Redemption (Forgiven Series) (4 page)

I heard her gasp and she pulled back to look me in the eyes. I could see the desire in them. God, how I just wanted to take this girl out of here and back to my empty apartment.

I caught Caleb dancing with Angie and looked over in his direction. What the fuck was he waiting for, an engraved invitation? I gave him a discreet thumbs up behind Lauren’s back. He took a deep breath and nodded at me. He reached into his pocket. Stepping away from Angie, he dropped to one knee.

The DJ realized what was happening and lowered the music so Caleb could be heard. I stopped dancing to watch. Lauren turned and when she realized what was happening she brought her hand up to cover her mouth. Emily was doing the same thing across the dance floor with tears forming in her eyes. At least she had finally talked to Andrew and they were dancing.

I looked back to Caleb and Angie just as he pulled the ring from its box and held it out to her. “Angelina Powers, will you marry me?”

The tears streamed down Angie’s face as her smile slowly broke through. “Yes, Caleb. Yes, I will marry you.”

The cheering around us was deafening, as Caleb slid the ring on Angie’s finger and pulled her back into him. I was so happy for them. After all the shit they’d been through, they deserved to be happy. I turned back to Lauren and held my hand out. All I wanted was to feel her body up against mine again. She took my hand and moved back into my arms.

Maybe this night was going to get even better.

The party was tonight and there was no way I was going to let that stupid asshole ruin my night. Morgan sat on my bed watching me get ready.

“Are you sure you want to go?” she asked cautiously.

“Absolutely. There is no way I’m letting him ruin my night. Besides, he wasn’t even friends with any of them. He was only going for me.” I shrugged.

She shifted uncomfortably. “Yeah, but everyone is going to know…”

“And?” I turned back to my closet to finish getting ready. “He’s the asshole for cheating on me with Jessica.” Pulling out a long sleeve, red wrap dress, I held it up for Morgan’s approval.

She looked at it for a moment. “Put it on, I can’t tell.” I stepped out of my clothes and threw on the dress. The minute I turned around, Morgan shrieked, “Oh my God! You look amazing. If Ryan gets wind of what you look like tonight, he’s going to regret cheating on you even more!”

I laughed and rolled my eyes. “Thanks… I think?”

Morgan stood up and started to move toward the door. “Sorry, babe, I gotta get ready for work. I so wish I was going tonight.”

“I wish you were coming too. I’ve got a feeling it’s gonna be a great night,” I said with a smile and for the first time since yesterday it wasn’t forced. Nothing could’ve shocked me more than walking in on my ex-boyfriend having sex with a damn baseball groupie. But, I just had this feeling that tonight I’d be able to forget all about Ryan.

“Tell Angie happy birthday and that I wish I could have been there.”

“I will,” I called after her as she walked out the door. As soon as she was gone I dove back into my closet to find a pair of shoes to go with the dress. I knew I had a pair of black strappy heels somewhere in there. Finally, I found them and finished with my hair and makeup before grabbing my keys and heading out to my car.

I pulled up to the hotel and parked the car in the lot. My dad would kill me if he found out I hadn’t valeted it, but who cares? It was only a car.

I walked in, hoping Emily was already there. I wanted to give her the whole story about Ryan before she heard all of the rumors I was sure he was already spreading. Jerk. I found the lounge where the party was being held.

The minute I walked through the door I saw
him
, and he was hot. Shaggy brown hair and dark brown eyes, he was what dreams were made of. I’d never seen him before, so I wasn’t sure how he knew Caleb or Angie. While I wondered about that, I saw Emily out of the corner of my eye and walked over to say hello.

“Hey, Em, what’s up?”

“Lauren!” she screeched. “I’m so glad you made it.” She looked behind me. “Where’s Ryan?”

I rolled my eyes. “Probably with the dumb blonde I caught him with the other night.”

“Fucker. I’m going to kick the shit out of him when I see him,” she seethed and grabbed my arm. “What the hell happened?”

I wanted to get this conversation over so that I could enjoy the rest of my night. I just hoped I could get through it without crying. So far, my anger had been helpful at keeping the tears at bay, but I wasn’t sure how long that would last.

Taking a deep breath I explained. “We were supposed to

go out last night but I had to finish a paper first and he was supposed to be going to batting practice. He was going to pick me up, but I finished earlier than I thought, so I went to his apartment to wait for him.”

Feeling myself starting to tear up, I stopped to try and get control of my emotions. “When I got there I was surprised to see his car in the lot so I went up to his door. I knocked and one of the baseball groupies answered the door wearing one of his shirts…
just
one of his shirts,” I admitted.

“Bastard,” she spat.

I looked at Emily and at that moment I was extremely thankful for her support. I would hate to be Ryan if and when he ran into Emily on campus. “What made it even worse was when he came to the door in just his boxers to ‘explain’.” I said using my fingers to make those cheesy air quotes.

She looped her arm through mine and started to lead me away. “Well, tonight we’re going to forget all about that cheating bastard and make sure you have an amazing time.”

“Sounds perfect to me.” I smiled because that was exactly what I needed. I could see Emily’s anger start to dissipate. I knew she was still pissed at Ryan, but she wasn’t going to let him ruin the night. As I watched her, I realized that she was buzzing with energy. She was so excited about the party she couldn’t seem to contain it anymore. Hopefully, Emily hadn’t given it away. She was a terrible secret keeper. “Does Angie have any idea about the party?”

“Not that I know of, but I stayed far away from her the last week just in case. We all know that I suck at keeping secrets,” she laughed, shaking her head.

I had to laugh with her. At least she recognized that discretion wasn’t one of her strengths. Unconsciously, I found my eyes once again straying to
him
. I wanted to taste his lips on mine.

Oh my God. What was wrong with me? I’d just caught my boyfriend cheating on me and there I was fantasizing about another guy.

Emily’s arm stayed wrapped around mine as she led me across the room. I wasn’t sure where we were going. She’d probably said, but unfortunately, I hadn’t been paying attention. We stopped in front of an older couple who must have been someone’s parents. I knew they weren’t Emily’s because I’d met them over winter break.

“Lauren, this is Dr. and Mrs. Jacobs, Caleb’s parents. Dr. and Mrs. Jacobs, this is Lauren Pierce, she’s a friend of mine and Angie’s.”

I reached my hand out to take Mrs. Jacobs’. “It’s nice to meet you. I think it’s wonderful of you to throw this party for Angie.”

Mrs. Jacobs smiled at me. “Thank you. We’d do anything to put a smile on that girl’s face. It’s wonderful to meet you as well. I’m so glad you could make it.”

Dr. Jacobs shook my hand. “Thank you so much for coming. Dinner is a buffet and we arranged for an open bar, so please, enjoy.”

“Thank you so much for inviting me,” I replied with smile.

While Emily introduced a few more people to Caleb’s parents I allowed my eyes to wander around the room until they landed on
him
again. At some point tonight I had to meet him. What eye candy he was.

“Who are you looking at?” Emily whispered in my ear.

Realizing I’d been caught staring I jumped. “Umm… no one.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Don’t pull that crap with me. I know someone caught your eye, so spill,” she demanded.

I sighed and looked over at him. “I don’t know his name, but he’s the guy with the dark hair, standing next to Caleb.”

“You mean Josh?” She looked at me like I was crazy. “He’s Caleb’s best friend, and roommate.”

I continued to stare, finally shaking my head to clear it. I didn’t need this right now. “I haven’t been to Angie’s place since she moved off campus. She always meets me at my apartment.”

She eyed me warily. “Look, Josh is like a brother to me, but just so you know he’s Mr. One-Night Stand.”

My eyes snapped to hers. “I wasn’t even thinking that.”

Okay, that was a lie.

“I don’t need to get mixed up with a guy. I’ve had enough of them after what Ryan did.”

“Yes, but you’re staring at him like you want him for dessert,” she muttered.

“Really, Em, can’t this just be about me being introduced to their roommate, instead of me screwing him?” I bit out sarcastically.

She grabbed my hand. “You’re right. I’m just worried about you. Let’s go meet him.”

Crossing the room toward Josh I started to feel a little nervous. The day after finding another girl naked in my boyfriend’s apartment and I was ready to meet someone new. That wasn’t like me at all, but there was something different about Josh. I could see it when I looked at him. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t realize that Emily had stopped moving.

”Em? What’s up?”

“Can I introduce you later? I just remembered I have to do something.”

“Huh? You never said…”

I stopped when I realized that she hadn’t made eye contact with me. In fact, she was avoiding it. Her face was frozen and I knew from the glazed look in her eyes that she wasn’t paying a bit of attention to what I was saying. I nudged her but didn’t get a response so I followed her gaze until I saw Andrew.

“Em, is everything okay?”

She looked at me and back to where the boys were standing. “I’m just not ready to talk to him yet.”

“Who? Andrew?” I asked confused. I shot a glance in the boys’ direction. I thought she and Andrew were dating?

She sighed. “Yeah. I’m just not sure how he feels about me and I’m not ready to talk to him about it yet. If he doesn’t feel the same way it’ll ruin my night.” Her eyes began to shimmer. She must really care about him because this wasn’t like Emily at all.

I looped my arm through hers. “Okay, how about you introduce me to him later and right now we go get a drink?”

Emily needed a drink as much as I did. Well, what I really needed was to get myself under control. When I’d agreed to meeting Josh later, part of it was to help Emily avoid Andrew, but the other part was for myself. I was nervous about meeting him, which was stupid considering I’d been around hot guys before, but none of them had affected me the way Josh did. Just the sight of him made me forget all of the messed up events of the last few days.

After we reached the bar and ordered, Emily turned to me. “Lauren, please do me one favor?”

“What’s that?”

She stopped and turned me to face her. “Remember that Josh never does anything more than one night. I know you’ve been through a lot with Ryan and I don’t want you jumping into something you might regret tomorrow,” she begged.

“Thanks, Em, but I think I’ll be okay. He’s not the first hot guy I’ve seen. Besides, I only want to meet him, not sleep with him.” I knew she was worried but I was a big girl and could handle myself.

A few minutes later Emily was pulled away to help Mrs. Jacobs with something and I found myself surrounded by Nick, Heather and Jillian. We were talking about school and classes when I heard someone call for everyone’s attention. Everyone looked around to find the voice.

When I saw that it was Josh my heart sped up. “Caleb just texted me. They’re valeting the car now and they should be here in a few minutes.” Damn his voice was sexy.

Even though everyone was trying to be as quiet as possible, you could feel the energy in the room as we waited for Angie and Caleb. A few minutes later the doors opened to reveal Angie with shock and confusion written all over her face.

“SURPRISE!”

Angie’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oh my God.”

Our smiles grew bigger when we saw Angie’s reaction. She ran over to Mrs. Jacobs to give her a hug. Everyone’s attention was focused on Angie and I used that time to really study Josh, hopefully without anyone else noticing. The chest muscles that stretched his shirt, to the way his legs looked as he moved in his jeans, had me overheating. I excused myself to get another drink, figuring I had time before Angie made her way to my side of the room. I needed to get myself under control. There was no reason for me to have this immediate need for a guy.

Shaking my head I ordered another beer, hoping to calm myself down by the time I got back to the group. Walking over, I noticed that Andrew had joined us, but Emily was nowhere to be found. What was up with those two?

“Hey, Lauren, where’s Ryan?” Andrew asked when I reached them.

I’d known I’d be asked this question all night, still didn’t mean I felt like answering it. Deciding how much to tell everyone tonight was the part I that dreaded the most. Did I really want to get into the fact that Ryan was a lying cheating asshole? Or did I just want to tell people we broke up? Realizing that I just wanted to enjoy my night, drama free, I chose the latter.