Page 12 of Rejected Pretend Mate

"I'll stop at the bank and apply," I said. "I could be a bank teller."

"Yay." Riley cheered and pulled herself off the couch. "Which, speaking of, I need to stop by the fire station. We can swing by now." April walked towards the island, grabbing her purse. "And how about we stop for ice cream afterward?"

"Sure, why not."

Riley had a skip in her step as she moved, and I knew it was because of me. I wasn't blind to the worrying that she and Cayden did. I was trying to hide all my problems, but it seemed I wasn't doing a great job.

I needed to focus. I needed a job, and things would start to settle.

We arrived at the fire station, and the guys cleaned the fire truck in the garage. I watched as Cayden and Weslie scrubbed the truck down, and water sprayed everywhere. I swallowed, suddenly feeling a tug towards Weslie. I scowled, wishing my crush had died all those years ago, but it hadn't. It still simmered deep down, driving me nuts.

Riley whistled loudly, making the guys turn toward us. My eyes dropped on Weslie, whose shirt was soaking wet. I could see his defined muscles through the fabric, and my throat suddenly went dry as he turned, looking over at us.

I could see a tattoo on his left arm, but I couldn't figure out what it was. I tried not to stare and looked at Riley, who seemed unfazed.

"Turn the hose off," Cayden said, waving his hand at Weslie.

Weslie moved, turning the hose off. The water stopped coming, and silence filled the space. Riley smiled. "Thank you."

"What brings you two down here?" Cayden asked, grabbing a towel and rubbing his hands over it.

"We were just stopping in," Riley said. "We stopped at the bank to grab April an application, and we're going to grab some ice cream, but I needed to grab some paperwork from Cayden."

"Shit, I left it in the car," Cayden said, moving closer. "I thought we didn't need it until tomorrow anyway?"

"Hailey wants it by tonight if we want to make an offer."

I looked at Cayden and Riley, confused. "Offer? Hold on a second. I'm confused. Did I miss something?"

Riley looked at Cayden, who swallowed nervously. They were silent for a long moment before Cayden rubbed at the backof his neck. "Well…. we've been looking at houses, and we found one we really like."

I didn't know they were thinking of moving. I mean, I knew that they had mentioned it, but I figured this would be down in the future. They were planning on turning my old bedroom into a nursery. When did that change to them officially looking for a new place?

I looked at Riley, a little hurt, and she chewed on her lower lip. She didn't seem to know what to say. "We were going to tell you. This all happened really quickly."

I scowled. "When? The day that you guys found something? Were you going to tell me on moving day?"

She shook her head. "No! We've been looking. We just had some finalizing paperwork to drop off for the loan."

"But Cayden said you were making an offer. What about the apartment?"

"Well, we would move out, but this will take months. It took Lucas and Gina months to find their house, and we wanted more space. Even if we get the house, we still wouldn't be moving right away."

I frowned, realizing I would have no one around if they moved. I enjoyed having them upstairs. It comforted me knowing they were within arms reach if something were to happen.

A shiver ran down my spine as my mind traveled to Ivan. If they moved and he found me. God, what would happen? If he found me in the hallway, I wouldn't have anywhere to run. I would be stuck.

"April, this isn't happening overnight," Cayden said, snapping my attention back to them. "Our realtor said it takes awhile, and we have a pretty big demand list. Even if our offer is accepted, it's just the first step."

Riley nodded her head. "Yeah. We have an extremely long list. New floors, a fireplace, and a big yard. Cayden wants a two-stall garage and…"

I forced a smile because this was good news for them. As much as it sucked, I wanted them to have the life they wanted. They had been so worried about me, and I didn't want to be the reason they held back from things.

"No, It's good news. I'm just shocked, is all." I looked past them towards Weslie, who stood just behind them. Had he known? When did he find out about this news?

"Well, I need the papers either way," Riley said. "I want to make a pitstop and get them to her."

"I'll go grab them." Cayden hurried out to his car, and Riley followed. I turned to Weslie. "Did you know?"

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