Page 20 of Love or Leave

Cara rolled her eyes and told herself not to be offended. This wasn't a date. It was a deal between… whatever the hell they were. Group friends.

"Fine. Text me your address," Cara said.

"Will do. Thanks."

Cara let her shoulders sag into her chest. "Yeah," she said. "Bye."

Cara hung up the phone and stared at it, feeling just as icky and weird as she had before, except for different reasons.

She hated sneaking around, and hated formal situations with people she didn't know, but Antonio had a point—she'd said she wanted to step out of her comfort zone, and she intended to do just that.

Plus, once this horrible party was over, she'd get to go to the concert and see Jalen outside of golf. Not to mention telling Cooper “no” to the tickets would be very satisfying.

And maybe things with Jalen would work out so well that he'd invite her to one of his family parties, and she'd have to impress them. She could use this experience with Antonio as practice.

And she'd be helping a friend—a group friend—out. Maybe she and Antonio could shake off some of their awkwardness and become real friends. Then one day when the dust settled, they'd tell Max, and he'd laugh and ask why they hadn't just told him.

With a decisive nod she opened her conversation with Cooper, deletedyou winand sent him the textfuck off forever.

six

At the sound of muffled voices in the hallway growing louder, Antonio looked up from the impossible Scrabble game he was playing on his phone.

Cara.

He breathed a sigh of both relief and anxiety as he stood from the edge of his bed and went to answer the door. He'd been having mixed feelings about dragging her into his personal nightmare, but he couldn't stand the alternative.

Before she knocked, he swung the door open and was surprised to find her a few feet away, her back to him. Maybe she realized how foolish this was and was ready to pull the plug. It was probably for the best.

Suddenly, she spun around to face him, and his brain melted.

She was wearing a short, fitted black dress, with black high heels and a dark wool coat that came to her knees. She'd curled her dark short hair and put on sparkly earrings. But what stood out the most was her full, bright red lips.

He stared at her for a moment, his heart beating a drum, then opened his mouth, but forced it closed, stopping himself from speaking the first thought that came to his mind. Max wouldn't have approved.

He blinked up from her lips to the rest of her face, then stopped again.

She looked terrified.

Her big brown eyes had doubled, and her gaze was flitting around, unsure where to land.

"You okay?"

She shook her head and walked toward him without slowing down. He held open the door and let her barge past, then followed her into his apartment as she collapsed onto his couch/bed.

"I'm feeling overwhelmed," she said. "And a girl in the hall just told me not to trust you."

Antonio glanced back at the door before his shoulders caved. "Sara."

"What's that all about?" Cara asked, pulling her coat away from her neck as if she couldn't breathe.

"She doesn't really like me."

"No shit. Why?"

He winced. "I met her when I moved in here about six months ago, and we dated, but…"

An enormous amount of shame blocked the words from coming out.

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