Free Clay's Hope by Melissa Haag

friend without a date
tonight...please come with.”
    A what? I turned to stare at Gabby, who
groaned. Anxiety drifted from her. I didn’t know what a date meant,
but Gabby didn’t seem to like it. The fact that Rachel had brought
a man home and now wanted Gabby to leave with her, worried me.
    “Don’t do this to me, Rachel. This won’t end
well, and you’ll probably never forgive me.”
    “Come on...please?” Rachel said as she sat
on the bed next to Gabby. “I really like this one.”
    Frustratingly ignorant, my confused gaze
bounced between the two women.
    “That’s the problem. Remember what I said?
It’s always a guy who ruins a friendship.”
    I didn’t remember that conversation, but
Rachel seemed to. Not that it appeared to stop her from
begging.
    “I don’t want to go out tonight,” Gabby said
softly, desperation changing her tone.
    Go out. I knew that term. That meant leaving
dressed in short skirts. I glared at Rachel. No amount of leftovers
would atone for this.
    Gabby glanced at me, then gave me a nudge.
Was the nudge because I was glaring or because she wanted me to
bite Rachel? I was willing to bite.
    “I like having a friend,” Gabby said.
    Something in her tone stopped my glare, and
I turned to study her. Gabby held herself back from people. I’d
witnessed that over the summer and when I’d followed her to school.
Yet, she wasn’t that way with Rachel. She relaxed around her. I’d
noticed that right away. Could it be that Gabby was as lonely as
me?
    “If he hits on you, then it wasn’t meant to
be. Don’t worry so much,” Rachel said with a smile.
    Rachel pulled Gabby off the bed, and I
hopped down, sticking close to Gabby. I wasn’t sure what they’d
decided. Were they going out or was Rachel just introducing Gabby
to the man in the living room?
    In the living room, a man with light hair
and light brown eyes sat on the couch. He stood as soon as he saw
the women. Or, rather, Rachel. His gaze didn’t waver from her, the
scent of his attraction flooding the air.
    Good. He could have Rachel. Not her
leftovers, though. Those were still mine for putting up with the
damn collar.
    Rachel stepped aside and introduced Gabby,
whose anxiety spiked a moment before it disappeared. The man met
Gabby’s gaze, politely nodded, and went back to staring adoringly
at Rachel.
    I studied Gabby as she exhaled in relief.
What had she expected from the man?
    Rachel was saying something as she inched
her way to the arch, but I didn’t really hear her words until she
said, “Tell her about Scott.” I whipped my gaze to Rachel, who had
already disappeared around the corner to her bedroom.
    Beside me, Gabby’s fading anxiety flared
with an edge toward panic. I glanced at the man, but he was still
where he’d been, staring at the empty arch where Rachel had been,
obviously infatuated with her. Who was Scott, and why the panic
from Gabby?
    Gabby made a small noise that drew Peter out
of his daze.
    He cleared his throat and looked at Gabby.
She took a soft, deep breath. Nothing he could hear, but I did. She
was trying to calm herself. I wished I understood what was
upsetting her.
    “Nice to meet you, Gabby.”
    “You too,” she said, sounding normal. “Want
to sit?”
    She motioned him to the couch and took the
chair for herself.
    Continuing to observe her, I lay on the
floor between them. As if sensing my attention, she glanced at me
and then back up at the man.
    “This is Clay,” she said.
    I turned and found Peter staring at me.
    “He’s huge,” he said.
    “Yeah. So, who’s Scott?” Gabby said, asking
what I wanted to know, too.
    Peter looked back up at Gabby. “Oh, a friend
of mine. He’s also in med school. We had plans to go to O’Donell’s
tonight for dinner and a drink or two. Then, I ran into Rachel and
invited her to join us. We thought it’d be more fun if you could
come, too.”
    A date meant meeting another man? Not
happening. I looked to Gabby, waiting for her to say no, but