Page 31 of In Too Deep

She rolls her eyes, sighing dramatically, as if my question is absurd. “There’s a difference between watching something on a screen and having someone jump out at you or chase you.”

My lips press as I nod in agreement. “I guess that makes sense. And I think it’s adorable you’re scared,” I tell her without thinking, causing her cheeks to blush. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep you safe.”

Her eyes widen a little at my brazen statement, and I’m so focused on her, I don’t notice Robbie and Caroline have returned from the bathroom.

“I’m pretty sure that’s my job.” Robbie’s cold stare locks on me as he wraps his arm around Cat’s shoulders, and her body stiffens the way it always does.

“Yeah,” Caroline says, gluing herself to my side. “Besides, you’ll be busy protecting me.”

“Right.” Squeezing my arm around Caroline’s tiny frame, I give her a quick kiss on the side of her head, not missing the way Cat’s eyes fall to the ground. “Let’s do this.”

Once we’re inside, our group gets split up, separating me from Caroline and Cat from Robbie. Cat is trying to act brave, even though I can tell she’s scared to death. And I’m purposely keeping my distance from her. But when we enter a room with a crazy clown that takes a shining to her, she clings to me, burying her face in my back as she wraps her hands tightly around my waist.

As we enter the next room, I’m already dreading the moment Cat lets me go, and I’m pleasantly surprised when she doesn’t do it right away. Her hold tightens as she lifts her head, and a shiver runs through me as I feel her breath on the back of my neck. I know allowing this is bad, and the contentment I’m feeling is even worse, but I don’t want it to ever end.

When she does finally try to pull away, I put my arms over hers to keep her in place. Her body goes rigid but quickly relaxes, her chest rising and falling against my back with her sigh. When she lays her head on me, I know she’s relented. We continue through the rest of the house this way, in our forbidden embrace, knowing all the while our time will soon come to a crashing halt.

Catelyn

There’s an uncomfortable silence between Robbie, Lawrence, and me as we walk down the street, only crickets and the buzz of the streetlights turning on filling the air. Things have been weird since I reluctantly agreed to be Robbie’s girlfriend, and I still have no clue what possessed me to do that. It felt like a challenge when Lawrence said he’d date Caroline if I agreed to date Robbie. At this point, I’m thinking he was only looking for an out. Now, we’re both in relationships we never wanted.

To make matters worse, I’m falling for Lawrence. The more we all hang out, the closer I feel to him. I know dating him isn’t possible, and I’m trying to fight it, but he doesn’t make it easy. No one has ever looked at me the way Lawrence does, like he’s really seeing me. Not even Robbie, and he’s claimed to be in love with me since we were five years old.

“You look nice,” Lawrence whispers.

Heat floods my face as I look at Robbie, who’s still walking several steps ahead of us, smiling as my gazes moves back over to Lawrence. “Thank you.”

This is another example of why my feelings for Lawrence are getting so complicated. Robbie is my boyfriend, yet he hadn’t noticed or commented on my appearance. He hadn’t noted my perfectly curled hair or full face of makeup.

I shiver as a burst of wind blows around us and fold my arms over my chest, rubbing them to keep them warm. Fall in the south can be so unpredictable. You’ll sweat under the sun during the day and freeze at night. It was still daylight when we left Caroline’s to pick up Lawrence, so I regrettably hadn’t grabbed my jacket.

“You look cold. Here…take my coat.”

Before I can even respond, he slips it off and over my shoulders. Pulling me into his side, he rubs his hands up and down my arms. Our eyes lock, and my heart contracts. No one has ever offered me their coat before. It’s like a scene out of a corny romance movie. I don’t know how I’m expected not to fall in love with this boy.

“Well, isn’t this cute?” Robbie’s harsh tone brings me out of my dazed state. My eyes going wide as they shoot over to him. “Hey, Lawrence, why don’t you take your hands off Cat before I go inside and tell your girlfriend you’re out here hitting on her best friend.”

Anger volcanoes in my belly, but I don’t say anything as I take a step away from Lawrence and hand him his coat, fearful Robbie will make good on this threat. Our behavior toward each other isn’t entirely appropriate. I’m not sure how Caroline would react if she witnessed what Robbie had just now.

“It isn’t like that. Cat was cold, and I offered her my coat. If you’d been paying attention to her, you could’ve offered her yours.”

Robbie and Lawrence stare each other down, as if they’re about to throw punches, and I take it as my cue to exit and rush into Caroline’s house.

19

Lawrence

The line begins to ring, and my chest is so tight I can hardly breathe. I’ve been both dreading and looking forward to making this call. When Robbie called me out on Halloween for holding Cat in my arms, I panicked. He was so furious I thought he might take a swing at me. Honestly, I would rather he do that than lose his friendship. Which I was also afraid of—still am.

Just in case that wasn’t enough incentive, Robbie also pointed out my behavior with Cat could cause issues between Cat and Caroline. He knows I’ve become very attached to Cat and would never want to do anything that would hurt her.

By the time I walked into Robbie’s house that night, adrenaline was pumping in my veins. Fueled with frustration and a determination to fix this, I headed straight for Caroline’s bedroom and kissed her. I was so worked up I didn’t even realize how intense things were becoming. Caroline was not the person I wanted to be kissing that way, but it didn’t take long for my natural animal instincts to kick in.

The fog I was in quickly faded the second Cat walked in. When I turned and saw her standing by the doorway with shock on her face, I freaked out. I hated that she was seeing me that way, with Caroline underneath me, and I screamed for her to get out. There was so much hurt on her face as she walked out the door, slamming it behind her.

I royally screwed up.

Cat didn’t look at or speak to me the rest of the night, and she hasn’t been back to Caroline’s in weeks. When I asked Caroline for Cat’s number to call and apologize, she was more than happy to give it to me. I don’t know how she’s going to act when I get her on the line, but I can’t help feeling a little excited over the chance to have some one-on-one time with Cat.

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