Page 46 of Getting Lucky Number Seven

Jealousy spiked through me, and all those possessive-relationship-type questions I thought we were above ran through my head.Where’d you meet this douche? Why didn’t you call me? Am I supposed to buy this “just a friend” shit?

“Why do you have your serious hockey face on?” Lyla asked, spinning in her chair to face me, one leg tucked up against the back.

I shook away the thoughts trying to turn me into a crazy person and looked down at her. “I don’t. I knew you’d decided on the tattoo and getting it on your hip, but I didn’t realize you’d picked out a place.”

She grabbed my hand and laced her fingers through mine, which helped the stinging heat pumping through my veins cool a bit. “I haven’t. I was just talking to Jason about his tattoos when I saw him in the cafeteria today—he’s got them all up his arms and on his chest and ribs…”

The toxic heat returned. How’d she know about the tattoos on his chest and ribs? I’d always thought I was above this jealousy shit, but all I could think of now was Lyla with some tatted-up dude. The envy I’d felt before we hooked up was nothing compared to the punch that hit me now. I wanted to tell her she couldn’t go, which I knew she didn’t deserve—she could go anywhere with anyone she wanted. The caveman side of me didn’t care right now, though.

“…going to text you to see if you wanted to go with us, but then I got caught up in studying and forgot about it.”

Forgot. I didn’t like that she could just forget to text me either. I didn’t know what the hell was going on with me, but it blew. I wanted to claim her as mine. Wanted to go with her to ensureJasonknew she was taken. But I wasn’t sure I could go without making an ass out of myself.

Panic emerged and sunk its hooks into me. I was getting in too deep. Getting attached and jealous and relying on her, which felt disastrously close to relationship territory, and relationships ended in disaster. Sleeping with her was supposed to get her out of my system, but now I wasn’t sure that was even possible. Which meant I should… What? Put space between us? Hook up with other girls but not attack guys if Lyla tried to do the same?

“If you’re busy tonight, no worries,” she said. “I’ll definitely want you there when I get the tattoo, though. I’m going to hold onto your hand so tightly that you’ll lose circulation—I feel that’s only fair since I’ll be dealing with the pain of the tattoo.”

“Wait? I have to feel pain if you do?”

She nodded. “’Fraid so. It’s in the BFF handbook. And besides, you’ll probably see it more than anyone else, anyway, so that makes you doubly responsible for helping me through it.”

I wanted to be theonlyone who saw it. That was a dangerous line of thinking, though, so I focused on the fact that she’d saidBFF. It reminded me she didn’t want attachments either—it was part of the new her, and the girl was serious about her goals. The panic flooding my system cooled and retreated. Overanalyzing would only ruin everything we had, and what we had was the best of both worlds, so why mess with it?

Not to mention, I needed the friend side of her that knew me better than anyone else right now—more than I ever had. “Do you have any plans for spring break?” I asked.

“My parents hinted they’d like a visit, and apparently Miles is going to be in town—he was so excited our breaks coincided—but all I really want to do is relax.” She tugged on my T-shirt, pulling me close, and whispered, “And maybe have lots of sex with this hot guy I know.”

First I was going to be Rude Cell Phone Dude in the library, and now I was going to be the sexual deviant walking around with a tent pitched in his pants. I liked her plans for spring break much better than mine. I knew being at home and dealing with everything I needed to would suck, just like I knew there was one thing that’d make it less sucky. “I have to go to New Hampshire.”

“Oh. Guess I’ll have to find another guy, then.” She shrugged, a teasing smile on her face—it better be teasing.

“Not funny.” It was as close as I’d get to admitting I didn’t want her with anyone else, but hopefully it was enough.

“Maybe I’ll drive the three and a half hours home, then.” She sighed. “It’s the opposite of girl gone wild, but I can’t be a party animal all the time, right?”

“Or…” I took her hand and brushed my thumb across the back of it. “You could come with me. I’ve got to take care of some family crap, but it shouldn’t take too much time, and then we could kick back and do the other thing you mentioned.”

“You want me to go home with you?”

My heartbeat kicked up a few notches, the panic wedging its way back in. “To hang. Yeah.”

“Right. I just meant, you don’t usually talk about your family. And you still haven’t explained why you might not be coming back next year, and—”

I pressed my mouth to hers, giving her a quick kiss. “Don’t make it into a big deal. Just say you’ll come.”

I could see all the thoughts tumbling through her head, so clear on her face. She wanted to know more than I wanted to tell. Once we were in Canterbury, it’s not like I could hide much of anything about my life anymore, but in some ways it’d be easier to just show her. Risky, too, considering my emotions might get the best of me with the constant barrage of memories of my parents, the reality of the situation so close. Still, I’d take her by my side over doing it alone. By the end of dealing with all the decisions I had no idea how to make, I’d need someone to make me laugh and forget about everything else for a while.

“Beck, I…” She exhaled and I prepared myself for her to say no—I’d dealt with it myself this long. Surely I could manage another week. But then she squeezed my hand. “Of course I’ll go with you.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Lyla

The world outside the window of Beck’s Land Rover had been more greenery than buildings since we’d left Boston, and here and there I got glances of the Merrimack River from the freeway.

I stretched as much as my seat allowed. The trip had flown by, but my legs felt a bit cramped.

“I know just what we need for the last leg of our trip,” Beck said, picking up his iPhone and scrolling through his music. The instant the firstbloopnoise started, I grinned. “It’s our song!”

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