Swish

.19

Blood singing in my veins and heart tripping over itself, I wasn't sure how I extracted myself from Eli's vehicle, but suddenly I found myself in the foyer of my house, searching for the culprit that had caught me with my lips on Eli's, hands on his body and fingers wrapped around his hair...

A cough from the corner of the darkened room pulled my attention from my heated thoughts and my eyes widened as I realized just who'd caught me in a compromising position with Eli. 

"Not trying to make Jared jealous, huh?  What do you call what you were just doing?"

I tried to put myself in Sara's shoes.  She was dating my ex, and they had to come into contact with me every weekend.  She had to be insecure, but that came from her own issues and the problems already rooted in the relationship, and none of it was my fault. 

But...she was only seventeen, and had only had one boyfriend before.  That didn't excuse her behavior, but it definitely explained her irrational and immature decisions. 

"I call that living my life, on my own terms.  It wasn't my fault you were looking out the window like a creep."

She huffed, crossing her arms across her chest after tying the ends of her fluffy pink robe tighter, as if to fend herself off from the words of truth I was speaking. 

All I wanted to do was curl up in my bed and maybe scroll on my phone for a few mindless hours before falling into a sleep I wouldn't wake from until noon, but Sara had other plans for me. 

"He's mine, Virginia.  He might've been with you first, but we're together now.  Nothing you can do or any tricks to try and make him jealous will work and make him leave me for you like he did with you."

My eyes widened in surprise at her words.  I was almost positive he'd left me for Sara, but I hadn't received full confirmation until then.  

While it stung a bit knowing that someone I'd been with for so long had left me for my younger, blonder and whiter cousin was almost a slap on the face, but not in the way I would've originally thought. 

It was an inner shame that I had stayed with someone who would do that to me in the first place.  It was a dig against myself, because if I had that terrible judgement when it came to Jared, then who else could I have terrible judgement about?  Eli? 

I hoped to everything holy that wasn't the case, because with the memories of that mind blowing kiss still swimming around in my head making my mind foggy and drunk on the taste of him still lingering on my mouth, I couldn't imagine having to walk away from him, especially not because I'd been wrong about his character and what kind of man he really was. 

"Okay Sara, but I'm not doing anything to try and make your boyfriend jealous.  I'm literally just living my life. Just because someone else came along after he broke up with me doesn't immediately mean I'm flaunting things in his face.  If he's jealous, then that's a you and him problem."

I spied a bag of chocolate peanut butter cups on the kitchen bar behind her, lit up by the hanging pendant lights above it and while I was aware it was my father's peace offering, I didn't care.  I only wanted to stuff my face with chocolate peanut buttery goodness until I almost exploded. 

"Now if you'll excuse me, I've had a long night."

Sara's face contorted into half anger and half annoyance. 

"Fine.  But your dad is going to hear about this."

"Ooh, I'm so scared."

She rolled her eyes, stomped her foot like a brat, and stormed away from me in true toddler tantrum fashion.