-FORTY FOUR-

We were pretty happy with our dresses as we chilled in Madison's living room, discussing our looks. I was super thankful that my dress only needed minor alterations and was perfect otherwise.

It had been quite a while since we had a girls day so we decided to hang out together for the rest of it. It was one of the happiest days for me in a while and I knew that I had really needed this.

"So, what's your status with our boy?" Allison randomly asked, smirking.

I thought she was talking to someone else until she stared at me, followed by both the other girls.

My eyes widened. "Um, what?"

Madison rolled her eyes but her lips lifted up into a tiny smirk. "We want to know if you've made you move yet or if you're still too much of a chicken to admit your feelings."

If I had had a drink in my mouth, safe to say it would have been spewed everywhere.

Immediately a blush rose up my cheeks as I made a move to deny it but even before I could utter a word, Allison butted in. "Don't even think about giving us excuses now. We've been dying to know what's been happening and you're both so frustrating!"

I blinked at her in surprise.

I hadn't realised that they knew that I developed feelings for Kade. I guess I had been a little too wrapped up in the whole mess of the tug of war with him that I had forgotten to pause and think about how the people around me saw it.

Looking at the three girls in front of me created a thought in my head. What if they can help me solve this whole dilemma and tell me how to approach it?

There was no doubt that they all knew Kade way better than I did and maybe telling them all about it could help me sort out my emotions.

Can't believe I didn't think of it sooner.

"Uh," I began and immediately all three of them perked up. "So the thing is..."

I began telling them about everything from the beginning. I guess if I wanted their input, it was better for me to go all out with the info. And it wasn't even like they were going to do anything to dissuade me from him.

At least I hope they didn't.

I could tell that as I dived into how the ignoring thing began and the whole scenario with Montana went through, I could see them getting visibly frustrated. Allison looked too close to ripping out her hair and Mae just shook her head as if expecting all this from me.

It was kind of funny and heartwarming at the same time to see them get into mini rage fits when I told them about how a certain female dog had been keeping him close and trying all sorts of tricks on me to get me away from Kade.

The moment I finished my story, I observed all the three faces in front of me. Madison had a continuous streak of pretty colourful words streaking from her mouth, Mae sat there face palming and I'm pretty sure Allison lost a few hair strands with her annoyed tugs.

"This won't do. You both are literally the worst at working towards your feelings. We need to step in," Allison spoke, glaring at me.

I held in my flinch and gave her a sheepish grin. She looked like she wanted to throw me in a pan and fry me crisp.

"But how do we work on them? We all haven't been hanging out all that much these days," Mae finally spoke up and thankfully she didn't look ready to eat my soul.

"Well, there's the ball..."

"Yeah, but someone is going with Darren," Madison gave me the stink eye and I immediately looked away from her.

These girls really didn't hold back.

"I can try to hold Montana off and you can distract Darren," Mae pointed out to Allison who was almost considering it.

I bit my lip at their attempts at planning to get me and Kade together. I had been expecting advice from them on what to do, not them getting into planning to ambush the both of us and push it together.

"Um, girls? How about we just let it take it's course? I mean I think I can handle it without your extreme help in-" I got cut off before I could complete my sentence.

"NO!" All three yelled at me in unison.

Talk about deja vu.

All of our phones vibrated, indicating a message notification. Madison was the first one to check out her phone. They moment she did, a smirk formed on her lips and she gave me a mischievous look.

"Girls, I think I found the perfect occasion to start our intervention," she said, turning her phone around for us to see the screen.

Lucas: Pool scenes @ Kade's. A couple of people coming over.

"Let's get you in the sexiest costume ever!"

I gulped.

Why did I have a feeling I wasn't going have a lot of say in this?

***

I bit my lip in nervousness as I looked at my reflection in the mirror.

The girls had shoved me into a two piece lilac coloured bikini that had strings criss-crossing over my mid riff. Thankfully, the bottom of the bikini covered a decent amount of my butt and front.

It was a stunning bikini but I wasn't sure if I could pull it off. It did show a decent amount of cleavage but gave enough coverage for my babies to not pop out easily. Even though I was conscious about my appearance, I had to admit, I did look good.

Madison and Allison were pretty proud of their work as they looked at me. After all they had practically dug through Madison's closet to find the "perfect" one for me.

"You look hot!" Allison complimented, making me blush and involuntarily get a tad more conscious.

"Girls, can I wear a cover up? I'll feel a little more comfortable that way," I tried to negotiate, knowing that I couldn't walk in there in my bikini, especially since I knew there were going to be unknown people there.

My face must've spoken for my thoughts because Madison disappeared into the walk-in closet before coming out with a stunning white lace coverup dress that cinched at the waist and fell till my mid-thighs. It was sheer enough to give peeks into my lilac swimsuit and gave me the exact comfort I needed for a pool party.

Safe to say, I didn't think I was going to remove it at all.

But the girls didn't need to know that bit.

After dressing me, they followed suit. Mae wore a bright yellow off shoulder one-piece swimsuit with cut-outs at the waist. Madison went for a bolder piece with a red two piece bikini that flaunted just how amazing her figure was. Allison donned a black and white piece halter neck two piece that showed her swimmer body stunningly.

After grabbing all our essentials, we made our way to the car. I was a nervous wreck. Especially after thinking of the possibility of seeing a shirtless Kade.

Cue gutter mind.

Sadly, it didn't take very long for us to reach Kade's house. Turned out, both Madison and Kade lived barely five minutes away.

That meant I didn't have enough time to calm myself down.

I looked out as we stopped outside a huge mansion. I had to keep my jaw from dropping at the stunning view of the modern structure in front of me. Kade's humble abode stood towering over us, with the driveway leading to the entrance lined with palm trees.

If the outside was amazing, the inside was even more breathtaking. The interior was done purely with beige marble that was accented with dark wood, making the interior glow. It was a work of art.

I had been so absorbed with the beautiful handiwork that was his home that I almost forgot why we were here in the first place.

Until we reached the poolside.

It legit looked like I had walked into a swimwear photo shoot with the amount of aesthetic people with near- perfect bodies were there.

Damn. These people really loved their fitness.

I scanned the area, trying to spot familiar faces.

You mean Kade.

Did I mention I hated my brain sometimes?

My eyes landed on Lucas and Chase and I relaxed a little. Lucas was sitting on the edge of the pool with his legs in while Chase was in the water chatting with another guy I didn't recognise.

There were two other guys on the other side of the pool hanging out with three other girls, one of whom I had a strong distaste for.

I immediately averted my eyes from Montana, not wanting to sour my mood. Why was she here again? It was like the universe wanted to put her wherever there was a possibility of Kade and I spending some time together.

"Finally! Look who decided to show up," a very familiar voice spoke from behind us.

My increased heartbeat was enough proof to know who it was. I whirled around to see Kade carrying beers, probably for the people outside.

But that was not in the focus of my mind.

He was shirtless and he looked like a photoshopped model on the cover of a magazine or something. I knew he worked out, given his fit physique but there was nothing that could prepare me for the sight in front of me.

Hot damn.

Shit. I think I drooled.

I had to admit, trying to get the pervy thoughts out of my mind I had tried to imagine him with the worst possible image of his body in my head. One that was nowhere close to realistic yet helped me calm my raging hormones.

But now that he was in front of me looking like that, what was I supposed to do?!

This was so unfair.

"Yeah. We had a few things to discuss," Madison smirked, giving me a wink.

I immediately avoided her gaze and looked away. Shouldn't have done that because my eyes met with sparkling Mediterranean ones that were already on me.

Please someone get him his glasses.

The image of him wearing his glasses with his swimming trunks that were already hanging low on his waist sprung to my mind and the picture was even hotter.

Or not.

I felt his eyes take me in and I felt my skin burning. There wasn't much I was wearing right now anyway and the thought of him being able to look at me right now sent a wave of heat down my abdomen.

"Remember what we talked about? Put on your big mama panties and make him regret not making a move sooner," Allison whispered into my ear and gave me a discreet smirk.

Yeah, I had no idea how to do that.

I forced a smile at her anyway, hoping to convince her that I had it in the bag when I absolutely did not.

"Come on, let's go sit by the pool," Mae broke me out of my thoughts and dragged me to where Lucas and Chase were.

Chase was the first one to spot us. He stopped talking to whoever he was with and turned around to wave at us enthusiastically. "Hey girls!"

Lucas turned around at that exact moment and smiled at us. We both mimicked his pose and sat down with our legs in the water. It felt really nice having a pool day seeing it was unnaturally hot day today.

My eyes moved to the stranger who was nearing us. He had a mop of chestnut brown hair playfully bouncing on the head and a set of dark brown eyes. He was decent looking but the way he carried himself screamed player.

He smirked a little at us, his eyes lingering on my body a little longer than necessary. He threw me a flirty smile and a wink when he saw me looking.

I gave him a half-hearted smile in return.

"Chase, you mind introducing me to these beautiful ladies?" He spoke, his eyes never leaving me.

"Of course dude. That's Mae," he said nodding towards the girl beside me," and that's Kyra. Girls, this is Mike. He's a family friend."

He gave a nod of acknowledgment to Mae before turning to me with a smile.

Both of us muttered vague greetings in return. I was hoping his interest would go elsewhere because I wanted someone else's company entirely.

"So Kyra, why is it that I haven't seen you around before?" Mike asked, slowly inching towards me.

Would it be rude if I scooted back?

"Um, I just moved here a couple of months ago," I answered, giving a side-eyed glance to Mae who was busy chatting with Lucas and Chase.

Great.

"Is that so? Where are you from?" He asked, running a hand through his locks.

"I've- uh lived in New York most of my life," I answered to the point, hoping that he didn't come any closer.

"So what bri..."

I didn't hear what he asked me next because my focus had shifted to a bunch of loud, obnoxious giggles and a very loud "Kade! Over here."

My jaw automatically locked in place as I watched Montana wave Kade over to her troupe.

I was supposed to be finding an opportunity to spend time with him.

I watched as the boy in question stopped mid-walk to look over at the giggling bunch. He looked as if he had been coming towards me and I almost wanted to go push Montana and her perfect body into the pool. And her cronies too.

Before Montana had the chance to jump on Kade (okay, I maybe exaggerating a little) Madison hooked an arm in his and pulled him away.

"Kade, be a darling and get me and Allie drinks," she said, smiling sweetly at him.

Kade gave her a weird look but nodded anyway. "Sure. Give me a few minutes."

"Oh, you can take your time," she smiled and turned to give me a look.

I understood her message right away. She was basically giving me the opportunity I had failed to create for myself.

Bless her.

I loved how Montana was giving Madison a dirty look to which she responded with a dramatic hair flip. Gotta love Madie.

I turned around to see that Mike had rested his arms around me, holding the edge of the pool and this opportunity was the perfect excuse to escape the unneeded proximity. He really needed lessons on personal space.

I quickly scooted back, bringing my legs out of the water. I gave him a sheepish smile. "Um, I need a drink. I'll be right back."

I didn't miss him checking out my legs as I stood up. Before he could respond, I turned around and dashed inside.

I could do this.

It was high time that we set some things straight when it came to us. There was definitely a spark between us but it needed some intervention to stop it from fading out.

I could just hope it went just the way we wanted to.

*********
Heyoooooo!

I hope you liked the chapter. The next one should be... fun ;)

Q: Would you wait for your crush to ask you out or will you go ahead and make the first move?

A: I think I'm too much of a chicken to make the first move tbh. But I haven't really liked someone too much to be motivated to make the first move either so maybe if that time comes, I could.

Thank you so much for your patience and love!