Lavender

Chapter Twenty-Five

Before I know it, I'm sitting by the window, in front of Wyatt who won't stop smiling, ignorant to the awkward tension between Holden and I. Holden is sitting next to Wyatt, Sophia next to him and holding onto his bicep. Cammie and Daphne are sitting on my right, chatting about the menu items. On the very end of the large booth, Jay is sitting on a wooden chair he stole from another table and looking through the menu.

"I hope you don't mind them crashing our date. I can make it up to you another time," Wyatt whispers.

"It's fine." I smile, lying.

I want to ask Jay to switch seats with me so I am not this close to him when my boyfriend is right in front of me, but I don't want him to see he has any affect on me. I will simply pretend he isn't even here.

I make the mistake of glancing over at the happy couple and immediately regret it. Holden's arm is hidden from my eyesight, but I can see it's wrapped around Sophia's waist.

Jealousy burns through me like an electrified stake. I look outside and imagine i'm not sat in front of my boyfriend with the boy I betrayed him with beside him. Of course he and Sophia are back together. I doubt he ever stopped hooking up with her while he was trying to stick his hand down my pants. I shouldn't be surprised he went right to her. She probably had her legs spread wide open for him, just waiting for him to grow tired of pretending to like me.

The waitress appears with Wyatt and I's food, and noticing her new customers, takes their order and leaves again. I take a bite of the chicken tenders and hide my delighted moan. Wyatt bites into his hamburger and voices his appraisal.

"Delicious! I told you the food was great, Lav."

"Lav?" Holden scoffs.

Wyatt ignores him and takes a few more bites, then reaches across the small table for my hand. I lay my palm against his without even thinking about it. A disgruntle noise covered up by a cough comes across the table, and my eyes land on Holden. His eyes are burning through mine with resentment. I look away, hoping he'll re-focus his attention on his new girlfriend, but when I dare a glance in his direction, he's still staring at me. Electricity shoots through me, and this time I can't look away.

"So, have you guys eaten here before?" Wyatt asks as our waitress reappears with everyone else's meals. Everyone digs in and moans at the

I blink and look at my barely touched food, subtly catching my labored breath. I despise how easily I can get swept up in Holden's gaze like that. Seeing his amused smirk, i'd say he loves the control over me with only his eyes. I drink my lemonade, willing the time on the clock on the wall across from us to speed up.

"Yeah. In fact, Lavender and I ate here last night," Holden answers.

I choke on my lemonade.

"Slow down, babe," Cammie jokes.

"Last night?" Wyatt questions. "I thought you said you didn't come here before."

"I... um..." I fumble for a lie. Sophia hides her devious smile behind her hand, Cammie and Daphne share a look, Jay is minding his own business eating his soup, and Holden – being the arrogant jerk he is – is smirking at me.

"Lavender?" Wyatt touches my hand.

"We did come here last night, but I didn't recognize the place in the sunlight," I tell Wyatt, praying he believes my lie. Even I didn't believe it. But he considers my words for a moment and his face splits into a grin. I feel guilty as I lower my head and eat the rest of my food in silence.

We all finish eating at the same time and walk outside together. We're all parked in the same row, which makes everyone laugh but Holden and I.

"You should ride with us back to the dorm, unless you guys are hanging out for the day," Daphne kindly offers.