Adore Me (Austin Singles 3)

“It’s nice seeing you again, Rich. How have you been?” Kaelynn asked.

“Doing really well. I hear congratulations are in order for y’all. Morgan said you were engaged.”

Nash beamed, as did Kaelynn. I was sure her pregnancy also had something to do with her glow.

“Yes, we are.”

I glanced back over my shoulder to see where Blake was. He was talking to Raine’s parents, his arm still around her waist. The way she ran her hand up and down his back slowly made my insides turn cold as ice.

“Well, it looks like Raine has finally found the one.”

My mother’s voice jerked my eyes off of Blake and to my parents, who were now standing in front of us. I hadn’t even seen them walking up.

Nash glanced around my folks and laughed. “Blake and Raine? You’re wrong about that, Mom. They’ve been friends since college.”

My breathing picked up. Blake knew Raine. Friends. College.

Shrugging, my mother went on. “According to Raine, they’ve been dating for a few months now.”

It felt like someone had dropped a brick in my stomach. “Wh-what?”

I hated that my voice sounded shaky. Kaelynn, Nash, and Rich looked at me as if that one stumbled word had opened the hole in my chest, exposing everything.

Nash frowned and looked from me to our mother. “Blake mentioned being hung up on a girl, but I highly doubt it’s Raine.” He looked back at me.

“Blake didn’t deny he was seeing her,” my mother went on. “According to Tina, they’re pretty serious.”

Nash rubbed his jaw. If I hadn’t known better, I would swear he was angry. “I mean, I guess I can see it. They messed around—I mean, they were close in college.”

“They dated in college?”

Kaelynn had asked what I wanted to ask.

“If you want to call it that,” Nash said with a smirk.

My father scoffed. “The boy doesn’t seem the least bit interested in her, if you ask me. He kept glancing around the room as if he were looking for someone else. If I were a betting man, I’d say he was taken with someone else and is on Raine’s arm just to keep her pestering mother off her back. As a matter of fact, he asked me if you were here this evening, Morgan.”

When my father’s gaze met mine, I froze. I didn’t dare take a breath. He couldn’t know. There was absolutely no way he could know what had happened between Blake and me.

Rich must have felt me stiffen next to him. He wrapped his arm around my waist and leaned down, his mouth against my ear.

“Are you okay?”

“I need a drink,” I whispered back.

My mother clapped her hands as if to say the conversation was moving on. “Let’s head to the table. Dinner will be served soon.”

As my mother and father walked off, Kaelynn and Rich both stepped in front of me, blocking me from walking.

“Morgan, what is going on? You were white as a ghost when your father mentioned Blake asking about you,” Kaelynn asked.

“Not right now, Kaelynn. Can we talk later?”

Rich looked back at Blake. “Morgan, are you . . . with Blake?”

How had these two figured it out with just a few simple words? The bigger question was how my father had figured it out? Was Nash next?

“Not. Now.” My voice was stern, and they both backed off.