Seth & Greyson (The Coincidence #7)(21)

Luke clumsily trips to his feet. “Would you relax?” He grabs my arm, stopping me. “He’s not sleeping with her. He’s letting her crash because of some red scarf on the doorknob or something.”

“How the hell do I know that’s true? I don’t really know him. Or you, for that matter.”

Luke pulls out his phone, taps the screen, and hands it to me. “Here, read his text. It should give you some peace of mind.”

I glance down at the message.

Kayden: Hey, I’m taking Callie back to our place because there was a red scarf on her doorknob. Could you find a place to crash? She’s a little nervous around people she doesn’t know and I don’t want her worried about anything.

“All right, that’s actually kind of sweet.” I hand him his phone, relaxing a little. “Where are you going to crash, though?”

Luke points at the front door. “I’m actually waiting for someone to pick me up for a party.”

“Weren’t you just at one?”

“Yeah, so? I want to keep the fun going. Besides, I’m not even close to being tired.”

“All right, gotcha.” I pull out my phone and send Callie a text to call me the moment she wakes up. “I’m actually not that tired myself.”

In fact, I’m extremely wired. My mind is racing with thoughts of Greyson’s kiss and how soft his lips felt, how f*cking amazing it felt to be kissed again. The idea of going to sleep seems absurdly implausible.

“You want to go out with us?” He glances at the parking lot just outside the window. “We’re thinking about hitting up this place called Red Ink that’s supposed to have cheap drinks and killer music.”

I put my phone away. “Who are you going with?”

“A girl I met at the party,” he says, looking back at me. “If you want, we can chase down Greyson and see if he wants to go, too.”

I try to keep my shock under control. Luke obviously witnessed me kissing Greyson. My first kiss out in the open. My first kiss since the assault.

“You’d be okay with that?”

“Why the f*ck wouldn’t I be? Greyson’s cool. You’re cool. We’re all just living one fun-filled life of coolness.”

I study him closely, wondering if he’s for real. He seems dead serious and kind of confused about why I’m staring at him.

I decide I’m going to do it. I’ve already taken a few big steps tonight, so why not just keep going? Nothing bad has happened yet. I can do this.

“Okay, I’m always down for clubbing.” I retrieve my phone again. “I’m going to text Greyson, though, because I’m not about to run down the sidewalk after him. It goes against my lifetime vow of never exercising.”

He laughs, plopping down in the chair again. “Sounds good.”

I pause, thinking about what I should say in the text.

Me: Hey, so Luke Price and an unknown girl invited me to the Red Ink. He invited u, too.

I hit send and quickly type up another message.

Me: Oh yeah, I’d really like it if u went.

“How do you even know Greyson?” I ask Luke while I wait for Greyson to reply.

“We’re in Bio together. He’s actually my lab partner. He seems pretty cool.” His attention whips to the side as headlights shine through the window. “And there’s our ride.” He hops to his feet and heads to the door with me following.

By the time we reach the parking lot, Greyson hasn’t text back. Totally deserved, I think to myself, for blowing him off so often.

I’m about to climb into the car when my phone vibrates. I smile as I fish it out.

Greyson: Sure. I’m down. I’m about four blocks down, but I’ll turn around.

Me: No, just wait there. We’ll pick u up.

I duck into the car, feeling nervous, but giddy. The giddiness remains even when I look down at my scars. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll be able to conquer my fears and my past after all.

Chapter 9
Seth

“Luke, Luke, Luke,” I tsk him from across the booth. “Where the hell did you find that girl? On the street corner?”

Luke glances over his shoulder at the brunette that brought us here, who grins at him and slides her hands down her body, right there for everyone at the bar to see. “She’s not that bad, is she?” he asks, looking at me.

“Well, I’m not the best judge, but I’m going to go with a no.” I turn my head to Greyson, who’s sitting in the booth beside me. “What do you think?”


Greyson snorts a laugh as he stirs the ice in his whiskey tonic. “You think I’m a better judge than you?”

“True.” I direct my attention back to Luke. “All I know is that the leopard print dress she’s wearing is tacky and don’t even get me started on those fishnet tights. I’d say her shoes are okay alone, but the whole outfit together,” I make a gagging face. “So gross.”

“So, you’re basing who she is on how she looks?” Luke questions in surprise. “That’s harsh.”

“No, I’m basing who she is on the sole fact that she thinks the,” I make air quotes, “’person’ in the GPS system sounds super hot and she wonders if he’s single.”

“Okay, she might not be the brightest chick in the room, but she’s still hot.” Luke picks up his drink and swallows it in one shot.