YENA

I’d never run so fast in my life.

Evan and I were out in the woods and he was telling me how to stretch, when I caught him looking at my body.

With a look on his face that could not be mistaken. His eyes were very serious.

It was a look of desire.

And suddenly it was like I could smell it on him, too. That he did want me.

I cursed inwardly to myself. I didn’t want to admit, finally, that maybe Lily had right about this.

I couldn’t deny it anymore.

Because after I caught him looking, he met my eyes. He saw that I saw him. And he knew that I could tell what he was thinking.

And then he went red and looked away, embarrassed.

The way my body reacted to everything was a surprise to me.

It happened in a split second.

First there was a little ache that started in my stomach and moved downward. Right in the moment when Evan and I made eye contact.

And then Lily started laughing at me, and pacing around, making my heart beat faster.

I couldn’t really tell what she wanted, but she was riled up.

I think I might’ve given Evan… an encouraging look. A little smile.

It wasn’t intentional. The suddenly smoldering look I’d happened to find in his eyes caught me off guard and had me feeling flattered… and maybe other things.

Evan was the one who turned away first. He said something like we were finished stretching, and then looked up at the trees awkwardly.

All I could think to do with my racing heart was run. So I took off sprinting, telling him it was a race back to the house.

I guess I was running away from the situation.

I didn’t like where it was going.

Maybe this might be the end of my running off into the woods with my brother…

I knew Evan was a great athlete. Top at every sport he ever tried. But the lightning speed at which he suddenly surged past me was next level.

He was totally out of sight in a flash. I slowed down a little for the rest of the way back to the house.

I had to wonder if Evan was trying to run away from the situation, too. From whatever it was that was happening between us.

EVAN

Yena was at least three minutes behind him, but she still came walking up the path red-faced and panting, with her hands on her hips. Her eyes were big, and she shook her head side to side when she saw Evan.

“Bro, that was crazy,” she said. “You’re so fast!”

“So are you,” Evan said between gulps of air.

He’d pushed himself really hard, with that sprint.

Yena walked up to the porch, looking wobbly like her legs were turning to jelly.

She was clearly right about to sit down on the steps next to Evan, but then she hesitated and stopped. Took a few steps to the side and leaned her weight onto the handrail instead.

She was panting, with her chest heaving up and down.

“You okay?” Evan asked, not looking directly at her. He took his sweatshirt off and started using it to mop up sweat off his face.

“Well, I’m still breathing. But just barely.”

It seemed like they were making a silent agreement not to talk about that moment between them in the woods. They were both pretending like it didn’t happen.

Evan didn’t know if he was disappointed or relieved about that. It was kind of a mix of both.

Just then a breeze blew across the yard, making a sighing sound as it moved through the branches of the big pine trees.

It swept Yena’s scent over toward Evan, and he breathed it in.

A smile spread across his face.

He couldn’t smell the other guy on her anymore… just Yena.

“Come on,” he said. “Let’s get inside.”

She followed him into the house.

The smell hit them right away. Fresh baked cinnamon rolls. So, Tina was up, and already baking something for breakfast.

“Kids!”

And there she was, stepping out of the kitchen doorway and wiping flour off her hands, onto a messy apron.

“Tina, you said you weren’t going to spoil me too much, remember?” Yena went over and gave her a hug.

Tina hugged her back, leaving patchy white handprints on the back of Yena’s blue sweatshirt.

“Did I say that?” she asked. “I don’t remember saying that.”

“You’re going to make me fat again,” Yena whined.

Tina frowned and said, “Stop that. Just because you’re thinner now, and you look great, doesn’t mean there was ever anything wrong with you.”

Evan took the opportunity, while the two ladies were in this conversation, to slip away. He locked himself in the bathroom and got the shower running.

He stripped his sweaty clothes off while he waited for it to get hot, and looked at his reflection in the mirror.

Could Yena really be into him? Was that possible?

The more he thought about their moment in the woods, the more surreal it seemed.

Like something out of a dream, or one of his fantasies.

When the water was running warm enough to stand, Evan got in the shower and started soaping up, washing off the sweat and grime from the run.

He was tired of fighting it. It was like a full-time job, now that Yena was here, and spending so much time at home with Evan. Almost all his thoughts were about fighting off the fantasies of being with her.

He closed his eyes and let the hot water hit him in the face and throat. And gave up.

He remembered the sensation of Yena’s touch, when she rested her hand on his arm. Or when she ran her foot up his leg under the dinner table.

He pictured her lying in her bed, smiling up at him.

And he opened his mouth, imagining what it would be like to kiss her. Whether she’d be sweet and tender, or if she’d bite him a little…

That was enough. He hardly had to touch himself to get off.

“Fuck,” he whispered, spitting out a mouthful of hot water.

The water had gotten really hot – too hot.

He adjusted the knob, letting it turn way down, and the water started running cold. Evan stood underneath it until he started to shiver and felt wide awake again.

When the water turned off, he heard the voices carrying from downstairs. He couldn’t make out what they were saying, but Yena and Tina were laughing together about something.

Evan threw some sweats on, pushed his damp hair back behind his ears, and headed down to join them.

“Done hogging the bathroom?” Yena asked playfully when he entered the kitchen.

Tina was taking something out of the oven.

“Uh, yeah,” he said. “Sorry, guess I’m not used to sharing anymore. It’s all yours.”

Yena got up from where she’d been sitting, cross-legged in a chair at the dining table.

She smiled at Evan as she walked by him, and reached out her hand to touch him. Her fingers grazed his forearm and slid lightly across his skin as she passed by.

He turned and watched her walk away.

Then Yena was gone, and when Evan looked forward again, his mother was setting a tray of steaming cinnamon rolls down on the table and smiling up at him.

“Hungry?” she asked.

Evan sighed and said, “Starving.”