Army Brat

Chapter 16

'This is me swallowing my pride, standing here, saying I'm sorry for that night.' My phone sings, 'and I go back to December all the time.'

"Shut off your phone." Josh moans, his voice thick with sleep. I groan and roll over, leaning over Josh's naked chest and grab my iPhone from my bedside table. "Hmm, I like you like this."

"Shut up." I laugh and look at the phone screen. "Shit, it's Ian."

"Don't answer it." Josh says and wraps his arms around me. I smack his hand away when it goes a little to far south.

"No. I have to." I put my hand over Josh's mouth and put my phone to my ear. "Hello?"

"Hey babe, did I wake you?" Ian's voice says through the phone.

"Yeah. What time is it?" I ask and look over at Josh, who is watching me. I stick out my tongue at him and try not to laugh when he digs his fingers into my sides.

"It's 7:40."

"Shit! I'm going to be late to school!" This is all Josh's fault. Keeping my up late. I feel a pang of guilt go through me when I think about what happened last night. I slept with Ian's best friend. I'm horrible person.

"Do you need a ride?" Ian ask, worry lacing his voice. I don't know how I'm going to be able to handle seeing him today.

"No, I don't want you late either." I wish I could skip, but then my mom would find out and come home.

"Are you sure? I don't mind." I'm so horrible.

"No, I'll see you at school." I hang up the phone and put my head in my hands. I'm such a horrible person. I let Josh get what he wanted. And I cheated on somebody. I promised I would never cheat on somebody.

"Are you okay." Josh ask, rubbing my back and arms. I shake my head and get up. He's seen my naked before, why bother bringing the sheet with me? I walk to the bathroom and shut the door, locking it behind me. I'm not going to let this happen again. I quickly take a shower, scrubbing my skin till it hurts, trying to get the guilt off my skin.

"Arianna, are you okay?" I jump and almost fall in the shower. I grab the wall to stop myself but land wrong on my ankle. I wince when I try to put weight on it.

"I'm fine, I'll be out in a minute." I yell back and shut off the water. I limp out of the shower and wrap a towel around my body. Letting my hair drip dry and slowly limp out of the bathroom.

"What happened to you ankle?" Josh ask, hurrying over to me.

"Nothing, I landed on it wrong, that's all." I pull out a pair on underwear and some jeans, throwing them on the bed. "You can take a shower if you want."

"Okay?" I don't look at Josh as he makes his way into my bathroom. I wait till the water is on before quickly drying off and getting dressed. Not paying attention to what I'm putting on. I pull my hair up into a messy bun and slip on some flip flops, before pulling off my sheets on the bed and limping to the laundry room. I'll wash them when I get home later. I slowly make my way to the kitchen.

Shit, I forgot what a mess it was. I look around and see the empty pizza box laying on the floor, next to Josh's pants. I see my clothes from yesterday strew on the counter, the floor, and the table. How in the hell did my clothes get there? I shake my head and pick up all the clothing and set them on the dinner table. If my mom was here, this never would've happened.

"I see you picked up." I turn around to see Josh leaning on the breakfast bar with only a towel wrapped around his waist and water dripping from his hair to his shoulders, and rolling down his perfectly tan and muscular chest. I gulp, this is going to be hard staying away from Josh, a lot harder than I thought.

"Yeah, want your clothes?" I ask and throw his boxers at him. He really needs to get dressed.

"No, I think I'll go to school like this." Josh smirks. I roll my eyes and throw his shirt at him.

"Get dressed, we have school." I turn away from him just as he drops the towel on the floor. I grab a cutie from the counter and quickly peel it.

"I'm dressed." I turn around to see Josh pulling on his shirt. I throw a cutie at him and watch him catch it with his right hand.

"Are you going home? Or are you going to school in the same clothes you wore yesterday?" I ask and take a bite of an orange piece.

"I don't have time to go home." Josh shrugs and sits down. I walk over to him and stand across the way, so he can't touch me. I know that if he touches me this is going to be a lot harder.

"Oh, um." I look down at my fingers trying to think of something to say. "Um, what happened last night, it uh, it can't happen again." I say against the lump in my throat.

"Why?" I can't help but stare at Josh, does he look hurt? He couldn't possibly be hurt by what I said. Could he? No he used me for sex, plus I'm dating his best friend.

"Because, I'm dating your best friend. I'm dating Ian and your dating Brittany." I say. I swallow against the nasty taste in my mouth from say the word out loud. Why does it hurt so much having this conversation with him?

"So. I can break up with Brittany, and you can break up with Ian. We could be together." Josh pleads. Did he just say he wants to be with me?

"Do you know how bad it'll look if we break up with somebody the same day and start going out?" I ask. "I just got here Josh, I'm not going to be classed as a player for dumping Ian then dating the schools biggest player."

"But,"

"Look, I like you Josh, your okay for an annoying jerk, but I like Ian also." I grab Josh's hand and can't help but feel a tingle in my hands. "Just please, let me figure everything out."

"Okay." Josh says. I breath a sigh of relief and walk around the breakfast bar, pulling Josh into a hug.

"Thank you." I say as I press my face into the crook of his neck, breathing in my strawberry soap. "Did you use my soap?" I ask, pulling away from him.

"Yes, did you expect me to show up to school smelling of sex and sweat?" Josh gives my an are-your-stupid look, causing me to roll my eyes.

"I hope you have cologne or Brittany's gonna know you spent the night with a girl." I shake my head, a small smile on my face thinking about Brittany breaking up with Josh.

"I have some in the car." Josh shrugs. I grab my phone and walk over to my coat and purse.

"We're gonna be late, come on." I lock the front door behind me and head to my car, finally noticing Josh's car parked in front of the house, right on the curve. How did I not notice that?

"See you at school." I wave to josh before getting in my car and shutting the door. I have no idea how I'm going to lie to Ian. How am I suppose to keep what happened last night a secret?

I just started my life in California and I've already messed up two relationship. I just hope it can stay a secret till I move again.