The Empaths (Book one in The Empaths series)

Chapter Eighteen

Lucy had butterflies. Big, fluttery butterflies, making her stomach churn and giving her the jitters. Tristan was going to be here any minute and she could not think straight.

"Hey! Are you okay?" Jared appeared at her bedroom door, looking exactly how she felt.

"I'm fine," she lied.

"Pfft. Don't even. I know that look. You're freaking out." He laughed and sat on the end of her bed, clutching at his stomach.

"Oh, and you're just the poster child for calm right now," she replied, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Hold your fire," he said, raising his hands. "I'll happily admit I'm a ball of nerves."

Lucy laughed. "God, this is such a weird feeling." She sat down heavily in her desk chair. "It's been so long since I felt this kind of nervous."

"Don't worry, me too." Jared looked over at her with a half-smile. "Just try to remember that it's a good nervous. Definitely a nice change, right?"

Lucy nodded, smiling back. "Definitely."

Their moment of nervous bonding ended with a knock at the front door.

"Oh god, that's Tristan," Lucy said, wide-eyed.

"Chill," Jared replied with a laugh, hopping up and patting her on the shoulder. "I'll let him in. Just relax. You've been hanging out with the guy for long enough now that this should be easy."

Jared disappeared downstairs and she heard him greeting Tristan at the front door. She could feel the butterflies battling against one another for the space in her stomach. "Stop it," she whispered, waving her hands in front of her face to cool down. She could feel the heat running through her body already. "God, just relax already."

She took one last look at herself in the mirror – skinny jeans and a white, lace top. Her make-up was minimal, just enough to cover the bags under her eyes from the serious lack of sleep. Thankfully, her hair was behaving itself today. "That'll have to do," she whispered to her reflection before turning and heading downstairs.

Jared took Tristan into the kitchen to get him a drink and Lucy used that moment to calm herself at the base of the staircase before walking in and interrupting their conversation about Tristan's mom's sports car.

"Dude, that thing looks fast," Jared was saying as Lucy walked into the room.

"Oh, it is. My brother and I took it out once..."

Tristan turned and spotted Lucy, going silent mid-sentence.

"Hey," she said, trying to look composed.

"Well, that's my cue," Jared laughed. "I've got to go and pick up Rachel. Have fun tonight guys." He turned to Lucy with a grin. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do," he whispered, before quickly leaving the room.

Lucy looked up at Tristan, who was watching her with a smile on his face. "I really like your brother," he said, glancing after Jared and then back down at her.

"He's alright, I guess," she replied with an exaggerated eyeroll. "What's your brother like?"

"Caleb? He's great," Tristan answered, pulling out a stool to sit on. "He's away at college at the moment. Football scholarship."

Lucy nodded. "Really? That's great." She bit her lip. "You know, Jared used to play. It feels like forever ago now."

"Seriously?" Tristan looked surprised.

"Yep. He loved it. He was really good, too."

"Why did he stop?" he asked, wincing as he realised why Jared would have given up playing. "Sorry, that was a stupid question."