Love the Second Time Around Novel

Chapter 60 House Guests

| turned to look at Louis, who was seated next to me, and asked, “Have you ever had any head-on conflict with

that Hayden fellow?”

My brother looked surprised by my question. He thought for a minute, then he answered, “Well, the girl he has

set his eyes on confessed her feelings to me. Does that count? | told her | don’t feel the sway, though.

Anyway, | only found out Hayden was into her when my roommate toldabout it a few days later. I'm usually

out of Hayden's radar.”

| closed my eyes and rubbed my temples in slow circles. My head hurts! What is all this childish nonsense? |

don’t know what to say about Hayden Stone! So what if the girl he likes doesn’t like him back? It isn’t that big a

deal! When | was in school, countless girls were into Dominic. If every single one of them had cafter me, |

would have been murdered a long tago!

Dominic and Benjamin listened gleefully to Louis’ account of the love .

I ignored them and said solemnly to Louis, “People like Hayden are usually impulsive and quick-tempered. You

must be more careful in school. Don't let yourself be bullied, but don’t go starting any trouble either! Do you

hear me?”

Frankly, Louis himself is at fault too. He's only a freshman. Yet, he goes out and parties so hard... He even got

himself black-out drunk! If he had not been so reckless, he wouldn't have gotten into trouble!

“Yes, | understand. From now on, I'll avoid him at all costs, okay? I've never wanted to be around him much

anyway,” Louis promised.

This incident had scarred my brother deeply; it was a lesson that he would not be forgetting so quickly.

We sat at the café waiting for about twenty minutes before Mitch could be seen crossing the road to join us.

“So, how was it? Did you manage to meet her? Was she willing to speak to you?” | asked anxiously as soon as

Mitch had sat down.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s settled. She was only in it for the money. | told her what was at stake, so she knows

what she should do now,” Mitch replied in a reassuring tone.

| stared at him in disbelief. Was it really so easy to deal with that girl?

| was about to ask him about Hayden when my phone rang. It was Xavier from the police station calling.

“Queenie has dropped the charges against Louis. Apparently, there was a misunderstanding. Anyway, please

bring Louis over to the police station for us to go through the proper procedures and clear him of the charges.

The matter will be settled after that,” Xavier's voice sounded through the phone.

| was overjoyed when | heard those words and immediately dragged Louis to the police station.

Mitch took the lead and dealt with the police officers on all the administrative matters. No trace of this

accusation will be left on Louis’ record.

| felt a rush of gratitude for all of them. If they had not hurried over to help, | may not have been able to get

Louis out of trouble so quickly.

In fact, | may not have been able to save my brother at all.

Now that the problem was resolved, | felt my entire self, both physically and emotionally, relax. Looks like | won't

have to delay going hfor National Day!

After dinner that night, | suddenly began to talk about the past.

| planned to accompany Louis back to school and help him explain his absence. After all, he had missed two days

of classes without asking for any leave of absence. | was afraid he might be punished because of that.

| would then wait for his holidays to start and go back to Dellmoor with him. His holidays will start in two days

anyway. It’s not too long a wait.

Dominic and the rest also decided to stay with us. We would all fly back to Dellmoor together.

“I can help you explain this matter to your school,” Mitch offered to Louis. “Anyway, don’t you both worry about

Hayden Stone. I'll make sure he won't bother you anymore.”

| looked admiringly at Mitch, who looked as if he had a halo over his head. He really went above and beyond for

Louis! He resolved this entire problem by himself! The other two men really did nothing much at all.

The next day, we sent Louis to school, explained the circumstances of the past few days to his teachers, and

after that, we enjoyed ourselves around the city.

| was not sure if Dominic had ever been to Jadeborough, but it was my first tthere. | had a great time

exploring.

When we finally got off the plane at Dellmoor, | was ready to leave them behind. Those three grown men will be

fine without me. | need my me-time!

Unfortunately, before | could stop him, Louis had already innocently invited them over to our house for a chat

and a meal.

If | were in their shoes, | wouldn't have wanted to impose on Louis’ hospitality, but these three men just said yes

without thinking twice! They really have no shat all!

| was shocked speechless. | was fine with Benjamin and Mitch coming over, but Dominic was a different story.

How am | supposed to explain Dominic to my parents?

| had been prone to headaches recently, and at that moment, looking at the four men walking ahead of me

without a care in the world, my head felt as if it was going to explode.

| suddenly ran and stood in front of the four men with my arms outstretched, blocking their way. The people

walking by us threwcurious looks, but | ignored them.

| cleared my throat and pulled Dominic aside, saying, “I have to tell you something.”

| glanced at Louis and the others to make sure they had not followed us. Then, | turned to look at Dominic with a

solemn expression on my face.

“You can’t cover to my parents’ house. | don’t want there to be a misunderstanding about us.”

Dominic feigned ignorance. “What misunderstanding could there possibly be about us?”

| can’t believe how thick-skinned he is!

Once upon a time, my parents had loved him like their own son. It was only natural that they would jump to their

own hopeful conclusions if | brought him hso soon after my divorce.

| had spent the past few days trying to save Louis; | definitely did not want any more trouble right then.

“Dominic, don’t play dumb with me. It really isn’t appropriate for you to cover to my house at such a time.”

“How is it inappropriate? Are you afraid of your parents finding out about us?” Dominic brought his face closer to

mine and nudgedplayfully.

| took a step back instinctively and scoffed, “What are you talking about? There's nothing going on between us!”

At that, he straightened up and beamed down at me. “Well then, since there’s nothing between us, there

shouldn't be any problem withgoing over to your house!”

He did not wait forto say another word before draggingback to where Louis and the rest were standing.

“Dominic, you-"

“Let's go! We're going over to Liliana’s house. We must buy sgifts to bring with us!” Dominic stated, talking

excitedly over my protest.

Benjamin and Mitch agreed with him, and the three of them immediately started discussing what they should

buy and which mall they should go to.

Louis was talking on his phone at that moment, and | heard him say “Mom” loudly.

| can’t believe it! The four of them just made all the decisions themselves without asking my opinion!

Dominic was still holding onto me. | tried to tug my hand free but only managed to hurt myself.

“Letgo!” | hissed at him sharply, but he merely pretended to have not heard me.

Ugh! Fine! Forget it! You better hold on tightly then if you want to hold my hand so badly.

The men mentioned their desire to buy a gift, but from the way they were acting, it seemed as though they were

planning to buy the entire mall.

If I had not restrained them, they would have even bought large household appliances to bring along with them.

Although I had reluctantly allowed Dominic to hold onto my hand the entire time, | still felt anxious when we

finally arrived at the doorstep of my parents’ house.

Should | tell my parents that Dominic and | are just friends or that we are more?