Bryce
Saturday evening.
I ate dinner, took a warm shower, and changed into a plain black shirt and azure plaid pajamas.
My gaze flew up on the wall-clock. 8:30pm. I don't sleep with damp hair, so I flopped down on the long plush sofa of my living room. I grabbed the remote control from the coffee table and aimed it at the flat screen TV. Click. Click. Click.
I had just put the remote down after settling for Wreck-It-Ralph when my phone rang next to me.
"What do you want?" I said without checking caller ID.
"Hello to you too, brother."
I chuckled upon hearing my twin's voice. "Seriously, why'd you call?"
"Nothing. Is it illegal to want to speak to my sibling?" joked Lucas.
"I'm about to retire in a few minutes," I said into the phone. "Say what you want to say."
He laughed quietly. "You never fail to make me feel welcome, bro.I just wanted to check on how you're doing. I can hear the television in the background. Is that Wreck-It-Ralph?"
"If you know it through a phone, you know it too well," I said into the receiver.
Lucas began to ramble on about his favorite Disney movies as I stood from the sofa and headed to the fridge, rummaged inside,then pulled out a cold can of apple-flavored soda. I stared at it.
Stacy uses apple-scented shampoo.
I wasn't being a creep. Her hair always smells like apples. I thought she'd use strawberry but do strawberries even have a scent? I made a mental note to buy real strawberries and find out.
"Bryce? You still there, bro?" asked Lucas from the other line.
"Yeah," I said before popping open the lid of the soda can, then taking a short swig of juice.
"You seem distracted," he remarked.
"I was just thinking," I improvised. "What to do about Heather."
Lucas gave a low whistle. "You think she's capable of more ploys?"
Raising the soda can in the air, I wiggled it left and right,my dark blue eyes browsing the exterior.
"Girls can be unpredictable." A heavy sigh escaped me. "It's hard to tell what they'll do next."
Lucas hummed in agreement. "Stacy.. she's really something, isn't she?"
"You mean sneaky and manipulative," I retorted dryly, leaning my back on the kitchen counter.
"Come on, dude. You know she's doing all this for a reason."
"Why are you defending her?" I demanded. "She's not even your type."
Lucas sighed through the phone. "No, she isn't. Listen, Bryce. I care about Sophia but Stacy's also my friend. We're all enduring hardships of life. You think I enjoy hurting people?"
"No," I replied before sipping my soda.
"That's why I'm praying that Stacy's right about how everything will eventually be okay. She's confident her plan won't backfire. And I know there's no guarantee in anything, but I don't give up that easily. And neither do you."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I snapped.
*Knock Knock Knock*
"Hold on. There's someone at the door," I said.
With one hand containing my soda can,I wedged my phone between my ear and shoulder, then trotted towards the door, reached for the knob, and swung it open.
Standing in the doorway with her arms crossed was a tall blonde girl with sky blue eyes and her full lips pressed in a straight line. She was dressed in a pink cardigan, white top, and inky blue jeans. She wore her silver half-heart necklace, as usual, and a pair of powder-pink flat shoes.
"Who is it?" asked Lucas. I almost forgot I was still on the phone.
"I'll call you back tomorrow." I took my phone from my shoulder and ended the call.
Stacy threw me a cold smile. The iciness in her eyes was enough to rival Elsa's winter.
"And what ill wind blew you here, Miss Sta. Ana?" I taunted her, folding my arms as well.
She looked at me sternly and said: "I wasn't going to let you have the last word, De Los Reyes."
"What the hell.. you came all the way here because of your pride?" I brushed past her and checked the hallway left and right, wondering if she had come here by herself.
"I'm alone, if you must know." I stepped back and glanced at her when she spoke.
"Are your parents aware you're here at my condo?"
"No," she answered with a self-satisfied smile. "I told them I was staying over at a classmate's house." The corners of her pink lips tugged up with humor, as though she had an inside joke.
I stared at her as she remained standing in the doorway, her arms still crossed over her chest.
"Are you coming in or not?" I asked her.
Stacy gave me a frown. "You haven't said anything.Is this an invitation?"
"In a way," I arrogantly told her. "Besides, it's not your first time here, isn't it?"
Her expression was blank and emotionless, but her sky blue eyes had glinted just the tiniest bit.
"I have no idea what the hell you're talking about," she muttered as she entered my condo.
"Sure you don't."
I furtively watched the tall blonde gingerly sat down on my long black sofa in the living room.
"Would you like a drink?" I inquired her. "Tea? Juice? Or Coffee?"
"Coffee would be great, thanks. Two sugars, if that's alright," she politely said.
I reached inside the wooden shelf for two white mugs and placed them on the counter. I started to fumble around the cupboard for packets of cream and sugar, but I couldn't find the latter.
"Give me a second," I grumbled as I rummaged inside the cupboard. "The sugar is missing."
Stacy called out: "Try the fifth cabinet. It might be crammed between two jars of milk."
I did as she suggested and victoriously plucked three small packets of sugar from the shelf.
"Got them," I exclaimed, then I stiffened in realization of what just happened.
Turning around, I saw Stacy gazing out the window, avoiding my searching gaze. "Stacy."
"What?" She craned her neck to look in my direction.
"How did you know the sugars were in the fifth cabinet?" I slowly asked the blonde.
The fair-haired 18-year old shrugged. "It was a lucky guess."
"'Lucky guess'?" I narrowed my eyes at her. "You also knew about the jars of milk!"
"It's common for people to store their sugar with their dairy products," she fired back.
Controlling my temper, I put down the packets on the counter, slid open a drawer, and picked up a small piece of paper from inside.
"It was you, wasn't it?" I walked towards her and slapped the sticky note on the coffee table.
Stacy plainly looked at the yellow paper in front of her. "I don't know what you mean."
"Quit playing games with me!" I looked at her crossly. "David, the security guard, and Marta, the concierge, had said it was a blonde in a pink headband who brought me here days ago!"
Her sky blue eyes stared at me. I hated how easily she hid her thoughts. "What does it matter?"
"You could have left me intoxicated at the pub," I said, standing opposite her. "Why didn't you?"
The coffee table was being sandwiched by us.
Stacy averted her gaze. "I don't know."
"You don't know, or you're too stubborn to admit you actually give a damn about my life?"
Her head shot up and her features were crumpled with pain--and vulnerability-something I never saw in her.
"Fine! Maybe I care. Maybe I wanted to make sure you were alright. And for your information, I came here to apologize for accusing you of something you didn't do." She rubbed both her palms along the contours of her face, lowering her hands to her lap. "I'm sorry." Her voice was subdued.
Stacy raised her sky blue eyes to my dark blue ones. She repeated: "I'm sorry ,Bryce. That's all I can say to you because I didn't have any right to say those things. We're just friends, right?"
At that point, I had rounded the coffee table and was standing too close to her. I stared at her. Before I could second-guess my actions, I reached over to tenderly cup her face in my hands. Then I kissed her.
Stacy
Everything seemed to happen in slow-motion.
One second, I was apologizing, and the next, I saw Bryce leaning towards me.
His mouth met mine gently at first, his fingers caressing my jawline in a way that tantalized.
He let go of my cheek as his hand cupped my chin and tilted my head to deepen our kiss.
I felt his tongue try to slip inside my mouth, making me gasp, allowing him to kiss me harder.
Gradually, my back touched the soft cushions of the black sofa. Bryce hovered over me, both his elbows sitting on either side of my waist. I ardently kicked off my pink flats, sending them flying across the living room.
My hands moved on their own and pulled fistfuls of Bryce's black shirt, tugging him down and closer to me. Our lips met, and I questioned myself how the hell I've been able to restrain myself from kissing him senseless despite so many opportunities to do so.
I kissed him feverishly. I felt my body tingle with so many sensations. My heart was pounding like crazy as my lips moved against his. They felt incredibly soft, sweet like apples, and they were unfairly addictive.
Bryce passionately kissed me back. I panted and moaned and cried out his name as I leaned my head back so he could continue kissing and nuzzling my neck. I was so lost in pleasure I didn't notice he had started to remove my pink cardigan off my shoulders, followed by my white tank top, then my blue jeans. I felt the cold air of the condo's air-conditioner on my bare skin.
My heart was hammering inside my chest as Bryce took off his shirt and pajamas. His chest was well-defined--as was the rest of his body. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him down to me, and he nibbled and sucked on my bottom lip as his hands explored my body.
He was everywhere at once, and all I could do was moan, shivering under the cold air and the feel of his skin pressing against mine as my hands clutched at his bare back. But I wasn't so far off euphoria that I didn't remember to be careful.
"Condom," I gasped out. Bryce nodded and left me for only a little while before returning, ripping open the foil packet and gritting his teeth as he smoothed the latex over himself.
I leaned up to kiss him, and suddenly he was over me, above me, around me and inside me.He trailed soft kisses from my collarbone down to my breasts down to my stomach, and I felt breathless under the warm touch of his lips.
He pulled back to look at me, his disheveled brown hair flopping onto his dark blue eyes.
"Stacy, I--"
"Shh.." I shushed him, grabbing the back of his neck and pulling him closer to me, kissing him. He let out a husky groan before moving inside me, saying my name over and over again.
I cupped my fingers gingerly over his nape as our kisses made my body grow hotter and hotter, and I shuddered when he kissed the place in my neck where my pulse beat was strongest.
I closed my eyes, knowing full well what a humongous mistake I had made. And yet at the moment, I didn't care. I was in love with Bryce, damn him. And tonight I just wanted to enjoy it before the cold light of day robbed me of this contentment once again.