Wet (Westbrook Elite, #1)

by Cambria Hebert

Her eyes were gray, something I hadn’t noticed until now. I liked them. They spoke of her tumultuous personality. A gray sky could go one of two ways: 1. Give way to an epic storm or 2. Clear to make room for the sun

A difference between being a loner and being alone. One felt like a choice, and the other—it felt like a sentence.

I didn’t want to be alone. I wanted someone to choose me.

“Fuck loyalty among bros. Loyalty to my girl rules all.”

The butterflies in my belly were drunk. Flopping and fluttering everywhere, crashing into each other and the lining of my stomach. I wasn’t sure if I should eat with the party already going on in there.

I couldn’t quite understand why females were automatically less, why we had to work harder to get a modicum of respect, and why our word wasn’t as good as a man’s. It was beyond devaluing, unfair, degrading, and, frankly, stupid.

“Go home, Ryan.” “What if home is you?”

Never once in my life did I ever go into a store and consider what items I should carry around for self-defense. I never once walked around campus with fear of being followed or attacked. She did, though. I bet all the girls on campus did.

Jesus, was this what love was like? Fast, hard, and entirely consuming? Did it turn every man inside out and make them near paranoid and rabid about protecting what was his?

“I swear toxic masculinity is going to be the end of this entire world.”

This is why. Why no one ever wanted to drop the L-word first. Because when you weren’t sure the other person could say it back, it became a virtual mindfuck.

Love definitely was a lot better when the person you were in love with loved you back.

“Popularity doesn’t always equal friends. Real friends are hard to find, you know? It’s easier to just be friends with everyone but really no one.”

What was it about trauma? About intense situations that brought people together? Was it because those times cut through all the bullshit and layers to get to the core? To get to who people really were? You learned fast who you could count on.

Do things ever really “go back to normal” after something traumatic happens? Even after the initial shock fades away, even after life resumes to include the mundane everyday routine, there are still remnants of whatever it was that changed things. People liked to say it was a “new normal,” and sure, maybe it was. Or maybe it was just learning to live with the fact that whatever happened changed you, so even when things went back to normal, you never would.

I know I didn’t need his praise, but having someone acknowledge how hard I tried made me feel lighter,

I’ll always be here to support you, and I’ll always add my voice to yours, making it twice as loud.”