I watch as she paints with my brother. Small, delicate strokes, stopping every few minutes to check he's okay, asking if he needs help. Her dark hair falls over her face, so she brings a hand up to tuck it behind her ear. Her brows are pulled together with concentration, her cheeks a rosy pink from the heat.

"Bro." James nudges me.

I drag my eyes away from her, bringing my attention back to the game of cards in front of me.

"You've been out of it all morning." Neki leans forwards. "What's on your mind man?"

I shake my head, placing a card down.

"Nothing. I'm good. Just tired from training." I explain.

"You didn't have training today." James reminds me.

"Tired from yesterday's training." I shrug.

Neki shakes his head slowly, leaning back and folding his arms over his chest. He gives James a look that he seems to understand, and James nods.

"What?" I huff, placing my cards down on the table.

"You like her." he says.

My eyebrows raise and I almost choke on absolutely nothing.

"What?" I repeat.

"You haven't taken your eyes off her all morning dude." James points out.

"I'm watching my brother." I argue, sitting back.

"Jack is barely even in our eye line bro. You're looking at her." James says in a matter-of-fact tone.

I push my face into my hands, before sitting up and leaning forward.

"I can't get her out of my head. I don't know what's wrong with me." I lower my voice.

"She has that affect." Neki says in an admiring tone.

"Bro, focus." James says.

"I try to avoid her, but that's impossible now that she lives here." I push a hand through my hair. "I don't know what it is."

"Well for one she's gorgeous." Neki points out.

"And she has a great personality." James adds.

"And a banging body."

I turn to Neki. "Bro, chill."

He raises his arms in defence.

"Just tell her how you feel." James suggests.

I scoff. "Fuck no. I don't do relationships. Look what happened with the last one."

"That's because Mackenzie is crazy bro." Neki laughs.

"No. I'll just keep ignoring her until we move out for college." I say.

"Next year? Good luck with that." James chuckles.

"Why does it look like the three of you are planning something."

Almost simultaneously, we all look up.

Elena is stood over us. Her hair is tied back loosely, dried paint covering her arms and thighs, and even a little on her cheeks. Her vest is fitted, showing her slim but curvy body and her shorts are resting at the top of her thighs.

As I bring my eyes back to hers, she tilts her head to the side. Fuck, she's beautiful.

I look away, making eye contact with Neki. He grins at me, and then looks at her.

"Hey pretty." he smiles, glancing at me.

I feel the annoyance creep up my neck. I hate when he does that. She laughs it off, walking around the couch and flopping down in the middle seat. She crosses one leg over the other as she reaches back, pulling the hair tie from her hair. She looks over her shoulder.

"Are you coming Jack?" she asks my brother.

"Yeah, one minute." he calls back, still focused on his painting.

Her voice is like silk. It's one of the sweetest voices I've ever heard. I hate it.

"There's a party tomorrow Elena, do you want to come?" Neki says suddenly.

I look at him, frowning. He shrugs his shoulders.

"Tomorrow? Who has parties on a Monday?" she scrunches up her nose. She does that a lot. It's adorable.

James shrugs. "People do what they want during summer."

She runs her hands through her hair, revealing her collar bone briefly before it falls back down.

"I'm not sure." she says.

"C'mon Elena. It's the last party we'll get to go to before our senior year." Neki pressures.

"Bro don't force her." James narrows his eyes.

Elena turns to me and my heart stops. I hate that she has this affect on me.

"Are you going?" she asks.

I look at her, her brown eyes accentuated by the sun, her lips pink, matching the colour of her flushed cheeks. She shifts a little and I realise I still haven't answered her.

"Yeah." I turn my attention back to the TV.

"I'll think about it." she finally says.

I can't help but feel a little glad.