Page 66 of The Scandal You Started
Rayna:
Hey
Guess we don’t
Which means meeting up is possible
Jake:
Does that mean I can ask you out on a date?
Rayna:
When were you thinking?
Jake:
Next Saturday evening?
Rayna:
Done
Chapter 20
Rayna
“You don’t have to go on a date with Jake to prove you don’t like Dominic,” Kelly said bluntly, her face displayed on the bottom half of Rayna’s phone.
Rayna gaped in shock at where the device was propped up against a chunky bottle of lotion atop the chest of drawers in her bedroom.
On the top half of the screen, Erin twisted her rose-pink lips to the side in a worried pout. “It doesn’t seem fair to Jake or Dominic.”
Of the same age as George and Benedict, Erin Nawab was a historian at the POTeM lab, who, like River, was a Study Scout more often than she was a Guardian. Ever the romantic, she fit the description of a lovestruck fairy with her petite build, jet-black curly hair, olive skin, and the ruby-red eyes of someone who was half Crimson Cast. Despite being opposites in many ways, Rayna had clicked instantly with Erin when they’d met during Erin’s first day at the lab.
On the other hand, Rayna had been friends with Kelly Andrews, River’s fiancée, since their secondary school days, though they hadn’t gotten on immediately. Probably because Kelly was just as proud and stubborn as Rayna, but in a louder way. Back then, Kelly had had lime-green hair. Now she had a bubble-gum pink shaggy bob that brought out the shades of the brown and green in her hazel eyes, and a simple, small silver nose ring that suited her milky skin tone.
Rayna had trusted both women with the details of Dominic’s attraction towards her, so when she’d told them about bumping into Jake, their group chat had gone wild. Even more so when she’d told them she was going on a date with him. So it was no surprise that Kelly had started a video call while Rayna had been getting ready that Saturday evening in her and George’s house.
But the fact they were accusing her of doing something so…so almost like maybe what she was possibly doing was bloody damn outrageous.
“I don’t need to prove I don’t like Dominic,” she bit out, lowering a blush brush from her cheek.
For a moment, it seemed like Erin and Kelly side-eyed each other through their phone screens.
“Okay,” Kelly said flatly. “Then you’re hoping this date will prove that you like Jake more than Dominic. Which one is it?”
“Neither,” Rayna snapped. “You realise I was always planning to meet up with Jake, right?”
“Girl, we realise that, but circumstances have changed since then,” said Kelly.
“Rayna,” Erin interjected softly. “Why are you actually doing this?”
Why? Honestly?
Rayna wasn’t even sure anymore.
A week ago, when Jake had asked her out, she’d agreed not just because she’d wanted to, but also because she’d wanted to show Dominic he couldn’t stop her from seeing Jake, no matter what. And yet she hadn’t been able to bring herself to tell him she was going on a date with Jake. Because the idea of spiting Dominic’s attraction made her stomach roil.
