How Not to Fall In Love

Chapter 30

Sunday morning came faster than I wanted it to, but I was glad parts of yesterday were over. Although I loved spending time with Austin, I wanted to forget the incident with Dad and leave it in the past. Today, I just wanted to focus on myself and get back on track. I needed much-needed time with the two people who meant the world to me. Before I even got out of bed, I grabbed my phone and sent Sophie and Cole a group text asking if they wanted to hang out today. They both texted me back within a few minutes, telling me they would be over around one. I continued lying there in bed as I looked through videos and checked my friend's social media pages to see if I had missed anything over the past few days. I didn't want to be completely clueless when they came over and started talking about things. 

"Rylee, are you awake?" Jules asked, knocking on my door. 

"You can open the door." 

Jules eased the door open. "Are you okay?" She walked around to the other side of my bed. "Dad texted me yesterday wanting to know why I was at Evie's house." She rolled her eyes. 

"Sorry about that. Yeah, I'm fine." I set my phone down on my stomach. "He showed up yelling his head off. I had a friend sleeping in your room. He lost his shit over that." 

"You did? I would've never known because she left my room the same way I left it. Wow..." She crawled up on the bed beside me. "Dad was pretty mad her car was in the driveway." 

I grabbed my phone and set it on my nightstand. "Promise me you won't ever tell Dad." 

"Really, Rylee. Like you have to say something like that to me." She rolled her eyes. 

"I'm serious, Jules. If Dad ever found out, he'd kill me, and I don't mean figuratively. So, I need you to promise me you won't ever tell him." I sit up against my headboard. 

"Yeah, I promise." She turned to face me. 

"Sadie wasn't the only one that stayed the night the other night. And it wasn't her car that was in the driveway." I fidgeted with the edge of my comforter, trying not to look at Jules. 

"OH. MY. GOD!" She yelled. "You slept with Austin Hayes!" 

"What?" My head popped up. "No." I scrunched up my face. "Are you crazy?" I shook my head, getting out of bed. 

"Wait, I'm confused now." Her brows furrowed. "I thought you liked Austin. Besides, he's hot as hell." She turned toward the foot of my bed while I started to pace back and forth. I picked up one of my scrunchies, twisting it in my hands and wrapping it around my fingers. 

"Austin was hiding in the closet and saw Dad smack me." I kept my head down, twisting the scrunchie around my fingers. 

"Rylee, are you okay?" I heard her feet hit the floor. "Let me see your face." She lowered her head. 

"I'm fine. Austin and Sadie said there weren't any marks or bruises." I walked over to my vanity mirror, turning my head from side to side. Rylee was standing beside me, examining my face as closely as possible. I turned my head slightly at the same time she did, and we were standing there practically nose to nose with one another. We busted out laughing. At what? We had no idea. It felt good to laugh at silly nonsense with my sister instead of worrying about Dad and what kind of mood he would be in when he got home from work. 

"I don't see anything. Does it hurt?" She walked over to my door.

"It's a little sore but not too bad." I patted my cheek with the back of my hand. I turned and looked in the mirror again. Jules told me she was going back to her room so I could get a shower before she got in there. I grabbed my bra and underwear and headed for the bathroom. 

                                                                                         *****

At one sharp, the doorbell rang a couple of times before the door eased open. Cole and Sophie knew better than to ring the doorbell. I've told them repeatedly when it was just Jules and me, they could come on in the house. I ran down the hall, wrapping my arms around them and squeezing them tight. I felt like I hadn't seen them in forever. 

"Everything okay, Sunshine?" Cole asked as I released him from my hug. 

I didn't even have the strength to lie to him, so I just stood there, trading glances between the two of them. 

"That good, huh?" He raised an eyebrow. He wrapped his arm around me, pulling me close to him. "Austin hurt you?" 

"No." I laid my head against his chest. "He's been great, actually. Dad stopped by the house yesterday." I wiggled out of Cole's hug and started walking toward the kitchen. 

"Rylee, are you okay?" Sophie asked, right behind me. "What happened exactly?" She walked over to the cabinet and got three glasses. The minute she set the last glass down on the counter, her mouth fell open, and her eyes got big. "You slept with Austin!" 

"What is with everyone asking me that?" I rolled my eyes, smacking my hand down on the counter. "No, I didn't. Well, not in the way you are thinking." I turned and walked over to the table. 

"What? Now, I'm confused. Either you did, or you didn't," Cole said, grabbing the pitcher of tea from the refrigerator. "I mean, there's no kinda about it." He set my glass of tea down in front of me. 

"He stayed the night, and we kissed, but nothing else happened. And yes, he slept in my bed." I hurried up and took a drink of tea to distract myself from Cole and Sophie sitting there staring at me with furrowed brows as if I had corn growing out of my ears or something. 

"You're joking, right?" Cole asked, resting his chin in the palm of his hand. "You honestly expect us to believe that?" 

"Cole!" Sophie smacked him on the arm. "It's Rylee. She wouldn't lie to us about something like that. If she said nothing happened, then nothing happened." She smacked him again. His head whipped to the side, looking at her with shock that she had hit him not once but twice. He looked like a little kid that had just got punished. Sophie had a point; if I say something didn't happen, it didn't happen. He knew better than to question me when she was around, though. She always took my side. I had to admit I was a little shocked and hurt that he thought I'd slept with Austin already. He was one of my best friends and knew me better than that. 

"Seriously, though. Austin was hiding in the closet when Dad barged into my room." I wrapped my hands around my glass. 

"Please tell me he didn't..." Sophie reached over and placed her hand on my forearm. 

"He did." A tear trickled down my cheek. "And Austin saw it from the closet." I wiped the tear away before it reached my jaw. 

"Oh, Rylee." Cole got up, leaned down, and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. "Did he say anything about what happened?" He stood up and walked back to his chair. 

"Not really. He picked me up later and took me out for coffee with his friends; then we drove around for a little bit." I wiped a few more tears away. I was tired of talking about my dad, so I got up, put my glass in the sink, and asked what they had been up to the past few days. I knew if we talked any longer about Dad, Sophie would start telling me how I needed to tell someone about him, and I didn't want to risk the chance of being taken away from Jules. 

Author's Notes:

Rylee has a lot to deal with for a teenage girl. 

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