"Oh, Bryce, you know I'm playing," Addison said, resting her head on his shoulder.
I zoned out of the conversation as I stared at Josh and Nessa. Part of me knew that I had to move on, but the other part of me just couldn't let it go. He looked up at me, meeting my stare and causing me to look away, embarrassed at getting caught.
As dinner ended, Josh stayed in the kitchen to help me with the dishes. "Can we talk real quick, Bailey?" he asked, drying as I washed.
"Sure, what's up, Josh?" I replied, nervously scrubbing at the plate in my hand.
"What was that about? At dinner?" he asked.
Play dumb, Bailey. "What do you mean? Why did I make dinner? I was hungry, and Bryce said that none of you know how to cook."
I could see Josh shake his head in my peripheral vision. "You and I both know that that isn't what I'm talking about."
"Cant say I do, Josh."
Josh sighed. "When you were staring. What was that about?"
It was my turn to sigh. "Oh, that? I just zoned out."
Josh grabbed the plate out of my hand. "That's clean. Now, look at me."
I looked up at him. As I looked into his gorgeous blue eyes, I struggled to think straight. "Yes, Josh?"
"Did I do something to upset you?" he asked me, putting a hand on my chin to ensure that I wouldn't look away.
I shook my head gently. "No, but it's stupid. I can't tell you. It's something I have to take care of by myself."
"You know that I'm here for you, right? You're like my little sister."
Ouch. "Yeah, I know. Thanks, Josh. You should go find Nessa. I'll finish up here."
"Okay. You know where my room is if you need to talk."
Tears filled my eyes as I finished up the last few dishes. I knew that it was a long shot, but his words stung like a knife. I sank into a chair at the kitchen table, exhausted.
Griffin walked into the kitchen. "Hey, Bailey. What are you doing in here? We're all watching a movie."
"I think I'm just going to go to bed," I replied, wiping the tears from my eyes.
"You okay?" he asked.
"I will be," I said, getting up and heading upstairs.
I lay in my bed, staring at the ceiling. What the hell was I doing? My phone buzzed with a text from Josh.
I rolled over, plugging my phone in. I would deal with my emotions in the morning. For know, it had been a very, very long day.
I woke up, confused at first about my surroundings. The events of the day before quickly came to mind. I got dressed for the day and walked down the stairs to find Blake and Bryce in the kitchen.
"You didn't wake up to get gains with us," Blake joked, handing me a protein shake.
"Don't have to be up before the sun to get gains, Blakey Blake," I replied, tousling his hair as I sat between him and Bryce. "Where is everyone?"
"Anthony is at the Hype House. Quinton is at Not a Content. Jaden's at the studio. Noah's filming at Dixie's. Kio's somewhere. Griffin is training. Josh said something about Nessa hanging out again today," Bryce replied.
"I'm gonna go work out," I said, groaning internally at the sound of Nessa's name.
I put my AirPods in, turning on my workout playlist. As I squatted, I felt someone tap me on the shoulder, causing me to jump.
"Whoa, calm down, Bails," Josh said, laughing.
"You scared me! What else was I supposed to do?" I asked, laughing too. "What are you doing out here? I thought you were supposed to hang out with Nessa today."
"Um, yeah. We were. We got into a fight last night, and it kind of spilled over into this morning. She asked to take another break. I just broke it off instead."
"Wait, what? You broke up with Nessa?"
He shook his head yes. "I love her, but I'm so tired of always arguing about stupid shit."
Don't you dare get your hopes up. "It will all be okay, Josh."
"I know. That's why I'm out here. Bryce says you're pretty good at making people feel better after a breakup."
I nodded. "It's kind of my specialty. My friends would call crying, and I had them laughing in mere hours."
"Then what the hell are we still doing out here?" he joked.
I chuckled and led him out front. "Get your keys, goofy. We're going shopping."
Josh groaned. "Shopping?"
"Not for clothes, for breakup party supplies. C'mon, we're burning daylight." I got in his car, sitting patiently while I waited for him to come back with the keys.
The drive was silent. I snuck a peek at him as he focused on the road. God, he was so cute. Focus, Bailey. Comfort him. Don't try to make a move.
We pulled into the Target parking lot. "Alright. You're the master. Teach me," he said, turning to look at me.
I nodded. "Quick question: do you trust me?"
Josh looked confused. "Yeah, why wouldn't I?"
"Good, let's go," I responded avoiding his question.
When we walked into the store, Josh was immediately distracted. "Come on, Joshua," I said, pulling on his hand. As we walked, he didn't let go. "Pick some snacks," I said, gesturing at the aisle in front of us. "One sweet, one salty."
I grabbed a box of microwave popcorn and a family size bag of peanut M&Ms and turned to see him carefully weighing his options. "It's not that serious, my guy." He chuckled, grabbing a bag of nacho cheese Doritos and a bag of sour gummy worms. "Perfect. Next stop, your favorite drink. Get something that always makes you feel better." I watched as he walked down the aisle slowly before choosing a case of blue Gatorade.
"Nice choice. Now, this is the most important part of the trip: we have to make a fool out of ourselves before we leave. Laughing at yourself is bound to make anyone feel better," I said, setting my phone up on the shelf in front of us.
"What are you doing?" he asked, clearly confused.
"You're a TikToker, aren't you?"
He laughed as he began to understand. "Say less."
We filmed almost a dozen TikToks before an employee asked us to pay for our items and leave.
"See? Wasn't that fun?" I asked, pulling out my debit card to pay.
Josh laughed. "It was. The look on that lady's face was priceless. I got this, though. It's the least I can do."
I shook my head. "You don't pay for your own breakup party. It's against breakup party rules."
We got back in the car. I expected the ride back to the house to be silent, but Josh turned the radio down and glanced at me.
"Bails, can we talk for a second?"
"Sure, what about?" I replied nervously.
"Bryce gave us all a warning before you got here."
I laughed. "A warning about what?"
"He doesn't want anyone to try to get with you."
I laughed again. "The only truly single people in the house are Kio and Griffin. Well, and you, now. Why is he so worried about it?"
I could sense the tension as the words left my mouth. "I may have told Bryce some things, when we came to see you in Maryland."
I sighed. "Like what, Josh?"
"Nessa and I had just broken up the first time. I was hurt and confused."
"Josh, what in the actual fuck are you talking about?" I asked, irritated that he was beating around the bush like this.
It was his turn to sigh. "You were funny, and smart, and kind, and so beautiful. I wasn't thinking straight, you know? After that visit, I realized it was weird. I mean, you're like my little sister. My very attractive little sister, but my little sister nonetheless."
"So, what exactly are you saying, Josh? Because I'm not quite sure that I understand what it is you're getting at."
"I like you, Bails. I know it's wrong. When I found out you were moving in, I told Nessa. That's what we fought about. I told her that nothing was going to happen because you aren't interested anyway, and she insisted, and she just kept insisting. I tried to tell her, but she didn't care," he replied, barely pausing to take a breath.
I interjected before he could say anything else. "You broke up with Nessa because of me?"
By now, we had pulled into the driveway. "Not because of you. Because I didn't like the way she talked about you. Like it was your fault that I'm in love with you."
"You-you're in love with me?" I asked, shaking.
"Shit, I just ruined our entire friendship. I'm sorry, Bailey," he said, getting out of the car and avoiding eye contact.
I met him in the front of the car and grabbed his hand as he tried to walk away from me.
"Did you mean everything that you just said?" I whispered, afraid that this was all some stupid joke.
He sighed and nodded. "Bryce made me promise not to tell you. He said-"
I cut him off, kissing him gently. I smiled as I pulled away. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
I didn't wait for an answer as I walked into the house. Jaden was waiting at the front door when I opened it. "I'm not going to tell Bryce, but I saw that," he said, crossing his arms over his chest.
Play dumb or admit it? "I don't know what you're talking about. We just went to the store. We're having a breakup party. You can join us if you want."
"Oh, yeah? Do breakup parties include sneaking kisses with your brother's best friend?"
Shit. "It wasn't what it looked like, Jaden. Why are you getting defensive over it?" I asked.
"Bryce specifically said that you were off limits. He didn't want to be put in a position to choose between his friends and his little sister. Besides that, he knows how all of us are. We're not bad people, but we all pretty much suck at relationships," he replied, his expression softening slightly.
"It's not like that," I sighed. "It was a one time thing. A mistake, honestly."
"A mistake? Wow, Bailey," Josh said behind me.
"Josh, wait! That's not what I meant!" It didn't matter what I had to say. He was already up the stairs, the door slamming shut behind him as he went into his room. I turned to face Jaden.
"Are you happy now? I just hurt the one person I love because you just couldn't let it go!" I sank to the ground, tears streaming down my face.
Blake turned the corner just then. "I heard everything. You really love Josh?"
I nodded. "When we met, he and Nessa had just broken up. We spent a lot of time together in Maryland. Bryce spent a lot of time catching up with friends from high school, and Josh didn't want to meet a whole bunch of people he would never see again. I fell for him, but I didn't know about him and Nessa breaking up. I kind of just told myself that I would get over it eventually."
Blake sat down next to me. "Did you tell him?"
"No," I began, wiping a tear from my face, "I didn't. He was going on and on in the car, talking about how telling me was ruining our friendship, and I kissed him. When I came inside, someone had to question me, and I panicked. He heard me, and now, he probably hates me."
Jaden sat down on the other side of me. "That was never my intention. I just don't want to see anyone get hurt."
"Yeah, well, it's a little late for that, isn't it?"