This is the second chapter I'd like to dedicate to @radiantbubble and  @kaythewritter

@radiantbubble, thank you so much for also taking a chance on my book. I love your comments, your love for Jared, and your theories😂 -- seriously, it had me dying (I think you'll like this chapter😛😉❤).

Go check out her fantastic fantasy book called Convulsion -- it's about a typical girl named Lily Anderson who uncovers a whole new world because of a beautiful green gem she's had her entire life -- oh, and side note, her life is in danger. It's so complex, there's an entire glossary in the back!

Sarah's got an unbelievable talent for horror and fantasy; seriously, her short story Dressed for Despair had me so spooked. I'm not the biggest fan of these two genres, but Sarah has written both of them so beautifully that I love them! Totally worth checking her books out!

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J A R E D  W I N S T I N ' S  P. O. V.

"So what are we doing?" Meredith asked, sitting next to me in the passenger's seat as I drove to Roccos. I picked her up later than I intended to, but I needed to figure out how the hell I was going to be near Lucas without punching that son-of-a-bitch in the face.

"We are now going on a double date with Valerie and...Lucas" I gritted his name through my teeth. I can't believe Valerie is dating that asshole. If only she knew what he did to me, back when I was the high-riding player boy. You know what, forget about me, what about the countless amount of women he hurt doing his nasty little deeds. God, I hated that guy. 

"And you said this Valerie chick is into you?" Meredith questioned, distracting me from the anger that was beginning to boil up within me.

"Yeah, she is but she's in denial." I confessed. I may be going out on a hunch here, but I just know Valerie likes me. Her witty remarks have some meaning behind them besides sass; I could just feel it. And tonight was going to confirm that. I need to see how she acts around Lucas to see if she looks at him the same way she does at me. If her eyes beam the same way they do at me. If her face blushes the same way it does at me. I needed to know. 

"Alright, whatever, as long as you help me make Daniel jealous," Meredith admitted.

"No problem," I added, slyly. I was more than happy to help Meredith win back her love, and making Valerie jealous would be an adding bonus to this scheme. 

My phone buzzed on the dashboard.

"Meredith, could you check who that is?"

Meredith took my phone and replied, "It's Isabelle."

"Whoa," she added as she unlocked my phone, "she sent you a pretty revealing picture here. Oh wow, I didn't know she got a boob job!" Meredith exclaimed as she zoomed into the picture on my phone.

Jeez, that chick will not leave me alone. 

"She's starting to get on my nerves," I admitted. Her endless amounts of texts and nudes were beginning to get excessive.

"What did you expect? You spent that one year being fuck buddies, and then a month ago you slept with her again. She's clearly not over you." Meredith stated.

Last year, Isabelle and I spent every second together -- mostly because we were sleeping with each other. Every break, every minute was spent with one another; some would think it was love, but it wasn't. In all honesty, it meant nothing to me. And as shallow as it is to admit this, this was the truth. And, when I decided to change my ways, I told her this. I told her that this was a meaningless relationship to me, and out of respect for her, we needed to stop. Of course, she wasn't happy about this. She wanted me to stay the same shallow little prick that I was. The same kid who would betray his friends and his sister just to get what he wanted.

"I didn't sleep with her. She came to my house, uninvited, I may add, and wanted to sleep with me. When she kissed me, I pushed her away and told her to leave. Now she's trying to seduce me into being with her again." 

This was the night that Valerie and I had gotten into that fight. It was so hard for me not to persue Isabelle when she was just there, and I was pissed. But I stopped myself and told her to leave. Stupid Joey had let that rat into our house. 

We finally arrived at Roccos, and I parked my car near the entrance. Valerie texted me that she and Lucas were going to be eating outside, so Meredith and I walked our way around the restaurant and towards the waiter who was waiting at a podium before the gate entrance.

"Hello, how can I help you tonight?" I looked at the waiter's tag to see his name: Henry.

"Hi, we're here looking for our friends. Um," I looked around the restaurant until I caught sight of Valerie's beautiful blonde hair. "Oh, that's them." I pointed at the table.

"Right this way!" Henry eagerly stated as he opened the gates to the outer restaurant. "I'll be right there," he added. 

As we walked towards, I stared intently at Valerie as she stared into Lucas's eyes. Gross. Valerie was wearing the same pink dress she wore the night I saved her from creepy Zeke at that party. Maybe I'll get to save her again from Lucas tonight; that would be lovely. 

Lucas was moving in to kiss her; but there was no way I was going to let that happen. I quickly dashed behind Valerie and interrupted them saying, 

"Oh, hello there." My face beamed with joy knowing I had disrupted Lucas's well planned kiss. He was not going to go kissing my Valerie. Not in front of me, at least. Valerie turned around and looked at me; her gaze instantly moved away from me when she noticed Meredith beside me. 

Valerie stood up and said, "Hi." Although, she was smiling, I could sense something was off.

For a moment, I forgot that we both had dates, and I moved in to hug Valerie. Hugging Valerie was one of my most favorite things to do, along side being an incessant pain to her and kissing her. I loved kissing her. And I loved holding her in my hands. 

"I see you didn't take my recommendation. Either way, though, you look amazing." I whispered in her ear before moving away. 

"Thanks," she answered, and her face began to blush. I loved making her blush. The red made her look so lively and magnificent; god, there weren't enough words in the world to describe the beauty she had. She was as gorgeous as a Botticelli painting; she was my Simonetta Vespucci. 

"This is Meredith," I added. 

"Hi," she squeaked. "It's so lovely to finally meet you." I could see Meredith was thrilled to have finally met Valerie; afterall, I had been talking to her about Valerie nonstop since she came to me about Daniel. Meredith hugged both Valerie and Lucas. Why did she hug Lucas? 

"Finally?" Valerie asked. She continued to smile, but something about her smile was still...off. 

"Yeah, Jared's told me so much about you two. You guys make such a cute couple." Meredith stated. Nice save, Meredith. You know I hate that asshole. Meredith glazed over at the table where Daniel was before she took hold of my hand; Daniel was very clearly giving me the death stare when he realized that Meredith was here with me. 

"Shall we sit?" I asked, gesturing towards the table. Valerie nodded and sat down. Moments later, Henry came over.

"What would you guys like to order?" 

"I'll have a salad, please." Meredith requested. Oh yeah, Meredith told me about some weird diet she was trying; she's only allowed to eat salad for a month. It's ungodly. Why would someone torture themselves like that?

"I'll have seven tacos." I added, eagerly. Tacos were my kryptonite; but, then again, so was cake. 

"What would you like on them?" Henry asked.

"Everything." I stated. This was not the time to hold back. I wanted it all. 

"Everything?" Henry questioned.

"Everything," I emphasized.

"You know, you might be interested in our ten tacos deal of the night. If you can eat ten tacos, with everything, in an hour, all your meals will be free." My man. This kid understood me.

"Hell yeah, I'll take that challenge!" I looked at Valerie and Meredith -- clearly avoiding Lucas -- with excitement. I am always up for a challenge.

"And for you two?" Henry turned towards Valerie and Lucas.

"I'll just have four tacos with some tomatoes, cheese, and lettuce." Valerie ordered. I loved that. Valerie was the type of girl who didn't care about what she ordered in front of guys. Too many times I'd gone out with girls who cared about looking perfect. Maybe not being perfect made people perfect; it sure as hell made Valerie perfect.

"I'll have the same," Lucas stated, as I rolled my eyes. Gross. Even his voice was annoying. 

When we got our food, I quickly began to eat. I had to complete that challenge. Free meals because of me? That would be such a cool treat for Valerie. I spent most of the next thirty minutes just eating my food; I hadn't payed attention to the table, because I didn't feel like I had anything to say, especially not with dickhead Lucas around. So Meredith and Valerie talked; I'm glad they were becoming friends. 

After a while, Meredith pulled my hand under the table, which was our signal that Daniel was staring at her, and she was going to kiss me. I looked over to find Meredith staring at me, and, moments after, she grabbed my face and pulled me into her. It wasn't a long kiss, but it was as long as Meredith needed it to be to make Daniel jealous. 

Not long after Meredith pulled away from me, Valerie excused herself from the table, saying:

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom real quick."

When I looked at her face, I could see that she felt sick. Were the tacos not good?

Well, even if they weren't, I couldn't do anything for her because she had left. I went back to eating my tacos and avoiding Lucas's eye range. I didn't need a reason to speak to him. It wasn't long until Meredith excused herself to the bathroom as well. Girls. They always go to the bathroom in packs.

So, there we were. Two guys, who hated each other worse than we hated anything else in the world, and we were stuck together. Great. 

I spent the next few minutes truly focusing on my tacos. If I was going to win, I needed to hurry up. I only had around ten minutes left, and I wanted to impress Valerie. Any other woman might have been disgusted by this challenge, but, deep down, I knew it would impress Valerie; she's a foodie, like me.

Moments later, I heard a voice near me say, "Jared, if you could come with me for a moment." I looked up to find Valerie before me, and she was pissed. 

"But I'm eating. I only have ten minutes lef-"

"Now!" she yelled. Damn, alright. She smiled at Lucas right before she grabbed onto my shirt and dragged me along with her. She took us to the end of the restaurant, where no one was nearby. 

"Ow," I said as she let go of my shirt. Val may be small, but the girl's got strength. 

"What is going on with you?!" She asked.

"You're going to have to be more specific." Jared laughed. I had a lot going on. One of those things involved liking her. 

"I mean, why are you telling Meredith that 'I'm in love with you or something,' and I'm using Lucas to make you jealous," she demanded. 

"Oh," I whispered. Seriously, Meredith. Where is bro code? Bros before hoes -- wait, no that doesn't work here. Valerie isn't a hoe. Well, she could be my hoe. Nevermind, this wasn't the time. "Damn it, that girl can't keep a secret for her life." I muttered.

"What game are you playing, Jared?" Valerie accused. Game?

"Look, it's not a game. I just...I just needed some sort of distraction tonight." 

"From what?" she asked. From everything -- starting with you and ending with you dating that moron Lucas. 

"From Lucas. I hate that kid. So. Much. I needed something else to focus on so I wouldn't punch him in the face." I stated. I couldn't exactly tell her the entire truth.

"But it's a lie!" She pleaded.

"Is it though?" I questioned. The question escaped my mouth quicker than my brain could process what was being said. But, once I said it, I was curious. Was it a lie? Because something in her eyes were telling me that it wasn't. Her mouth was saying one thing, but her eyes were saying another. I've learned to read her, and I know that it isn't a lie. She may not be in love with me, but she feels something. 

"What are you implying?" she asked.

That you like me like I like you. That you can't stop thinking about me the same way I can't stop thinking about you. That you want me just like I want you. You just haven't come to terms with it yet. 

I took a deep breath; I couldn't say that. Instead, I said, "Nothing."

"You're the one who invited yourself and Meredith on my date. Why did you come if you hate Lucas so much?"

The answer was simple. "Because I missed you." This month without her was tortious; it made me realize how much I wanted her in my life, even if she made such stupid decisions. I guess I can't blame her though, we all make mistakes. I just wish I could stop her from the mistake she was making now. Lucas is a terrible person. 

"Let's head back," she said, beginning to walk back. I grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her to me. She turned abruptly and asked,  "What are you doing?"

"You're not mad, right?" I asked, hastily. I didn't want to lose her again, and her being angry was how I could lose her. 

"No," she smiled. 

God, she was beautiful. 

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Well, well, well, how are you guys liking Jared's chapter?

Did you like this change of perspective for the double date?

My boy's a little crazy, to say the least xD

Vote if you liked the chapter 😋❤