Just go to sleep and we’ll talk in the morning.”

“How about we don’t?” he said. I ignored him, figuring there was no point in carrying on this conversation. It wasn’t long before I felt Taylor’s weight shifting off of the bed and then heard the door closing behind him.

Great end to a perfect weekend.

The drive home Sunday morning was awkward to say the least. Brie was still so angry, and who could blame her? As me for? I tried to avoid any more confrontations with Taylor. So much had happened during the weekend that I was left feeling mentally exhausted. As much as I enjoyed the weekend—for the most part anyway—I was more than ready to go home. I was also thankful that it was Taylor’s turn to drive so I didn’t have to worry too much about not speaking to him. Every so often, I’d catch him glancing back at me in the rear view mirror. I didn’t want to cause a scene, especially while he was driving, so I gave him a small smile, hoping it would be enough to avoid the silent interrogation he was giving me with his eyes.

How did he think that it was okay to blurt that out last night? Even if he had been drinking it was still no excuse. He could’ve been the bigger man and ignored Riley’s comment. Everyone knew what Riley was like. His question about Mel and me should have been no surprise to Taylor. Instead, he did the opposite, causing more harm than good.

So there we all were, silent, and a little bit broken because of it.