The Boy Next Door: A Standalone Small Town Romance (Soulmates Series Book 3) by Hazel Kelly

in a relationship with someone who’d
be real with him over whatever hilarious performance you’re putting on-”
    “It’s not hilarious.”
    “No shit.”
    “Look,” she said. “I don’t expect you to understand but-”
    “What could possibly justify the fact that he thinks you have
parents somewhere that might want to meet him?”
    She pressed her palm to her cheek.
    “He probably thinks the scars on your arm are from Bark in the
Park-”
    Her whole body drooped.
    “Oh my god. Tell me you didn’t tell him you got bit by a dog.”
    “Please don’t interfere.”
    “Hey, you’re the one that started this joke,” I said, raising my
hands. “I just threw in a few punch lines on cue.”
    “It’s not a joke,” she said. “And I’m begging you to keep your
mouth shut and not make this impossible for me.”
    “He has no fucking clue who I am, does he?”
    She shook her head.
    “What the fuck, Laney? Did what we had mean nothing to you?”
    “Of course it did, but-”
    “Breakfast is ready!” Helly called from the front porch.
    “Please,” she said. “I need to know you’re not going to throw me
under the bus.”
    I shook my head. “I’m not the guy that throws you under the bus,
Laney. I’m the guy that lifts the bus off you after you jump in front of it. And
frankly, I’m insulted by the fact that you haven’t figured that out.”
     
     

 
    Chapter 11: Laney
     
     
     
     
    The mischievous faced garden gnomes taunted me all the way back
to the house, and by the time I sat down at the kitchen table, I wanted to die.
    And strangle Connor, of course.
    In just five minutes, he’d completely wiped away the guilt I
felt over what I did to him and replaced it with frustrated rage.
    I mean, it was cute when we hung out all the time when I was
fourteen, but we were adults now, and I didn’t appreciate him appearing out of
nowhere when I was at my most desperate.
    It was like he was some kind of predator that could smell my
blood right before it got spilled.
    And it was ridiculous for him to ask why Henry didn’t know about
him. As if the way to build solid relationships was to bring up the ex who
popped my cherry, the ex who first made me feel like a woman, or the ex who
made me believe I understood where Juliet was coming from when she stabbed
herself with that happy dagger.
    Ugh.
    Not that I knew much about building solid relationships.
    I’d only ever had one, really, and I blew it.
    And apparently, it was still haunting me.
    Meanwhile, my relationship with Henry was built on fabrications that
resulted from my giving easy answers when I wasn’t in the mood to be honest or
open up. But my fibs were never supposed to hurt anyone. They were supposed to
do the opposite.
    Yet there I was on pins and needles wondering if Connor was going
to use this opportunity as spiteful payback. After all, it would be so easy for
him to break Henry’s heart…
    An hour before I intended to break it.
    Fortunately, Henry seemed completely oblivious to the steam I
could feel coming out of my ears, and Connor obviously thought he was at some
kind of circus show because there’s no omelet so tasty that it warrants a face
as smug as the one he was making.
    “So how did you two meet?” Connor asked, helping himself to a
second serving of hash browns.
    “I met her in the diner where she works,” Henry answered between
bites.
    “How romantic,” Connor said. “And who asked who out?”
    “I asked her,” Henry said. “I’m sorry, who are you again?”
    “I live next door,” he said. “Laney and I went to high school
together.”
    “That’s putting it a bit mildly,” Helly said. “Don’t you thi-”
    “Does anyone want more tea?” I interrupted.
    “No thanks,” Connor said. “I’d rather save room for a few more hash
browns. Helly, you’ve really outdone yourself.”
    “Yeah,” Henry said. “I have to agree. These are way better than
the ones at the diner, don’t you think,