Gwen nods. “Yes but are you sure you-” I cut her off before she can finish her sentence.
“I’m okay, Gwenny. I’m just over it for the night.”I give her a quick squeeze before do the same to Ellie, and Haley. Giving the boys a quick wave goodbye, I head for the door before anyone can ask any more questions.
I have no idea if Holland is following me, but I hope he has the sense to leave me the hell alone right now.
When the fresh air hits my face, my body finally seems to start to calm down. My stomach churns slightly, and for a moment, I think I’m going to puke.
Breathing through my nose, I swallow down the urge, pulling out my phone to order an Uber.
“You good, Barkley?” I hear the familiar voice ask from behind me. Rolling my eyes, I turn around to face Holland, who in fact did not have enough sense to fuck off.
His eyes search my face, as if he’s concerned about my well-being. It pinches something in my chest. I hate when he’s nice to me. It makes my brain think stupid, dangerous things, and my body yearn for more.
Why did he even follow me out here? He’s the reason I’m leaving.
I cross my arms, the cold breeze sending shivers through my body even with my coat on. My hair flies around my face as I watch him slowly stalk toward me until he’s right in front of me.
His blonde hair moves with the small gust of wind, and his blue eyes look remorseful. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he looks to the ground.
This is what happens almost every single time. He’s a raging dick, and then he feels bad and comes to apologize.
Our relationship, or friendship, or whatever this is has always been weird. We’ve always had this dynamic where we’re utter assholes to each other and then he apologizes.
In high school, Holland would constantly try to scare any guy that looked at me. I thought it was because he saw me as a sister, but there was a small part of me, and I mean a tiny, miniscule part of me that hoped it was because he was jealous.
That tiny part of me was stupid. That kind of thinking only ends in disaster, and I’ve had enough of that to lasta lifetime.
Chapter 14
Lainey
“What do you want?” I snap, watching Holland wince a bit. Good, he should feel like an asshole. That was so unnecessary.
Colton wasn’t being obnoxious. He wasn’t do anything against my will. I was having a good time with him. I swear, Holland picks and chooses which guys to be pissed about, and I’ve never understood how he decides which ones to screw with.
Holland’s eyes meet mine. “I just wanted to check on you,” he admits, shrugging. I scoff.
“Well, here I am. I’m leaving,” I tell him, hoping he’ll accept that and just go away. I’m over being around people today. I’m tapped out on my social battery today.
“I see that. How are you getting home?”
I hold up my phone, showing him my Uber app. He just nods, turning to look out at the road.
“I can take you,” he offers. That is the last thing I want right now. Being stuck in a car with him while I’m drowning in weird fucking feelings. I’m pissed and irritated, but him being him and standing in front of me, all muscles and smelling like a sex god, is messing with my mind.
“No, I’m fine. The Uber is almost here. You can go back inside,” I say, turning away from him and toward the road because if I keep looking at him, I might tell him yes.
“You can cancel it. Let me take you home, Barkley.”
“Why would I do that?” I ask, turning back to him and waiting for him to give me some sort of convincing answer.
He just shrugs, looking to the building and then back to me.
“My sister would kill me if you got kidnapped or killed by a random driver,” he smirks.
My eyebrow raises and I give him a ‘what the hell are you talking about’ kind of look.
“Really? Killed?”
