Redemption (Forgiven Series) by Rebecca Brooke Page B

pointed look, I turned and walked out the door. He knew I was pissed at Emily, and I didn’t feel like getting into a fight over it because if I really lost my cool, Andrew would end up defending her, and we’d be no better than Caleb and Nick fighting over Angie last year. Sure, they’d smoothed things over but their friendship still wasn’t the same.
    Needing to calm down before I did anything, I decided to take a walk. It was still cold out, but it went a long way to helping me focus. The longer I walked the more Emily’s words rang through my head. I needed to think about this. What was I doing? I mean, Lauren was absolutely gorgeous and I had a great time just talking to her, I just wasn’t sure if it really meant anything.
    Thinking back over the evening I remembered how it had felt dancing with Sara, including the fact that I kept comparing her to Lauren. Every time I was on campus in the last week, I’d found myself unconsciously looking for her. Then I remembered her talking to the guy at the bar, and my temper reared its ugly head again. It was in that moment that I figured it out.
    I wanted Lauren.
    Except, I didn’t want her just for a night, I wanted her long term. Saturday was the last time I’d seen or talked to her, and the feelings I felt that first night were still as strong. She was amazing and real, honest and caring, she was… perfect.
    Understanding what I had to do next, I got a cab and headed back to the apartment. There was only one person who could help me make this right.
     
    When I got home, I could hear noises coming from Angie and Caleb’s bedroom. After I’d made a comment to Angie about her sexy moans, Caleb almost beat my ass and now they usually waited till I wasn’t home to have sex. There was no way they expected me home this early so I’d have to wait until tomorrow.
    I tried to walk away, but this was too important. I needed to find Lauren tonight. I walked down the hall and pounded on their door, and the noises stopped.
    “Angie, put your clothes on and come out here, I need your help,” I shouted through the door.
    “Go away, asshole,” Caleb panted out.
    I started pounding on the door again. “Not until Angie comes out here and helps me.”
    When I didn’t get an answer, I played with the doorknob. “If you don’t come out now, I’m coming in. You guys can finish later.”
    “Fuck! You’ve got to be kidding me,” Caleb yelled.
    I continued to play with the doorknob. “Hold on, we’re coming.”
    “You wish you were,” I mumbled, under my breath because I knew I’d probably pushed Caleb to breaking point and didn’t want to push him any further.
    A few moments later the door flew open to reveal both Caleb and Angie, still out of breath. Angie’s face was flushed. “This better be good,” Caleb snarled at me.
    I looked over his shoulder at Angie. “I need you to help me find Lauren.”
    Her eyes were as wide as saucers. “Wh-wh-what?” she stuttered, looking to Caleb to explain.
    I sighed. “I messed up tonight and I need to find Lauren to fix it.”
    Her eyes flicked back to Caleb again, but he was too busy scowling at me. “Okay, but you do realize that it’s the middle of the night? Do you think it’s really a good idea to do this now?” I nodded and Angie stepped around Caleb to grab my hand. “I need to hear what happened tonight. Let’s go sit in the living room and figure this out.”
    Caleb still looked like he wanted to beat the shit out of me, but my main goal was to find Lauren and talk to her so he was just going to have to get over it. Once we reached the living room I saw Caleb head into the kitchen, while Angie and I sat down on the couch. I leaned my arms on my legs and dropped my head into my hands. How could I have been so stupid?
    Angie placed her hand on my shoulder. “What happened? I’ve never seen you like this.”
    Before I could answer, I felt something hard and cold hit me in the head. I looked up to see Caleb