Page 29 of In Too Deep

“Who knew Lawrence had it in him? That kiss was so hot,” Caroline says, fanning herself for dramatic effect.

Keeping my gaze on the movie, I give her a tight smile as I nod. “Yep.”

“Robbie was worried Lawrence might be into you, but I’m sure he’s over that now.”

My eyes dart over to her. “What gave him that idea?”

She hadn’t mentioned Lawrence being interested in me earlier. I thought I’d seen a glimpse of something before he kissed me. Even after the kiss landed on my cheek, I believed he was just being sweet. But any hope I had quickly evaporated when he kissed Caroline.

“I don’t know…” She shrugs, blowing it off like it’s not a big deal. “Robbie is paranoid. I told him he was being crazy. Clearly, I was right.” Anger swirls in my belly at her insinuation that the possibility of Lawrence liking me is so off the wall. “Anyway, Robbie is going to tell Lawrence I want him to ask me out. He should be on the phone with him right now.”

“That’s great.” She doesn’t seem to notice the lack of enthusiasm in my tone, and I turn my attention back to the movie as she beams at me.

“In return…” The sweet tone of her voice tells me she’s about to ask for a favor or deliver bad news. I glare at her out the corner of my eye. “He asked me to talk to you again about—”

“No,” I snap. “I’m not going to go out with your brother so he’ll ask Lawrence to go out with you.”

“Calm down. He’s going to ask him either way. But I don’t know what the big deal is. I’m not asking you to marry him. Why can’t you give him a chance?”

“Because…” I let out a long breath and shift on Caroline’s bed to get comfortable, already tired of this conversation. We’ve been over this so many times. “I don’t feel that way about him, and it would cause problems in our friendship.”

“No, it wouldn’t,” she insists, shaking her head. “And we could all double date. It would be awesome.”

My lip snarls at the thought, though Caroline doesn’t seem to notice. The last thing I want is to be a party to Caroline’s dates with Lawrence. “If I tell you I’ll think about it, will you leave me alone?”

“Yes,” she rushes with excitement. “I’m going to go see if Robbie’s called Lawrence yet.”

She hops off the bed and hurries out the door without so much as another glance in my direction, and I get the feeling I’m not going to like where this goes.

She returns a few minutes later, holding the cordless phone in her hand, covering the receiver as she whispers, “It’s Lawrence. He wants to talk to you.”

“To me?” My eyes widen as I point to myself, and Caroline nods. “Why?”

She shrugs, but the curve of her lips and twinkle in her eyes tell me she knows exactly what it’s about. My stomach feels heavy as I reach out with a shaky hand to take the phone.

“Hello.”

“Hey. It’s Lawrence.”

He sounds a little nervous, his tone shy and quiet.

A smile spreads across my face. “Yes…”

“Can I talk to you for a minute? Privately?”

“Privately?” I repeat, looking to Caroline for guidance.

She hesitates for a moment, seeming unsure about leaving me to talk to Lawrence alone, but eventually steps out of the room with a nod.

“Okay, I’m alone,” I tell him as soon as Caroline closes her bedroom door.

“So, you’re thinking about being Robbie’s girlfriend?”

“Where did you hear that?” The waterbed rocks as I climb off it and begin to pace next to it.

“Caroline just told him.”

Running my hand through my hair, I let out an agitated sigh. “I only told her that because she wouldn’t leave me alone about it.”

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