Page 37 of Craving Consequences
“Finally. I’m starving.” She brushes invisible dirt off her round backside as she waltzes over to the glass. She pauses to peer back at me from over her shoulder, her smirk almost threatening. “Youknow, I bet Lachlan—”
“Don’t,” I warn, meaning it with every shred of my soul; I did not need Lachlan pulled into this.
She bats her thick, black lashes. “I was going to say, I bet Lachlan has a few friends he could share you with.”
“Ew! Gross,” I blurt before I can stop myself.
I have never seen Lachlan with the other men in town, except my dad, not in a social setting at least, but there is literally not another soul in Jefferson I would want to be shared with.
“I don’t mean my dad!” Lauren exclaims, yanking the door open and stepping partially out. “Like, I don’t know, I’m sure he knows other guys.”
I hadn’t even thought of Van as a friend of Lachlan’s. They’re more like brothers, and I definitely did not lump him in with the other men.
Still...
I follow after her with my bowl of neatly sliced lime wedges.
“Not interested.”
“What other guys?” Lachlan chimes as we join the pair on the deck.
Heat crawls up my neck even as my panicked gaze darts to the big mouth next to me.
To my relief, Lauren shrugs, all innocent smiles. “Girl talk, Mr. Shaw. I’m bound by my oath of silence.”
Both men watch us like we just announced we were plotting their demise. Van squints suspiciously over the rim of his beer bottle. Lachlan crosses his arms over his chest, muscles flexing.
But it all would have been fine ... if Lauren wasn’t the human embodiment of chaos.
“You know though,” she muses aloud, tapping her chin with a manicured nail, “Maybe you are the right person to ask, Mr. Shaw.”
“Lauren!” I hiss, fully prepared to football tackle my friend straight over the patio railing.
Lauren with her zero sense of self-preservation ignores me. “Do you have any friends, Mr. Shaw?”
“Lauren, I swear to God...” I begin through gritted teeth.
Van lowers his arm and cocks a head in Lachlan’s direction. “This asshole? I’m surprised I stuck around this long.”
Lachlan elbows him but returns his attention back to the blonde. “Definefriends.”
“Like actual men.”
“Ouch,” Van mutters, bringing the bottle to his lips. “Hard not to take that personally.”
“Dude, I’ve been telling you to do better,” Lachlan teases and gets the middle finger in response.
Lauren rolls her eyes. “Obviously you’re a man, Dad, but you’re also really gross and as part of our girl contract, off limits.”
“Lauren!” I snap, horrified.
Lachlan bursts out laughing, a beautiful rumble in the scorching afternoon. But all I see is my best friend spewing the worst lie.
Thinking he’s unappealing because he’s her dad is one thing, but to be so rude...
I try to understand Lauren’s staunch stance on her friends dating her dad. From the very beginning, she’s made it painfully clear that her dad was off limits and the only thing that would sever our relationship for good. It’s not the whole reason I keep my distance from the man, but it’s been a firm fixture in my mind.
“What?” my friend exclaims with feigned innocence no one’s buying.
