"This is definitely the best party ever!" I shouted, turning toward my friends who stood at the poolside, wearing dumb grins. "Come on in!"

Sophia held her hands up. "No, thank you."

"We're getting something to eat," Daphne added. "Do you want some?"

I shook my head, laughing, and watched as they walked away, promising to return in a minute.

"Who knew jumping into an ice-cold pool would be the best part of my night?" I turned toward the voice and saw Kyle floating on his back, looking entirely too comfortable in the frigid water.

"It's not so bad once you embrace the freezing water." I shrugged.

Kyle's lips stretched into a mischievous grin, and something in his gaze made me uneasy. "Yeah... And how about drowning?"

"What?" My frown deepened, but my eyes widened in horror when he began swimming toward me. "Oh no, you don't!"

I paddled harder toward the edge, trying to outrun him, but he was fast. When I reached the ladder, I gripped it tightly, but his Cheshire grin was closing in on me.

"Kyle, no..." I warned, but he wasn't stopping. The glint in his eyes was too playful to take seriously.

Just as he reached for my ankle, a shadow loomed over us and his eyes darted up. He froze, and his smile faltered.

"Maybe next time," Kyle muttered, suddenly sprinting toward the other side of the pool.

Confused, I whipped my head around, wondering what had scared him off. My eyes dragged from the tips of his sneakers to the black shorts and t-shirt he was wearing, and then slowly up to his unreadable face.

"Well," Blake's voice broke through the silence, and a teasing smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "I think we can all agree that this party just got a lot more interesting."

I didn't have the energy to throw back a sarcastic reply so I ducked my head and climbed the ladder with shaky legs. The water cascaded off me in cold rivulets, and I tried to steady myself as my soaked clothes clung to my skin. The chill in the air hit me hard, and my teeth chattered uncontrollably as goosebumps prickled across my body.

I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to stop the tremors, and when I glanced at Blake he averted his gaze from me. I saw his Adam's apple bobbed as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Was it the alcohol making me see things, or did his cheeks just look a little... red?

"Come with me." He said in a rough tone. Before I could protest, he gripped my arm and yanked me inside the house.

I didn't know why I followed, but I did, almost like I was in a daze. Everyone else was lost in the frenzy of the pool party, laughing, splashing, and yelling, oblivious to us.

Blake led me upstairs without a word and stopped in front of a door. My jaw nearly dropped when I realized it wasn't just any room.

It was his room.

Clothes were scattered across the floor. T-shirts, shorts, and a hoodie thrown carelessly over the back of a chair. His bed was massive, a king-size monstrosity with rumpled sheets and a few pillows tossed haphazardly to one side. Against the far wall was a study table, cluttered with papers and an open laptop, probably full of unfinished schoolwork.

The room had a huge balcony window, and the curtains were drawn back to let in the night air. From here, I could hear the distant sounds of the party, voices carrying from the backyard.

I'm in Blake's BEDROOM!

Standing frozen in the middle of the room with water dripping off my body, I looked around and swallowed hard, as my mind raced to wild imagination.

He brought me to his room.

Why?

What's he trying to do-

"Here." His voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

He was holding a t-shirt and a towel toward me and not looking me in the eye. His jaw was set, and there was something strange about the way his hand extended slightly shook. It wasn't his usual confident demeanor.

I stared at the shirt in his hand, and then my gaze fell to my body. My soaked white shirt clung to me, the fabric nearly transparent in places, outlining the red bra I had on underneath. Heat crawled up my neck, and I scrambled to snatch the shirt and towel from his hand.

"T-thanks," I stammered, quickly hiding my dignity with the towel.

Blake turned his back to me, a silent invitation to change. I quickly pulled off my soaked top and tapped my wet hair and body with the towel, drying as much as I could, then slipped into the t-shirt he'd handed me.

The moment my arms slid through the sleeves, I glanced at Blake's stiffened back and my eyes catching the slight clenching of his fists. There was a subtle shift in his posture, like he was holding himself back from looking and his ears were tinged with the darkest shade of red.

No way! Is he embarrassed?

But before I could process it, Blake cleared his throat, and his usual composure settled back into place. "I, uh, figured you'd be cold."

I glanced down at the T-shirt. It was way too big for me, falling just past my hips, but it was soft against my damp skin. Still, it wasn't enough to shake the chill that had burrowed deep into my bones. Now, standing here in Blake's room, away from the heat of the party, it felt even colder.

The alcohol was still swimming in my veins, making everything a little fuzzier than normal. My thoughts were racing, my heart thudding in my chest as I looked around the room-his room. This was his personal space. And I was standing here alone with him.

The air was thick with tension, and my throat tightened. I wanted to say something-anything-but the words caught in my chest, suffocated by nerves.

The silence stretched on uncomfortably before I finally broke it. "T-thanks." My voice came out quieter than I intended, almost awkward, and I could feel my cheeks flush.

"Are you going to confess to him?" Blake's question cut through the moment, totally out of the blue. I blinked, trying to process his words as my brain struggled to catch up.

"What?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"Kyle," His head tilted slightly towards me.

Where did this come from?

I opened my mouth to say something but closed it again. Blake turned to face me, his expression suddenly serious, and I felt the weight of his gaze like a sudden pressure on my chest.

"You guys were talking about confessions yesterday." He added, seeing the confusion on my face.

Oh... that conversation.

"It was just a general talk," I quickly said, wanting to downplay it.

"Did you give him your letter?" His voice was casual, but his eyes were intense, watching me closely.

Why couldn't he just drop it?!

"No," I said, a little more firmly this time. "And I'm not planning to give it to him." My stomach twisted, but I had to clear this up. If I didn't, it was just going to get more complicated, and I wasn't about to let a half-baked misunderstanding mess up my plans.

He crossed his arms over his chest as he studied me. "Why not?"

"Because I don't like him." I blurted.

Blake's brow furrowed. "You looked pretty determined that day."

I raked my brain for a way out. "And I'm glad I didn't. Because... it was just a phase. A silly attraction and it wore off."

Blake's head tilted slightly to the side, and the way he looked at me made me feel exposed. His gaze was sharper now like he was trying to see straight through my answer.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah," I nodded quickly, and stepped forward, trying to move past the awkwardness of the conversation. "Let's go back to the party Soph and Daph must be waiting for me-"

"I'm not done." His hand shot out and grabbed my arm in a swift motion.

His fingers gripped my wrist with an unexpected force and yanked me towards him before I could even react. The sudden movement threw me off balance, and my shirt slipped from my hand. I gasped in surprise as everything happened too fast and crashed into Blake's solid chest.

In his haste, his foot slipped on the damp floor, and with a startled grunt, we tumbled backward and landed on his bed with a muffled thud with me on top of him.

For a moment, we were completely still, tangled together in the most unexpected of positions. His chest rose and fell beneath me, and I could feel his pulse racing against my skin, matching the frantic beat of my heart.

I should've moved, should've pushed myself off him, but my body refused to cooperate. His eyes were wide in panic, and I could see the tension in his jaw. The way his lips parted like he was struggling to find words.

"Sorry," He gulped.

I pushed myself up on my elbows, trying to escape, but it only made things worse. I slipped slightly and my body brushed against his. The sensation sent a jolt through me, and my breath hitched as I froze.

Blake's hands lingered on my waist, and he cleared his throat, averting his gaze from mine. "Guess we should... um... get up."

I nodded, but I didn't move right away. Neither of us did. His heart pounded beneath me, and I felt the warmth of his body through his shirt. My mind buzzed in a fog of confusion, still clouded by the alcohol, but something else, something sharper, rippled beneath it all.

My gaze darted around his face and all I could focus on was the way Blake's lips were so close to mine. Without thinking, I leaned forward, and my lips brushed against his, soft ones, like a whisper. The alcohol in my system made everything feel hazy and unreal like I was caught in a dream.

But then, it hit me. I was kissing Blake.

Blake, the guy who likes my best friend, and the guy I had been crushing on for years.

I jolted back instantly, panic seizing me, and saw him looking at me stunned.

What have I done?

"Oh, my God-I'm sorry!" The words spilled out in a rush, and I scrambled to push myself off him. My heart was pounding in my chest, my cheeks burning as I tried to put distance between us.

His hand shot out, gripping the back of my head with a force that stopped me in my tracks. "Cara..."

I couldn't look at him. My head was spinning, my body still humming from the kiss, but I knew I couldn't undo it. I couldn't pretend it didn't just happen.

"Blake, I-" I started, but his fingers tightened around my hair, pulling me closer until our noses touched.

"You seriously think I'll let you get away with this." His voice was low and almost breathless, but there was a softness in it that made my heart beat faster.

My eyes bugged out of my sockets when our lips meet again. This time, there was no hesitation. It wasn't gentle or slow. It was everything I didn't know I wanted-intense, urgent, and messy like he couldn't keep his distance anymore. The world outside the room, the party downstairs, none of it mattered.

His fingers clenched my hair, and I felt the heat of his body press against mine as he deepened the kiss. His other hand wrapped around my waist, keeping me in place.

The kiss swept over me like a wave, and I couldn't pull away. I didn't want to. I kissed him back, fully, the alcohol still buzzing in my system but somehow sharpening every sensation. I could feel the flames on my skin.

His mouth was warm and urgent against mine, and my hands found their way to his chest and I gripped his shirt, feeling the rhythm of his heartbeat. Every inch of space between us was gone, and all I wanted was to be closer, to feel more of him.

I could feel his hand moving, sliding up my back, pulling me even tighter against him. There was a fire in the way he kissed me like he was trying to show me something-some unspoken part of him that I was desperate to understand.

His lips parted, and I responded instinctively, my hands tangling in his shirt as I leaned into the kiss, deeper, hungrier. I knew I should have stopped. But all my thoughts seemed to fade into the background, drowned out by the overwhelming pulse of the moment.

I broke the kiss for a second, gasping for air, and Blake's lips hovered above mine, his breath coming in short, uneven bursts.

His grip around my hair loosened as he caressed his hand down to my back, sending a shiver down my spine. Then both his hands rested on my arms. There was a tension in the way he held me-like he was waiting for me to pull away, waiting for me to stop him.

I didn't.

His lips found mine again, slow this time, like he was savoring the kiss, testing the boundaries. And I let myself forget about everything-about the alcohol, about the confusion, about what I was supposed to be doing.

But then, I heard the unmistakable sound of someone calling my name, and I abruptly jerked back. My chest rose and fell in rapid breaths as I scrambled to make sense of what had just happened.

My eyes locked with Blake's, and I saw his eyes dark with a mixture of confusion and... desire?

"Cara?" It was Daphne.

I jolted away from him and quickly stood on my feet. I glanced at the door and then back at Blake, who sat on the bed looking at me intensely with his face flushed as if waiting for me to say something.

I tensed when I heard footsteps getting closer, and panic took over me.

"I-uh..." I looked back and forth between the door and Blake. "Thank you." Was all I uttered before dashing towards the door, not daring to look at him again.

I turned around the quiet hallway and almost bumped into Daphne.

"Woah!" She was startled.

"S-sorry," I murmured, taking a step back.

"Are you alright?" She gave me a once over taking in Blake's shirt I was wearing.

"Yeah." I forced a smile on my face. "Uh- my clothes got wet, so Blake gave me his shirt."

"Why are you red?" She gave me a skeptical look.

"I-I think I might have gotten a cold." I lied. "Let's go home."

I sprinted downstairs, with Daphne following behind. We walked to Sophia, and I faked some cough, saying I wasn't feeling well and we got out of the party. Sophia asked me the same question about the T-shirt and I gave her the same answer. She inquired if something else happened and I laughed it off, but my friends didn't seem convinced.

The entire way home, my mind kept flashing the kiss and now I knew what Mama Swift felt when she said.

'I did something bad
But why's it feel so good?
Most fun I ever had
And I'd do it over and over and over again if I could
It just felt so good...'

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