Hailey sets multiple dresses in front of me on my bed, raising an eyebrow.
"Hmm." I put my finger to my lips and eye each one. They're all pretty but neither of them is my kind of style, so I have to think what Hailey is like and what her style is like.
"This one." I grab a white and blue dress, lifting it up. I wish it was longer but Hailey seems fine with it as she grabs it from my hands.
"I think I'll just go in sneakers." She says as she takes off her shirt.
"Why? You're going to a restaurant. You gotta be fancy for one night, Hails." I tell her and she shrugs.
"I used to get ready for our dates, but everytime I try to be fancy as you said, I would get nervous and frustrated and eventually Luke banned me from getting ready for him. He said it is pointless. I still kind of get ready, he just doesn't know that." She shrugs innocently, looping her hands through the sleeves.
"That's cute." I say, commenting both the dress and what she has said. She nods happily and grabs her hair, pushing it in front of her shoulders while inspecting herself in the mirror.
"God, it smells so good!" She sniffs the air around her. "The boys must be doing a good job."
I chuckle at her. I wasn't feeling like making lunch today so Luke and Carter offered to make one themselves. I was skeptic at first, but I am excited to see how their meal will turn out.
"I did leave them instructions. Hopefully I didn't miss any details." I say. I gave boys all my cooking advice and little tips and tricks before they started.
"They'll be fine." Hailey waves her hand. "Luke can make pasta."
"Great. He needs that knowledge." I say sarcastically and my cousin flips me the middle finger.
Just as Hailey starts discussing her hair and whether she should tie it or not, the sound of our front door opening and closing echoes through the apartment. Luke lets out a loud howl and the sound of hand clapping follows after that. Hailey stops talking and looks at me straight in the eyes.
"When are you leaving?" Luke's voice sounds questioning.
"Now." The response is simple, but enough to make me lift my hand and start rubbing my temples.
"Came to say goodbye?" Carter joins in and I can literally her the smiling in his voice.
"Yeah. And you got my charger, right?"
A male scream is heard before someone rushes around the place and a string of curses is heard.
"Kat!" Carter's voice stirs me from my partially calm position. "I messed up! Kat!"
I groan and stand up, practically against my own will. As I walk outside, into our living room, I spot Carter and Luke both gathered in our kitchen.
"You asshole! It says half! Not full!" Luke scolds his partner while Carter snatches the handle of a ladle and stirs the mixture. I don't even know what he's using that for so he must've done plenty of things wrong.
I stride through the living room to where the two boys are standing. Wes's back is turned to me, but he spins around as soon as my footsteps become closer. His eyes slightly widen as he follows every step that I take. The discomfort is clear in his face expression and I briefly meet his eye before looking away, instead focusing on the chaos happening inside the kitchen.
"Gee, thanks Luke! The problem must be that I can't read!" Carter spats, his sarcasm evident.
"Okay, okay, move." I order and they separate, continuing to glare at each other, throwing an insult here and there.
I scan the weird mixture that I know isn't supposed to look like this before sighing. I turn off the heat and turn around to face the boys, leaning back on the counter.
"I'll just finish this." I say and Carter's face turns into a mortified look.
"No, you won't." He tells me. "You're supposed to be relaxing today."
"It's fine, Carter." I chuckle at his sass and Luke's apologetic eyes. "I don't mind."
"But I do." Carter takes my hand and basically pulls me out of the kitchen. He takes my place and crosses his arms over his chest. I look back at him and giggle.
"Fine." I raise my hands in surrender. "But I'm ordering Chipotle if that turns out to be disgusting."
"Don't spend your money, sugar. This'll be the tastiest thing you'll ever place in your mouth." He says proudly before smirking wickedly. "That is, if you've never given a blowjob. Can't top that."
"Oh, God!" Hailey chortles behind me and I can't help but laugh myself.
I clasp my hand over my mouth and let out a series of laughs. I almost forget who's standing behind me until I take a step back and bump into that hard chest. I rotate around and my laughs are suddenly distant. I see Wes's eyes search mine, looking for some kind of reaction from me. But he will get none, because I look away and stalk in the direction of my room.
Just as I reach my room doors, delicate fingers wrap around my wrist, spinning me around. The force is weak, but enough to make my hair fly to my side. I can see that he doesn't know what to say as he's searching for words to let out. But as far as I'm concerned he doesn't have to say anything at all.
My hand slowly slips from his grip but his eyes notice the movement and he grabs my hand back, this time moving forward to take my other hand as well. The distance between us is not so big right now and this sort of proximity is exactly what makes me so breathless.
"Let. Go." I grit through my teeth.
"No." His eyes lock with mine, those blue oceans swimming with firmness and determination. "You're gonna listen to me."
"I don't want to." I reply with the same harshness I used in my first sentence. From the corner of my eye I see Luke and Carter giving us perplexed expressions but Hailey ushers them out of the apartment, closing the door behind them. I hope she will explain or at least let them know that nobody can know about us.
"In there." Wes pushes me to my door and opens them easily. He lets go of my hands for a moment and closes the door once we both get inside.
I waste no time while having my hands free and seize the opportunity to land a sharp slap on his cheek. He stands still for a moment, carefully closing his eyes before reopening them. I can't make out the emotion behind them, but I know he's masking something. He takes a step towards me and I try to take a step back but he prevents me from doing so by hooking his hand around my waist.
"I'm not gonna make excuses, Katherine." He says, his deep voice filling the silence that was laying around in this room.
"I don't even know what to say because I've never tried to explain myself to a girl. But I do know that you deserve an apology. I'm an idiot for doing what I did and I know being drunk doesn't justify it. I thought it would be a good decision in the moment and I haven't managed to think it through. But I'm sorry, I'm really fucking sorry. And I regret it, one hundred percent. If I was in the right state of mind, I definitely wouldn't have done it."
"Whatever." I mutter after he has finished. I wiggle out of his grip and he lets me, confusion evident on his face. "Thanks for the apology, but I honestly don't care about your reasonings."
"Don't lie to me." He says sternly. "I saw your face. I saw your reaction."
"Yeah, because I didn't think someone would fail me for the third time in my life." I reply. Wes's gaze hardens. He knows what I'm talking about and his response just proves that.
"Don't compare me to them." He points to the side, as if the people he's talking about are standing next to us. I just shrug.
"There's nothing to compare. You're the same."
He swiftly takes my shoulders and turns me around so my back is facing the door before he pushes me against it. My breath is caught in my throat as I dare to look up at him.
"I'm not here to toy with you, Katherine. I'm not planning any games." He declares, pressing himself against me. There's nothing sensual about the action, just him trying to prove a point.
"Come on." I roll my eyes. "Don't you get it? I can't comply to commitment because it just doesn't work for me. Even if it's just a simple deal like this."
"I wasn't supposed to do that. It was my mistake, not yours." He tells me and I place my hands on his chest, pushing him from me.
"Exactly." My voice comes out much calmer than I expected. "Which is why we shouldn't continue."
Something in his eyes twitches and he gives into my push, standing up straight.
"Yeah. We shouldn't have even started it." He says, no emotion in his tone.
"Right. So now you regret it?"
"Definitely." He nods approvingly. My mouth gapes a little. I feel terribly betrayed for some reason. "It was just a waste of time."
"Are you saying this on purpose?" I ask, noticing how his gaze wandered off to the wall behind me. But he almost scares me when he returns it to me, his eyes deep and hooded.
"No. I'm saying the truth. We don't work and I know my ways. Swirling around is much more fun." He almost smirks, the top of his lip quirking up.
"Well, why didn't you say that earlier?" I cross my hands over my chest and look away, trying not to let my voice crack. Or my pride.
"I don't know. You were a good fuck."
My eyes go wide. How does he even dare to speak to me in this way? His ego hasn't changed obviously, at least not as I expected. He was neutral this entire time but now I see his behavior was that way only because I let him in my pants. And now I start regretting everything.
"You fucking asshole." I mutter, uncrossing my arms. He seems slightly surprised by my sudden change of tone. "You think you can talk to me like that because we slept together? No. Hell no. Don't you dare tell me all that when you were the one to suggest this in the first place."
He opens his mouth to retort back but I step closer to him, pressing my finger to his chest.
"You are selfish, arrogant and ignorant." I press my finger deeper into him and he grabs my hand.
"Don't try it, babe." He glares at me. I see we're back to babe now.
"No." I back away. I feel the emotions in me twist in a terrible way, sensing harsh disappointment. The worst part, I feel disappointed in myself.
"Don't even try being an authority to me." I mutter, staring back at his blue eyes.
"Then don't tell me what already know because I don't give a shit about your opinion." He retorts back, his fists tightening next to his sides. I lower my head and look at him for a moment before transferring my gaze to the floor.
"Then get the hell out of my room, Wes." I say firmly but slowly.
He doesn't move. I don't know what's going through his head but I know what's in mine. And I don't like it because as soon as I feel my chest tighten, a tear flows down my cheek. Panic rises in me and I press my lips in a thin line, feeling nothing but anger. I can't even speak because I know my voice would fail me if I try.
Why did I even agree to all of this? Why wasn't I thinking when I should've?
Why did this happen again?
I take a small but significant step to the side, allowing him a path to the door. His chest is rising slowly while he stands in the same spot, not moving a muscle. My eyes are glued to the floor and from the corner of my eye I see his legs move an inch. He takes a hesitant step beside me and places his hand on the doorknob. I can see the resistance in his eyes when I look up at him but he shakes his head and exits my room, letting the door shut loudly.
I just lean my head on the wall and wait for the front door to close. Soon I hear voices I recognize as Hailey's, Carter's and Luke's. I wipe that stupid tear and walk out, my face as blank as a fresh canvas.
"Kat." Carter says but I chose to ignore him, making my way to the kitchen.
"Kat." He stops me by taking my hand. I look at him and sigh, waiting for whichever's questions he's planning to ask.
"He's a dick, you know." He mumbles, tilting his head at me. Hailey probably told them about us, but I'm okay with it, seeing as there is no other way to explain Wes's sudden wish to speak with me.
"I know." I say quietly.
"I'm sorry for what I'm about to tell you but I'm always trying to be honest." He sighs and I listen carefully. "You shouldn't have started that with him. If I knew about it I would've definitely stopped you. I know what he's like and every attempt he had at commitment ended up badly because of his lack of loyalty."
"Carter." Luke's tone is warning as he glares at his friend.
"No, it's okay." I say, feeling a little defeated. "I'm aware of that. And if I thought it through, I wouldn't have even agreed to it."
"I hope you're not mad at me. I just know him and his ways." Carter looks apologetic and I rub his shoulder, assuring him it's fine.
"I'm not. I appreciate honesty above all." I tell him and force a small smile, one that doesn't reach my eyes.
"Honey, you alright?" Hailey finally approaches me.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm feeling like baking so prepare your stomachs for a shit ton of cookies." I tell them and hear their chuckles as I walk into the kitchen, instantly grabbing the green glove.