The Whys of Us

17

"Your birthday is close, baby," Andy says, looking sideways at Rhysand. "What do you wanna do?"

Rhysand scoffs and puts his hand on Andy's bare thigh. "Don't remind me."

Andy grins. "Fine, then. I'm taking that as a green light to plan it and do whatever I want."

"I really don't care," Rhysand counters, taking a left into the school parking lot. "As long as I celebrate with you."

"Sap!" Andy whines, smacking him on the shoulder. "Don't do that."

"Not doing anything," he says, though a small smile pulls up on his lips. Rhysand parks the car. "You get flustered so easily, it's cute."

Andy grabs her bag from the backseat to hide her blush. "You're annoying."

Rhysand scoffs again. "Says you."

Andy opens the door and leans over to kiss him on the cheek. "Bye, thank you for driving me."

"Wait," he says, snatching her wrist. Andy blinks at him. Rhysand's eyes turn dark and his expression changes as he tips his chin upwards. "That him?"

Andy turns around with drawn eyebrows and sees Johann near the entrance of the pool, already shirtless. He spots her and gives her a big wave and a smile.

Andy returns the gesture before looking back at Rhysand, who's giving her a piercing stare. "Yeah, that's Johann."

"C'mere," Rhysand says, and not giving her time to react, pulls her arm, curls a hand around the nape of her neck, and kisses her.

Andy's surprised at the show of jealousy but kisses him back anyway, dropping her bag onto the seat. Even with this, Rhysand's still careful. Calculated. Too afraid to go too far.

She presses her lips further against his, but Rhysand's already pulling back, a satisfied smirk on his face. He tips his chin towards the pool. "Call me later."

Andy's face is flushed as she picks up her bag. "Bye!" she says hurriedly, already turning away and heading inside the pool.

Johann greets her cheerily and follows her as she steps towards the locker room. "Hey, Andy. Was that the boyfriend?"

"Yes!" she squeaks, ducking inside. "I'm going to change!"

Bash meets her outside when she's ready and tying her long hair into a bun to keep under the swimming cap. The captain is leaning against the wall opposite the locker room with an eyebrow raised. "How's the nose?"

"Fine, thank you so much," Andy answers politely, pulling her ponytail into place. It accidentally gets caught in between the strands of her hair, and she winces with a gasp. "Ow, motherchucker—"

Bash laughs and moves closer. "Motherchucker?"

"Just so I don't curse," Andy mutters distractedly, trying to pull her ponytail free from all the tangles. Each pull makes her wince from the pain. "Ah, God—"

"Jesus, here, let me," Bash says, swatting away Andy's arms as he stands behind her. Andy freezes in place as she feels the warmth and press of Bash's body against her back, but thinks nothing of it as she lets her friend help her. "You're ruining your hair with all your pulling."

Andy pushes her bottom lip out and crosses her arms. "Sorry," she murmurs, even though she has no reason to apologize—least of all to Bash.

The captain is smiling when he says, "Cute. Here, I think I got it." With utter gentleness, Bash finally disentangles the ponytail from her hair. "I'll tie your hair up for you."