Page 15 of Hate To Love You

Damian was supposed to walk home with me, but he and his partner, Allie Moore, decided to start work on their project tonight.

Lainey sits up and smiles at me from the couch. I haven’t told her about my situation with Ryker, and I don’t know if I want to considering the way she reacted when I had barely had an actual conversation with the man.

Making my way over to the couch, I pull my sneakers off my feet and sit on the opposite side of Lainey. She lifts her feet and sets them back down on my thighs as she sets the book down on the coffee table.

“How was class?” she asks, which she does almost every day if she’s home when I arrive.

“Good, nothing exciting,” I try not to sound nervous or annoyed so she doesn’t ask me anything else, but I must fail because her eyes narrow and she sits up.

Lainey and I have known each other for so long now that we can easily tell when one of us isn’t saying something, so I should have known she’d catch on.

I look down at my hands in my lap as I nervously twist the ring on my index finger. “What are you not telling me, Guinevere?” Lainey asks suspiciously.

I don’t look her in the eye, I can’t. She’ll know I’m hiding something. “Nothing,” I say, avoiding her dubious expression.

“Fine. I guess you don’t want to know about my date tonight, then,” Lainey shrugs her shoulders and begins to stand but I yank her back down.

She gives me a devious smile, as if knowing I couldn’t refuse hearing about this date.

“Date? What date?” Lainey winks.

Before she can answer, the front door opens with Ellie and Haley trailing in, shutting it behind them.

“Ooo, what’s going on here?” Haley wags her finger between Lainey and me.

“Gwen has something to share with us,” Lainey says pointedly. I glower at her.

“Lainey has a date tonight!” I announce, hoping that will be enough to take the attention off of me and onto Lainey who’s shooting me a death glare.

Lainey doesn’t like not getting her way. She’s really not used to having people tell her no. She’s also a child of divorce, but her parents compensate by buying her things and essentially letting her do whatever she wants.

My parents? Well, they barely even communicate. I get calls from my dad here and there, mom calls every day, but that’s about it. Don’t get me wrong, I had a good childhood. I never wanted for anything, I always had everything I needed.

Ellie and Haley exchange a confused glance before setting their bags down and joining Lainey and I in the living room. Ellie takes a seat in the corner chair while Haley sits on the floor across from the couch, leaning her elbows on the coffee table in front of her.

“A date, huh? And when were you going to share this information with the group?” Ellie asks as if this were an interrogation. Lainey throws her hands up in exasperation.

“I was going to tell you guys when you got home, but someone,” she darts her gaze back to me with the same scowl on her face as before,“beat me to it.”

“Sooo…” Haley begins.

“So what?” Lainey asks.

“So, who is it? Your date,” Haley asks with a smirk.

Haley is a really sweet girl. We’re not as close to her since she only joined our house this year, but she’s a good friend, and a great addition to our little team.

Lainey has been single for as long as I’ve known her. Sure, she’s had her fun with some random flings, but she hasn’t ever been in a serious relationship. She says she’s ‘allergic to commitment’. So, it’s kind of surprising she has an actual date tonight.

“No one you’ll know. Some guy from my chemistry class. His name is Evan, he’s like six three, and absolutely hot as hell,” Lainey swoons.

“Do you have a picture? Let me see,” Haley asks, reaching over the coffee table and attempting to grab Lainey’s phone. Lainey swipes the phone and holds it in the air.

“I don’t have a picture! Gosh, Grabby, back down,” Haley sits back on her feet and laughs. “Anyway, enough about me. Gwenny here still has something to tell us,” I scowl at her, wishing with everything I have that I had laser vision to snipe her with.

“I do not,” I lean back into the couch, crossing my arms over my chest. I can feel all of their eyes on me, waiting for me to speak.

As I debate on whether or not to tell them about the unfortunate predicament I’ve been forced into, the front door swings open again.

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