Page 39 of Salvation (Clover-Hills #1)

Bake

O ne morning after Elain stayed, she mentioned how she hadn’t met my mom yet, and she’s been dying to.

We decided this morning we’d stop by to have breakfast with her.

It didn’t take much convincing on her part, as I’ve been planning on working to see my mom more often.

Elain’s busy asking my mom to show her old pictures of me when my phone pings with a notification.

Wesley’s Hot Friend:

Sorry, I have to cancel on tonight, something came up

I don’t answer right away, just staring at the screen. Something came up? That’s the oldest excuse in the book. The guy practically begged for a date, and now he’s blowing me off? Over text?

“What’s wrong?” My mom sing songs from her rocker.

“Haden canceled our date for tonight.” I mutter back. My mom hums like she’s in deep thought, but it’s Elain that pipes up first. Face scrunched in curiosity. “Sure it’s got nothing to do with him being Wesley’s friend?”

I narrow my eyes at her. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m just saying that he probably had something to do with it.”

“You don’t think…—" They give each other a look, like they know something I don’t.

It only makes my nerves worse. If that’s true…

no. There’s simply no way he’d interfere like that.

What I do with Haden is none of his business, in the same way that what he does with Brittany is none of my business.

I turn my attention away from the two before me and furiously type back.

Is this because of Wesley?

It’s best if I don’t get in the middle of it

“What a douche!” I shout. And then wince once I see Elain and my mom giving me a weird look. I don’t pay them anymore mind and go back to fuming at the texts on my screen. Wesley is so dead.

And the fact that Haden let someone push him around about taking me on a date caused any sort of attraction I had toward the guy to fly out the window.

“Do you mind if I run an errand?” I ask the two sweetly. They share a nervous glance, but my mom just shrugs, and Elain only shoots me a thumbs up in return.