Page 114 of Forbidden You

My eyes move back to Kayla. Her brown hair sways around her shoulders, her beaming smile making a thousand bugs crawl through my stomach while the thought of her dating someone else rips my heart apart.

“Yeah,” I concede. “I know.”And there is no way I could ever fucking handle that.

28

“You really did a great job, Keeks.” Rae gives me a proud smile, rubbing her hand over my arm in encouragement. We’ve cut our dancing session to take a break and we’re hanging at the bar with Charlotte and Julie.

“You did just as much, Rae. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t even know it was his damn birthday.” I take a sip of my Coke, keeping my promise to Jensen to not drink tonight. The rent of the room is in his name, and I don’t want him to get into any trouble. Though, every time I let my blue eyes wander off to the sexy nerd I’m living with, I’m desperate for a shot of tequila to settle the million bugs in my stomach.

I can’t believe I’ve been able to pull it off. He had no clue until we entered this bar.

“Ugh, what is it with men and their birthdays?” Charlotte rolls her eyes.

“I can’t say shit. I did the same.” Rae stirs her cocktail.

“Hold up, you did what?” Julie runs her hand through her dirty blonde bob with a curious look.

“When she came home with Jensen and Bodi last summer?” I start, waiting until Julie hums in confirmation. “We threw her a surprise party.”

It was epic.

And not in the concert-big-event kinda way, but I’ll never forget Rae’s bewildered expression when she walked through the door, two hot men trailing her tail, and her entire family, plus half the town, yelling happy birthday. So much for her attempt to keep it small and under the radar for Jensen & Bodi. Jensen was pissed.

I still giggle over it whenever I get the chance to tease her about it.

“And that’s a bad thing?” Julie’s eyes swing back and forth between the three of us.

“No, not really.” I smile. “She just forgot to inform Bodi and Jensen it was her birthday. You can imagine who the bigger surprise was for.”

“No.” Julie’s eyes widen and her mouth forms a perfect O while Charlotte laughs.

“In my defense, I didn’t know you were going to throw me a surprise party!” Rae blurts, indignant.

“Oh, yeah. Can you imagine their faces when they were face to face with our entire family, banner and all? It was glorious. I wish someone filmed it, but Nana once again proved she sucks with technology.”

“It was horrifying!” Rae scoffs.

“For you, yeah. I had the time of my life. Not to mention, I got a better gift than you.” A smug grin sits on my face as I glance at Bodi on the couch.

“What’s going on between you two?” Charlotte gives me a friendly look like only she can. She’s stunning. She has dirty blonde hair, with highlights bringing out her eyes. But it’s her everlasting genuine smile that really makes you want to share your life story, begging for a hug.

Girls like her are rare, and as much as she’s more Rae’s friend than mine, I always enjoy having her around. It’s impossible to not feel comfortable around Charlotte Hansen.

“Pfft, I don’t know.” It comes out as a whine and, frankly, that’s how it feels when I actually have to talk about it. What can I tell my friends if I don’t even know what’s going on?Reallygoing on?

“Sure you do,” Rae counters.

I shrug. “Friends with benefits is the quick explanation.”

Though that hardly cuts it. When I think of friends with benefits, I think of two people hooking up every now and then, sharing the same group of friends. Our group of friends is living in different states, and we fucking live together. There are couples who share less of their lives with each other than we do.

“And the long?” Julie presses.

I stare into my drink, wondering how much I want to share.

“I like him,” I confess. “A lot. Like ashit ton of a lot.”

I’m scared to use the other L word, but my heart keeps tumbling into that pool more vigorously every time I pull it out. She’s a cheeky little bitch.

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