Jenalyn: Crossing Lines (#4) [Complete]

Chapter 7: Hayden

Friday, 8:01 P.M. PST

“What the fuck is wrong with him?!” I growl at Gage, still worked up about what happened at the party with Ty and Zain. We sit in his truck on our way to my place because Ty left me at the party. “That was so fricken rude! I bet Paul will never talk to him again! Like, what the h-”

Gage scoffs, clutching the wheel as if he’s got something to say. He remains silent though.

“What?” I snap, noticing his scoff. 

He turns to me with a brow raised, almost as if to be surprised that I’d ask.  “Dude, you’re what? Five and a half? Six months pregnant with my brother’s baby? Allowing him to live at your house? Showing up at parties with him?” he asks. “What else would you expect him to do when you’re sitting there hooking up with his friends?!”

I both narrow and roll my eyes at him, but it goes unnoticed as he maneuvers his way through traffic.

“We’re not together, you know that,” I tell him with diction in my voice. 

Gage scoffs at me again, glancing over at me only to return his eyes to the road. “As far as shit like that is concerned?” he says, his voice an attempt at sounding stern. “You two are together.”

At first, I don’t understand what he is saying. Why would I only be with Ty as far as something like that is concerned?

It doesn’t take long for me to catch on though. 

“Ohhhh!” I exclaim, reaching over the center console to shove Gage’s arm with a small laugh. “Someone sounds jealous!”

Gage looks over to me, raising his brows as if to say I’m crazy.He’s got a familiar look of being caught in a lie plastered across his face though, so I know I’m not.

“You’re an idiot,” he tells me, unable to come up with anything else because he knows it’d be a lie. “You already know I don’t approve of your random hookups.”

He doesn’t approve of my random hookups? Hah, what a joke!

“You’re still sounding a little jealous to me, Gage,” I laugh at him. “It seems to me, like you just don’t approve when it isn’t you! That’s how this seems!”

He flattens his brows, slowing his truck to stop at a red light before turning to me.

“We aren’t hooking up,” he states matter-of=factly.

I can’t help the laugh from escaping my lips. “Oh, that's bullshit!” I exclaim over my laughter, reaching over to shove him again. “We might as well be! We’ve got a pretty serious textlationship going on, and when given the opportunity, are the cuddliest of bunnies! What’s that about, then?!”

He flattens his brows again, letting out a small chuckle before returning his eyes to the road. “That’s nowhere near the same thing,” he tells me, turning down the road that leads to my house.

He is right; In a physical and emotional sense, a random hookup isn’t shit. It’s just a symptom of still having Jena around because I didn’t get rid of her in rehab. The hookups soothe her monster for a while and give her an output for all of my pent-up emotions regarding Ty.

Gage is so much more than that though… 

“You’re right,” I tell him after a few moments, reminding him of the code for my front gate. We drive up the long driveway leading to the massive house I share with my sisters. “But what I have with you is much more serious.”