Three years ago.

Jace's POV.

My eyes flutter open, squinting at the natural light spilling into the room.

The first thing that comes crumbling into my brain is that kiss and how it ended.

Shit.

It's way too early for this.

I rub my eyes, sitting up on the edge of the bed, running a hand on my face and tugging my hair at the roots.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Why does it feel like that kiss mattered, like those lips were the only lips I'd crave for for the rest of my life.

Reminder, you met this girl last Friday.

She shouldn't even be occupying my mind right now.

I groan, picking up my t-shirt from the floor, slipping into it and marching out of the room.

I hear her calling her dog from the kitchen and I halt on the staircase.

Shit.

I stare at the front door straight ahead, thinking about walking out of it without having any awkward conversations with her.

Dick move.

I descend the stairs, standing in the doorway to the kitchen, leaning my shoulder against the frame and watching her put food for the dog.

Her eyes find me but she looks away quickly, standing up and going around the counter.

I scoff, looking to my side at the front door then back at her.

"You regret it, don't you?" I state the obvious.

She clears her throat, "What?"

"The kiss." I say.

"Oh, that, no worries, it's already forgotten." She forces a smile.

She's weird, and also, ouch.

"When do you wanna finish the painting?" I change the subject.

She grips the back of her neck, huffing.

A very irksome silence passes between us.

"Yeah, about that..." She starts, "So I don't think I... I'm not gonna go through with it so you don't have to." She shakes her head, keeping her gaze down.

"Is it because I kissed you?"

"No, it's not about the kiss."

"Then what is it?"

"I.. uh, I-"

She's cut off by the sound of the front door opening and closing, I turn my head to look at a guy with polished dark hair, wearing a white cardigan, blue jeans and white sneakers.

He narrows his eyes at me, looking curious and confused at the same time.

He slips right passed me, walking into the kitchen as though he were familiar with the place.

The dog wiggles its tail and follows him around the counter, which tells me that he's here often.

He wraps his arms around Olivia from behind and kisses her cheek.

The scene confuses me.

Brother? Neighbor? Cousin?

She said she lived alone, right?

I watch as he whispers something in her ear, she looks at him over her shoulder and puts on a smile.

Dafuq?

I clear my throat.

Waiting for that introduction.

She glances at me and the guy also turns to acknowledge me.

"Who's this?" He asks her, my question exactly.

"That's Jace," She responds to him while looking at me, "He's a friend of mine from school, he needed somewhere to crash last night." She explains to him nervously, "Jace, this is Tristan, my boyfriend." She says to me.

Oh.

Another twist.

Why did I immediately assume that she was single? Nah, wait, the bigger question is why did she flirt with me and kiss me if she was dating someone?

Either way, I should stop being so ignorant and be more considerate of things.

"Nice to meet you." Says the boyfriend.

I'm too speechless to let out any words so I send him a nod, keeping my eyes on his girlfriend.

"I'm gonna go." I point to the door, she nods okay.

I head to the door, picking up my shoes and helmet from the floor before stepping out of the house.

I sit on the steps to put on my shoes and for some reason, I start chuckling to myself.

I think I just got played, hard.

It doesn't feel nice though, it makes me feel like I got stung by a bee.

I get on my bike, not forgetting to flip the house before leaving.

I speed my bike once I'm on the road, the adrenaline rush that burns throughout my body soothes me in some way.

Most kids get their adrenaline rush from drugs, I get it from riding my bike.

That feeling is short-lived cause the second I get home, my mum rushes from the kitchen, looking all angry.

"Where the hell have you been?" She demands, I decide to ignore her by making my way to my room. "Hey! I'm talking to you!" She shouts in Spanish.

"Yeah, I noticed." I say lazily while climbing the stairs.

"Jace, where were you?" She questions behind me, I halt, turning around.

"I was out, with Diego, where were you?" I ask.

"Excuse me?"

"Last night, where were you?" I repeat myself.

"Home. Worried sick about my son." She lies.

"Suddenly, home is in a red car, with my principal." I say sarcastically, "interesting."

She looks around the house, checking if anybody heard me.

"You saw us." She says in low tone.

"Yeah, I did." I sigh, she puts on a worried expression, opening her mouth to say something but nothing comes out. "Don't worry, I won't tell." I roll my eyes at her.

"Jay-"

"No, Ma, save it. Next time it won't be me, it'll be Marianna or Aron or even worse, Dad." I continue walking before she can respond.

I open the door to my room but there's a girl sleeping in my bed.

I almost close it, thinking I'm in the wrong room but judging by the mess, It's definitely the right room.

I close the door behind me, walking further inside and kicking all the dirty socks on my way to my bed.

I squat, watching Sandra's sleeping face.

I lightly pat her cheek, waking her up.

Her brows furrow then she opens her eyes, rubbing sleep out of her eyes.

"What are you doing in here?" I ask.

"You're here." She sits up, leaning her back against the headboard. "Where were you?" She yawns.

"Did you spend the night?" I squint my eyes at her.

"Aron snuck me in last night, I wanted to talk to you but then you didn't show and I fell asleep." She sounds sleepy.

"Okay," I stand, walking over to my desk and sitting on my swivel chair, "I'm all ears."

"I miss you, Jay, I really miss you." She tucks her brown hair behind her ear.

I was expecting that.

How could I not? We've been doing this since we were fifteen.

I rotate in my chair, picking a pencil from my desk and spinning back around.

"Did I ever tell you that you look even prettier in the morning?" I point at her with the pencil.

"All the time." She smiles.

"Do you know why I always go back to you after things crash with other girls?"

"Because you love me."

"No. well, yes, sort of but it's mainly because I wanted to believe that there was someone out there who understood me, someone just like me but turns out, that person is not you, Sandy, I haven't found that person yet." I say honestly.

"What are you on about?" She seems confused.

"Exactly, you don't get it." I mutter with a sigh.

"Jace, baby, I'm sorry, okay? Sleeping with Kevin was a bitch move and you know I don't even like him, right?" She's getting desperate.

"Doesn't it kill you?" I ask curiously.

"What?"

"This back and forth relationship, doesn't it make you sick?" I scrunch my face.

She stands up, pacing back and forth while biting on her thumbnail.

"She's not gonna fuck you, just so you know." She's now pissed.

"Who?" I scoff, watching her.

"Oh, please, drop the fucking act, I know where you were last night and I know who you were with." She accuses.

"Who was I with?" I toss the question, she stops pacing and crosses her arms over her chest.

"Cassandra Richardson," She says the name with pure hatred, "She's just the female version of Luke Richardson, picky as fuck with the people they bed."

"The fuck you talking about?" I ask in a bored tone.

She approaches me, standing in between my legs and placing her hands on the chair's armrest, looking straight into my eyes.

"You might be pretty looking and all but we can fucking bet on it, honey, that girl is way out of your league, you'll be back to me in no time." She says through gritted teeth.

I fucking hate the determination in her eyes.

"Your jealousy turns me on a little bit." I smirk, dropping my gaze to her cleavage.

In other words, I'm masking my real reaction to her words cause let's face it, she's right.

"Asshole," She backs away from me, "You know, one of these days, I won't be here for you, I'm this close to giving up on whatever the fuck we call this goddamn relationship." She almost presses her index and thumb together.

"Way ahead of you, sweetheart." I swirl the pencil between my fingers.

She looks at me with rage then she does a dramatic spin and storms out of my room.

I shake my head.

Women.