Page 9 of Unusual Noises

“Lulee didn’t book three rooms,” I confessed. “She booked only two.”

Her blue eyes widened.“What?”

Chapter 6

Verity~

Looking up at Saint, I couldn’t believe what he was telling me. No way would Lulee book a room for me and Saint at a couples’ retreat. I mean, there was ambushing me for a final friends’ hurrah, and then there was whatever this shit was.

“Why didn’t you say anything back at the apartment?” I asked, and I almost winced at how it sounded like I was accusing him of something. No matter what I thought of Saint, this was all Lulee’s doing, and I knew that.”

“I-”

I threw my hand up to stop him. “No, I’m sorry,” I said. “This isn’t your fault, and that wasn’t fair of me to ask.”

“Verity, I thought you knew,” Saint went on. “But when you stuck your earbuds in and ignored us for the first half of the trip, I started to wonder if Lulee had told you anything. I just…” He let out a deep breath. “I figured you’d be more…friendly if you’d known about the sleeping arrangements.”

Doing my best not to let my anger take over and ruin everything, I said, “Well, me and Lulee can share a room-”

“Baby, the retreat doesn’t work that way,” he said, and I had to bite my tongue at him calling me baby. I knew that he probably didn’t even realize that he’d said it, but still. Staring into his dark bedroom eyes, I had only so much willpower.

“What are you guys doing?”

We both turned to see Lulee making her way towards us, and I couldn’t believe how upset I was again. I’d given her a second chance, and she had still chosen to continue to lie to me for her own agenda. Now, while I knew that she really wanted to see me and Saint together, this wasn’t the way to go about it. Even if I did end up marrying Saint and giving him children, she had no right to interfere like this. She was supposed to be my best friend, and nothing excused her lying to metwice.

“Is it true?” Lulee’s blue eyes widened. “Are we going to a couples’ retreat? Did you book a room for me and Saint?”

Her eyes shot over towards Saint, but he didn’t say anything. When she looked back at me, she said, “Verity, I just-”

“Is it true, Lulee?” I snapped. “Are we going to a couples’ retreat, and am I supposed to share a room with Saint?”

She looked crestfallen, but I was too upset to care. She wasn’t the victim here. “Yes.”

“Why would you do that?”

She glanced at Saint again before looking back at me. “Do you really want to do this here?”

“Hey, what are you guys doing back there?”

I kept my focus on Lulee, and while I knew what she was going to say, I didn’t care if she said it in front of Saint. As far as I was concerned, this couldn’t get any more embarrassing for me. Besides, Saint already knew how I felt about him. The fight the night of our date had made that clear.

“Saint told Verity about the retreat,” Lulee said, and I could feel my anger taking over again.

“Hey, this isn’t Saint’s fault,” I bit out, defending the only person that seemed to care about my feelings at the moment. “He’s not the one that orchestrated this, Lulee. While Saint and Cree might have known the details, this isyourdoing. You’re the one that planned this deception, not them.”

Whatever could be said about Lulee, it couldn’t be said that she was a coward. “While I get that what I did was a shitty thing to do, I did it for you,” she shot back. “For two years, all I heard from you was how great you thought Saint was. Even though he stayed away because Cree asked him to, you still thought that he was a great guy.” I could feel my molars grinding with how she was exposing me. However, in all honesty, it was no less than what I had expected from her when I’d called her out. “He finally gets the okay to ask you out, and you trash the opportunity the first chance you get.”

“Whoa, hold up,” Saint said, interrupting. “That’s not what-”

“That’s exactly what happened,” Lulee said, looking over at him. “Verity’s my best friend, Saint. Do you honestly think that I don’t know what makes her tick? The last thing that she has any interest in is letting her boyfriend’s popularity beat her self-esteem to the ground. That’s the last thing thatanygirl has any interest in.” Lulee looked back at me. “While what Saint did was shitty, it wasn’t bad enough for everything that came afterwards, and you know it.”

“What the fuck did I do that was so shitty?” Saint demanded.

Lulee whirled back around towards him. “How would you have felt if things had been the other way around, Saint?” she asked. “How would you have handled guy after guy coming up to Verity, making sure to let you know that you weren’t all that special?”

“Well, since I would have fucked up the first guy to approach her, that wouldn’t have happened,” he fired back.

“So, that’s what I should have done?” I asked, this argument hitting every chord. “Started fighting with them because you didn’t want to burn any bridges?”

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