CHAPTER 12
I asked slowly while moving back, and I think he noticed. He tried reaching for my hand, but I flinched away.
"Don't touch me," I said, staring at him. He looked hurt for a moment, but I didn't care. He was going to tell me the truth, with no lies though, honestly, how would I know if he was telling the truth? I almost laughed at myself for thinking that. "Don't tell me you've gone mute all of a sudden," I added, watching him. He just smiled at me, and that made me blush, which I instantly chided myself for. Focus, Henry, I whispered under my breath. Don't let his handsome face mess with you.
He chuckled quietly, and I realized he'd heard me. Crap.
"Enough," I said, trying to sound stern. "Please, just tell me who you are." I looked at him pleadingly. "Please," I repeated, my voice weak.
He sighed. "I don't know where to start."
"Anywhere. Just start, and I'll try to understand," I said, desperate. Why couldn't I remember him when he was clearly not someone you'd easily forget? I needed to know.
"Oh well. I guess I'll just start from the beginning," he said.
"Yeah, that would be better," I replied, sitting down, preparing myself as he began.
Andrew's POV
He sat there, staring at me, and I honestly didn't know how to begin. I didn't want him to remember me as the asshole who bullied him and his friends at camp, or the bastard who dumped him the next morning after using him. My voice was shaky. "I don't know where to start," I admitted.
"Just start anywhere, and I'll understand," he said softly.
But I knew exactly where it started. I could tell him the truth and risk him walking off, seeing me for who I was, or I could lie, mix a little truth with a little white lie . Caught between a rock and a hard place, I decided to get the weight off my chest. The truth was always better.
"Well, we… we met four years ago at summer camp. You always had a friend you stuck to Ethan, I think was his name. Are you guys still close?"
"Not really," he said, voice flat.
"What happened?" I asked.
"I don't want to talk about it," he replied, looking away.
"Oh. No problem," I said, trying to move on. "Where was I... Right. You two were inseparable. It pissed me off, honestly. I hated how you always waited for him to make decisions, and you'd just follow. It made me mad, so I started picking on you both, mostly to get at Ethan. But it just made you two closer, and somehow that made me even angrier. I kept picking on you both, but really, I just wanted to beat up that clown Ethan." I caught myself getting a little too excited at the memory. Clearing my throat, I glanced at Henry. He looked lost in thought.
Henry's POV
I listened to him, trying to follow. So, he was at that camp then why couldn't I remember him? It was infuriating. He mentioned punching Ethan, and honestly, I kind of agreed. Ethan always did have a punchable face. And Andrew's story so far matched up with what Ethan used to say about the prick who had it out for us at camp.
"So, you're the guy Ethan always talked about the one who hated to see us coming?" I asked, watching his face closely. I saw panic flicker in his eyes.
"N-no, th-that's not true," he stammered, trying to defend himself. It was almost cute the tough guy Andrew Morgan, flustered.
"What's not true? You just said so yourself, you had it out for us at camp."
"N-no," he said, finding his voice, "Not you. For Ethan. I never liked him. But you… you were different. You looked so small then. I'm surprised you grew this tall."
"I grew," I muttered, puffing my cheeks in annoyance. I hated when people acted like I was supposed to stay small forever. I looked up at him, ready to snap, but he was just staring at me, smiling. The jerk was teasing me.
"You know, you look cute puffing your cheeks like that," he said, and my anger deflated instantly.
"Just continue what you were saying, or forget it," I grumbled, moving to stand up.
He grabbed my arm. "Sorry," he said, gently urging me to sit. I glanced down and realized I was still wrapped only in a towel. He followed my gaze and smirked.
I was pissed losing control of the whole situation. I sat back down, crossing my legs to hide my growing hard-on. He noticed, of course.
"I don't mind," he said, making no effort to hide his own arousal.
I blushed hard, thinking, When did it all start spiraling into this? Here he was, helping me piece together my memories, and we were both getting turned on.
"Enough," I said sharply, trying to regain control before we both pounced on each other which, at this point, felt dangerously likely. "Continue from where you stopped."
He snorted, and I glared at him until he cleared his throat, looking away.
"Where was I?"
"You were bullying us," I prompted.
"You're wrong. Not you Ethan. That asshole. It was him I was bullying."
"I was just caught in the crossfire. Classic, right? When elephants fight, the grass suffers." isaid staring at him.
I gave a dry laugh. "Very funny."
He continued, "I couldn't get the guys to stop going after you or maybe I didn't really want to, I don't know." "but either way just know it wasn't you"
I scoffed, but he pretended not to hear and went on. "Anyway, one day we went on a hike in the forest with the whole group. We heard heavy sounds coming from the woods something big, moving fast. Then we heard it: a bear, angry and crashing toward us. Everyone ran scattered in different directions into the forest. By some fate, you ran my way, separated from Ethan. After a while, we stopped running. Storm clouds had gathered overhead. Going back to camp then would've been dangerous, but luckily, we found a cave."
As he mentioned the cave, my blush returned full force. The dream I'd had—maybe it wasn't a dream after all. I coughed lightly, hoping he didn't notice.
He kept going. "We found some dry wood, made a fire to keep warm. I suggested we sit closer to get warmer faster, and you agreed. You shifted closer, and being so close to you... all the feelings I'd tried to deny came up. I couldn't control myself. I started to, uh, please myself, and—"
"And?" I interrupted, teasing. "Are you shy now?"
"Shy?" he scoffed, moving closer. "I'm not shy. Or I could show you ehat happened rather than telling you after all action speaks better than words he said smirking"