Gage, Ronna - The Search is Over (Siren Publishing Classic) by Ronna Gage Page B

What bothered her even more was that Rafe had asked her out as well. She was under the impression that all of them were going out together. Yet she was just informed that it was to be a boy’s night out and she wasn’t invited or wanted. Rafe preferred Jesse’s company to hers.
    “What’re you going to do tonight?” Jesse asked, as he looked himself over in the mirror.
    The smirk on Jesse’s face caused her further aggravation. “Fuck off!” Candi stormed out of the room. She had to put some distance between them. Fueled by anger, she went to Minerva, who was also getting ready to go out with the crowd.
    “It’s been called off.” Candi shook with rage. Tears came to her eyes. She was the self-designated person to burst Minerva’s bubble.
    “What?” Minerva stood in the doorway, applying hairspray to her hair. She was dressed in red from her head to her toes. Red Rocky Mountain jeans, a red sleeveless shirt, and red boots. “What’s been called off?”
    “The night out. Jesse just told me.” Candi calmed herself down long enough to explain what had transpired with Jesse.
    “Oh yeah!” Something in Minerva snapped. She stomped through the house, opened the door, and almost jumped off the steps. She looked at Candi. “We’ll just see about that.”
    Together they marched over to the neighboring trailer. It was shaking on its foundation with the rock music that blared out of speakers. Minerva turned to Candi, “Guess they started early.” She laughed and beat on the door until someone finally answered.
    Jack stood in the doorway, his jaw dropping open at the sight of them. “Hi.” He leaned against the threshold of the door, looking them over as if they were some kind of treat left on the door by the Easter bunny. “What can I do for you?”
    “We want to talk to Rafe.” Minerva demanded loudly over the music. The pitch in her voice must have relayed something dire to Jack, who responded with a lift of his eyebrow.
    Jack turned back into the house. “Yo, Rafe!” Jack yelled into the house over his right shoulder, and without warning he gave a loud shriek of a whistle. Minerva and Candi grabbed their ears to lessen the decibels.
    “What the fu...?” Rafe shouted as he stepped to the door. He stopped suddenly at the sight of Minerva and Candi standing on the porch. “Hi,” he greeted Candi. “Why are you holding your ears?”
    “That music was too loud.”
    “What’s going on, Rafe?” Minerva demanded getting his attention. Rafe was obviously confused. “Candi was just told that you guys are planning a boy’s night out. Is that true?”
    “We were told that Candi had to study and you had to work,” Rafe defended.
    Minerva and he exchange looks. “Jesse!”
    “You’ve got to be kidding.” Candi’s frustration was building. The knots in her stomach loosened with the revelation. Rafe does not prefer the boys to me . She felt a gentling in her heart.
    “I’m not a bit surprised,” Minerva said shaking her head. “That would explain his attitude toward you,” she said, looking at Candi. “It’s all beginning to make sense.”
    Rafe looked at Candi “So what are you going to do?” He then quickly turned his attention to Minerva.
    “Nothing’s changed. We…”—she gestured to her and Candi—“…are going out. And I can tell by the way you two look at one another that you were disappointed in the change. So, Rafe, do you wanna join us?”
    “Me?” Rafe asked with a rakish smile. “You mean I have a choice to go out with the guys or go out with the girls?” He weighed his options. “Hmm, let me think.” Turning back into the house, he yelled for Jack. Instantly, he appeared. “Tell Jesse thanks, but no thanks. I’m going out with the girls.”
    “Are you sure?” Jack asked.
    Rafe looked at Candi. He turned to Jack. “Oh yeah, I’m sure. Ladies, I’m all yours.” Rafe was led to Minerva’s awaiting car.
    Once inside, Minerva turned to her two companions,