“Something totally happened with you and Wes on the weekend, didn’t it?” Cress asked as we unpacked our bags on Sunday evening. We’d only just arrived back at school after our trip to New York, and I was already dreading having to return to class tomorrow. The weekend in the city had been a much-needed breath of fresh air for me, and I wasn’t ready to face reality. I definitely wasn’t ready to see Noah again—especially after I’d kissed someone else.
I hadn’t told Cress or Anna about kissing Wes yet, mostly because I didn’t quite know how to feel about it. Given the way Cress was looking at me now, I knew I couldn’t pretend nothing happened.
“Why would you say that?” I asked.
“Well, for starters, he wouldn’t stop staring at you during the car ride back to school. He also didn’t seem nearly upset enough about seeing his ex making out with some guy at the club. Something happened, I know it.”
Cress was far too observant for my liking, and I still had no idea what to say, so I focused on the clothes I was supposed to be unpacking and continued trying to dodge her question. “Why are you only bringing this up now?”
“Well, I couldn’t exactly ask when Wes was around. I’m dying here, Isobel. What happened?”
“Okay, okay.” I knew there was no point resisting. “We kissed.”
“I knew it.” Cress squealed and jumped onto my bed beside me. “Now, dish, I need all the details.”
Her enthusiasm was hard to ignore. “Well,” I started. ‘We were getting kind of close while we were dancing in the club, and I thought maybe we were going to kiss. But then Wes saw Sarah, and the moment was ruined. I followed him from the club to make sure he was okay. And when I was trying to comfort him, it just sort of happened.”
“I knew he should have been more upset about Sarah,” Cress gushed. “This is huge.”
“It’s not that big a deal.”
“Of course, it is. Now, tell me more. How was the kiss?”
I started to smile. “Wes is a really good kisser.”
She squealed again, making me laugh. “So, are you guys a couple now or what?”
“Gosh, no.” I shook my head. “It was just one kiss. I’m not ready to be in a relationship, and he probably isn’t either.”
A little of her excitement dampened. “Yeah, I get that.”
She seemed really pro-Wes, and I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Just a few weeks ago she’d been over the moon I was dating Noah. “Isn’t this weird for you?” I asked. “I mean, I was dating your cousin—”
“Who’s a total idiot,” she said, interrupting me. “He was stupid to let you go, so I’m completely on team Isobel-moving-on. I just want you to be happy.”
“Thanks.” I gave her a warm smile.
“Plus, I think we could come up with a really cute couple name for you guys. I’m thinking either Isley or Wesobel.”
I laughed. “Wesobel?”
“What? It’s totally cute.”
“And it’s also totally getting ahead of things. Wes and I don’t need a couple name.”
“Not yet…”
I rolled my eyes, but it was hard not to be slightly affected by Cress’s excitement. I’d enjoyed kissing Wes, but I hadn’t really thought about it being something more. If anything, I’d been worried about the kiss driving us apart.
“Do you think things are going to be weird between us now?” I said. “What if this affects my friendship with him?”
“There’s only one way to find out.”
“And that is…”
“You need to talk to him,” she said.
“Anything but that. Talking will only make things more awkward.”
“No, it will get things out in the open. You’ll find out where you both stand and can go from there.”
“But what if I don’t know where I stand?”
“Well, you can tell him that too. It’s better he knows you’re confused rather than thinking you regret the kiss.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” I let out a breath as I looked at the duffel bag on my bed. It was only half unpacked, but now that Cress had me considering talking to Wes, I felt like I had to get it over and done with. I could unpack the rest of my clothes later.
I started toward the door. “I might go chat with him now.”
“Probably a good idea. Do you need a breath mint?”
“We’re not going to kiss again, Cress.”
She rushed over to her drawers, grabbed a tin of breath mints, and offered it to me. “Are you willing to take that risk?” I let out a grunt and took one but only because my mom had told me you should never refuse a breath mint when offered. There was usually a reason people suggested it, and I didn’t want to risk chatting to Wes with bad breath.
“I knew it,” she said, gleeful as I popped the mint in my mouth.
“You know nothing,” I replied, but she was still giving me a smug smile as I left the room.
I didn’t share her confidence or her enthusiasm ahead of my conversation with Wes. What if I said the wrong thing and totally messed up our friendship? We hadn’t known each other long, but we’d become close in my short time at Weybridge, and I didn’t want things to be weird between us. Cress was right though, I needed to talk it out with Wes, so I made my way to his dorm.
THE BOYS’ dormitory was lively when I arrived. All the guys were out in the corridors, and the energy was chaotic as though they were making the most of the final weekend hours. There were shouts and laughter as guys tackled each other, and music was blaring from one of the rooms. There were even two idiots throwing a football down the hall, and I froze as the ball came spinning in my direction. Luckily, someone stepped in front of me and snatched it out of the air before it hit me.
I glanced up to find Luther scowling at the guy who’d thrown the ball. “Watch it, Bertram. You nearly hit my favorite new girl,” Luther growled before tucking the ball under his arm. “I’m confiscating this.”
Bertram looked like he wanted to object, but his friend quickly grabbed him by the arm and ushered him down the hallway.
Luther grinned as he turned to me. “You’re just a magnet for trouble, aren’t you, newbie?”
I stood a little straighter and shook my head in the direction of the boys. “If those guys are on the school’s football team, I can see why they’re always losing.”
“Yep, they’re terrible.” He laughed, but his expression quickly sobered. “How are you feeling? I hear your stomach lost a battle with a swanky New York restaurant.”
I scrunched my face up. “Noah told you about that?”
“Yeah, poor little dear was a mess on Thursday night. He was messaging me for advice on what he could get to help you. I told him that kisses were the best medicine.”
“Luther,” I groaned. “Not only are we broken up, but I was throwing up. You did not tell him that.”
“No, but I should have.” He chuckled. “I think Noah would have done just about anything to make you feel better.”
I let out a sigh. “I don’t know why you think we’re going to get back together. We’re over, for good.” The sooner everyone accepted that, the better.
“I have faith everything will work out.” Luther shrugged.
I rolled my eyes at him. “I’m trying to decide if you’re an optimist or just being willfully blind.”
“Maybe I’m simply a true romantic,” he replied. “Maybe I like to believe love overcomes all obstacles.”
“Maybe you like to cause trouble.”
“Oh, always that,” he said with a grin. The smile slowly dropped from his face as he considered me. “Seriously though, Noah’s been irritable and moody ever since you broke up. He’s the worst company ever.” He let out a sigh. “I was hoping the two of you would have made up by now.”
“Like I’ve been trying to tell you, that’s never going to happen.”
“Maybe, maybe not,” he replied. “Look, just do me a favor, and don’t give up on Noah yet.”
I stared at him, at a loss for what to say. Did Luther know something I didn’t? What could Noah have possibly said to give him the impression there was any hope? I wasn’t sure, but the one thing I was certain of was if I didn’t give up on Noah now I would never get over him. I couldn’t spend my life letting my heart ache for a boy I couldn’t be with. It wasn’t fair for Luther to expect that of me. “You can’t ask me to do that.”
“Well, I did.” And he didn’t look the least bit remorseful about it. “Anyway, I’ll catch you around, newbie. Stay safe out there.” He went to walk away but paused and handed me the football he’d stolen from the guys. “Here,” he said. “A souvenir so you can remember that time I saved your life.”
“I don’t think my life was in danger…”
“That’s not how I remember it,” he replied. “And think about what I said. You and Noah belong together.”
He turned to leave, waltzing away like he hadn’t just tried to blow up my life with the world’s most ridiculous request.
“There’s nothing to think about,” I called after him.
He didn’t turn back, and I wasn’t sure if it was because he hadn’t heard me or because he refused to acknowledge my protest.
Not giving up on Noah? Luther couldn’t have asked something more demanding if he tried, especially seeing as Noah was the one to give up on us in the first place. I shook my head and continued down the corridor to Wes’s room.
I was relieved when Wes answered the door after only a couple of knocks. I thought he might be surprised to see me, but his face lit with a welcoming smile. A small crease then puckered his brow as he looked down and noticed the ball in my hand. “Trying out for the football team?”
“Trying to avoid the football team, more like.” I shook my head when I caught his curious expression. “Don’t ask.”
“But now I’m all intrigued.” He stood back and gestured into his room. “Want to come in? It’s kind of mad out there today.”
“Just kind of mad?” I asked as I followed him inside. Not only was it chaos in the corridors, it was dangerous too. “I swear the boys’ dorms have always been so quiet when I’ve come here before.”
“Clearly you’ve been coming at the wrong time,” Wes replied. “If our dorm parents look the other way for even a minute, the place turns into a jungle.”
“Yeah, well, I swear some of the monkeys out there are rabid.”
“They should probably put a warning at the entrance,” he agreed with a smile. “Enter at your own risk, or something like that.”
“Probably.” I placed the ball down on his bed and tucked my hands into my jeans as I looked around the room. It was almost like an invisible border ran through the center of the space. One side was a pigsty while the other was spotlessly clean. My eyes landed on the heap of clothes spilling out of a suitcase on Sawyer’s bed. It seemed he’d gotten about as far as I had when it came to unpacking.
“Is your brother around?” I asked.
“Nah, Sawyer’s out playing a pickup game of soccer. It’s just you and me,” he said, sitting at the end of his bed.
“Uh-huh.” I swallowed down the nerves that suddenly made an appearance in my throat. I didn’t want to talk to Wes with Sawyer around, but I was also anxious at the thought of being here alone with him.
“Did you want to sit down?” Wes asked, gesturing to the bed beside him.
“Um, no thanks, I’m good.”
He gave me a half smile, like he didn’t quite believe me. He stood and approached me slowly as though he was worried I might spook if he moved too fast. “I’m guessing you came to talk about what happened last night?”
I let out a deep exhale and nodded. I had no idea where to begin, and I was glad Wes had been the one to raise the subject. I guessed the best place to start was the one thing I felt sure about. “I don’t want things to be weird between us.”
“I don’t want that either. I really like you, Isobel.”
My cheeks felt hot, and my brain went into overdrive. Did he just like me or did he like me like me? Because there was a huge difference between the two, and I had no idea which kind of like I wanted him to be feeling.
It didn’t help that he looked so cute as he spoke. His warm brown eyes were gentle and filled with hope, and it was hard not to be pulled in by his easygoing smile. Wes was hot and sweet; a girl would have to be absolutely crazy not to want to be with him. Was I crazy for not immediately jumping for joy that he said he liked me? Probably, but I didn’t want things moving too quickly. I’d fallen fast for Noah, and that had been a disaster. I couldn’t make that mistake again, especially not when it might mean ruining my friendship with Wes.
“I really like you too, Wes,” I admitted. “You’re one of my closest friends here.” Yep, I’d dropped the friend bomb. It was the equivalent of throwing a bucket of cold water on the guy, but it seemed far safer than saying anything else.
Wes didn’t seem put off though, and he lifted one eyebrow in response. “Do you kiss all of your friends like that?”
“Uh, only the really good ones.”
It was a terrible answer, but he chuckled, and the sound danced down my spine. He wasn’t looking at me like a friend right now, and my heart beat quicker as he continued to stare at me.
“I’m just not ready for another relationship right now,” I murmured. “And I don’t think you are either.”
He took a step toward me so we were standing only inches apart and reached up to tuck a stray curl behind my ear. The gesture didn’t feel even slightly friendly, and the intense look in his eyes made me feel like he wasn’t listening to a word I said.
“So, can we just pretend the kiss didn’t happen?” I continued.
“I can’t do that,” he said. “Kissing you was the only thing that’s felt right to me in weeks. Tell me you didn’t enjoy kissing me, and I’ll forget it ever happened.”
My mouth suddenly felt dry. “Wes, it was a one-time thing.”
“So, you enjoyed our kiss then.” Apparently, he wasn’t discouraged.
“Of course, I did, but we’re friends. It would be weird. I—”
He didn’t wait for me to continue as he lowered his head toward me and brushed his lips against mine. They felt like nothing more than a feather lightly grazing against my skin, and my whole body tingled. He didn’t deepen the kiss like I wanted. Instead, he pulled back a few inches, so I could still feel his breath against me.
“Did that feel weird to you?” His voice was slightly deeper and more gravelly than it had been before. It seemed like he was just as affected by my lips as I was by his.
I answered by pulling him back to me and kissing him fully like my body craved. All thought and reason fled from my mind as he wrapped his arms around me, tugging me closer still. I didn’t care if we were just friends or something more in that moment. And there was definitely nothing weird about kissing Wes again. If anything, his kisses erased any apprehension I had. Wes was right; this was the first thing that had made sense recently.
The sound of Sawyer groaning interrupted us. “Oh, man, get a room.”
Wes and I jumped apart, and my cheeks burned with embarrassment as I turned to see Wes’s brother lounging in the doorway.
Wes wasn’t nearly as flustered as he answered. “I have a room. I’m using it.”
“No, this is our room. You could have at least put a sock on the door,” Sawyer said, coming inside and closing the door behind him. Now that I took a proper look at him, I could see he was grinning widely. He clearly wasn’t as annoyed as his voice portrayed.
“Isobel.” He tilted his head at me. “I see you took up my rebound offer. You got the wrong brother though. That’s Wes you’re kissing.”
Wes shoved a hand against his shoulder. “She doesn’t think I’m you, you idiot.”
“Are you sure?” Sawyer turned to me again and puckered his lips. “Because I’m ready to rectify the situation…”
I scrunched up my nose. “Ew, no.”
“Why not?” Sawyer laughed. “Wes and I have never kissed the same girl before. Finally, we can find out who is the better kisser.”
“Dude, that’s messed up,” Wes muttered.
“You need help,” I agreed. “I’m not going to kiss you, Sawyer.”
“But this feels like a bet I could win…”
Wes took his brother by the shoulders and steered him back toward the door. “You can leave now.”
“But it’s my room.”
“Don’t care.” Wes pulled the door open and shoved his brother outside.
I couldn’t contain my laughter when I saw Sawyer’s shocked expression right before Wes slammed the door on him.
“Your brother is ridiculous,” I said.
“Ridiculously handsome!” I heard Sawyer shout from the hallway.
Wes banged a fist against the door. “Go away.”
Sawyer laughed in response, but the sound soon drifted off as he wandered away down the corridor. It was only after a few moments of silence that Wes seemed to relax. “Sorry about that.”
“Sawyer is nothing if not entertaining.”
“Yeah, he’s a regular clown.”
I laughed, but my amusement quickly disappeared as I realized what we’d just done. “Shit,” I muttered. “I didn’t come here to kiss you.”
“But you did.” He grinned.
“Stop smiling. That can’t happen again. I refuse to ruin our friendship for some rebound kisses. I don’t care how good they are.”
His smile only grew.
“Why aren’t you listening to me? I think we both need to pretend that never happened. Okay?”
“Okay.” He nodded. His face was the picture of sincerity, but his eyes danced like he was just playing along and had absolutely no intention of forgetting our kiss.
“You’re almost as bad as your brother,” I muttered. “I’m going to go now.”
I opened the door to leave, and Wes leaned against the doorframe, watching me as I started down the hallway. “I’m glad we talked,” he called after me.
I shot a scowl over my shoulder at him, making him laugh. I had clearly failed in my attempts to talk with Wes. We’d done a lot more than that. And a small part of me wondered if maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing.
