Taming Him

Chapter 22 - Fake Date

Watching me with cautious eyes as I leaned up against the wall, my breasts slightly pushed up in my burgundy tank top, Kaleb's frown faltered.

"I don't have time."

I laughed. "Really? What are you doing tonight? Sitting at home and being grumpy?"

"It's a full time job," Kaleb quickly retorted back, and I shook my head.

"See?" I kicked at his foot. "You can be fun when you want to be."

Huffing to himself, Kaleb surveyed my pleading expression, lolling his head back and muttering to himself. "Jesus, why can't I say no to you? Alright, fine. We'll go and grab a drink with them."

Hannah reentered the room, wiggling her phone at me, and I chuckled. "What?"

"You're all set for your date with Ty."

I almost choked on my own saliva at her words, and Kaleb's eyes widened before he quickly composed himself, taking a deep breath as he ran his tongue along the front of his teeth. I had noticed that it was something he did whenever he wasn't happy.

"What? No," I said, and Hannah glared at me, taking a fleeting look at Kaleb before smiling.

"Yes. He's ready to meet you for lunch in thirty minutes. I thought I'd give you some time to freshen up since you look..." Hannah took in my sloppy outfit and hair that was pulled back into a claw clip, humming.

Kaleb's fists were clenched and his jaw was taut, his grey eyes boring into mine- as if daring me to agree to this. He opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off by the sound of his phone vibrating on his thigh, and he swiped it up and exited the room quickly, answering it. I could hear his frustrated tone from the kitchen.

"Hannah," I whisper-yelled, grabbing her by the shoulders. "What the hell are you doing?"

She shrugged. "We had said that you were going to go on a date with Ty. I didn't want Kaleb to think that we were bluffing, so I organised it for you."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "No. I'm not going on a date with Ty."

Not only was Ty just a friend, but I didn't want to be flaunting a date in front of Kaleb. I knew that he wouldn't do that to me and I didn't like the idea of toying with him like this. The sexy sweating running plan was funny, but I didn't agree with this.

Hannah sighed. "I mean, I didn't specifically call it a date to Ty, so if you want to just go and meet him as friends, then fine, but I'm helping here. Sometimes, guys just need a push, and Kaleb looks like he could use a big one."

I knew that Hannah thought she was doing the right thing, and there were no malicious intentions when it came to her. She was impulsive and reckless at times though and often didn't think things through. It had been why we had got on so well when we had first met. I had been the same at one point before I realised I needed to sort my shit out.

"Trust me," said Hannah. "Just go and meet Ty. Kaleb will rethink all of his priorities. Also, you could use another friend. Ty is a good guy and he seems excited to see you."

I sighed. I had a shortage of friends right now. Most of them had been real partygoers and I had lost contact with them all once I stopped going out and drinking three nights a week. Hannah had been the only person to stick around- and even she had tamed it down quite a lot. Although in her words, 'you could take the girl out of the party, but you could never take the party out of the girl.'

It would be nice to reconnect with Ty.

Throwing my hands up in the air, I agreed, but I felt guilty. Kaleb and I weren't an item- far from it- but I felt a tightness in my belly at the thought of going out with another guy and him thinking it was a date.