Chapter 3: Hostile?

Ethan, who had burst out of the house earlier, became much calmer when he saw so many faces he did not recognise. He ended up drawing everyone’s attention, including Laura, because of the fact that he was also good looking.

“Your boyfriend has so many good-looking friends,” Laura said as she looked at Ethan, who had been shyly introducing himself.

“That’s why I called you all here,” Jen said and stepped forward to say hi to him. There had been an incident that happened a while ago and she knew to be grateful since he had helped her resolve it. Laura also stepped forward with her friend and greeted the new handsome man that appeared.

If she did not know that it was her ‘brother-in-law’s’ birthday, she might have thought they were all gathered there for blind dates. Ethan didn’t keep them for long and soon they were in the house, making their way to Lucas’s wing.

Lucas showed them to their rooms and quickly ran off with his girlfriend. Seeing how happy her friend was, Laura couldn’t help but feel a bit envious.

She has never dated anyone. She was too scared of meeting the wrong person, especially because she had personally witnessed what happened to Rachel because of all the wrong people she had fallen in love with.

Besides that, Laura had never really met anyone who piqued her interest. With the exception of the long-haired man, she had seen earlier. She had always been aware that she was attracted to people with beautiful faces, but with the way her heart skipped when she saw him for the first time, she knew that maybe she had found someone she would like to be with. How did she know? It was a gut feeling!

With these thoughts filling her head, she unpacked her suitcase and placed her things in the closet. She then went to take a shower to get rid of the fatigue she was feeling and went to pick something to wear. As she did so, she heard someone knock on her door before the door opened.

“Who is it?” Laura shouted from the walk-in closet.

“It’s me,” Jen said as she followed her voice.

“Oh, come in,” Laura said as she continued to pick out her clothes.

“What are you doing?” Jen asked as she walked into the closet that was smaller than the one in their room.

“Picking something to wear,” Laura said and picked up a crop top.

“I was about to go to the stables with Lucas. Do you want to join us?” Jen asked and smiled when she saw the way Laura’s eyes lit up with excitement.

“Horses? Then I’m definitely coming,” Laura said, and pulled out a pair of blue jeans.

“Then I’ll wait for you outside,” Jen said in a rush as Laura had already discarded the robe she had been wearing and started dressing up.

“En,” Laura responded, and heard the door to her room close. She quickly got dressed and put her hair in one long braid so it didn’t get messy later.

After putting on her boots, she went to take her phone before leaving her room. When she opened the door, she saw her friend sitting on the sofa with her boyfriend’s head resting on her lap. For the first time, Laura felt like maybe she had been too hasty in agreeing to go with them.

“You are ready, right?” Jen asked as her boyfriend sat up.

“Mmmh, it’s not far, is it?” Laura asked. She hoped they would say it was so that she could bail on them. She had become reluctant to leave with the two because she knew that she was going to be a third wheel and feel awkward the whole time.

“No, barely ten minutes away. Let’s go,” Lucas said as he stood up and led the way. Laura could only sigh inwardly because it looked like she had to be a witness to this couple’s love for god knows how long.

The three of them walked across the green field to go to the stables, with the couple leading the way while Laura created some distance to provide some privacy for herself. She was happy that her friend looked happy with her man, but she was unwilling to be a third wheel that served to contrast the difference between single people and lovers.

Laura picked up her pace when they got closer to the stables as she knew that once they got on horses, then she could go her own way. It was at this moment a man walked out of the stables carrying a familiar figure in his arms.

Laura hadn’t registered who they were until she realised that the person being carried was her good friend Rachel. She watched curiously as Rachel guiltily looked at them as she hurriedly released the tall tattooed man, only to hug him again when she almost fell. He then took her to sit on a bench before greeting them properly.

Seeing the way he hugged Lucas, Laura figured that he was another close friend and not some random person, but she still couldn’t let go of her wariness.

“This is Jen, my girlfriend and her friend Laura,” Lucas introduced. Brian politely shook their hands in greeting and stepped back to create some distance. He did not know what it was, but he could feel that the two girls were a bit hostile towards him, especially the red-haired one.

“Are you alright?” Laura asked Rachel, who was massaging her legs. Rachel looked at her friend and saw that she was genuinely worried.

“I’m fine. My legs were numb from horse riding,” Rachel explained, and Laura looked at her skeptically.

“Is that so?” Laura said, finding it hard to hold back her sarcasm. She was very close to Rachel, and after getting beaten up by her last boyfriend, she had to uproot her life and emigrate to another country to keep her safe. Seeing her like this, with yet another man who looked like trouble, made her very uneasy. Jen, who was standing next to her, nudged her with her elbow to remind her to keep her expression in check.

“Well, we were curious about the horses so we’ll let you two do your thing,” Jen said and pulled Laura, who was short of glaring at Brian, before leaving them alone.

“We left too quickly,” Laura said jokingly to Jen as she tried to ease the tense mood. She knew that she was just projecting her fears and that the guy wasn’t necessarily dangerous like Rachel’s past boyfriends.

“It was getting awkward. Besides, it looked like they were having a good time,” Jen said as she looked at the horses in their stalls.

“I also wanted to come now to make sure she wasn’t being forced into interacting with him,” Jen continued. Laura finally understood why Jen asked her to come as a third wheel. It was to scope out the guy who showed an interest in their friend.

“I have told you he is a good guy,” Lucas said, as if helping Brian explain. The two girls knew of Rachel’s past, and those good guys turned out to be the incarnation of the devil himself.

“I know, but still,” Jen started to say, but was pulled over by Lucas.

“Can you guys not do this in front of me?” Laura asked them as she turned to leave, it looked like she was not wanted around anymore. She silently promised herself that when she started dating, she was going to make all single people and couples suffer from the amount of PDA she was planning to dish out.

She continued to lament and mumble to herself as she walked back to the mansion. She didn’t feel like riding horses anymore, the fact that she could see Brian carrying Rachel back to the house did not help with her annoyance either. She suddenly remembered the long-haired man that disappeared after getting into the house. She silently promised herself to have him enamoured with her by the time they leave.

With her naïve thinking, she thought it would be easy because of how effortless it had always been before.