“I’m not starting anything and neither are you.”

I quirk an eyebrow at him, “I’m not?”

Rex shakes his head. “No, you’re not. I’ve seen the way you are with her and even though the plan is to get her to fall for you, you are actually starting to fall for her.”

I clench my jaw and narrow my eyes, “I’m not falling for her.”

Rex smirks, “Whatever you say bro. I’m not going to let you destroy her, she’s my friend Knox. It’s not right and you know it.”

Rex and I stand in the hallway glaring at each other until finally Rex shakes his head and walks away.

I need to remember to stick to the plan. Maybe a reminder of what I lost would keep me on the straight and narrow. I have one picture of her here and I need to go up in the attic and remind myself that she isn’t here with me the way she is supposed to be. If she was I wouldn’t be worried about payback.

8

The guys are all piled into the living room watching TV while waiting for the pizza for dinner to arrive. Rhea, Summer and I are up in Rhea’s room routing through her closet trying to find something for me to wear out tonight. Thankfully Rhea is the same size as me so we can share.

After trying on a few dresses I decide on a silver one with a plunging neckline and a back scoop that ends just above my ass. Rhea also lent me a pair of her black pumps so I wouldn’t have to stumble around on heels all night.

Summer comes out from the bathroom wearing a short, shimmery blue, one shoulder dress that hugs all her curves. She is sure to turn a few heads tonight. She pairs the dress with silver heels and piles her hair high on top of her head in a tight bun.

“Look okay?” Summer checks with me.

“Yup, Rex is going to have to fend the guys off.” I say with a smile. It’s true Rex is going to have to keep a tight leash on her tonight.

Rhea is huffing and puffing in her closet, “Everything ok?” I ask.

“Yeah, yeah, just can’t decide on what to wear.” Her muffled voice yells back.

I peek my head in her closet and I’m in awe at the dress that she held up against her body. “That’s the dress.”

She turns sideways in the mirror, “You think so? White doesn’t make me look too fat?”

I roll my eyes at her, “You, fat? Trust me; Tanner’s not going to be able to keep his hands off you tonight.”

I take notice that the tags are still on the dress so I know he hasn’t seen her in it yet. He’s going to be in for one hell of a surprise.

The dress is white with a scoop neckline. One shoulder is cutoff while the other is a full see-through sleeve. There are black lace trim strips that wrap around the dress and it’s tight fitted and stops about mid-thigh.

I bend down and pick up a pair of white heels and hand them to her, “Wear those and it’s stunning.”

Rhea doesn’t waste any time stripping off her t-shirt and shorts and then slides the dress on. She slips her tiny feet into the heels and does a full turn in the mirror. “Hair up or down?”

I shake my head, “That’s Summers department.” I laugh and turn to Summer, “Hair up or down?”

Summer leans against the doorway to Rhea’s closet, “Definitely down but with big waves.”

Rhea nods and kicks stuff out of her way to get out of the closet that she buried herself in. When she makes it out she takes a seat at the vanity and turns on the curling iron.

I have noticed that a lot of Rhea and Tanner’s things are here and I’m dying to ask how often they stay here to have this much stuff settled. I don’t want to sound nosy but from when we pulled up it seemed that they were only here a couple of times in the summer.

“What’s the matter Jas?” Rhea asks me while looking at me through the mirror.

I sit on the end of her bed and look down to make sure the girls are still covered. I really need to find some tape. Rhea notices, reaches into a drawer in her vanity and throws me some tape. “Thanks.” I say as I stand back up and rip off a piece, “I don’t want to sound like I’m prying or anything but how often are you and Tanner here? I got the impression that it was only used for a shore house.” I rip off another piece and secure the other side.

Rhea picks up a hair brush and starts brushing the knots from her hair. “We used to be here all the time but not so much in the last few years. We haven’t really taken all our things home with us because we’re hoping things will go back to normal eventually.” She stops brushing her hair and looks down at the brush in her hands. “This house holds a lot of memories for all of us.”

A flush creeps across my cheeks, embarrassed that I look like I’m trying to dig up dirt on Knox. “I don’t want to seem like I’m prying but I feel like I’ve been missing something since we got here. If there are so many memories how come the house is so empty? There aren’t any pictures anywhere, no personal stuff lying around. The house feels so cold.”

Rhea looks back down to her hands, “When she left, all of the memories that were spread throughout the house did too, even the ones of his parents.”

My stomach drops, “Who is she?”

Rhea’s eyes are so sad and glassy with unshed tears, “You’ll have to ask Knox. It’s not my story to tell.”

Summer clears her throat loudly. I almost forgot she was in the room with us. “Let’s get your hair up, Jas, and then I’ll help Rhea real quick and we’ll be on our way.” Summer says, steering the conversation in a different direction.

Rhea and I both nod in agreement with Summer. While she’s working on my hair my mind starts to wonder who this girl could be. I’m really curious who she is. Could it be his mom, I doubt it. A sister? Could be. A girlfriend is the only thing I would think that would really affect Knox. I think if it was a family member then both Rex and Knox would take it really hard.

Summer places both hands on my shoulders and whispers in my ear. “I see that mind of yours turning. I’m not sure what happened but I’ll get it out of Rex. Now place a smile on that beautiful face of yours and let’s have some fun.”

I grin at Summer; leave it to my best friend to make me feel better. She is on my side and one way or another, together we will figure out what’s going on.

As Summer is finishing up with Rhea’s hair, Tanner pops in but his eyes go wide at the site of his girlfriend. I glance over at Rhea and gave her a ‘told you so’ smile.