Since Summers

thirty eight : late

"Like what?"

"Like they were about to kiss," I finally said it. Faith was about to open her mouth but I lifted one hand to prompt her. "I couldn't see him but I saw her. I know that look on her face. Fuck! She used to look at me that way, Faith."

"Oh, Ty." Faith put her arms around me and gave me a hug as she rested her head on my shoulder.

"And it hurt. It hurt so badly." It really did. It felt like I just lost an arm; like there was a part of me that cracked open and would never heal. It felt like I just lost my soulmate. Autumn and I had fought before but never like this. This time it felt like I lost her forever and the worst thing was there was nothing I could do about it. Not when I was still tied with this Italian mafia.

"You know what sucks?" I didn't wait for Faith to reply as I continued, "I could not blame her because it's all on me. I pushed her away and I pushed her too far."

"No, Ty. Don't blame yourself. You did this to protect her." Faith sighed. "And I'm sure she will understand. Not right now, of course, but after this is all over."

"What if there's no 'after'?" I ran my hand through my hair frustratedly. "What if I'm losing her forever?"

Faith gave a small smile. "You won't."

I tilted my head up, locking my eyes with hers as I desperately needed her reassurance. "Why not?"

"Because if she loves you, if she really does love you, she would take you back."

A part of me wanted to believe that but a bigger part told me that this was bullshit. Nonetheless, I kept my mouth shut because I knew at this point, there was no point to argue with a friend. Especially when that friend had just reunited with her love not long ago. Someone who had a miracle happened in their lives would always be optimistic but just because it happened to them did not mean that it would happen to me. Just like always, I let this thought consume me.

SUMMERS

I didn't know how it had happened. One minute I was flaunting my arms, trying my best not to fall into the swimming pool, but the next minute I was wrapped in his arms as we both broke the water's surface, splashing water everywhere. Standing right in the pool with water drenching both of our clothes, our eyes locked and I knew. I just knew that the inevitable was going to happen no matter how hard I tried not to let it get to me, no matter how hard I told myself that he was just a friend. He looked at me like he was going to kiss me. His eyes fixated on my mouth as he leaned forward, slowly and painfully closing the gap between our lips. Yet on the last second when our lips were a thread way, he threw himself backward and grinned.

"I can't believe you got me inside the pool!" Frazier shook his head, pretending everything that had happened in the last two minutes was nothing.

I returned his smile. "Yeah. Being clumsy and all. I really hate wearing high heels. It's a pain and now I'm wet!"

His smile turned mischievous. "You're wet, huh?"

Despite everything else, I blushed. I could feel the warmth in my cheeks and nearly cursed myself. I had heard at least a dozen innuendos before and I usually was able to give a proper comeback without a sweat but here I was, blushing and gaping like a fish out of the water.

"Come on. Let's get inside before we freeze ourselves to death." Frazier took my hand and helped me get out of the pool.

The second my body was out of the water, I felt the chills all over my skin. We managed to get to the elevator and he pressed the call button. "We can't go back to the party like this." Frazier took off his blazer, squeezed the water from it then draped it over my shoulders.

I was going to agree with him but I remembered my most important duty here. "No. I have to go back to the rehearsal. I am one of the bridesmaids." Looking down at my dress, I knew I did not have to find a mirror to realize how horrible I must have looked. "Maybe we can go back to my house, get a change, then come back here."

"Where's your house?" The elevator door slid open and he motioned me to get inside. I stepped into the elevator and told him the address. He shook his head. "That's too far. By the time you come back, the rehearsal will be over."

He was right. Damn it! But what other choice did I have?

"You know what," he fished his phone, which was surprisingly still alive, out and dialed a set of numbers, "why don't we check into one of the rooms here? We can send the clothes for laundry and wait. Once they send our clothes back, we can get dressed and then rejoin the party. I am sure it will not take more time than if we were to go back to your house."

It made sense. "Okay." I gave him a nod.

"Hi," Frazier talked to someone on the phone. "This is Frazier Ronan. I need to borrow a room. Yeah, a suite will be fine. No, don't trouble yourself. I am already on my way downstairs, I'll get the key from the front desk. Thank you."

"What's wrong?" I asked once he ended the call and shoved his phone into his front pocket.

"Uh, they want to send the key but I told them we'll pick it up." Frazier turned to face me and put his hands on my shoulders. "Are you okay? Are you feeling cold?" His hands slid down to my arm, rubbing up and down to make some warmth. "Maybe I should've told them to send the key."

"No, it's fine." I was still feeling a little overwhelmed by the fact that we had almost kissed. Not once but twice today. I knew I cared for him. How could I not? He had been so kind and helped me ever since Tyler bailed. I also knew that he used to have a crush on me and I was not sure whether he had it or not but my heart told me I should not lead him on so I faked a cough and took a step backward. He seemed to notice it as he did the same and leaned his back on the wall of the elevator. "They told you they're going to send the keys to you? Wow, I didn't know this hotel has great service. I thought people usually have to go to the front desk and sign the documents or something."

Frazier did not say anything but answered me with a smile.

* * *

© All Rights Reserved 2018 AgathaRoza

a/n: phew~! finally, I managed to complete this chapter! I know not everyone likes it - especially those who ship Ty and Autumn, but I cannot make everyone happy. There will always people who like it and there some who don't. What I can tell you is that this is chapter 32, not 40. There are eight more chapters before this second book is finally completed. Some of you who talked to me on Twitter/here but through PM probably know that I plan on making Book Three, but for now, with so many books I have to finish, I will focus on completing this first before thinking about future plans/books.

What I really want is to finish this one and re-write BAD CROWN BOYS (you know, the story about the five hottest guys of Carlton High, Autumn & Ty's juniors, remember?) That book will be written in a slightly different style as I will treat it as a "TV series" instead of a novel. It will be more of a script. I know I am a noob writer but I am trying to explore. Who knows one day I can be a TV producer (dream on, IKR) XD

have a great week, my angels! I hope you enjoy this chapter! Make sure you vote if you like this chapter and also lemme know your thoughts in the comments! You know how many comments booze me to write and update asap ;) loads of pizza, agatha x