Page 107 of Hate to Love You

“Are you sure?” Ignoring Zara, who is still swearing and struggling about ten feet from where we sit, Amanda strokes her fingers over me.

“Yup, I’m sure.”

Screwing this girl isn’t going to dull the razor-sharp pain inflicted by Natalie. If anything, I’ll just feel worse in the morning.

“Fine,” Amanda huffs.

Taking her sweet time, she wiggles her ass against my junk before standing and stretching like she has all the time in the world. She sticks her tits out and shoots a sexy smile at Luke. “When you get tired of psycho Tinker Bell, you know where to find me.”

Oh no she didn’t…

My lips tremble with a smile. Zara’s eyes flash with rage as she once again tries to lunge at Amanda. “I swear to God, bitch, you come near him, and I’ll mess you up!”

Gritting his teeth, Luke locks Zara more firmly against his body and murmurs something in her ear. The fire in her eyes slowly dies as he kisses the side of her face.

Once Amanda is gone, Luke says with a bit of humor lacing his voice, “Can I trust you to make good choices or should I just keep you tucked in my arms for the time being?”

Zara grumbles something about “kicking that girl’s ass” under her breath. Which I don’t doubt because Zara is one tough chick. I think Luke has met his match with that one.

Luke chuckles and kisses her again before loosening his hold. “Chill out, babe. It’s all good. You have nothing to worry about.”

Just as Zara relaxes against him, a smile curving her lips, her eyes settle on me and she’s back to scowling. “What are you doing with Amanda? Seriously? Three hours ago, I let you into my apartment to cook dinner for Natalie and now you’re here,” she jerks her thumb in the direction Amanda sauntered off in, “whoring it up with that overused vag?”

Part of me doesn’t want to talk about what happened with Natalie. It’s still too fresh. But if I don’t tell them, then I look like the bad guy. The whoremongering asshole. And you know what? I’m not.

“Didn’t work out,” I bite out. “Natalie gave me my walking papers.”

“Get the hell out of here.” A shocked look crosses her face. “You’re lying.”

“I’m not.” I sigh, and everything in me deflates.

Looking as confused as I feel, Zara crosses her arms under her breasts. “How did you manage to fuck up? Because she really liked you.”

I snort. “I made the girl dinner and told her that I loved her. So…you tell me how I managed to screw it up.”

It’s almost comical the way both of their eyes widen. “No kidding?” she breathes.

Embarrassed by what I’ve just admitted to my friends, I hoist the beer to my lips and take a drink, trying to wash away the humiliation. It doesn’t work.

“Dude…” Luke shifts uncomfortably from one foot to the other. “That sucks.”

“Yeah…that’s a major understatement,” I mutter.

“But that doesn’t make sense.” Zara frowns as she shakes her head. “Natalie likes you. I know she does. Honestly, all of the years you two spent dancing around each other seemed like some kind of bizarre mating ritual. I wasn’t surprised when you finally got together, just that it took so long to happen.”

I shrug. I’ve thought the same thing. Minus the bizarre mating ritual part. “Natalie dumped me, Zara” I repeat quietly. “I don’t know what else to tell you. She said she wasn’t ready to get serious.”

Only now do I realize that her strange behavior this past week makes perfect sense. I knew something was up with her.

Unfortunately, I didn’t know just how right I was.

Chapter Forty-Two

Natalie

“You just decided to break up with him?” Zara asks as she throws herself onto the desk chair in my bedroom and stares at me in an unnerving fashion that would break a lesser woman. “Just like that?” She snaps her fingers to add emphasis to her words. Not that she has to. I get it. She’s annoyed with me. My friend doesn’t understand why I would do something so extreme.

I fidget nervously with the hem of my shirt and glance away, avoiding eye contact at all costs. Zara has known me since the fourth grade. I’m afraid if she searches long enough—hard enough—she’ll figure out that I’m lying. I need to shut down this line of questioning before it gets out of hand. “Yep.”

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