I stand up and start to pick up her snack wrappers from the coffee table, “This is ridiculous. I’m going to bed.”
She follows me to the trashcan with her hands on her hips, “Why were you in Charleston? You better tell me, or I’ll find out for myself.”
I roll my eyes, “Not likely.”
“Wanna bet?” She grins, “I’m basically the FBI.”
“Fine,” I huff. “I went with a girl.”
Her eyes go wide, “A girl?”
“Yes, now tell me why your dad is so mad.”
“Oh no, you don’t,” she teases, “What girl? Weren’t you just engaged to Hanna like five whole minutes ago? Two months ago, you were boarded up in here, sad and miserable. Emma said you looked like Tom Hanks in Castaway.”
“I know, but I’ve realized a lot over the past few weeks.”
“What is that exactly?”
I sigh, “Mostly just that the right girl wouldn’t have made me doubt anything. It’s like the second Jameson came back, everything changed. If what we had was real, nothing would’ve been able to break that.”
She crouches down to pick up a fruit roll-up wrapper peeking out from under the couch, “I’m sorry that it didn’t work out, but maybe it was for the best like you said. You’ll find someone that doesn’t make you question it, and all the pain you had to endure to find it will be worth it.”
I sit back against the couch. When did she become so, I don’t know, sappy?
“You almost sound like you have someone that’s worth it?”
She grins, looking away embarrassed.
“Maybe this year has just made you a softy. You’ve been through a lot.” I say.
“That’s an understatement, E.”
My brow knits together, “Are Madden and Drayton still fighting.”
She begins to get worked up, “They always are. If I hang out with Madden, Drayton is pissed. If I hang out with Drayton, Madden is pissed.”
I can see where that could be an issue. Constantly fighting. Last year Lainey started dating Drayton Lewis. Come to find out, Madden and Drayton are half-brothers.
“Do you still want to be with Drayton?” I ask.
She growls, “I’m pissed at him right now, but yeah.”
“Then I don’t see any problem.”
She lets out an aggravated growl, “But it is. Madden is my best friend, and I don’t want to lose him to keep Drayton.”
“You just said everything you needed to say right there.”
“I don’t understand what you mean, E.”
“The common denominator here is Madden.”
Lainey bites her lip and begins to look a little sheepish, so I hit her with a look.
“Don’t look at me like that,” She snaps. “It’s not like that with Madden. I don’t think we could ever cross that line. We’re just friends.”
I think about Karly, “Yeah, I didn’t think so either.”