“Yeah.” Hannah twisted around as I steered her out the door. “Reject, my ass. Jesse Hunt’s coming to pick her up tonight. That’s right. The only one who got rejected was you when you hit on him last weekend.” I pulled her the last of the way, but she hollered as the door swung shut, “Don’t think I don’t know about that. You’re the reject, not her.”
We heard the snort inside.
I had to laugh. It was too ridiculous. “What’s going on with you? I like that they think we’re not together anymore.”
“You’re so weird.”
I shrugged. “I’d rather deal with that attitude than when they’re being fake and trying to be friends with me.”
“You’re right. Having friends is horrible.”
“They are when they’re not real. Who wants to surround yourself with people like that?”
“You do. You’re buddy-buddy with my sister now?” Hannah pushed open the door and Beth sat up on the couch. She put her book on the floor.
I set my stuff in my closet and went to my desk. As I opened my email, I frowned to myself. I should’ve seen this coming. Since my mother’s departure and the revelations from that night, Tiffany had extended an olive branch to me. We had come to a cease fire after my parent’s first visit, but it was now bordering on a we’ll-not-ignore-each-other-and-maybe-say-hello-bu t-only-when-no-one-else-is-around sort of deal. Hannah hated it. I’d been waiting for this to happen and I said now, “We’re not buddy buddy.”
“You had lunch with her yesterday.”
“Because she eats with Jamie in that private cafeteria and I eat with Jesse. We walked together. That was it.”
Beth rolled her eyes and laid back on the couch. Her book was opened again and I knew she tuned us out. Hannah scrunched her eyebrows together as she shook her head.
I gestured to her closet. “Are you ready? The guys will be here in five minutes.”
She groaned, stripping her shirt off in one smooth motion. It was lifted over her head and her jeans were unsnapped and flung across the room in the next second. With matching black bra and panties already on, she grabbed a dress and shimmied it over and down her body. The thong fell to the floor and she kicked it into her closet, before shutting it and sitting on the couch.
“Hey!” Beth scrambled to keep from being sat on.
Hannah ignored her as she leaned forward. Her hair was flipped over and she wound it together in a twisted up-do. Snapping it in place with a clip, she straightened. Her hair fell down, framing her face with curls that looked professionally done.
Bitch.
I sighed and turned back to my computer. “Things have thawed between your sister and me, but we’re not friends. You do not have to worry about that happening.”
Hannah snorted as someone knocked on the door. “Whatever. If you come home with a friendship bracelet from her, I’m moving out. That’s all I’m going to say.” She went to the door and swung it open.
Instead of the guys, Kara gave us a friendly wave. “Are you ready? The guys are downstairs.”
As we traipsed through the hallway and the lobby, we had expected Derek and Jesse. They were there, along with Jamie, Tiffany, Cord, and a new date. He held hands with an exotic-looking girl this time, and like the others, she stood in the background. She was chewing her lips as she eyed Tiffany.
Go figure.
Hannah put the brakes on. “What the hell? You cannot come.”
Tiffany tossed back her golden locks. “Like hell. You’re getting serious with this guy. I’m checking him out.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Yes, I am.”
The two squared off and Jamie eased away from them. He stepped sideways, around Derek and Kara, and saw me. “Looking good, Connors.”
An arm came around my waist. I was pulled into Jesse’s side as he remarked, “Are you hitting on her now?”
“No.” Horror flashed in Jamie’s eyes. “No way, man. No way at all. Just saying, she looks good. You’re a lucky man.” Leaning forward, he patted Jesse on the shoulder. It was the most awkward exchange I ever witnessed between the two.
“Thanks.”
“Oh helllll noo.”
Beth and I snapped to attention. That was Hannah’s war cry. As we turned around, the two girls from the bathroom were there. They were dressed to go out in tight, short dresses. But when I expected them to leave, they didn’t. They stayed. That was when I clued in to what Hannah had realized right away. Even though they didn’t come over to the group, they lingered close enough to overhear the conversations.
Hannah stepped up to them. Her arm twisted in the air and her hand found her hip. She stuck it out. Her elbow mirrored the motion as her eyes bulged at the girls. “You are not doing what I know you’re doing.”
They both tried to look bored. Only one succeeded. The other’s chest was rising too quickly and she wouldn’t look away from Jesse. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped to a small o. I couldn’t blame her as I snuck a peek. His shirt clung to him, but it wasn’t too tight. It showed off his lean physique. Then Hannah purposely moved to block her view. I moved to the side and saw the girl looked ready to piss her pants, but the first yawned, “Can you get out of my breathing space? You’re sucking all the air in.”
Tiffany stepped next to her sister. That was when I learned where Hannah had gotten some of her fighting ways. The two looked so similar, almost like twins, as they turned their noses up at the other two. Well, Tiffany tilted her head back so she was snubbing the two. Hannah had her head bent and her eyes were locked on her target. If she could’ve drilled holes into the girl, she would’ve. Tiffany and Hannah were a unified front.