Writing Lanie - Forbidden Heart Series Book 2

38| Meddler

Nate
JENKINS

Chaos. Absolute chaos. 

I covered my face with my arm and coughed into the crease of my elbow. It was bad enough that it was the middle of the night; we didn't need the smoke making it even more hard to see. I squinted my eyes as I tried to force my eyes to focus. It was almost completely dark out here. I could see lights in the distance, but nothing that helped me see six feet in front of me. I continued to look for my bag that had my flashlight it in. It took a good ten minutes before I nearly tripped over it. 

After another five minutes of feeling around my bag blindly, I pulled out my flashlight and shined it in every direction. "Ayden!" I called out as I started walking in the same direction as he did earlier. "Ayden!" 

Dread filled me when there was no response. What the hell? Ayden said he was going for a walk, then thirty minutes later there was gunfire. The area we were in was well hidden and no one should have been able to find us. Our lieutenant sent us off on a mission so it was just the two of us. Ayden and I were good at what we did. There was no way in hell we should have been found. We just arrived here this morning and we were supposed to start our recon tomorrow when some of our fellow troops arrived. 

This wasn't good. If Ayden was injured, there was no one to help us right now. I cursed myself that I let him walk off alone. We weren't in the safest area and I've had a bad feeling all day. But, noooooo. He wanted to sneak off to call Lanie. Of course, he didn't know that I knew he was basically in love with my little sister. After all-- I was the one that set them up. 

Neither of them knew that I was playing Cupid when I brought Ayden home for Christmas.  As I got to know him over the years, I started to see that he may be just what my sister needed. She's never had the best luck with relationships and I wanted her to be happy. From what I could tell, Ayden seemed to be doing just that. I saw the way her face lit up when she saw us for her birthday; and she wasn't looking at me. 

I knew both of them well enough that, if they had known what I was up to, they wouldn't have given it a chance. Ayden wouldn't have even agreed to come to New York if he knew. Lanie...she would have been livid with me if she knew I was trying to interfere with her life. I learned my lesson with that when she dated Kyle in the tenth grade. Its how I became Nate: Meddler

I walked into Lanie's room and found her writing in her diary. "What boy are you writing about now?" I asked her with a sly grin. 

She looked up at me and rolled her eyes. "No one. Go away, loser." 

I entered her room and stopped beside her bed. "Come on, L. Just because I'm in college now doesn't mean you have to stop confiding in me." I sat on the edge on her bed. "Tell me. Who are you crushing on in school?"

She got up and sat back on her legs before letting out a long breath. "Fine. It's Kyle." 

My brows rose. "Kyle? As in...my friend Kyle?" 

She looked everywhere but at me and that was all I needed to know. Kyle and I have been friends since freshman year and this was definitely unexpected. And weird.

"Want me to put in a good word for you?"  I asked awkwardly. It may be weird that my baby sister has a crush on my friend, but I would do anything for her.