Promising Love {Book 2 of the Love series}

~14~

Meredith's POV
I spotted him across the cafeteria sitting at a table laughing with his friends. I didn't want us to stop being friends, he was a really nice and funny person. But I didn't want him to have feelings for me when it won't ever be reciprocated.

I snapped my gaze away from him and looked back at Megan and Zach who were still laughing together as Ethan would occasionally step in to say something. I squeezed Ethan's hand to silently get his attention as his head turned towards me with a smile.

"I'll be right back." I whispered as I slowly stood up from my seat. His grip on my hand tightened a bit which brought my attention back to him.

"Where are you going sweet cheeks?" He asked as his thumb began to draw circles on my hand.
I looked back up towards Luke to see him already looking at me.

"I need to go talk to someone." I stated, before looking away from him and back towards Ethan.

A confused expression was written on his face before he looked in the direction I was just looking at. His expression morphed into one of jealousy and anger before he stood up, wrapping an arm around my waist.

"No, you are not going to see him-"

"Ethan please, I need to fix this. He can't ever come between us because I love you. I just want to be friends, but if he won't accept that then I won't ever talk to him again ok?" I whispered as I took a hold of his face and gazed up into his eyes.

His eyes softened but his body was still tense, "5 minutes?" I nodded my head in response but instead of letting go he took a hold of my face and placed his lips on mine.

As his lips moved against mine, a small smiled spread across my lips. My heart felt warm with love as we pulled away to smile at each other.

I stepped away from him slowly and turned my head down to look at the floor as I walked over to Luke. Once I reached his table, I slowly brought my head up to look into Luke's eyes.

"Hi..." I trailed off as I sat in the empty seat next to him.

People from his table began to quiet down and look towards us with weird expressions. I ignored them and turned back to Luke to see him with a small smile.

"Hey, I assume you're here to talk about everything that went down with us?"

I nodded my head slowly letting out a sigh to try to calm myself down.
"So, do you, according to your words, like me?" I questioned hesitantly.

He looked down at his hands and hesitantly said, "I mean I thought I did, but I've seen how much you and Ethan are meant for each other, so not anymore."

A small smile grew on my face from his response and without thinking, I placed a hand on top of one of his hands.

"Look, we might have only been friends for a little while before the incident, but I don't want it to end. You're a really nice guy and you're funny so I'm willing to forget all that was said that night and move forward as long as you are."

He looked up at me with a smile and nodded his head, "Deal."
***
As I approached our table once more, I noticed Ethan with a hard distant look on his face as he stared at the spot me and Luke once were. Luke was facing his friends now and were laughing at something they said, which had me confused why Ethan was staring.

"Hey, you ok babe?" I questioned as I sat in the spot next to him. He slowly turned his head towards me with a hard expression, then turned back towards Luke's table.

What the fuck was his problem?

"Ethan whats wr-" I didn't even get to finish my sentence before Ethan blew up.