Distraction (Westbrook Series Book 1) Read online

  We are only upstairs for about twenty minutes. I tell her all about Sam's text messages and the double date. I've been so mad at Sam up to this point, that I didn't realize just how hurt I am until I started saying it all out loud. Despite my best efforts to keep the tears from spilling, they seem to have their own plans. Before I know it, my tear-streaked cheeks are burning, and my eyes are stinging and swollen from crying so much.

  Avery is her usual amazing self, offering me tissue after tissue between hugs. She doesn't say much, but listens and nods at all of the pertinent moments. She knows me well enough to wait to tell me anything that I wouldn't want to hear right now.

  I also know her well enough to know that the reason she is being so quiet is because she wants to defend Sam in some way, shape, or form. Even though she hasn't said anything yet, it upsets me. I know it's not fair, but I can't help it. What in the world could she possibly have to say in his defense?

  Before I can make her spit it out, we are interrupted by the sound of soft knocking. Trevor is standing at the top of the stairs, waiting hesitantly with my purse in his hands.

  "Hey guys. Sorry to bother you, but Laila? Your phone is going bat-shit crazy. It rang a bunch of times. You must have gotten like ten text messages just since you came up here."

  Trevor looks really worried about me. It's stupid, but knowing how concerned he is makes the corners of my mouth curl up ever so slightly. He raises his eyebrows, as if to ask us if it is okay to come any closer. I force a smile, while waving him over.

  "I didn't know if maybe someone was trying to get ahold of you?" He says this more like a question, as he hands me my purse.

  I remove my phone, and sure enough, there are eight text messages and five missed calls from Sam. Now his phone suddenly works. Interesting.

  "There is definitely someone trying to get ahold of me, but he happens to be the last person on earth that I want to talk to right now."

  I shut down my phone completely so I won't have to hear it, before throwing it back into my purse. Avery dabs my cheeks gently with tissue, and squeezes my shoulders to remind me she is here for me.

  Trevor keeps glancing at me, as if he is debating with himself whether or not he should say anything. He looks down and scratches his head. Then, he looks right at me, and asks, "Are you okay, Laila?"

  I just shake my head, while a fresh stream of hot tears rush down my face. I bury my face in my hands so he can't see just how broken I am right now. I'm so far gone that I can't even keep it together in front of Trevor.

  "Laila, no guy is worth your time if he is making you feel like this."

  I am so shocked by his words that I have to pry my fingers away from my sopping wet face and look at him. He is biting his lip nervously, probably bracing himself, in case I snap at him. For some reason, I don't want to rip his head off, like I normally would when he is being nosy. I guess I can just tell that he really means what he is saying. The fact that he cares means so much more to me than he could possibly know. Everything about Trevor seems to mean more to me than it should. This scares the hell out of me.

  "You're probably right." These are the only words I could string together in my alphabet-soup mind.

  I know that Avery is standing right here, but I can't help but stare deeply into his hypnotic, emerald eyes. For some reason when I look into them, I feel like everything is going to be okay. His gaze does not falter, either. We stay this way for a while, with our eyes locked, as if we are having a silent conversation. When the timer on the microwave beeps, I jump a little. I shut my eyelids hard, wishing that I could keep my thoughts about Trevor out.

  "Well, I know you probably don't want to hear it, Laila, but I don't think Sam was trying to hurt you." Avery's voice is calm, but sincere.

  Are we really here already? I was sure I had another ten, maybe even fifteen minutes, before she would unleash her opinion. I take a deep breath and open my eyes slowly. I have my eyes fixed on Avery, the bag of popcorn, the bowl she is pouring it into, or really anything else I can find that isn't Trevor.

  "Why do you think that?" I try to keep my voice calm. However, I can tell by Avery's reaction, I may have sounded angrier than I had hoped.

  "Lays, you know how much I love you. You also know that as your best friend, I will always tell you the truth. Good or bad, like it or not, I will always be honest with you."

  She sets the bowl of popcorn down onto the table. She curls her legs up onto the chair, wraps her arms around them, and rests her chin on her knees.

  The three of us are all sitting around the kitchen table, discussing the details of my love life. The fact that Trevor is here doesn't even seem to bother me anymore. He has this calming effect on me, which I am desperately craving right now. Plus, I could use another person who will be on my side, when the firing between Avery and me starts.

  She looks at me and nods her head to the side toward Trevor, as if to ask me if it’s okay for her to continue talking with him still in the room. I nod reluctantly, dreading what is about to come out of her mouth more than the fact that Trevor will hear it.

  "Okay, first of all, Sam and you have decided to keep your relationship a secret, right?" she asks.

  "For the time being, yes," I snap back at her. She already knows this. I'm not sure what saying it out loud proves.

  "Well, from what you've told me, it sounds like Sam is doing his best to keep up that facade," she continues.

  "By going out on a date with another girl? You can't be serious, Avery," I shout. What on earth is she thinking?

  "He went out on a date with someone else?" Trevor asks with a look of horror on his face.

  "Not a real date. It was a double date that Kyle's girlfriend, or whatever she is, arranged. He even tried to get out of."

  I cannot believe Avery is defending him.

  "I'm sorry, but the guy didn't try hard enough if he is on the date." Trevor crosses his arms, and shakes his head in disgust.

  "Thank you, Trevor. That is exactly what I thought," I say with a smug look on my face, as I wait for Avery to reply.

  "Yeah, but he thought your brother was on to him. So, he panicked. What did you say Kyle said, Laila? Something like, What are you going to do? Hang out with my little sister all night? I mean, come on. Sam about shit a brick when Kyle said that. I'm sure Kyle was looking at him strangely because it was written all over his face. He literally panicked, Laila. He didn't know what else to do. He texted you from the concert, and he's been calling and texting you all night. I don't think he's worried about what his date thinks right now, if he is trying so hard to get ahold of you to make sure you're okay. He's worried about you."

  Avery is good and she means well, but thank God for Trevor.

  "So, let me get this straight. The guy waits to tell her about it until after he is already on the date?" Trevor's eyes are huge. He scratches his head again. "I don't know. That's pretty low, Avery. I don't care if he panicked or not. He should have called Laila right away, and told her what happened."

  He shakes his head again. "Even then, I still think he should have figured out a way to tell Kyle he wasn't going. There is no way in hell I'd be going out with anyone else, if I had a girlfriend. He's an idiot to screw things up with you, Laila. A fucking moron, if you ask me."

  Hearing Trevor come to my defense like this makes my heart flutter.

  "Nobody is perfect, Trevor. The guy is clearly head over heels for Laila. He screwed up. I'm not saying he shouldn't suffer a little for his mistakes, but I don't think it's worth ending her relationship over. Laila, just ice him out a little. Stay here tonight. You can even stay here tomorrow if you want."

  "Thanks." I had already planned on staying, even though I didn't formally ask her permission.

  "Don't go home until after he goes back to school. Let him sweat it out, and when you're ready, call him. Just see what the guy has to say. Hear him out and then decide what you want to do. You haven't even talked to him about it. Everything he said was through te
xt messages. When you hear each other's voice, I guarantee you will feel differently about all of this."

  "Which is yet another reason he is a complete ass, and doesn't deserve for her to waste another thought on him." Trevor is glaring at Avery, as he retorts through clenched teeth.

  I'm sitting here watching Avery and Trevor basically duke it out about whether or not I should break up with Sam over this. It is all becoming so overwhelming, with their words swimming around in my head. Everybody seems to know exactly what I should or shouldn't be doing, except for me.

  I quietly rush out of the room, while the two of them continue their heated discussion. They are so caught up in it, they don't even see me leave. I close the bathroom door, and sit on the side of the bathtub with my head between my knees. Is Avery right? Do I need to talk to Sam and hear him out?

  I did immediately shut him out without really giving him a chance to explain everything. Or is Trevor right? If Sam really cared about me, why would he wait until after he was already on the date to text me? Why was it even a text in the first place? He should have had enough decency to call me on the freaking phone. What a coward!

  A soft knock draws my attention to the door.

  "Lays, come back out here. We're really sorry. I know it's not up to us. He is your boyfriend, and you should follow whatever is in your heart. Please come back. I think we could all use a good dose of comedy right now. Trevor picked up Shaun of the Dead from Redbox. . . . It's supposed to be a pretty funny horror flick. Have you seen it? Trevor swears by it."

  Hearing Avery's pleading voice loosens up the tightness in my chest a little. I agree that a movie might be a good distraction.

  "Okay, fine," I finally respond. Just give me a minute, okay?"

  "We'll be downstairs," she sings out, as I hear the pitter-patter of her feet fading away down the hall.

  Speaking of horror flicks, I look like a character straight out of one. Grey streaks that look like tiny racetracks are painted across my red, blotchy cheeks. My eyes are puffy and red. I can't believe I let Trevor see me like this. He probably thinks I'm a real head case.

  At least my hair still looks somewhat straight, and the curls are behaving for once. I was so sure that the humidity would pull all of my freshly, flat-ironed locks back up into stubborn ringlets, the second I walked outside. This reminds me why I even bothered to flat iron it in the first place. I wasn't planning on leaving the house. Sam and I were going to sneak into the garage to make out.

  My heart tugs a little. I can feel everything rising up into my throat. I don't want to think about Sam right now. I just want to pull myself together enough so I can go downstairs, watch this movie, and not think about Sam for the rest of the night. I will decide what to do about him tomorrow.

  I open the cabinet in search of Avery's makeup bag. I want to try to quickly cover up this mess on my face. Thankfully, it is neatly tucked under the bottom cabinet. I quickly touch up my makeup, and brush some bronzing powder across my cheeks. I couldn't make all of the red go away, but I definitely look much better.

  Trevor and Avery are snuggled up together on the love seat, with nothing but a bowl of popcorn resting in between them. Oh, what I would give to be that bowl of popcorn right now. Trevor's arm is securely wrapped around Avery's shoulders, and her head is leaning against his. They look so natural together, that even I have a hard time understanding why Trevor hasn't kissed her yet. What if he kisses her tonight, and the sparks start flying between them?

  I kick off my wedges, and lay down on the sofa with my legs stretched out. There is still so much space not being used. Seeing the two of them, so close to each other on that tiny love seat, only exaggerates the length of this couch. I cross my legs and tuck my dress underneath them, as I rest my head down on one of the pillows.

  "Can I have some popcorn, guys?" I really hate to remove the one barricade that is left separating them, but the smell of salt and buttery deliciousness seems to have won that battle, thanks to my growling stomach. Trevor almost falls right off of the couch, spilling the bowl of popcorn all over, when he realizes that I’m here.

  Did he not want me to see him so cozy with Avery? I've been here for a good five minutes. Avery is so right about him. You never know what to expect. He's probably worried that I'm going to be pissed at him for making a play for my best friend, when I know he likes someone else. The truth is I should be mad, but I'm not. It seems that I don't have any anger left inside of me after Sam.

  "Well, it appears that we do not need to watch a horror movie to scare the bageezies out of Trevor." Avery jokes with Trevor, while playfully tossing popcorn kernels at him.

  "I didn't see her come in," Trevor says defensively, while throwing a handful of popcorn back at Avery. "And this is for sneaking up on us."

  He tosses some popcorn my way. Avery and I both reach over into the bowl at the same time, and start shoveling handfuls of popcorn at Trevor feverishly. He snatches the bowl out of Avery's hands, and dumps the rest of the contents over our heads.

  We are all laughing hysterically, as we look at each other's popcorn-covered hair. Trevor is flashing me his take-me-to-bed-now smile, making my insides dance with excitement. Shouldn't he be looking at Avery that way?

  I shake my hair out, and brush all of the popcorn off of me, while Avery runs upstairs to get the vacuum cleaner. Trevor keeps looking at me, but I refuse to return the look. I'm trying to keep myself preoccupied by scooping up popcorn off the couch and coffee table.

  When all the big pieces are back in the bowl, I bravely decide to sneak a quick glance at him. Sure enough, his gorgeous green eyes are oozing with sexiness, as he studies me intensely. The look on his face is branding me in a way that only makes things more confusing. How am I supposed to be friends with you when you look at me like that? Where is Avery? How long does it take to get the stupid vacuum cleaner anyway?

  Right as I am about to walk away, safely out of the clutches of his captivating eyes, he grabs my shoulders, and turns me so I am facing him. His hand pauses for a moment, as he looks at me thoughtfully, before reaching up to gently pull a piece of popcorn out of my hair. He waves the piece of popcorn in front of me, as if to explain. Then, he drops it into the bowl without breaking his gaze. I swallow hard, as my heart rate picks up.

  He reaches up, brushes his thumb lightly across my cheek, and simply whispers, "What a fool," while shaking his head.

  I turn away from him, and finally let out all of my breath in one big gust. I didn't even realize I was holding it. For a brief moment, I was certain he was about to kiss me. He kept staring at my lips with that same needy look that Sam gets in his eyes right before he kisses me.

  He quickly pulls his hand away and starts pacing the room. He is running his hands through his hair nervously, over and over, as he walks to the staircase and back. I am just standing there, trying to make sense of things.

  "I'm sorry, Laila. I shouldn't have . . . I . . . I don't know what I was thinking. It's just . . . You are just so . . . ." He stops, before he can spit out whatever it is he is trying to tell me, when he hears Avery banging things around at the top of the stairway.

  He races to the top so he can carry the clunky vacuum cleaner down the steps for her. Avery follows him, and sets a fresh bowl of popcorn onto the coffee table. My stomach growls, but I've sort of lost my appetite for popcorn. I want to know what Trevor was about to say. Yet, at the same time, I don't really want to know. For some reason, I have a feeling that what he was about to reveal would change everything between us, and I just can't deal with that tonight.

  We all find our spots again on the couches, but Trevor doesn't sit close to Avery the way he was before, when he didn't think I was in the room. His arm is now resting along the top of the sofa, barely, if at all, touching her. She doesn't seem to notice his change in demeanor, but I can tell he is upset about something. Is he mad at himself because he almost kissed me? Wrapping a soft, fleece throw around me, I snuggle up into a ball.

 
; I can't help but sneak peeks at Trevor at different times throughout the movie. He seems to be doing the same thing, but always pretends that he is looking at something else when I'd catch him. I started doing the same thing with him. It ends up becoming a little game that we silently play as we watch the movie.

  At one point, he just smiles and winks at me when I catch him. He carefully shakes his head, and mouths to me, "You're so bad."

  I am so worried that Avery is going to see us, or catch on, but she is so focused on the movie that she doesn't notice. We are very careful, making sure we laugh at all of the appropriate moments, but I know that it is really stupid for us to be playing this game in the first place. We are pretty much playing with fire, waiting to get burned. Haven't I been burned enough for one evening? Plus, why does it always feel like this with Trevor?

  If you were to ask me, I couldn't tell you what the movie was about, but I can tell you that Trevor's left ear wiggles slightly when he laughs. His right dimple is just a hair deeper than his left. He runs his hands through his hair when he's nervous. He bites his bottom lip when he is thinking hard about something. He seems to be a little hot-headed at times, but usually it's for hidden, very sweet reasons. The guy has more expressions than I have socks.

  Instead of watching the movie, I spend the entire evening either flirting shamelessly with Trevor, or thinking about why I can't seem to get him out of my head. Wanting to find a way to prolong the evening, and keep Trevor here longer, I suggest that we play a game. I am the devil.

  "What exactly did you have in mind?" Trevor asks, while wiggling his eyebrows. "Spin the bottle? Strip poker?"

  Avery slaps him on the arm, and says to him, "I know it's hard when you're hanging out with two smoking hot chicks like Laila and me, but try to reign in your perverseness just a little, okay?"

  He feigns innocence and holds his hands up as if Avery is pointing a gun at him. "I have no idea what you are insinuating, Avery," he proclaims dramatically, while crossing his arms over his chest.