Zoey's POV
After hanging up with Emery, I decided to just lay back and relax.
But then, I get a FaceTime call from Clare. I click the answer button.
"Hey," I say.
"Hola mi amiga," she says.
I laugh.
"Your laugh is so freaking retarded," she says.
"Hey! Some people think it's cute," I say.
"Yeah, I'm sure your boy toy thinks it is," she says.
"Clare, this seriously needs to stop. Emery and I are just friends. But, you're right he told me it was cute," I say.
"You're blushing. I know you like him. Why are you denying it? You can trust me," she says, being serious.
"I have to go. My parents will be home any minute," I say.
"Zoey, I know you like him. I just think you're trying to push your feelings away," Clare says, concerned.
I look down and say, "I have to go. Bye."
"But-," she says, but I hang up, cutting her off.
I throw my phone on my bed, put a pillow over my face, and scream.
Ricky bursts into my room and takes the pillow off of my face.
I sits down next to me and says, "What happened?"
"Nothing," I say, covering my face with my hands.
Ricky takes my hands off of my face and lays down next to me.
"What's wrong Zoey?" he asks, concerned, just like Clare was.
"It's nothing Ricky. You wouldn't understand," I say.
"Zoey, I'm your twin brother, your built-in best friend. I'll understand. Please tell me. I can't stand it when you're sad," he says.
"It's-it's-it's E-e," I can't even get his name out before I start crying.
Ricky hugs me and says, "What happened with Emery?"
"Nothing happened with him, it's just I don't know what I feel towards him anymore," I say through the tears.
Ricky releases me a little to look at me and says, "What do you mean?"
I wipe my tears and say, "I think I'm in love with Emery."
Ricky looks at me, speechless.
I close my eyes and lean onto his chest. He wraps his arms around me.
After a few moments of silence, Ricky says, "You do love him. I can see it in the way you look at him and in the way you act towards him. Don't question it anymore. You've loved him all along."
"But, Ricky, you don't get it. I can't afford to lose him if something goes wrong between us," I say.
"Some people are worth the chance of losing," he says.
I hug him tighter and say, "What would I do without you Ricky?"
He says, "I ask myself the same question about you everyday."
He releases me and wipes the rest of my tears away.
"So, what do I do?" I ask my brother.
"Try to show him how much you like him. Make him want you too. Flirt with him. My only request is for you not to do it in front of me. I think I would actually die if I saw my sister and my best friend flirting more than you two already do," he says.
I laugh.
We talk a little more, and he eventually leaves my room.
•skip to the next day•
I wake up, and the first thing on my mind is Emery.
I get up, wash my face, brush my hair, braid my hair, and get changed into my Nike sports bra, a zipper up sweatshirt, and leggings.
I get my phone from the charger, plug my earphones into it, and FaceTime him.
He immediately picks up.
"Hey," I say.
"Hey- um what are you wearing?" he asks, his eyes almost bugging out of his head.
"Oh, I was just about to go on a run, but decided to call you first," I say.
"Oh," he says, trying to play it off cool.
"I could run by your house if you want," I say, biting my lip and twirling my hair.
He nods really fast and says, "I-I'd like that."
I smile and say, "Okay."
He swallows hard and, trying to constrain himself, says, "So, your parents are still letting you go on your runs?"
"Yea, but don't tell them that I'm stopping by your house," I say, winking at him.
I use my pop socket to steady my phone on my bed. Then, I reach both of my arms up above my head to stretch, letting Emery see my abs and the bottom of my breasts as my bra lifts a little bit.
In my peripheral vision, I see him watching intently. I also see his face become very red.
I turn my head back to my phone and say, "So, I should be over in about thirty minutes."
"O-okay. I'll see you then," he says with his eyes closed.
"Em, are you okay?" I ask, biting my lip to hide my laugh.
He opens his eyes and says, "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Okay, I'll see you soon," I say.
I then kiss the camera, squeezing my arms together, so he can see my cleavage.
He just sits there for a few seconds until he says, "Okay, I'll see you then."
He kisses the camera. We wave to each other and hang up. I take my earphones off and put my phone into my pocket.
I put on my sneakers, and I walk out of my room, laughing. I knock on Ricky's door.
"Come in," he says.
I open the door to see him laying in his bed.
"What're you laughing about?" he asks.
"You-you should've seen Emery's face when I called him, dressed in this," I say through the laughs.
He sits up and says, "Good, see you're getting to him."
"Yep, and now I'm going on a run. Plus I'm stopping by his house to drive him even more crazy," I say with a big smile on my face.
"Ooh, you're breaking the rules. I'm so proud," Ricky says, impressed.
"You better not tell mom and dad," I say.
"Don't worry. I won't," he says.
"Okay. I'll see you later," I say and wave goodbye to him and head outside.
I put my earphones back in and start playing my playlist as I jog down the block.
I get to Emery's house and there's sweat dripping all down my body.
I ring the doorbell and after a few seconds he answers it.
He moves out of the way so I can enter.
"Hey," I say, hugging him.
"Hey," he says, hugging me back.
"Sorry, I'm a little sweaty," I say, still hugging him.
"It's okay. I missed this," he says, hugging me even tighter.
We let go a few minutes later, and I say, "Let's go up to your room."
He nods, and we go upstairs.
I sits on the edge of his bed, while I walk around his room.
"So what've you been doing the past few days?" I ask him.
"Nothing much," he answers, watching me intensely.
"Nice," I say, looking at the pictures of us on his wall.
I take my sweatshirt off and place it on his desk chair. I go sit next to him and take his hand in mine. I lean my head on his shoulder, and he leans his head on mine.
"I missed you," he says.
"I missed you too," I say.
"There's something else I missed a little too," he says.
I lift my head up and say, "A little?"
"Maybe a little more than a little," he says.
I let go of his hand and climb on top of him. I put my arms around his neck, and I crash my lips onto his. His arms go directly around my waist, and he runs his fingers up and down my sides.
I push him down on the bed and lean my core onto his. He moans loud and bites my lip hard, which makes me also moan loud. I open my mouth, and he massages my tongue with his.
He flips us over and grinds on me, and I meet his grinds with mine.
I grip the bottom of his shirt and start lifting it. When it gets to his head, we release each other's lips to get it off. As soon as it's off, he attacks me again with his lips.
I kick off my shoes and wrap my legs around his waist.
He grabs onto my legs, turns us over, and sits us up.
He takes out my braid and runs his fingers through my hair.
I pull on his baby hairs, and he moans again.
He releases my lips and kisses down my neck. He finds my sweet spot and sucks on it hard.
I lay him down and kiss up his chest. When I get to his collarbone I suck on it.
"Z-Zoey," he moans.
I finish, leaving a big hickey on his collarbone and lay down next to him.
"You messed up my hair," I say, slapping his chest.
I get up and go to the mirror on the back of his door to fix my hair.
He comes up behind me and hugs me from behind.
"Between you and me, I like it better this way," he whispers in my ear.
I turn around and press my self onto him.
"And between you and me, I like you better without a shirt, babe," I say, dragging a finger down his chest.
He rests his hands on my butt and leans down to kiss me. I kiss back, then pull away and bite my lip.
He lets go of me and says, "God, you need to stop doing that," while running his hand through his hair. He sits on the edge of his bed again.
I open his legs and sit on one of them, with my legs in between his. "Stop doing what?" I ask, innocently, biting my lip again.
"Zoey," he screams, closing his eyes.
I peck his lips and say, "Yes, Em?"
He huffs a laugh and picks me up, placing me on the bed. He stands up to look at me.
I stretch again, just like I did on FaceTime. His face becomes so red that he turns around.
He opens his drawer and grabs one of my shirts.
I lean back on my hands.
He turns back around and inhales loudly. He approaches me with the shirt and puts it on me.
I look at him with an 'are you serious' look.
"You're kidding right?" I ask Emery.
"Zoey, I just don't feel comfortable with you dressed like that," he says, looking down.
Emery's POV
I couldn't live with her dressed like that. I had to hold myself back so I wouldn't go further than making out with her.
"Okay..." she says, then pauses.
"I know you're lying," she says, getting up and pushing me up against the wall.
"I'm not lying. I don't like it when you're dressed inappropriately," I say.
"Oh, shut the fuck up. You were perfectly fine with it before," she screams.
"Maybe I was fine with it, but I'm not anymore. What's the difference?" I scream.
"The difference is tha-that," she stutters.
"You have no right to tell me what I'm okay with," I scream.
"And you have no right to tell me what to wear," she screams back.
"Well you shouldn't even be here in the first place. You're grounded," I scream.
She laughs. "I knew it," she then says, backing up.
"What? What did you know?" I scream, walking closer to her.
"I knew this was never going to work. I knew we were gonna mess this up somehow. And now it's happening," she screams, on the verge of tears.
"Zoey, what are you saying?" I ask.
"I'm saying this is over. The deal, our friendship, everything is over," she screams and grabs her sweatshirt.
She runs down the stairs and to the door, while I follow her.
"Zoey, stop," I say.
Without even turning around, she opens the door and says, "Goodbye Emery."
She runs out of the house and down the block.
I slam the door.
I just lost the best thing in my life.
Chapter 18 Author's Note:
Thanks so much for reading. Please comment your favorite line, leave your overall comments below, vote, recommend, and follow for updates. Thank you, again. ❤
IMPORTANT INFORMATION AHEAD: I love this book to death, and I'm sad to say it's coming to a close. The twentieth chapter will be the last chapter. But, I'm happy to announce there will be a second book, continuing this story. After chapter twenty, I will post a preview of the next book.