Avery #3
“You want me?” I ask her, tension choking the air.
She nods. “I have, since tenth grade. "’ve spent four years trying to make you hate me. I figured if I could make you the villain, I wouldn't have to admit that I’ve been in love with you since the tenth grade.”
Her revelation is shocking. Harper starts crying now, throwing her face into her hands. “I tried to hard to hide it. I thought it’d go away if you hated me. I know, I’m so pathetic.”
I reach out, touching her shoulder. “It’s okay.” I never thought I’d be consoling my bully someday. “Does anyone else know?”
“No,” she admits. “I have no idea how my parents will react when they find out. This business merger…marriage with Marcus is all they talk about.” I understand why she’s this way now.
She goes on, meeting my eyes, “I…hated how free you were, Avery. I hated that you could be open about your sexuality while I felt like a failure because I liked you. You were beneath me in every level—looks, wealth, personality—but I couldn’t stop being drawn to you.
The more I liked you, the weaker I became.
So, I started bullying you. I wanted to hurt you because you made me feel things. ”
The admission hits me like a physical blow. The "deal," the thesis theft, the bullying—it was all a frantic attempt to bury a truth that was too dangerous to tell.
“I’m sorry,” she says, sniffing. “I should’ve said that to you a long time ago.
” I look at the sketches she has made of me.
“I saw everything you did; remembered every detail. You were the one thing I couldn’t have.
The irony is, the more I bullied you, the deeper I fell.
” She lets out a choked laugh. “You must think I’m crazy. ”
“Liking someone isn’t a bad thing, Harper. Bullying someone because you like them is.”
“I know,” she says in a low voice. “I was so confused about my feelings. I wanted to make them go away, to make you go away. My secret was like a ticking time bomb. Nobody could find out, least of all you.” She laughs brokenly. “But it’s too late for that, isn’t it?”
A moment of silence falls between us, making all the air disappear.
There’s nothing except the awareness of Harper, her hair wet, her body naked under the robe, her glassy eyes staring at me.
And I realize that I’m attracted to her too.
As crazy as it sounds, I’ve started to see Harper in a new light over the past few weeks.
“You…like me?” I hazard. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“Didn’t you hear anything I said? I don’t want anyone to know I like girls.
Besides, I bullied you throughout high school.
I didn’t think you’d welcome my confession with open arms.” She looks up through her wet lashes and says, “I’m sorry.
” She turns her face away. “I should’ve said that to you a long time ago. I’m sorry, Avery.”
I don’t know how to greet her confession. I can’t forgive her yet, but the draw to her is like a moth to a flame. Time ticks away, as I make a strange decision in my head. To cross the distance; to touch the flame that can burn me.
“Would you like to kiss me?” I surprise both of us by asking. Harper’s face snaps up, her jaw dropping.
“Avery…” I can see the conflict in her eyes. The sketchbook lies open between us, a testament to her feelings. “I’ve never kissed a girl before.”
I push her sketchbook away and lean over. “I could be your first.”
It’s a temptation Harper struggles to resist. I expect her to flinch, to push me away, to revert to the monster, but instead, she leans over, meeting me halfway.
Her soft palms cup my jaw as her feather-light lips meet mine in a kiss.
I press my lips against hers and burn down all the walls that have kept us apart for so many years.
Harper moans, deepening the kiss as our mouths collide.
I grab her, and she grabs me, one hand snaking around my neck and pushing into my hair as she straddles my lap, my hands on her hips.
Our mouths meet in an explosive collision, a disaster from which there’s no going back.
It’s so hot, I can’t bring myself to regret it.
Harper’s mouth is messy, desperate, and tastes like years of repressed longing and mutual resentment.
It’s the sound of a gilded cage finally shattering.
Harper gasps against my lips, her body melting into mine as I pull her flush against my body.
Her long legs are exposed, wrapping around my waist as she clings to me like I’m her lifeline.
The kiss is so good. The kind of hate fuck movies talk about. Except, in that moment, I don’t hate Harper Price at all. I’m consumed by her.
“Oh god,” she whispers, taking in a breath before our lips fuse again.
My tongue delves into her mouth, tarnishing my bully with my taste.
Her tongue tangles in mine, and I taste bubblegum and desire.
As I lose myself in her, I wonder why it took my so long to do this.
Because after tonight, there’s no way I can go back to what we used to be.