Ready or Not

Chapter Eight

I shook my head mentally.

Girlfriend. Which meant that he cheated on her with me....

Suddenly a large smile splits my face in two.

I have the advantage here. I am the one that he wants. I'm the one that he chose over her. It ain't where he's at, it's where he wants to be.

So, why did it seem like he was choosing her when he spoke his next words?

"Babe, we can leave whenever you want. I mean, we still got a few hours till the party...." He trailed off and bit his lip, eyes on the ground.

She turned back to him and crossed her arms over her small chest. "I want to meet your sister." Her stubborn words were interrupted by my phone going off with "Stupid Hoe" once again.

I let it ring for a little while, rummaging through my bag as if I couldn't find it and finally pulled it out. "Hey Boo." I said sickly sweet. Alair's eyes narrowed and I turned to leave when I bumped into Pru.

"Guess who's coming to Cali, bitch?" Alec snickered at his secret and I tried dodging around Pru but just gave up and sat on the island.

Pru entered fully into the kitchen, Luke on her heals. His face was filled with embarrassment and his cheeks were pinker than I have ever seen them.

I just shook my head and answered Alec's pending question. "Santa Clause?"

I could practically hear him roll his dark eyes. "No... Me and Tay booked a flight. Our parents finally agreed to let us come out."

His excitement was infectious and I grinned. "I'm putting you on speaker, k?" As I did, I explained to Pru an Luke that they were gonna fly out to California next week.

"There's one catch though." Alec's voice was laced with something that I was a bit like regret.

"What's that?" Luke asked, after biting into an apple.

"Connor has to come with us."

It became hard to breathe and Pru rubbed my back in comforting strikes.

Connor was Taylor's brother. He was one of my ex boyfriends and the reason Tay and I weren't as close as we used to be. He was the reason I knew I couldn't tell Pru about Alair and I.

Which brought more panic.

I can't talk to a guy who has a girlfriend.

"Who's Connor?" Alair asked.

Alec responded. "Tay's brother; Quinn's ex."

My heart sunk as the words echoed around the kitchen.

"Why is his coming here a bad thing?" Dixie's snotty voice imputed.

"None of your business." I hissed as I bounced off the island. "Alec, I'm happy you're coming, I gotta go though. Shopping calls."

He said his goodbye and I hung up with a simple "Laters."

After the call, I plastered a smile onto my lips and turned to my bestie. "We gonna go now? I need to look sexy for tonight."

"You look sexy every night, Quinn." Luke joked with a wink and Pru burst into a ton of giggles at Alair and Dixie's expressions.

"Seriously," she said after her laughter dulled down. "You trying to pick up a sexy college dude?"

I grinned as the doorbell rang and ran to answer the door. "Emerson is here!" I cheered as I answered the door and saw her standing there with a white sundress on and her hair styled into a messy bun on the top of her head. "Come on Prudence!" I hollered back.