Page 468 of Now and Forever

Chapter 175

“Masie, this is Drake. He wanted to tag along. I hope you don’t mind me bringing him without giving you a heads up.” I look at my smiling, curious friend.

She might be smiling, but I know what she might be truly thinking behind the façade. She’s probably freaking out and jumping for joy that I brought Drake here.

“Ah, I’ve heard a lot about you, Drake. Nice to finally meet you. When Lily said you were good-looking, I didn’t realize she was lying. ‘Cause you’re more than good looking.” Masie greets him and Drake blushes from Masie’s boldness.

“You asked for it. You did invite yourself to come along,” I mutter next to him.

“Nice to meet you, Masie.” Drake hands her a bottle of red wine before Masie leads us inside.

Masie doesn’t hold back when she checks Drake’s backside as he moves past her, then gives me a thumbs-up. I simply glare at her. “It’s just us and a few of our close friends,” Masie informs Drake.

I stop when I see Jared outside, laughing and drinking a beer.

Hell, am I being punished? Why are bad things happening to me? When it rains, it pours, they say. Now I know what that phrase truly means.

When Drake sees my expression, he follows to where my gaze has landed. He immediately tenses behind me. “Try to behave will you, Lil?” Drake asks me in a low tone, just loud enough for me to hear.

“Scared that I’ll ditch you for another man?” I’m beyond amused. Drake is really possessive. He cusses and I just give him a bright smile.

“Don’t worry, you can’t be easily replaced.”

Drake starts to thaw, just a tad. “You mean that, Lil?”

Always, Drake. “Yes, I do mean it.”

When we go out to the backyard and join the rest of the party. Jared smiles when he sees me, but that smile turns into a frown once he spies Drake, who follows behind me.

Masie introduces Drake to the rest of her friends. Nick eyes Drake before he shakes hands with him. I’m guessing Nick instantly knows who he is, based on his reaction. “Welcome, Drake.” Nick motions for Drake to take a seat and join them at the table. There are a dozen or so of their friends sitting around the table.

As the party goes on, Nick, David and Drake are engrossed in their talk about movies and special effects. I decide to go inside and help Masie out in the kitchen instead of trying to follow the guys’ conversation. I hardly notice when Jared follows me in.

“Lily, can we talk?”

I clear my throat before I agree. Jared leads us to the living room for some privacy. Jared chooses to stand toward the very end of the room, away from where I am.

“The weeks you promised, I guess that’s not valid any longer?” he asks accusingly.

“The other night, we sorted things out somehow. I want to give Drake another chance. I have to. I feel that I owe it to myself to know if it could really work or not. I meant to tell you,” I plead to Jared. He looks like he can’t believe what I’m telling him.

“I really like you, Lily. You must know that. I’m hurt, yeah. Although, I’m not going to lie and say I didn’t see this one coming after leaving you the other night with him being so angry.” Jared sits on the beige couch and huffs out a sigh. “Tell the guys that I’m going home. I need to clear my head for the day. I just got hit by a big blow. I need time to process this, if you don’t mind.” He suddenly stands up and walks toward where I stand, rooted on the spot.

I feel like the most wretched person for making this sweet guy miserable. There is no other way to go about it. I want Drake and I want to see where this can go. I’m done denying what my heart’s been telling me since the day that he came back into my life.

Jared kisses my cheek. “I knew that this man owned your heart when I saw how you reacted to him. Follow where your heart leads you . . . and be happy. Take care, Lil.”

“Thank you, Jared,” I say with gratitude for his understanding.

He gives me a sad, shaky smile before leaving the living room and out of the house.

After a few minutes, Masie comes in and gathers me in her arms. “Don’t feel too bad, Missy. I think we all know that your heart lies with Drake after all these years. Jared knew the score. Nick tried to warn him off, but he didn’t listen.”

Masie and I join the rest of party. When one of the guys asks where Jared went, she just shrugs, tells them that he had to sort something out and needed to leave immediately.

“Everything okay, Babe?” Drake whispers against my ear when I sit next to him. He sounds worried. I’m grateful that he didn’t freak out when Jared followed me inside. Knowing how Drake is, he most likely saw it, but trusted me to take care of it and I did; I took care of it.

I brightly smile at him before I give him a quick kiss. “It is now.”

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