Page 28 of Hush (Fighting Fate)

“Corey?”

She eyed me cautiously. “Yeah, Corey too.”

I studied her face for a bit. Did she think I didn’t want to hang with everyone? “Was I not invited? Is it because of what happened with Corey?”

Her eyes widened. “No! Of course not. I just thought you’d like some time away from it all.”

I exhaled heavily. “No, what I’d really like is some normal teenage shit.”

Mia smirked. “Teenage shit huh? Well, with that particular group of guys, I’m afraid that’s all you’re going to get.”

“Well then, let’s go get me some!”

We laughed and made our way back to Mia’s car, deciding to come back to get mine later.

When we pulled up at Mia’s house though, I started to feel a little nervous. The last thing I wanted was for everyone to look at me funny.

“How many of them know what happened Friday night?” I asked. I wasn’t surprised by the tinge of anxiety in my voice.

“Just Corey, Jace, and Aiden. Don’t worry. Everyone’ll be cool. I promise.”

I nodded, not entirely convinced. I hated awkward moments.

We heard the loud chorus of laughter coming from the living room as soon as Mia opened the door. The second we stepped into the room, we were met with a loud “Hey!” from just about everyone.

Jace smiled broadly, obviously happy Mia was back within his grasp, and took quick strides to pull her into his arms. “Well, hello you two. I didn’t think you were interested in hanging with the gutter trash.”

I sighed. “Well, it was a toss-up between you guys or the resident flasher at the park. I’m quite fond of Harry, so it was a tough decision.”

Jace burst out laughing. “Is that why you girls like that park so much? I’m going to have to watch that Harry more closely I think…”

Mia giggled. “Yeah, Harry’s got some moves.”

“I’ll show you some moves.” Jace pulled her in then dipped her before taking her mouth with a passionate kiss. Everyone cheered and whistled at their show.

I rolled my eyes with a smile and left them to it, moving over to slump down with the rest of them. Aiden immediately handed me a can of soda and met my gaze with a serious expression. “You good?”

Aiden was a no nonsense kind of guy. He was always straight to the point. I gave him one stiff nod. “Yep.”

He nodded back. Conversation over. I almost laughed. He was the best. I sat back and listened to the banter going on around the room, relaxing for the first time in days.

Mia and Jace joined Dean and Lila on the far couch, Ryan and Amy were cuddled up together on some pillows on the floor, Aiden joined Matt and Corey, leaning on back against the wall, a beer in each of their hands, and Amber and Jess were in a fit of giggles on the couch beside me. It was perfect.

A little while later, when people started moving around and food was brought out, Corey came to sit near me. I looked up at him with a tinge of guilt.

“Hey. How are you?” he asked quietly.

I pressed my lips together and nodded. “I’m okay.” I tried to give him my best apologetic expression. This sucked. “I’m really sorry about Friday night. Everything just kind of hit me at once and I had to get out of there.”

He nodded slowly. “Yeah, I get that.” I watched him fiddle with the label on the beer bottle. “I was hoping it wasn’t what happened between us…?”

God, how did I answer that? “Uh…I guess that would be yes, and no, but it’s not you in particular. I’ve just got a lot going on in my personal life right now. I don’t have time for dating.”

He pursed his lips in a disdainful way and lowered his eyes to the floor. Crap.

“Corey?” I waited until he met my gaze before I continued. “I promise you it’s not a line. I’m trying to be as honest as I can here. I really can’t do the whole dating thing. My stepdad…” I swallowed, suddenly finding myself on the high end of the emotional scale. “…it just won’t work,” I finished quietly.

He studied me for a moment, and thankfully, I saw understanding come into his eyes. I was a little surprised when he reached for my hand and gave it a quick squeeze, but the little smile he gave me was reassuring. “It’s okay. I get it. I’m a little bummed, but I get it.”

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