Mason Howard
Don’t hate me cuz you ain’t me.
Me
You’ve both been no
help.Thanks.
Tossing my phone onto the bed in annoyance, I grab a sweatshirt out of my closet and pull it on. Swiping my phone and my keys, I head downstairs and into the driveway where my Mustang sits.
I dread things like this, and I really don’t feel like going alone. Usually Ryker and I would do these things together, but he’s not here. Fuck him for graduating, honestly.
Starting the engine, I check my mirrors, and my eyes catch on a small figure across the street sitting on the screened in porch. The thing is heated so you can sit there all year round and look out at the snow falling outside, making it possible for Lainey to sit out there in the middle of January.
She’s reading a book, her dark hair sitting on the top of her head in a mess. She’s got one leg under her, and one pulled up against her.
Suddenly, I get an idea. A really, really shitty idea that in no way could ever be considered a good idea but for some reason I can’t seem to talk myself out of it. She’s totally going to hate this, but I can’t help myself.
I pull out of the driveway, pulling in front of Lainey and Ellie’s house. Rolling my window down, I call out to Lainey.
“Whatcha doin, Lainey Bug?” I ask, knowing the name will piss her off, but I’m a prick, so I don’t care. She looks up from her book with a death glare, and those grey eyes make my cock stiffen. God damnit, Holland. Get yourself under control.
“What do you want, Monroe?” Lainey asks, a bit of snark in her tone. God, she’s hot.
“Wanna go for a ride?” I wink and Lainey rolls her eyes.
“With you? No,” she deadpans, looking back down to her book. I shake my head, a smirk growing on my face.
“Come on, Barkley. I gotta get a suit for this wedding. Don’t make me go alone,” I pout, my lip jutting out and everything. She doesn’t even look up.
“You haven’t gotten a suit for the wedding yet? You know you have like, two weeks, right?” My eyes roll as my head falls back on the headrest in exasperation. Like I haven’t heard this already.
“No, I didn’t. I’ve been… distracted,” I tell her, thinking about the recent weeks and how hard I’ve been working to get my body back in shape for this season. I haven’t really even thought about this wedding, which I guess is pretty shitty considering Ryker is my best friend.
“Distracted? By what?” Lainey asks, finally looking back up from the book in her lap. I shake my head, not wanting to get into it.
“Will you just get in the damn car? I need someone to tell me which suit looks best on my figure,” I tease, which causes Lainey’s nose to scrunch up in a way a rabbits would. Why does it make her look so damn cute though?
“Why don’t you have one of the guys go with you? Are they tired of you too?”
“Ha. Ha. No, they’re busy. Come on, do you want me to get on my knees and beg? I’ll get out right now and-” Lainey stands abruptly, dropping her book on the chair and walking toward my car.
“Fine, I’ll go with you. Not because I want to, because I don’t, but so you don’t cause a scene in my front yard.”
She opens my passenger side door and slips in. The Ellington Dance Team sweatshirt she’s wearing is a bit oversized, and the jeans she’s got on are tight against her toned legs. She’s got no makeup on, making all of her natural features stand out.
The small freckle under her eye, the scar on her cheek from when we were twelve and she fell from the tree in my front yard and a stick cut her. She didn’t even cry. Just got up, dusted herself off, and got up to climb the damn tree again.
She’s always been tough, and that hasn’t changed a bit since we’ve gotten older. Lainey isn’t the type of girl to complain or make waves. She goes with the flow, butshe’ll stand up for what she believes in and the people she cares about.
When we were in high school, Ellie was picked on by this one prick, Jameson Karrick. He’d harass her and make her feel uncomfortable. I’d knocked his head in a few times, but that didn’t seem to deter him from being a grade A jackass.
One day, Lainey had had enough of Karrick’s bullshit. She went right up to him without saying a word, punched him straight in the nose, shook off her hand, and walked away like it was the most normal thing in the world to punch someone in the face in the school hallway.
Of course, this led to a week suspension, but with her parents pretty much absent ninety nine percent of the time, there was no one there to yell at her or be disappointed in her.
My mom was always there for Lainey. Since her parents were always away, Lainey spent most of her time with a nanny, but my mom always made sure Lainey felt like she was part of the family.
