Page 43 of Easy Out

“What’s your deal with her? I know she gave you a ride home from the club. You have some classes together, right? Do you like her?” He asks while I’m staring at her photo. I quickly airdrop it to myself, then pass him his phone back.

What’s my deal with Lauren? Wouldn’t I like to know. Are we friends? Acquaintances? Classmates? On the road to something more? It’s impossible to tell.

I don’t know how to handle Lauren. No one has affected me like this before. She puts my senses on overload. Her scent. Her touch. Her taste. I want it all.

Lauren also puts me at ease. Most people make me anxious and uncomfortable. Being around Lauren is like stepping into cool water. The cloud of anxiety I typically feel when speaking dissipates when she’s with me.

“Yeah, man, I think I do.” Koa nods.

Wyatt and Nash enter the kitchen and start digging through pizza boxes. “What are you ladies gossipin’ about in here? Did my ears deceive me, or did Hart admit he likes someone?” Koa glances over at me. He gives me the ‘you might as well tell them’ look.

“Sydney and Lauren,” I admit. Koa’s right. I might as well get this conversation out of the way.

Wyatt is delighted with this information. He is smiling like a loon. He runs a hand through his hair, shaking out his mullet of brown curls. “And what do the two of you have to say about the two of them?”

“Good question,” Nash pipes in, saluting Wyatt with a buffalo wing. “Because I know neither one of you are about to tell me you like my sister.” Nash shudders. Koa stares down at his food. His silence tells me more than words could.

“Of course not,” I say.

“Lauren then,” Wyatt says, wiggling his eyebrows.

Everyone but Nash laughs.

“You have a thing for Lauren?” He questions.

“I like spending time with her,” I tell him.

“I didn’t realize you were spending a lot of time with Lo.” The nickname irritates me. It reminds me how close he is to Lauren.

“We have a few classes together, and we’re partnered up for a couple of assignments.” There is also something special about her that I find intriguing. Nash hums a response. “Do you have something to say?”

“No. I’m just surprised. I didn’t think she would be the kind of girl you would be into, is all.”

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t know. She’s so quiet and keeps to herself. I figured you would want someone who doesn’t mind doing all the talking and keep the attention off of you.”

His logic makes sense, but he’s way off base as far as what I want. I don’t want someone to talk to me to fill the void. I want to be with someone who is comfortable with my silence.

Lauren isn’t quiet anyways. At least not the Lauren that I’m getting to know. Sure, she clams up when I ask something personal. I can respect that. I’m also not willing to talk about everything in my past.

Once she gets going on something she loves, like the kids in her neighborhood, the words flow like a faucet. Lauren might keep to herself to hide her secrets, but deep down, she craves real connection. I see it in her eyes. Lauren wants to belong somewhere.

“Lauren talks more than you think.” He shrugs off the thought. I might regret this, but I have to know. “Is there something going on between you and Lauren?”

Nash takes his sweet time mulling over my question. So much time, I wonder if I will have to back off from pursuing her.

Over the last couple of days, I’ve decided I want her. This emptiness I feel when she’s not around confirms it. That almost kiss in the library confirms it.

Damn, I want to feel her lips against mine.

Watching her dance. The way she moved across the room with her eyes on me the entire time. It woke something up inside me. The thought of walking away and adhering to bro code doesn’t sit right with me.

“It’s not like that with Lauren,” he says, and something in my chest loosens. “When I first met her, I thought she was pretty. I mean, she’s still pretty.” I don’t disagree. She’s stunning. “But she’s Syd’s best friend.” He doesn’t have to say anymore.

Sydney has never had a lot of girlfriends. All through high school, she was constantly holding interviews for the best friend position. High school girls weren’t interested in Syd. They were only interested in what Sydney could offer them in the form of hooking them up with us.

I vaguely remember how nervous Sydney was about rooming with a stranger. Nash was still in high school. It was up to me, Koa, and Wyatt to be there for Syd if this girl turned out to be bad news.

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