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Andnow, I suspected it was that text from Alexis that had Laney standing in my room, surprising me with her change in attitude. If we were going to be in this fucked-up, little, secret club together, she couldn’t stay mad at me forever and still make it work. She probably realized that at some point this week.
“What?”
Laneylet out a dramatic sigh, one I’ve seen before. When she was wrong or tired of fighting with someone, she pulled out the special effects to shadow any residual hostilities. “I said, I’m sorry for how I acted,” she repeated. “I was…just…surprised, and didn’t handle it well, I guess.” She shrugged a shoulder. “I really thought you had lied to me, Rylee. And I’m sorry I didn’t believe you when you said you hadn’t.”
“Didn’t handle it well?”Really?“Laney, you got nasty,” I reminded her. “You said some pretty ugly shit.” Yeah, we were friends, and we’ve been friends for a long time, but I wasn’t going to let her behavior slide. I wasn’t a pacifist like that. Standing up for myself was one of the things that Bishop had made sure to teach me while we were growing up. If someone treated me badly, it was up to them to make it up to me, and not the other way around.
Laney sighed again. “I know,” she whined. “And I’m really sorry, Ry. I am. I’ve been feeling like shit all week.” She walked into my room and started wringing her hands together. “You’re one of my best friends, and I don’t want to lose you over something that’s…well, none of my business.” Her face softened. “You were right about that part. It really isn’t any of my business what is between you and Stone, and I’m sorry, Ry.”
I was sitting at my desk, my laptop open as I’d been doing some homework before Laney had approached my room, and I could tell this wasn’t easy for her. And while I was still smarting over her nasty behavior, I wasn’t going to hold a grudge. We’ve been friends and roommates too long for that kind of pettiness.
“Fine,” I said, accepting her apology. “But it better not happen again, Laney.”
She smiled. “It won’t. Ipromise.”
“I mean it,” I warned her. “If you’re my friend, I expect support on this, and not…judgements.”
Laney quickly nodded. “Of course,” she agreed. “I promise to do better. I was wrong toreact the way I did, and it won’t happen again.” Since that was all I could ask for, I stood up and Laney was immediately wrapping her arms around me in a hug. “I’m sorry, Rylee,” she repeated. “I was such a bitch and I’m so, so sorry.”
I hugged her back.“It’s okay, La-”
Laney pulled back. “It’s not okay, Ry,” she interrupted, her light brown eyes serious. “That’s not how you treat friends. I wasn’t being a friend to you, and that’s not okay.”
I hugged her again. “Okay,” I replied. “But it’s okay now.”
Pulling back, she giggled like a kid on Christmas morning. “And that’s why you’re going to let me make it up to you.”
I stepped back. “How?” Iasked warily because Laney could be over-the-top sometimes.
She grabbed my hands in hers. “There’s a party at-”
I shook my head. “Nope, no, no, no,” I automatically replied. “No parties, Lan-”
“Oh,c’mon, Ry,” she wailed dramatically. “It’s at the Field House, and everyone’s going to be there, and it’s going to be so much fun.”
The Field House used to be a frathouse with your typical entitled assholes, but over the past four years, more and more athletes had rushed the frat, and soon, it had morphed into an athlete house. It was no longer a frat with secret handshakes or whatever. It housed athletes, mostly seniors and juniors who were at the top of the sport’s food chain at Hales University.
And the top of the sport’s food chain was tantalizing as hell.
Itwas a no-brainer why Laney wanted to attend, or why everyone wanted to attend. There was nothing hotter than young men in their prime with aggression and six-pack abs on the menu. Still, while I enjoyed a party just as much as the next girl, I really had a lot of homework to do.
Ishook my hands loose from hers and gestured back towards my desk. “Laney, I have all this home-”
“We gopartying tonight, and then buckle down all weekend with schoolwork,” she promised. “We’ll study together all Saturday and Sunday.”
I really didn’t feel like going, but she was trying really hard to make up for being a raging bitch, and I didn’t want to be the reason things still felt awkward between us. Not to mention, it might be one of the last parties we ever go to together. I had no idea what being married to Stone Lexington would entail, and that’s when it hit me that I was probably going to have to move in with him after we got married.
Holy.
Shit.
Suddenly, the reality of what I was doing nearly knocked me on my ass. I wouldn’t just be marrying Stone in four weeks, but we’d be moving in together, and…and…andbeingmarried, for Christ’s sake. There was going to be a marriage license, a prenup, and other legal documents that were going to entangle my life with his, and holy shit.
All of a sudden, a party didn’t sound so bad.
“O…okay,” I agreed.
Laney squealed. “Awesome!” She wasgrinning like a psychopath. “Go jump in the shower while I pick out some outfits.”
