Two Truths & a Lime (The Love Game #3) - Elizabeth Hayley Page 0,7

on them for anything. It’ll be fine. Totally fine.”

Watching Drew ramble was painful.

Brody had escaped to his room soon after Veronica had left to head back to New York, and I’d been watching Drew slowly descend into panic ever since.

“Seriously, you can stay at my apartment when Taylor and I find one. Veronica won’t be back until the end of the semester. You’ll be able to go right from here to there.” It wasn’t the first time I’d offered this as a solution, but he hadn’t been receptive. “I'll miss living with you.”

I felt the need to wrap my arms around his waist and make myself comfortable against his chest as he pulled me against him.

For the first time since Taylor and I had agreed to live together this summer, I regretted that we’d decided to go through with it. While Taylor was my best friend and I missed her terribly when she was at school out of state, I worried about how to juggle my time between her and Drew.

I felt Drew shake his head and knew he still wasn’t convinced. He placed a gentle kiss on my forehead before looking down at me. “Your dad said he didn’t want us living together, and I’d really like him not to hate me forever. Not to mention that I don’t think Taylor is going to want to share a one-bedroom with your boyfriend. That’s not fair to ask of her.”

Those things were all true, but the thought of Drew having to move back home made me not care about them as much as I should. Which was unfair to my dad and Taylor, but I couldn’t bring myself to care as much as I knew I should’ve.

I opened my mouth to continue to argue, but Brody rushing out of the bedroom stopped me.

“Okay, I called in reinforcements,” he said.

“What? Who?”

“Our Scooby Gang,” he replied as he headed into the kitchen and pulled open the fridge. He grabbed a water and unscrewed the cap before taking a long drink.

“And that would be?”

“Everyone. Aamee, Carter, and those nerds you guys hang out with.”

My brow wrinkled in confusion. “But…they were just here a little while ago.”

“I know. But I sounded the alarm, so they’re all coming back. Everyone except Aamee was at the pizza place down the street, so they’ll be here soon.”

“Where was Aamee?”

“She said she was doing some research.”

I wondered what sort of research she was doing, but I figured it was best not to ask.

“Why did you call them?” Drew asked. “There’s nothing they can do.”

“How do you know?”

“Well, I guess I don’t know. But it’s not their problem. I’ll figure it out.”

Brody smiled. “You’re adorable when you’re noble.”

“Shut up,” Drew shot back, though his lips lifted into a smile.

A knock sounded at the door, and Brody hustled over to open it. “Hey, guys,” he said when he opened it.

The “Scooby Gang,” as Brody had called them, filed inside and made themselves comfortable.

“So what’s up?” Carter, who held a pizza box on his lap, asked. He opened the lid of the box and removed a slice. Noticing us all staring at him as he took a huge bite, he said with a full mouth, “Want some?”

“No thanks,” I replied.

Carter just shrugged as he continued chomping away.

“So, not that I don’t love hanging around your apartment for hours on end, but why are we here?” Xander asked as he leaned back into the sofa.

“Like you had better things to do?” Aniyah muttered.

“Is that jealousy I hear?” Xander teased.

“No. It was a simple statement of fact.”

“Whatever you say, sweetheart.”

“Call me that again,” Aniyah warned. “I dare you.”

Xander opened his mouth, but Toby leaned over the back of the couch and put his hand over Xander’s mouth. “Please don’t. I’m not up for watching a murder today.”

Xander smirked but stayed quiet.

“I want to wait for Aamee before I get into what’s going on,” Brody explained. “But the short of it is, Drew needs a place to live.”

“Why?” Toby asked.

Brody sighed. “Because I need Veronica to move in here and be my wife.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

All of us whipped our attention to the doorway. There stood Aamee, clearly seething with anger.

“You really need to get better about locking the door,” I whispered to my brother.

He ignored me and took a couple ill-advised steps toward Aamee. “Babe, it’s not how it sounds.”

Unfortunately for him, it was exactly how it sounded.

D R E W

If I’d ever expected someone’s head to rotate three-hundred-sixty degrees, it was