Chapter 21
Laying on the lounge chairs near the pool, I stared up at the sky.
The sunset was so breath-taking to watch.
The orange and pinkish colors illuminated the entire sky.
Nobody was around, not even in the pool.
The silence was peaceful. There wasn’t complete silence though—negative thoughts kept intruding my mind.
I tried to count the number of stars I could see, distracting my mind further.
It was a good enough distraction until the sun finished setting. Then I snapped back to reality. Ayden was mad at me. I implied that I loved Hero more than him, straight to his face. Why did I do that?
Also, I couldn’t help but wonder what Ayden meant earlier. He needed to hate Hero? What could that mean?
“Pepper?” a voice said, snapping me out of my rambling thoughts.
I jolted up, startled. It was Hero. He was wearing swim shorts.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said. “There’s some event going on where people have a chance to win money, so I figured nobody would be up here.”
“I didn’t hear about that happening,” I said. “How come you didn’t join it?”
“Waste of time,” he said, shrugging it off. “Too many people joined, so it’s a low probability of winning.”
“I think it’s worth a shot,” I said, crossing my legs. “Maybe I should join.”
“Don’t,” he said quickly, then cleared his throat. “I mean do it if you really want to… but doesn’t swimming sound more fun?” He moved closer to the pool.
“Is this your attempt of distracting me from Ayden?”
“He’s a jerk.” He moved away from the pool, walking closer to me. He stood over me and extended his hand. “C’mon.”
“You’re serious?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” He tilted his head.
“I’m not wearing a bathing suit, I can’t just—”
He lifted me off the lounge chair, putting me over his shoulders.
“Put me down!” I screamed, hitting his back.
“If you say so…” He headed towards the pool.
“ON THE GROUND.”
He threw me into the pool, laughing. I hadn’t heard him laugh in a while. I forgot how attractive his laugh was. I didn’t want him to stop laughing.
I rose to the surface, inhaling and pushing my wet hair out of my face. “You got my clothes all wet!”
He continued to laugh that stupidly handsome laugh.
I playfully rolled my eyes, then swam to the edge of the pool. “Your turn, pretty boy.” I reached for his hand and pulled him into the pool.
He went up to the surface, and his wet hair was the main thing I was focused on. He pushed his wet hair back, revealing his forehead. I loved being able to see his entire face.
He looked like he had something on his mind but wasn’t sure if he wanted to say it.
“What?” I asked.
“Why did you…” He trailed off.
“Why did I pull you in?” I took a guess.
“No, not that.” He looked away.
“Tell me.”
“You…called me pretty boy,” he muttered.
“Oh.” I chuckled nervously. “I was just teasing you.”
“Yeah, but that phrase refers to someone who is attractive,” he said. “Nobody uses that unless they think the person is attractive or they themselves think that they’re attractive.”
“Well, you don’t think you’re attractive?” I asked, fidgeting with my wet hair.
“You know I don’t.”
Fair. He was always insecure of his looks, especially his forehead. I never understood why.
“Well, what do you want me to say?” I asked nervously. “That I find you attractive? You already know that.”
“Do you still?” He searched for the answer in my eyes. “After all this time? I told you not t—”
“It’s not just attraction, Hero,” I cut him off, my voice cracking. “It’s love.”
He stayed silent for a moment. “W-what about Ayden?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s just not…you.”
“So, you don’t love him?”
“I…” I paused. “I guess not. I’ve always loved you. Always comparing him to you, always defending you. It’s always been you.”
“Pepper, I don’t know how to say this…”
“I know,” I interjected. “You don’t like me back. It’s fine. I just had to tell you.”
“I don’t know how you’ve never noticed, but Pepper, I really like you.” He paused, looked down, then looked back up. “Since…a long time ago. I liked you when you confessed from the truth serum, I liked you when—”
He liked me back?
“Whoa, what?” I cut him off. “You liked me when I confessed? Why would you not say anything? Why would you lead me to believe that you didn’t like me?”
“Because I don’t deserve you, Pepper!” he exclaimed.
“You’re this ball of sunshine, you’re beautiful, you’re everything a guy wants in their life.
And I’m just… me. A freak.” He paused. “I was jealous when you got with Ayden, but I really didn’t show it because I knew he was the better option for you. ”
“No, you’re wrong,” I exhaled. “You do deserve me. I wanted it to be you.”
He looked away, breathing heavily. “Was Ayden just a distraction to you?”
I shook my head quickly. “I like him. I do. But I don’t love him.” I gazed deeply into his dark brown eyes. “I can only love you.”
Hero leaned his arms against the edge of the pool and gazed up into the sky. “This isn’t fair to him, y’know?”
“I know,” I said quickly. “Look, I can break up with—”
“Whoa, no,” he cut me off, looking at me. “That will create drama.”
“Have you been living under a rock?” I asked incredulously. “People are trying to get you arrested, and not to mention that you quite literally scratched Ayden today.”
He swallowed. “Don’t you see? I’m not good for you, Pepper. What if I hurt you?”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Yes, I would!” he yelled incredulously, swimming closer to me. “Stop blocking out the fact that I almost killed you last year!”
“It’s decided, Hero. I am breaking up with Ayden.” I extended my hand to him. “Now it’s your choice whether you want to be with me.”
He stared at me for a moment before pulling me by the waist. We were mere inches apart. He used his other hand to move the loose strands of my braided hair behind my ears. His hands were trembling. “Pepper, I want that more than anything in this world.”
Was this actually happening?
Was the love of my life going to be my boyfriend?
“You’re a hundred percent sure?” he asked, looking directly into my eyes. “You’re a hundred percent sure you want to be with me, Pepper?”
“I have never been more certain about anything in my life.”
He grabbed the back of my head and crashed his lips against mine.
My first kiss.
The one I didn’t have with Ayden. The one I couldn’t have with Ayden. Because it had to be Hero.
It was him or no one.
He pulled away, breathing heavily. “That was my first kiss.”
My eyes widened. It was his first kiss too? I assumed he had kissed Violet before. How come he didn’t kiss her?
“I’m guessing by your reaction, you didn’t know?” he asked, lightly chuckling.
“Yeah. It was my first kiss too,” I admitted.
“What?” he asked, shocked. “You’ve never kissed Ayden?”
“It never felt like the right time.” I stared at him. “With you, it feels right.”
He pulled me closer again, kissing me. I wrapped my arms around his neck, his arms wrapped around my waist, lifting me up a few inches. After the kiss, we rested our foreheads against each other’s.
“Will you be my girlfriend?” he officially asked.
Those words. Those five words I never thought I’d hear out of his mouth.
“Yes!” I exclaimed, hugging him tightly. He wrapped his arms tightly around my back.