Pepper never meant to lose her best friend. Lucas never meant to fall in love.
Yet the aftermath of broken hearts leads them to blur the lines of their friendship forever. When Pepper is dumped by her boyfriend and Lucas is led on by his crush, they...
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"SAENGIL CHUKA HAMNIDA! Sarang haneun, Mason."
"Happy birthday to you!" Carter and Philip cry in unison, breaking from the rest of the group and earning an eye-roll from Jaden.
Mason's face could light the darkest night from how vibrant his blush is as he ducks behind his Korean birthday cake. "Did you guys really learn how to sing it in Korean for me?"
"We did," Jaden says pointedly, cutting his eyes at the boys as they giggle and nudge each other across from Mason. "Rewatched a YouTube video like thirty times with those morons."
"Carter couldn't remember the last part," Philip snickers.
"Could too! You couldn't remember the last part."
"Well, you guys did a great job." Mason glances at me from across the table. The decorations from the restaurant obscure his face a bit, but he still manages to meet my eyes and widen his smile. "You sounded amazing. Thank you."
For some stupid reason, I blush as if Mason has never talked to me before. I turn my head and look down at my empty plate awaiting a slice of cream cake. "It was nothing."
Amber says followed by the rest of us. All the while, she touches my hand under the table and gives me one of those long looks that attempt — and fail — to hide her concern. I simply smile and sit up straight. How exactly do you tell your best friend that you've suddenly, completely out of nowhere, without warning or a light introduction, started to develop intense, romantic feelings for a guy you're supposed to be taking a break from?
You want to kiss him and hug him and make him laugh and see him smile for hours. You're terrified to be intimate again, but you long for the compassion of being more with him. You're not ready to fall in love again, but your stupid heart lurches every time his dark eyes meet yours. Every time those perfectly red lips form a word or break into a smile, you feel like melting in his strong hands.
If only there were a way to translate that feeling with mere silence.
"Time for gifts!" Jaden grins and shoves a giant birthday bag towards him.
"What about the cake?" Carter complains.
"We'll eat that afterward."
Mason begins opening his gifts like a child on Christmas day, impatient and skipping past all of the cards. I reach into my bag to reveal my gift, only to gasp upon brushing across concealer, mascara, lip gloss, perfume...no gift. "No," I groan and hang my head over the table.
"What's wrong?" Amber asks.
"I left his gift at the hotel."
A series of discouraged awws go around the table, furthering my disappointment. I'd been so excited to give it to him. How could I forget it?
