Page 45 of I Hate You More

“Yeah, but you love us anyway,” Mia replied.

“I suppose.” I left my room and went to the bathroom to change. The house was quiet, but I could hear the splashes of water outside that meant the boys were already in the pool.

I spent about ten minutes staring at myself in the bathroom mirror once I had the bikini on. It was even worse than I remembered. I’d never minded my curves before, but right now, I was really wishing I didn’t have quite so much of my butt on display. The whole outfit was mortifying, and I couldn’t believe I was considering wearing it. By the time I finally worked up the courage to emerge from the bathroom, my friends had already left my bedroom and made their way outside to the pool.

“Traitors,” I muttered under my breath as I slowly walked downstairs. I’d been planning to hide in the middle of my group of friends as we made our way outside. Now, it felt like I was making some kind of dramatic entrance, and a part of me wanted to run back to my room and bury myself under my bed sheets.

My embarrassment only became worse as I walked outside to discover that Shane had invited round a whole heap of his friends. There must have been ten boys hanging around the pool, and the moment Shane laid eyes on me I wanted to die.

“Where the hell’s the rest of your swimsuit, Ally?” he called out, as I walked over to join Tessa, Mia, and Miles. They were lounging next to the pool, and the moment Shane shouted, everyone outside looked in my direction.

A few of the boys jeered as I put my finger up at my brother. I didn’t even bother looking to see if Chase was among them. I couldn’t bear to see his reaction. He’d probably be laughing at me with the rest of them or, worse, have no reaction at all. I had predicted this part of the plan was going to fail, and it had barely taken sixty seconds to prove me right.

I quickly hurried over to my friends, who were giving me reassuring smiles as I joined them.

“I’m going to kill Shane,” I said, as I stood over the sunbed Tessa was lazing on.

“I think he was legitimately concerned,” Tessa replied.

Of course, he was. He was probably worried the stripper rumors would start all over again come Monday. The bikini did absolutely nothing to quell them.

“Why didn’t you guys tell me he invited all his friends over?” I asked.

“Well, I didn’t think you’d agree to the bikini if you knew,” Tessa said with a shrug.

“And I don’t see how it’s a bad thing,” Mia added. “Shane’s friends are hot.”

I looked over at the guys and saw no sign of Chase. He wasn’t standing on the edge of the pool or splashing around in the water. It seemed all of my embarrassment was for nothing, and I found myself getting annoyed with my friends.

As I searched the crowd of boys, I noticed Luke was with them. He was standing next to Jason and my brother, laughing at something one of the boys had said. As they were talking, he glanced in my direction and caught my eye. His lips curved in a wide smile, and he lifted a hand in a subtle wave. I waved in return, smiling myself.

“I’ll be back in a second,” I said before wandering over to him.

“Hey, Ally,” he said, as I approached. He pushed a hand through his wet hair and maintained eye contact. I was pretty grateful that his gaze didn’t dip down to check out the rest of my body in the skimpy bikini I was wearing. It seemed like Luke was one of the good ones, and I was surprised by how comfortable I felt standing in front of him despite the fact I was half naked. There was no flutter of nerves or hint of worry about how I looked.

“I didn’t know you were coming today,” I said.

Luke shrugged. “Shane invited me, and it sounded like fun.”

“Well, I’m glad you could make it.” I gave him a smile before I continued. “How are you settling in at school?”

“Is it pathetic if I say I’m enjoying it?”

I laughed and shook my head. “No, notpathetic. But it is school. If you’re enjoying it, you must be doing it wrong.”

He grinned, revealing his cute smile. Luke really was gorgeous, and given how nice he was, he seemed like exactly the kind of guy I should be trying to date—ifI could date that was.

“Have you met my friends?” I asked, nodding in their direction.

“Not yet.”

“Come on, I’ll introduce you.” I took his hand and pulled him over to where the girls were still sunning themselves. As I touched his skin, a small wave of sadness rushed through me. The truth was, I actually wanted a boyfriend. I wanted to experience the rush of falling in love. I wanted someone to share my deepest thoughts with and someone to support me whenever I was having a bad day. My attempt to fake a relationship with my sworn enemy was the closest I was ever going to get to that while I was in high school. If I somehow managed to get Chase to date me, it wasn’t going to be the stuff of epic romances that was for sure.

I made the introductions quickly, and as Miles and the girls fell into an easy conversation with Luke, I decided to take the opportunity to sneak inside and change my bikini. If Chase wasn’t out by the pool, there was no way I was going to continue to parade around in it. Especially not when Shane’s friends kept leering at me. I kept catching them staring at my ass and it was making me super uncomfortable.

I snuck toward the house and only relaxed once I was inside. I half expected the girls to drag me back out if they caught me trying to hide in the house. Thankfully, Luke seemed to be charming them and they were completely oblivious to the fact I’d escaped.

I swiftly moved upstairs, but as I turned the corner, I ran straight into a hard and naked chest. Two hands landed on my hips as I swayed unsteadily on my feet, and I sucked in a shallow breath as I slowly looked up from the impressive tanned muscles before me and into Chase’s eyes. My skin burned beneath his touch, and my heart raced as I silently stared at him.

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