Chapter 27: Bully

*Natalia's POV*

I picked out of a pair of mauve satin pajama shorts and tank top, leaving its matching robe in the suitcase, after taking a long shower. Even the hot temperature of the water couldn't wash away my anger I felt towards Joe.

"I can't believe you still want to stay here," I muttered to Maddy as she walked past me to the guest bed we decided to share instead of taking different rooms, "After what he did? I knew he'd smooth talk—"

"After what he did?" she raised her eyebrows, picking up the small light green pillows that were only there for a decorative purpose, "What about what you did?"

"Me?" I questioned, slipping into my pajamas before letting the towel fall to the floor, "What the hell did I do?"

Placing the pillows onto the ottoman bench at the foot of the bed, she gave me a glower, "Maybe setting me up with the same guy you clearly have a thing with?"

"Joe?" I scoffed, "I don't have a thing with Joe. He's pretentious, self-centered, conniving, and so fucking annoying. You saw it yourself."

"Yeah. I did," she crossed her arms in front of her as she leaned against the wall, the moon's reflection the only thing brightening a side of her face from the uncovered window next to her, "I saw the way you looked at him all day. Or how you reacted every time he actually went along with your stupid game. Which, by the way, he caught onto pretty quickly."

"What stupid game?" I inquired, eyebrows furrowing, "I thought he was a good guy, and you're one of the nicest girls I know. It seemed like you'd be a good couple. That's it. There's no 'game' to it."

She bit her lower lip, glancing downwards while shuffling one of her feet before looking back up at me, "You knew what you were doing. Don't play dumb. You tried to make him unavailable so you'd stop feeling guilty for liking him, but in turn, all you did was make yourself jealous."

I gazed away, "I'm with Noah, Maddy."

"Exactly why you feel guilty," she turned her head slightly towards the window, peering down at the backyard, "He may have some of those qualities you said, but you also weren't wrong when you said he's a good guy. You deserve to be with a good guy, Natalia."

My hands leaned on the windowsill once I walked over next to Maddy, peering down at pool below, "I should go talk to him, shouldn't I?"

Her head nodded, "Don't be afraid to open up. Not everyone will leave you like your dad. Don't just accept the bare minimum with Noah."

I breathed out a sigh, letting the air exhale from my nostrils. As hard as I tried to push Joe out, I never expected a challenge from him in return. At the very least, he deserved an apology. As far as anything more, that was something that'd have to be unprompted in the moment.

Maddy stayed behind in the bedroom, putting on a reality TV show that I only had seen cringy clips of on social media while doomscrolling on my work breaks. I had no doubt that once I was down at the pool with Joe, she'd be spying on us from above for some real entertainment.

If we were in New York, I would've wished I grabbed my robe once I opened the sliding back door. But Miami made me realize exactly why Joe was out swimming past twelve on an autumn night, the heat still hitting me as I walked towards the edge of the pool.

For a brief minute, my mind forgot my motive on why I was even down here as I stared at Joe emerging from the surface. Water dripped down from the ends of his curls, hitting the freckles on his nose before he used his hand to run his hair away from his face. Even the moon and stars weren't as bright as the shimmer in his hazel eyes as they met mine.

"Is it time to bully me again?" his bare arms rested on the pavement in front of me, helping hold him up instead of paddling his arms and legs to keep his head from going back under the water.

"Depends," I remained standing, my arms crossed around my upper body in a self-soothing gesture, "Would you like me to?"

He shrugged with a partial smirk, "Coming from you? Maybe."

Usually, that'd get a teasing remark in return. Instead, my overthinking brain sat me down next to him on the pavement with locked lips. My legs sunk down, dangling in the water with Joe's body.

His facial expression changed as he fixated on my body language, feeling the seriousness of the energy around us, "Nat, look, I'm sorry about earlier. I never meant to hurt you or Maddy—"

"Joe, I like you," I bluntly interrupted him, his mouth shutting pretty damn quickly at my abrupt admission, "I shouldn't, but I do. I know it's wrong. I know. That's why I tried to set you up with Maddy, and also why I told you that I want to see you with other people. It was a lie, because the truth is I really don't want to see you with another woman. Or man. Sorry, I shouldn't assume your sexuality. But I just wanted to let you know, in case it wasn't clear."

He let go of the pavement as he glanced away. Our silence grew loud, him using his arms to swim slightly away while still facing me. These were the times I craved he wasn't so mysterious, unable to read what he was thinking or feeling without expressing them audibly.

Finally, he spoke up, "You gonna get in?"

I blinked, "Really? That's it? Not a 'Hey, I like you too,' or a 'Sorry, but I don't like you like that'? You're really making me wish I chose to bully you instead."

He chuckled, soaking in my frustration like it was the air he needed to stay alive, "So are you gonna get in or not?"

I frowned, glaring at him, "No, Joe. I'm not getting in. Does it look like I'm ready to hop in the pool?"

"I have a washer and dryer," he smirked, "And you can borrow a pair of my sweats again. It's not the end of the world if you get wet. Your legs already are. And your hair."

If he wasn't budging, neither was I, "It's damp. And I don't want to take another shower."

His smirk slightly disappeared as he swam up, closing the distance between us as his hands gripped onto the edge with both of my legs between them, "I like you too. Now will you get in?"

Satisfied with my win, I smiled back at him, "No."

He stared at me, the both of us frozen in whatever game we were playing next, until he surrendered by dunking his head under the surface. I watched his body swim underwater to the other side of the pool, straight to an inflated unicorn float.

This was a 'no' he wasn't going to accept. His stubborn ass suddenly became attractive instead of making me want to pull my hair out of my head and regret taking up a conversation with him.

He pulled it along with him, the water rippling the float up and down, until it was against the side of the pool in front of me, "What about now? You won't get a single drop on you."

"Alright, alright. Fine. You win," I giggled, caving in to him as I carefully lowered myself onto the float.

Our hands brushed up against one another as he pushed me with him on the water. I caught him gazing at my forearm that had been lowered down, drawing it back to rest on my stomach while my other hand covered the tint of yellowed marks.

"I fell on it when skating," I excused it with a lie that made sense to me.

"You've skated one time in a whole year, and that was months ago," he gently retorted, "Was that the first time?"

My lie would've worked on anyone else but him. "No," I whispered.

He went quiet for at least thirty seconds, then asked, "What happened to your knee?"

"I told you already. I had an accident that stole my dreams," I muttered, noticing Joe had stopped us from moving in the middle of the pool, "You googled me, didn't you? I'm sure you read the few articles that covered it. I fell down a flight of stairs, fucked up my knee by how my leg twisted, and four surgeries later still didn't fix it."

He still didn't buy it, his full attention on gaining eye contact, "What actually happened to your knee?"

Water started to form in my eyes. A different kind of water than the one that was holding me up. Salty liquid rather than chlorinated.

"I want to get out," I gulped, my vision blurring as I used my own hand to paddle myself to the stairs.

"Did he do that?" Joe probed, holding onto my float to prevent me from exiting the pool, "Is that why you guys broke up the first time? Was he hurting you?"

"Joe, let me go," I quivered out, panic starting to rise up my spine, "I want to get out now."

"Nat, just talk to me," he huffed out of frustration, his grip still strong on the float, "Is he the reason why you had to give up ice skating? Did he do that to your knee?"

"Yes, Joe, yes!" I finally shouted my deep secret that only Noah and I knew as I jumped out of the float to swim to the stairs, my satin pajamas saturated from the pool water.

He followed me to the stairs, stepping out behind me, "Why the fuck are you still with him?"

"He's the only guy that deals with me," I picked up Joe's towel he brought out for himself and wrapped it around me in a tight hug while a few tears escaped down my cheeks, "I've been told that numerous times."

"Deals with you?" his hand went to reach out to touch me, but he retracted it remembering exactly what happened last time he tried that, "Who told you that? Him? No one 'deals with' someone they love."

"I'm not taking relationship advice from someone that couldn't even keep a marriage," I retaliated, my mouth forming out words before they hit my brain, "Or someone that fucks every girl he comes across, me stupidly being one of them."

He rushed in front of me, stopping us in our tracks, "Don't do that. You're trying to use whatever you can as leverage to get me to hate you. You accused me of self-sabotaging, but that's exactly what you're trying to do. And for the record, I haven't slept with any other woman after you. Or man. Trust me, I tried. Numerous times. But I failed every single time. That's what went wrong on my date. You know, the night you found me alone at the bar. So, you also are my last one-night stand."

I couldn't care less if he saw emotions I rarely allowed anyone to witness, him being the one to flick my tears away with his thumb. His hand then caressed my jawline ever so tenderly, glimpsing down at my lips before meeting my eyes with a glimmer in them of his own.

My words stabbed him exactly how I intended them to, except I immediately regretted it, "Joe—"

"Do what you have to do," he intentionally cut me off, lowering his hand to his side, "I can't kiss you if you're still with him."

Yes, you can, I wanted to say, but instead, I replied back with a film of tears still brimming, "Let me end it in person. Just don't change your number, okay?"