16: Trying His Best To Keep From Laughing

"I'm starting to think that your parents are only a figment of your imagination." As per usual, his entire house was silent and empty. Sometimes when we walked inside, I was hit with a wave of pressing sadness. What was the point of having a house that big when no one was ever home to live in it? There was something about the home's grandness that made Sam seem so small.

He laughed, hands in his pockets as he walked beside me to his extravagant living room. "I told you they're busy all the time. I'm sure they're just out doing rich people stuff. Besides, I didn't think that you wanted to meet them."

I shuddered. "Definitely not. It sounds like it would be stressful."

"You trying to impress them?" He was too smug about it, so I lightly shoved his shoulder and took a seat on his wonderfully comfortable couch.

"So what if I wanted to? Anyway, meeting each other's parents is something that official couples do. Not whatever we are." I reminded him, watching as he sat down beside me.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

Then he leaned his weight into my side, making himself right at home. His eyelids fell serenely shut, his blonde lashes intertwining. I looked away, ignoring the way it felt to be so close to another person. If I wanted to, it would have been so easy to push him away. But instead I kept him just where he was.

Our trial period officially managed to last two weeks. Who would have thought that we were capable of making it more than a day.

Sam was a very affectionate person, always trying to be as close to me as possible whenever we were alone. I often wondered if he was like that with anyone else. Was it only with those he dated? Or did he like to hug his friends too? That was something I never took note of before.

"Sam, have you ever dated someone?"

He instantly sat upright, eyes opened as I gained all of his attention. "Unless we're counting this as dating, then technically no."

"Technically?" I ignored the first thing he said, focusing on the second part.

"Well, Joss and I were sort of in a relationship thing for a little while."

I frowned. "What does that even mean?"

"Jealousy is so hot." Sam leaned over and kissed my cheek before I could doge it. "Joss is friends with my family, so we go way back. I think it was tenth grade when everyone started telling me that she had this massive crush on me. We started hooking up from there. She still flirts with me, but that whole thing pretty much faded off."

"But you guys never officially dated?"

"No, since it never really felt like either of us liked each other outside of convenience. She only drapes herself over me when it's beneficial to her." Sam shrugged. "She can be very abrasive, but she's actually pretty cool when you get to know her."

I found that hard to believe. The Jocelyn I knew was rude and arrogant. I imagined that she probably spent her free time writing a list of those who slightly inconvenienced her. Jocelyn kind of scared me. Her eyes were sharp, and I could tell that she was a lot smarter than she let on. Every time that she looked at me, it felt like I was a corpse and she was a vulture. What would people like her say if they knew about me and Sam?

"Does that bother you?" He asked.

"No, it's not like I own you." I told him.

"This is why I like you, sugar." He mused.

I cringed. "Of all the nicknames, you just had to pick the worst possible option."

He was so enthused by my disgust that he planted a swift kiss to my lips and rested his arms around my neck. "I will now only refer to you as sugar. The more you cringe, the more entertained I am."

"You really are the worst." With those words, Sam let go of me and instead made himself comfortable. He laid down on the couch and rested his head in my lap. I was shocked by his boldness, my face blushing and my hands trying to figure out what to do.

He just looked up at me and smiled. Perhaps it was subconscious — because why else would I have done it? — but my hands soon found his hair. I liked how soft it always was, he obviously took very good care of himself.

It was hard to say how long we stayed like that before there was the sudden opening of a door.

Both of us jumped away from each other at the speed of light. Sam was immediately on his feet and smoothing down his hair.

"Sammy!" An obnoxious voice echoed into the house, followed by the sound of several different pairs of footsteps. Sam visibly relaxed when he realized who the voice belonged to.

"What the fuck?" He just muttered to himself as he went over to the doorway and peeked around the corner.

"We've got an important mission!" Dennis told him. I turned and looked over the back of the couch, watching as several people flooded into the room.

"What?" Sam was obviously confused, trailing behind the three boys who quickly made themselves at home.

"Hello, Sawyer!" Caden smiled at me as he sat beside Brian on the other side of the couch. I nodded in acknowledgment.

Dennis chose to stay standing, his overflowing energy ceaseless as he felt the need to unload too much information onto Sam at once. "Freddy's parents are gone all week and he's having a nonstop party every night to celebrate it. I wasn't going to go because I didn't have anyone to go with, but then I was talking with Sydney — you know Sydney, the really cute cheer captain — and she was saying how she wanted to go tonight because she just finished some stressful test this morning. But, get this, she didn't want to go alone."

"What does any of this have to do with me?" Sam was struggling to follow along.

"I'm getting there. Be patient." Dennis insisted. "So I told her that I would go with her if she wanted, and she said that she was worried about going if none of her girl friends were there to keep an eye on her. Then I went and talked to some of the other cheerleaders, and guess what?"

Unamused, Sam stared at him. I could tell that he knew what was coming next. "What?"

"Joss asked if you were going, and I told her no. She said that we should treat it like a fun double date — me and Sydney, you and Joss. They both seemed really excited about it, so now here I am."

"You know I'm trying to distance myself from Joss." Sam furrowed his brow.

"I know, I know. But Sydney is really nice and I know she won't go with me if Joss doesn't come too." He clasped his hands together in front of his face and began to literally beg for Sam's approval.

I watched silently from where I sat, trying to decide how I felt about the whole thing. Sam said that he was apparently openly distancing himself from Jocelyn, which made me wonder what he said when telling his friends that. They were arguing about how Sam didn't want to deal with Jocelyn, but how Dennis desperately wanted to spend the night with Sydney. During all of this, I looked over at Brian and Caden to see what their expressions said.

Caden returned my gaze, trying his best to keep from laughing.

I knew that if we stared at each other for too long, one of us would not be able to control ourselves. It was definitely amusing to watch Dennis do everything but fall to his knees and kiss Sam's feet. Everyone knew that he was a total man-whore, and he was willing to do just about everything if it meant a woman would sleep with him. Even though he made it sound like he wanted to go on a date with Sydney, none of us were stupid. He just wanted to sleep with her.

Given the fact that anyone with a brain could sense that a mile away, Sydney definitely knew it too. That was probably why she wanted her other friends there, just in case she no longer wanted to sleep with him. She was smart for being careful like that.

"I'm trying to stop leading Joss on, not encourage her more." Sam sighed. Then he looked over at Caden and Brian. "Why can't one of them take her?"

"You know Joss only likes rich guys." Caden reminded him. "We're not rich enough for her taste."

"Got to respect her dedication to gold digging." Dennis nodded.

"Well I'm just sick of this whole back and forth thing with her. One moment she is all over me, and the next she doesn't want anything to do with me. She had her chance, I'm done giving her more." With those words, Sam sat down and crossed his arms over his chest.

As much as I had endless questions about what their relationship was really like, I kept them trapped inside. It was not the time. I had to bite down a smirk, though. He was adamant about avoiding her, and it was satisfying.

"Sam, this will be the last time you'll ever have to hang out with her. I swear." Dennis continued to plead. "Sydney is a full blown ten, and she probably won't ever give me another chance. Throw me a bone, please."

"What about any of her other friends? There's no one else who would go with Brian and Cade?"

Caden leaned forward on the couch and tilted his head. "I just want to get drunk and dance."

He looked over at Brian and lightly nudged his arm as if to tell him to speak. For the first time since entering the house, Brian's lips finally parted. "I'm only here to make sure Cade gets home and doesn't get too drunk."

"You spend too much time worrying." Tsked Caden.

"Guys!" Dennis butted in, taking a seat on the white carpet in his desperation. "We need to focus. Sydney is the most important thing right now."

Without even meaning to, I found myself speaking. "How horny can one person be?"

Everyone turned to me, Sam and Caden stifling a laugh. Dennis scowled like an upset child. "You have no idea. Anyway, this conversation doesn't concern you. Unless you also think that Sam should come, because then I might actually care about your opinion."

"What if you guys just don't call it a double date and Sam makes it clear that he's only going for your sake?" It wasn't as complicated as they were all making it out to be.

No one said anything at first, and I wondered if I said something wrong. The longer the silence persisted, the more I realized that I just encouraged Sam to go with someone else to a party. Someone who also doubled as his almost ex. Was I stupid? My eyes found his, and I took note of his teeth prodding at his lip.

"I think that Sawyer might deserve more credit than we give him." Dennis said.

Sam huffed. "Does no one care about what I have to say?"

"You could always use the opportunity to tell her that you don't like her." I added.

"Now hold on." Dennis held up his hand. "You have to make sure you wait until Sydney has decided she likes me regardless."

"Sydney isn't stupid." Caden pointed out. "She is only going because she wants to sleep with you. She knows that there isn't anything else that would come from it. She just wants Joss there because she would make sure that Sydney is kept safe."

"So?"

"So she already has her mind made up. As long as Joss goes then there's no problem."

"You're saying that Sam can tell her all of that and Sydney will still give me a chance?" Dennis asked.

Caden nodded. "Yeah, I don't think it would matter. Unless Joss started crying or something, because Sydney is too nice to not help a friend."

"Then you have to wait a little while before you tell her." Dennis concluded, looking back at Sam. Even though I was a little bit bothered by the idea of Sam hanging out with Jocelyn, I still liked the thought of Sam telling her that they were over once and for all.

We all watched Sam intently to see if he would agree. The gears in his mind turned slowly. Then he answered. "Only if Sawyer has to come too."

I was not expecting those words to come out of his mouth, and I nearly caught myself blushing at first. But I forced down that unwanted reaction and instead tried to calm down. "Why the fuck would I go?"

"You want me to suffer, so therefore you should."

"No way in hell. I hate parties and I don't want to spend my night with you guys." It was easy to say those words, because it was true. Spending my night with Sam sounded fine, but I definitely didn't want to spend it with the rest of Sam & Co. They were not my friends.

"Then I'm not going."

Dennis was pouting, his big brown eyes hopeful that Sam would change his mind. Looking at him from an objective standpoint, it made sense that girls loved him so much. Dennis had an attractive face, and his carefree demeanor likely led people to think that maybe they could tame him. But I didn't think that it was possible. Dennis seemed too far gone.

Sam was gazing at him too, and I could tell that it wasn't easy for him to ignore the puppy dog eyes he was giving to him. His lips pursed and his eyes were skeptical. "Don't look at me like that."

"Too late." Dennis continued silently begging.

"What if Millie comes?" Caden was actually the one to make the suggestion, and Dennis immediately lit up.

"If Millie comes, would you go?" Dennis also inquired.

I thought about it for a moment. Parties were definitely Millie's scene. She loved to get drunk and dance her heart out. Chances were that her parents weren't home, and she was probably spending her night cooped up inside. Thinking about it made me once again feel like the worst friend in the world. She needed me there with her, but I was always off at the most lavish house flirting with someone I was supposed to hate. It wasn't either of our faults, but it definitely felt like it was.

Maybe it was a good idea. There were druggies to worry about, and I was sure that Sam was thinking about that as well. But what were the chances that the entire world would fall apart if we went out for one night? I knew that it was such an awful idea, but my lips moved anyway. "Okay. I'll ask Millie."

Dennis instantly jumped to his feet and did a little triumphant dance. He looked like such an idiot, but he clearly didn't care.

I was worried that it was an awful idea. Who knew what could go wrong. And did I want to watch Jocelyn flirt with Sam all night? It was Monday, so there was no way in hell that I was going to drink. But maybe it would be fun. Maybe.

Sam's eyes held the same thought.

•O•O•

Apologies again for the delay!! I hope you're enjoying the book so far, feel free to let me know your thoughts! Have a lovely day!