[|]

I marched into the house and dumped my bag angrily on the floor, getting Lucas' attention. He stared at me with shock on his face while I stood glaring at him.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked, standing up.

"You!" I pointed at him and he looked behind him. That angered me more, so I approached him. "I'm talking to you! What is wrong with you, Lucas?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Jackie. Go straight to the point, I have things to attend to," he replied and was about to turn away from me but I stopped him by grabbing his wrist which I released when he glared at me.

"You need to make Andrea understand that I have no business with your relationship with her!"

"Relationship? What the fuck are you talking about?"

I scoffed. "Andrea met up with me today and was talking about your birthday this, your birthday that."

Lucas sighed. "She's been trying to get me to celebrate it ever since she saw my driver's license."

"Well, I don't like how she's trying to get me involved in this. I'm not one to ruin surprises or whatever but she said she wants to have a party here."

Lucas' eyes went wide in shock. He opened his mouth to speak but no words came out.

"Yeah, I could say that was my reaction to what she said. She wants to celebrate your birthday in this house. What are we going to do about it? We can't let her know I live with you. She already is suspicious of us and I don't want drama in my life. Yes, I should not have lied to her but I would be mad if a girl is living with her man."

"Listen, I am not interested in any of these. I've told her that she shouldn't do anything but she won't listen... I'm sorry if this is affecting you and to correct you, she isn't my girlfriend or whatever."

I felt a weight go off my chest as soon as I heard what he had said. I didn't know why I felt that way but I was kind of relaxed that Lucas wasn't really into her as I thought or from how Andrea bragged about their... type of relationship.

"Really? I mean, alright but what are we going to do about this party stuff," I said.

"Leave that to me."

I flinched at the new voice and turned around, as well as Lucas. Jared was at the door, smiling wide. He lifted his hand and wiggled his fingers at us.

"How long have you been standing there?"

Jared closed the door and walked over to us. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and I immediately looked at Lucas who eyed his arm for a second and looked away. His jawline clenched and his eyelids drooped.

"What did you mean?" I asked and removed his hand from my shoulder.

"My friend here has been telling me a lot about this Andrea girl and she sounds like a bitch, no offense to anyone of you. She's clingy and materialistic, too materialistic. I tell Lucas that she's a gold digger."

"Go straight to the point," Lucas said as he walked away from us to the kitchen where he grabbed a bottle of Sprite from the fridge and faced us.

"Right... So, she's planning on celebrating your birthday here... Let her," Jared said in a deadpan tone.

"Are you crazy?"

"What the fuck, man?"

Jared only laughed at our outbursts before making his way to one of the kitchen stools attached to the counter. He sat on it and let out a heavy sigh.

"Let her have the party here so she won't get suspicious of the two of you. But Jackie won't be living with you," Jared said with an air quote motion when he said the word 'living'.

"I swear to God, I don't know what you're trying to say," I said to him and he nodded.

"Let me explain more for y'all pea-brained humans."

"Watch it," Lucas said, hissing.

"As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted. You'll let her host the party here but Jackie won't be living here on that day. How? Jackie will pretend to stay with me and have her things out of your house before Andrea gets here. She won't suspect a thing on that day. Then after the party, you can move back in."

I smiled at the idea and looked at Lucas, he was thinking over it before he nodded at the idea.

"That's a great idea. Wait, when is your birthday?" I asked.

"Tuesday," he replied.

I sighed. "I don't work on Tuesdays... Ugh. I wanted to use that opportunity to stay away from the party."

"So, you're not attending?" Lucas asked in a soft tone and I met his eyes. His blue eyes were hooded as he lazily played with the mouth of the bottle.

"I... Do you want me to attend?"

I didn't want to attend because I didn't want to be in the same room with Andrea and Lucas. I knew they would act all lovey-dovey, especially Andrea. I didn't feel comfortable with that.

"No... I'm not saying you should. It's just—"

"You should come," Jared said and stood up. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer to his body. "We can get to know more about each other at the party. Dance and have fun."

I glanced at Lucas when he walked away from us and I looked up at a smiling Jared. I took his off my shoulder and watched as Lucas went up the room. I was tempted to go after him but stayed still.

"Is everything okay?" Jared asked in a serious tone.

"Yes... Everything is fine. I need to take a shower. I just came back from work," I said and left his presence. I rushed upstairs and saw Lucas staring out the long window.

I swallowed and crossed over to the walk-in closet. I took my house clothes and turned around, ready to leave, and almost bumped into Lucas who stepped back in shock.

"I didn't see you there," he said, looking away from me.

I didn't say anything and started to walk past him.

"Are you two together?"

I stopped at the sound of his voice and stared at the floor. I heard him move behind me and I straightened my back.

"What?" I asked, pretending that I didn't hear him the first time.

"You and Jared. Are you two together? Like dating?"

My heart fluttered at the question. Did he sound jealous and sad? It was hard to tell if those were his emotions at the moment.

"Jared?" I said and turned around. Lucas was facing away, eyeing the wardrobe beside him. "We... I don't know. Jared and I are just friends."

Lucas quickly looked at me with a different expression on his face. He looked shocked.

"Friends?" He asked.

"Yes. We're just friends. We aren't dating."

Lucas sighed. "And he doesn't say anything about dating you or wanting you?"

"No... Why do you ask?" I felt like I knew why he was asking but it could just be my delusions.

"Nothing... I just wanted to know because Jared plays women and I didn't want that to happen to you."

My breath hitched at his reply and I stepped forward.

"Why do you care what happens to me?" I whispered and his eyes swept over my body.

"I... I don't know but you live with me and I don't want anything bad that'll affect my stay here, you know."

"Oh," I said and looked down at my feet.

What had I been expecting? That he would say he liked me and that he was jealous?

"Excuse me," Lucas said and walked out of the closet.

I pouted and leaned on the wardrobe beside me. His words echoed in my head while my heart stung from them. I was smart and I had a feeling why Lucas affected me this way.

"No... It can't be," I said and shook my head with a chuckle. "It can't be possible."

A/N: Read this book to chapter 50 on Patreon. Updates on Wattpad will be slow.

My Patreon link is in my bio.