Chapter 1
Vivienne's POV
We'd agreed to spend summer break in the Hamptons. Right before break started, my boyfriend suggested we hit the water park out in the suburbs first, just to blow off some steam.
I thought it was a date. Just the two of us. But when I get to the gate, my best friend Sienna is standing there in a string bikini.
I tell her that's not safe to swim in. Her face goes cold and she tells me to mind my own business.
Colton frowns too and dumps his phone, a towel, and Sienna's makeup bag into my arms. "Vivienne, do you have to kill the mood? Sienna's scared to go alone. What's the big deal if I keep her company?"
In the wave pool, he holds her against his chest and the two of them roll around in the spray, laughing.
When they come out, Sienna takes the ice water I haven't even opened and takes a big swig, then hands it to Colton, and he drinks half the bottle right from where her lips were.
I stand there feeling like the hired help.
Two years of killing myself to be the understanding, easygoing girlfriend, and all it got me was a boyfriend who walks all over me without thinking twice.
If he's that close with my best friend, he can't blame me for calling up his best friend since they were kids.
"Julian, can you come get me?"
"Colton, slow down, baby, I'm scared!"
Sienna's voice goes all sweet and breathy. She's practically hanging off him, both arms wrapped around his neck.
He doesn't push her away. He catches her by the waist instead, grinning like she's the sweetest thing in the world. "You're this scared and you still wanted in the water? Just hold on tight. Don't swallow half the pool."
They're pressed so close together anyone would think they're the couple.
Meanwhile I'm at the edge of the pool holding the waterproof bag. Me. Vivienne. His actual girlfriend. The third wheel.
We got here half an hour ago. My period was about to start and my stomach was cramping, so I told Colton I'd rather stay in the shallow end than go deep.
He frowned right away. "Vivienne, do you always have to kill the mood? We came here to have fun. You won't do this, you won't do that. So why'd you even come?"
Before I could explain, Sienna slid up and took his arm, saying in that little voice of hers that she couldn't do the big slide alone.
Colton's face lit right up. He didn't leave me a single word. He shoved everything into my arms and walked off with her without looking back.
I watched their backs and my chest went tight.
There was a time when Colton treated me like I was the only person in the room.
Sophomore year, winter, I came down with a bad fever. He showed up at my house in the middle of a snowstorm just to bring me a box of medicine and a container of hot chicken soup.
The way he looked at me back then, nothing but worry, like nothing else in the room existed.
When did it change?
Probably when Sienna transferred into our class. I felt sorry for her. I'm the one who walked up to her and made her my best friend.
After that, there was never just the two of us again. There was always Sienna.
Movies, she had to sit between me and Colton because she was scared of the dark.
Meals, she'd drink out of Colton's water like it was nothing and say it's no big deal, we're all friends here.
Every time I brought it up, Colton turned it back on me. "Can you not be so petty? She's got nobody. What's wrong with me looking out for her?"
Looking out for her?
I look at the wave pool, at him holding her against his chest, the two of them tumbling around and laughing.
There's nothing protective about it. It's just two people with no boundaries and no shame.
I take a breath and press the cold bottle against my burning face to make myself calm down.
Two years. Two years of being the understanding one, the easygoing one, the girlfriend who never made a scene, thinking if I gave enough he'd finally appreciate me.
And what did I get? A guy who steps over every line I have and doesn't even slow down.
"Viv, what are you spacing out for? Get over here!"
Sienna's finally done. Colton leads her out of the water by the hand.
She's soaked head to toe, and it only makes her look more pitiful. She comes right up to me, doesn't even ask, just takes the ice water I still haven't opened, tips her head back, and drinks.
"Ugh, that's freezing. Colton, I can't." She passes the bottle straight to him.
He takes it without a second thought and drinks half of it right from where her lips just were.
My stomach turns.
"Colton, Sienna drank out of that."
He wipes the corner of his mouth like it's nothing. "So? We're all friends here. Do you have to blow everything up like this? Who's the attitude for, Vivienne? You've been moping all day."
Sienna's eyes go red right on cue. "Viv, are you mad at me? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to drink your water, I was just really thirsty. If it bothers you, I'll buy you a new one, okay? Just don't fight with Colton."
"Of course it bothers me." I look straight at that fake face of hers and keep my voice flat. "It bothers me that you drank my water. It bothers me a lot more that you've got no spine and you can't stop throwing yourself at somebody else's boyfriend."
