Page 27 of Hiding from Hope

“Sorry, sorry.” He looks a little embarrassed, but still reaches for me and I let him.

“I just… I don’t even know your name.” A laugh tumbles out of me at the absurdity, and his smile grows to a whopping size that has me biting my lip. “Lane,” he says roughly. “Yours?”

“Casey,” I breathe, and he leans down and kisses me again.

“Casey.” He says it back to me like he is testing it out. “Feel like getting out of here, Casey?” God yes. I nod my head and he steals my lips with one more kiss before he turns and guides me out. On the way we run into Rosie.

“Um, bitch, that ain’t the guy you arrived with?” Her face pulls into a mischievous smile as her gaze widens and takes in Lane. I squeeze my eyes shut at being outed in swapping a date, but when I look back to Lane, apology in my eyes, he wraps an arm around my waist, pulling me to him as he leans down to Rosie.

“No, but it’s me she is leaving with.”

Rosie gasps audibly, forming an O with her mouth before she high fives me and leans in to whisper, “Yes, bitch! Get it!”

I whisper back that I shared live location–we can be spontaneous, but we can also be vigilant.

Lane pulls me toward the front, and as we exit, I twirl to face him, his fingers interlaced with mine and that smile of his dangerous. “Where are you taking me, Lane?” I add a slight moan to the end of his name, which has it’s intended impact as he practically growls and hauls me against him, taking my mouth in another searing kiss as we walk slowly backward toward the street. We pull apart as he goes to answer my question, but we bump into someone.

“Oh, sorr—”

“Ace.” Oh god.

“Jessie. Oh… Hi!” The words squeak out of me at an embarrassingly high pitch. I shake my head and try again. “Hi.” Okay, that was basically a growl. I am officially an idiot.

Despite doing nothing wrong, I feel strangely like I’m being busted doing something illegal. I plaster on a happy smile, like I’m so very pleased to see him. Except he is the last person I want to run into because, of course, everyone pales in comparison to him.

He is taller than Lane, sexier and more rugged than Lane. The word dirtier comes to mind, even though, technically speaking, he is actually clean.

But he just… he just… ugh. You just know it’d be dirty with him, and I hate that now I’m thinking about it… again.

“What are you doing out tonight?” I ask sweetly and wait for the moment where I can imply to Lane that this is not my boyfriend.

“Catching up with an old friend.” He gestures to the stunning blonde next to him and that stupid unwanted pit of sour gummy worms falls heavy in my stomach. Jessie is on a date. Of course he is on a date; I’m also on a date.

Because we’re friends.

Nothing more.

He might be hung up on his ex, but at least he’s found someone to help him pass the time.

I get itchy skin at the sadness trying to take me down. At the very solid reminder that I wasn’t good enough to be that person for him. That he could never look at me and see anything other than his little sister’s friend.

I nod at him and smile. “Well, Lane and I were just leaving.” I gesture to my date and step into his embrace, which seems to perk up his ego, and he wraps an arm around my shoulders.

He awkwardly nods his head at Jessie before looking down at me and smiling. “Should we go?” he asks, except it feels like he is asking something else, something like, are you sure you’re leaving with me?

“Yep!” I look back to Jay. “See you around?” I plaster my best smile on and will my heart to slow. Jessie scrunches up his face, but, in a second, the look gone back to that same solid indifference that makes my heart sink. I don’t know what I expected. Jealousy? Him to throw a caveman-level tantrum about Lane having his hands on me? Why would he, though?

He levels Lane with a severe look, delivering some kind of message that Lane seems to answer with his eyes. Whatever transpires between them, it seems to be enough because Jessie looks back at me. “Yeah, I’ll see you.” Before he nudges his date with his elbow and they enter the bar. He never introduced me to her. She didn’t say a thing, just smiled and looked at her shoes like she was trying not to laugh. Stupid bitch. I’ll give you something to laugh about.

Ugh. I’m sure she is a super nice lady, and probably not a bitch at all, but for whatever reason, I can’t seem to reconcile that with this stupid jealousy.

As Jessie leaves and I try to reign in my facial features and the abundance of mixed feelings, Lane pulls his phone out and orders an Uber.

Between the cool night air and the run in with Jessie, I’m feeling very sober. “You good, red?” Lane coos into my ear, causing goosebumps to trail my skin. I turn into his embrace and ignore the odd nickname. He rests his hands on my lower back as I wrap my arms around his neck, walking us backward so he leans against the outside wall of Bozzelli’s as we wait for the Uber.

“I’m good,” I whisper and steal a chaste kiss. He smiles into it, then pulls back to analyze my eyes.

“What?”

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