Before It's Love

by Michelle Pennington

  “What about your art classes?” I asked, hearing the stress behind her words.

  “Oh, I’m golden in Figure Drawing, but I haven’t turned anything in for Painting yet.”

  “You only have two weeks,” I said, feeling stressed out for her.

  She let go of my hand and stepped slowly away, walking backwards long enough to say, “Oh, believe me, I know.”

  The cold breeze rattled the trees overhead and bounced the teddy bear in his perch. Some of the dying leaves swirled down, drifting through the air like a curtain separating us. Through it, I watched until she was nothing but a speck of red and black plaid against the distant brick buildings across campus.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Lauren

  Just as I was locking up the janitor closet Friday evening, the week before finals, my phone rang. Seeing that it was Natalie, I winced, but took a deep breath and answered.

  “Hey, Lauren. So what time are you going to be home tonight?”

  I couldn’t think of any reason why she would need to know. She’d been treating me like an unwanted stray dog for the last couple of weeks. “Actually, I’m on my way now.”

  “Perfect. I was hoping you wouldn’t be long.”

  “Why?”

  “You’ll see. Just hurry up.”

  After a long hard week of trying to get ready for all my finals and catching up in painting class, I was too tired to do anything. Anything. If she’d planned another roommate cleaning night, she was going to be disappointed. And she was going to have to wait. I didn’t feel like cooking tonight either, so I was going to stop and get something.

  I took a shortcut through the drawing studio, turning out the light as I went through. I glanced to the right toward Jake’s office, but it was better if I continued to avoid him at the school. I’d see him at Irma’s house tomorrow, but my heart ached at the thought of waiting so long. If only…

  No. I stopped before I could think about being held in his strong arms where I could melt into his embrace, press my nose into his shirt, and fill my senses with him. Okay, too late. I was thinking about it.

  I drove over to the drive-in burger joint down the road and grabbed some dinner. I tried not to think about how I’d worked for a whole hour to pay for this one meal.

  I pulled into the driveway and got out of my car, reaching back in for my backpack and the bag that held my mushroom swiss burger and cheese fries. When I straightened, I saw Renee pulling up behind me. Good thing I wasn’t going anywhere tonight.

  The sneer Renee shot at me as she got out of her car and headed toward the door bothered me. I’d never gotten good at ignoring her. If I didn’t get away from her soon, my mood would be as black as her eyeliner.

  I closed and locked my car door, walking slowly toward the front porch, both because I was exhausted and because I wanted her to clear out of my way before I went in. But when she opened the front door she just stood there screaming. It was clearly an excited scream though, so I was pretty sure no one had been murdered in our living room.

  Rolling my eyes, I walked up the porch steps and squeezed around her. Then I saw Nick standing beside a small table set with a table cloth, nice dishes, and a tall taper candle. Soft, romantic music played, and the scent of Italian food wafted through the room. But the best part of all was that Nick’s eyes were the size of half-dollars. Literally.

  “Um…” he said, his brilliant mind struggling with a dilemma that was immediately clear to me, if not Renee. No wonder Natalie wanted to know when I’d be home. One thing was certain, Nick didn’t set this up by himself.

  “Wow. Fancy,” I said. “You two have fun.”

  Hugely enjoying myself, I walked past Nick and headed towards my bedroom. Behind me, I heard Nick stammering through an explanation to Renee that he hadn’t meant his romantic dinner for her. He was such an idiot. And from the sounds of it, Renee was letting him know.

  I closed my door and headed for my bed, but paused. Tilting my head to the side, I thought about Nick’s temper and turned back to lock the door.

  Thirty seconds later, the door knob rattled. Then a hard knock rattled the door. “Lauren, let me in.”

  I breathed deep to calm my heart rate down. “No way. I locked it for a reason.”

  “Come on. I went to a lot of trouble so we could talk.”

  I let out a crack of stunned laughter. “You should have thought about doing that a long time ago.”

  “Don’t say it’s too late. Come on. Just give me a chance.”

  “It’s not happening, Nick. You should go try to fix things with Renee, because there’s nothing between us to fix.”

  Then he started beating the door hard enough that I was sure it would burst into splinters any second. Terrified, I grabbed my phone and called Jake.

  He answered on the second ring. “That’s funny. I was just about to call you and…What’s that noise?”

  “Jake, help me. Nick is beating at my bedroom door.”

  “I’m coming,” he said, hanging up.

  I scooted back into the corner as if being further away from the door would keep me safe. I pulled my legs up to my chest and clutched my phone with both hands. My nerves were stretched to breaking point.

  “You might as well open up, Lauren. I’m not going anywhere until you do.”

  “I’m going to call the police, Nick.”

  “No you’re not. This is my sister’s house and she says I can be here.”

  “That doesn’t give you the right to trap me in here or threaten me.”

  Before he could answer, I heard a female voice outside talking softly. It sounded like Nick was arguing with her, but soon I heard Natalie say, “Okay, he’s gone to the living room. Will you let me in?”

  Hesitantly, I unfolded my legs and headed over to let her in. I stayed silent as she slipped in through the narrow crack I allowed. She smiled at me, but it was a tight, condescending smile. What had happened to our friendship?

  “Your dinner smells good,” she said, glancing at my takeout box. “I guess I should have let you know more of what was going on.”

  “It wouldn’t have mattered, Natalie. It wasn’t about the food. I’m not interested in patching things up with Nick. And you know it. Don’t you?”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Do you really think that if Jake wouldn’t commit to me, he will to you?” Her brows were drawn together in a look of complete disdain.

  My mouth dropped open. I took a deep breath and tried to push away my hurt and anger. “Natalie, I’m sorry, but that’s just not true. Jake doesn’t have a commitment problem, believe me.”

  That did not come out like I meant it to.

  Natalie’s eyes blazed. “How long, precisely, have you two been dating? I was under the impression that you weren’t.”

  “We aren’t. Not officially. But not because Jake isn’t ready to commit.”

  “How could you, Lauren? You’ve known from the beginning that I love him.”

  I released an angry breath. “Why do you think I’ve been turning him down?”

  Covering her face with her hands, Natalie broke into sobs. “I wish you’d never come here. You’ve ruined everything.”

  “I’m sorry, Natalie. How was I supposed to know it would turn out like this?”

  She looked up then, her face red and puffy. “I hoped that getting you back with Nick would be enough, but clearly that’s not going to happen.”

  “Nothing would convince me to date Nick again, even if I didn’t have feelings for Jake.”

  “So you admit it. You love him too.”

  Even faced with the certainty that this would end our friendship, I didn’t hesitate. “Yes, I do.”

  “Then you need to leave,” she said, her voice cold and hard.

  Was she really kicking me out?

  But then voices from the living room caught my attention. They were too muffled to be understood, but I knew it was Jake and Nick. Brushing past Natalie, I ran out to the living room. Jake stood
near the open front door, his fists clenched and his shoulders bunched. His eye flashed toward me, raking me up and down for a brief second, then shifted back to Nick, dark and angry.

  One move from either would spark a fight. Anxious to stop it, I ran to Jake, bracing my hands against his taut chest. “Jake, I’m okay. Please, don’t.”

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Jake

  The insistent pressure of Lauren’s hands and the panic in her voice grabbed my attention. I covered one of her hands with mine, squeezing it to let her know I heard her, but I didn’t shift my attention away from Nick.

  “I told you to leave her alone,” I said.

  “Yeah, well, I figured she should be the one to tell me.”

  Grinding my teeth for a second, I finally checked my anger enough to say, “She has. Multiple times. You won’t let it go.”

  Natalie walked up to Nick. “Give it up. Let her go. I am.”

  “What does that mean?” I asked.

  “She’s kicking me out,” Lauren said, her voice so soft I had to lean down to hear her.

  “It’s about time,” Renee said from across the room where she stood with her arms folded across her chest. Her expression was hard and her voice was bitter.

  I took hold of Lauren’s arms, gently squeezing to get her attention. “Okay, let’s get you out of here.”

  “But where will I go?” she asked, her voice breaking.

  “To Grams’ house. At least for now.”

  “But, I can’t just dump myself on her.”

  “Trust me on this, okay? Go grab what you need.”

  She nodded and turned away, but only got a few steps when Nick stepped forward and grabbed her arm.

  “Lauren, just let me talk to you.”

  Lunging forward, I gripped his wrist hard. “Let go of her. Now.”

  Nick’s eyes shot to me, and he let go of her, shaking me off as he did, but only because I relaxed my grip.

  Not taking my eyes off him, I said, “Go, Lauren. Hurry.”

  She ran from the room, and I narrowed my eyes at Nick. “Get it through that thick skull of yours that she’s done with you.”

  Even though I was half-expecting it, it caught me off guard when Nick lunged at me. I side-stepped him, pushing at him as he swept past me. He crashed to the floor, but rolled and popped back up again. He swung his fist, and I deflected it from my face. It landed on my shoulder like a battering ram, surprising a grunt out of me.

  Distantly, I heard Lauren cry out. I didn’t want her in the middle of this. With all the strength I could gather, I pulled my fist back and hit him in the jaw. He went down like his bones melted, crashing into the table behind him. China plates, silverware, and the burning candle flew up and rained down on him. I stood over him, my chest heaving, waiting to see if he was going to get up. After a couple of seconds he came to, but lay there groaning so I stepped back.

  Just as I did, Renee strode over and dumped a full pot of hot spaghetti on his head. He screamed and urgently wiped at his face, flinging noodles away. Renee stood over him with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face. Natalie was freaking out over the state of her living room, and I didn’t blame her. The end table was pushed sideways, a lamp was lying on the floor, and the whole area between the couch and kitchen island was strewn with debris from the table.

  Lauren stood in the hallway, looking stunned. I nudged her gently until she turned so I could meet her eyes. “Come on. I’ll help you.”

  She broke into a run toward her bedroom and I strode after her. She pulled a small duffle bag out of her closet and started tossing clothes in. “Can you unplug my phone charger? Down next to the bed.”

  When I handed it to her, she dropped it in her bag and went back to her closet. A fast food bag caught my attention and I picked it up. It was still warm, so I held onto it since it was clearly supposed to be her dinner.

  Lauren crammed a pair of boots in her bag then spun slowly around, looking lost. “What about the rest of my things?”

  “We’ll figure it out later. Let’s just get out of here for now.” I zipped up her bag and slung it over my shoulder.

  She nodded, picking up her backpack. I followed her out, turning off the light and closing the door behind us. She stopped in the bathroom and came out with her toothbrush and a few other items that she put in the duffle while I held it. “What if Nick is still out there?”

  “Don’t worry. He won’t mess with us.”

  Her eyebrows rose, but she didn’t say anything as she started walking again. When we emerged into the main part of the house, I looked around sharply. Renee was gone, but Nick and Natalie were in the kitchen trying to clean him up. They glared at us, but didn’t move toward us. As I opened the front door, I met eyes with Nick and directed a hard, warning look at him.

  “You parked in the yard?” Lauren asked, staring at my truck that was only a few feet away from the porch.

  “I was at work when you called. By the time I got here, I wasn’t in the mood to care about parking.”

  She climbed in when I opened the passenger door for her and I put her duffle bag on the floorboard in front of her. As I got in and put the keys in the ignition, I looked anxiously over at her, wondering how she was handling this all so calmly. Her face was white and her expression was tight, but I knew she had to be badly shaken.

  As I drove, she stared out the window, I reached over and took her hand. Her fingers curled into mine, gripping hard, and I held on until I needed to let go to maneuver into Grams’ narrow driveway.

  “I hate foisting myself on her,” Lauren said as we got out of the truck.

  “Don’t. She’d be furious if I took you anywhere else.”

  Opening the front door, I held it open for Lauren, dropping her bag next to the door and setting her dinner on the dining room table. “Grams. Where are you?”

  “In the kitchen,” she called out.

  Lauren set her backpack down next to her bag and took my hand as I held it toward her. “Come on,” I encouraged, seeing the hesitant way she hung back.

  As we walked in, Grams took one look at Lauren’s face and turned from the sink where she was washing dishes. She dried her hands and moved toward us. With one questioning look at me, she pulled Lauren into a hug.

  “There, there, child. What’s wrong?”

  Instead of answering, Lauren started crying, wrapping her arms around Grams’ waist.

  “Can she stay with you for a while?”

  Grams stroked Lauren’s hair. “Of course. As long as she wants.”

  We moved into the living room, where I pulled Lauren down next to me on the couch and held her close while she filled Grams in on what had happened. Me too, really, since I’d missed the beginning.

  “I can’t help it,” I said, biting back a laugh. “It’s kind of funny. Did Nick totally forget that Renee lived there too?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know what he was thinking. I know they’ve been flirting since the dance the night I broke up with him. I’m not surprised she thought he set it all up for her.”

  “It’s worse than you think,” I said, kissing the top of her head. “That night you ran out of gas, I caught them kissing each other.”

  Sitting up straighter, she asked. “Are you serious? What a creep he turned out to be.”

  “Didn’t surprise me any. I knew he was going to break your heart eventually and it was maddening.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me what he was up to?”

  Running my hand along her arm, I said, “I didn’t feel like I could. After all, you might think I had ulterior motives. Besides, you probably would have just said he was different now.”

  “I would have, at first,” she said. “Beth warned me a little once. He was so different in New Mexico. I mean, I knew he had a temper, but I never would have dreamed he would turn it on me.”

  Grams nodded her head. “People who can’t control their tempers eventually hurt everyone.”

  “At least I didn�
�t do something stupid like marry him.”

  My heart clenched at the thought. “Don’t even talk about it,” I said, my voice rough.

  Just then, Lauren’s stomach growled and she crossed her arms in front of her. I untangled myself from her and got up to reheat her dinner. When I came back, she broke off from whatever she was saying to Grams and reached out for the plate with her burger and fries.

  “My dinner. Oh my gosh, I love you!” As the warmth of her words spread through me, she looked up, her eyes wide.

  I grinned at her. “You know, you can’t do anything romantically. We hold hands for the first time in an arm wrestling contest, we kiss over the kitchen sink, and the first time you tell me you love me, it’s over a warmed-up burger and soggy fries.”

  She turned her face down, but from the rise of her cheeks I could tell she was smiling. “It was just a figure of speech.”

  I squatted in front of her and tilted her chin up. “No, don’t take it away from me. I love you too, you know.”

  “You do?”

  Leaning forward, I kissed her. Not caring that Grams was watching or that her dinner was between us, I poured all my heart into the kiss. “Yeah. I really do. Don’t tell me you didn’t at least suspect it.”

  “I was sure hoping.”

  “Now that we’ve settled that, I’m going to get out of here. Grams will take good care of you.”

  “Do you have to leave so soon?” she asked, her disappointment tugging at my heart.

  “Yes, unfortunately. I have some things I need to get done before tomorrow, but I’ll come over in the morning, okay?

  She nodded, and I kissed her again. Pulling away took all the self-discipline I had. I dropped a kiss on Grams’ cheek and said, “Take care of her for me.”

  “Oh, get out of here, Romeo.”