Dangerous Secrets (Dangerous Series: Book 1)

Chapter 18 - Waterfall love confession

"No, but he texted me."

"What?"

"That he wanted to meet up and explain the situation."

Stella could feel Ben's body tense up.

"Did you answer?" Stella shook her head and Ben's exhale in relief. "Can I see your phone?"

Stella reached for her phone on the nightstand, unlocked the screen and gave it to Ben.

"Please don't read the older texts, it's private."

"Yeah of course," Ben said as he grabbed the phone. He quickly checked Stella's texts, threw her phone to the end of the bed and gave her a ton of kisses on the cheeks. He was obviously happy with what he saw. Stella laughed and jokingly tried to push him away. "Sorry Stells, I just had too double check. I'm a control freak."

Diana and Ed's wedding was only a few days away and it showed in Diana's mood. They were going to have the wedding at the beach house, just a small ceremony with the family and the closest friends. Ever since they made that decision she started to question the position of every furniture and decor in the house.

Luckily Ed only laughed and said "the bride is always right". He didn't even get annoyed when Diana wanted to switch places on the downstairs and upstairs sofa, only to switch back the next day.

Stella and Ben wanted to take their minds off the wedding, so they convinced Ed and Diana to come on a boat trip with them. When Ben came with the idea by the breakfast table Ed looked like a small kid on Christmas day.

It was still early morning, but the weather was already warm, so they decided to take the boat to a beach club nearby. It was a fancy place with white interior design and more employees than guests.

The manager at the beach club recognised Ed and Ben from a far distance and welcomed them with open arms. The other guests were treated like royalty, but they were treated like gods.

Stella, Ben, Diana and Ed had a private area at the beach. They had sunbeds, snacks, drinks and two people tending to their every need. Although they all had a private sunbed, Ed laid next to Diana and Ben next to Stella.

Everything was perfect, there was nothing Stella could complain about, but it all felt fake. She couldn't enjoy it, instead she had this itch inside her that made it hard to be still. It didn't make things better that there was a group of girls to their right that were helping each other taking an endless amount of pictures. They switched poses, used different kinds of backgrounds and sometimes even shared the spotlight with each other and pretended to laugh in front of the camera. It was a wonderful day at the beach and all they could focus on was how to get as many likes as possible.

"It's like watching monkeys at a zoo right?" Ben whispered in her ear and nodded towards the girls next to them.

"Yeah, but in expensive designer swimwear," Stella answered and they laughed. She thought it was weird how he thought they were weird when his girlfriend, Tessa, could be their leader.

"Hey, do you wanna get out of here?" Ben had a mischievous look in his eyes.

"What do you mean?" Stella asked, but another wave of fake laughs from the girls made her answer easy. "Wait, it doesn't matter - yes, please take me away from here."

Ben nodded his head as a sign for her to follow him. He got up from the bed and held up the rope surrounding the beach club for Stella to slip under. Ed and Diana were sound asleep in each other's arms and didn't notice when Stella tied Winston's leash to their sunbed or when they sneakes away.

Ben took the lead and started walking towards the forest next to the beach.

"Where are we going?" Stella asked.

"You'll see," Ben answered without slowing down.

Stella was excited, it felt like they were on an adventure. Just a short way into the forest they reached a path that had a sign that said "Warning! Restricted Area". She gave Ben a worried look, but he only laughed and kept on going.

Stella heard the sound of water again. It was like a powerful flud. It was like the sound made something inside Ben click. He started running and Stella did her best to keep up. All of the sudden he made a jump and screamed in a liberating way. She stopped in shock, and that's when realised she was standing on the edge of a waterfall.

Stella peaked down the waterfall and could see Ben swimming in the water below her.

"Come on Stells - jump!"

"No way! I barely know how to swim."

"Don't worry - I'm here! I won't let anything bad happen to you!"

Stella had an internal struggle. She wanted to jump down the waterfall, it looked amazing. But she was still afraid of the water since Tessa pushed her from the cliff and the waterfall sounded powerful. Suddenly, out of nowhere from the clear blue sky, it started to rain. It felt like a sign from mother nature that she shouldn't be afraid of the water.

Stella closed her eyes, took a deep breath and then she made a leap of faith. When her feet left the cliff it felt like she was flying and then the water consumed her like a warm hug. When she came up to the surface again she felt like a new person that could do anything.

Ben laughed and clapped his hands. He looked at her proudly.

"It's you," Ben said with a serious, soft voice.

"What do you mean?" Stella asked.

Instead of answering her question he swam up to her, gently put his hands on her body, pushed her body close to his and kissed her. It was not fiery and passionate like the last time, it was soft and tender.

"You're the one. I love you."

The words felt like a cold shower. A few days ago those words would have been a dream come true for Stella, but now they confused her. She loved Tristan, he was the only one for her, but she didn't want to rock the boat with Ben. Besides, she loved him as well. Not the way he loved her, but as a friend, as a brother.

"I love you too," she answered and Ben kissed her again. Stella carefully pushed him away. "What about Tessa? Is it over between the two of you?"

"No, not yet."

"We can't do anything before it's over between you. It's not right."
"Yeah, you're right. You're the one I want to be with, there's no doubt about that, but it's complicated. I've been with Tessa for so long and I really care about her, I don't want to hurt her feelings."

"Don't worry. There's no stress, it's better to be careful and do it right."