I don’t know how, but Laina’s car managed to make it all the way to my house without falling apart on the freeway. The car is a ticking bomb and she seems completely unconcerned with that. If it were me, I’d be fearing for my life each time I had to go above twenty miles per hour. It’s almost at the point where I want to just buy her some car and have hers towed but she’d probably never talk to me again if I did.

“Looks like someone hit you,” I say once we’re both standing in my driveway.

Laina doesn’t even bother looking at the backdoor of her car that I’m pointing at. “Yeah, someone hit me a couple days ago while I was getting groceries.”

“They didn’t leave a note or anything?”

“Yeah, they did. It’s not affecting the driving or anything though so who really cares.”

I resist the urge to roll my eyes. That’s so typical of her. She could care less about what her things look like as long as they function. She simply doesn’t care what people think of her. I guess that’s an admirable quality but it sometimes dives me completely crazy.

“So what are you thinking of making for me to eat?” I ask, stepping ahead of Laina to open the front door.

“Um…I don’t know,” she replies, obviously distracted by Bella as the dog jump on her. I watch Laina drop down to the ground and let Bella crawl all over her. She’s one of the few people I know who doesn’t care if the dog slobbers all over her.

I sidestep both of them and wander to the kitchen. There’s a message waiting on my machine from my mom and I’m in the middle of listening to it when Laina appears, Bella close to her side. She hops up on the counter and stares at me.

“How’s your mom?” she asks once the message is done.

“Good. She asks about you sometimes.”

Laina’s eyebrows rise. “And what do you say?”

I shrug. I don’t want to let on that I probably talk to my mom about Laina more than I should. “That you’re around.”

She places a hand to her heart. “I feel so special.”

“I thought you might.”

She jumps off the counter and goes over to the fridge. “What do you feel like eating?” she asks.

I only have one simple request. “Nothing vegetarian.”

She looks over her shoulder at me like I’m a complete idiot. “Why would I be making anything vegetarian? Seriously.”

I relax against the counter and grin. “Sorry to doubt you, Lainey.”

She pulls her head out of the fridge. “How do you feel about tacos?”

Just the word causes my stomach to growl. “I feel pretty damn good about tacos.”

She pulls a package of ground beef from my freezer and dumps it in a frying pan. I hoist myself up on the counter and watch as she begins to fry the meat.

“So other than getting into a tiff with your beloved car, how was the rest of your day?” I ask.

Her shoulders shrug. “Not too eventful,” she says, not turning around. “That kid, Tyler, I’m working with keeps getting in trouble.”

She had told Trace and I about that kid when we went for dinner last week. The impression I got was that he raises hell everyday and Laina basically has to pick up the pieces and try and get his rage under control. She’s got way more patience than me, that’s for sure, because if I had to deal with some teenager with anger issues I would probably lose it pretty quickly.

“How’d you end up getting stuck with this kid?”

She shrugs again. “I’m one of the more experienced counselors at the detention center and I guess I just got lucky.”

I snort a bit. “I’d hardly call that luck.”

“Yeah, well…” she trails off and the only sound for a minute is the frying beef. She’s the one to break the silence.

“So I had an interesting conversation with Pete today,” she says, half turning away from the stove so she can face me.

I bring up my hands to crack my knuckles. “Oh yeah? What about?”

She wets her lips and doesn’t say anything for a few seconds. When she does speak, she’s already turned back to the stove. “He said that Janice told him you were proposing soon.”

I almost choke on my spit at those words. “What?”

She doesn’t respond.

“Janice told him I was proposing?” I ask and get a nod in return. “Laina.”

She looks at me when I say her name and I stare at her for a good minute. “Are you joking around?”

She raises her eyebrows and gives me a look that let’s me know she’s not.

“I’m not proposing,” I say, the words coming out sharper than I intended. “What the hell, Laina.”

She points her spatula at me and Bella quickly gets the piece of meet that drops from it. “Don’t get mad at me,” she warns.

I take a deep breath and force my fingers to unclench from the edge of the counter. “I’m not. But…I’m not proposing. It’s been three months. Where the hell did she get that idea?”

“How the hell would I know?” Laina asks me and then turns her back to me again. I stare at the back of her head for a long minute, trying to process the fact that Janice thinks I’m proposing.

“What exactly did Pete say to you?” I finally ask.

She looks at me and seems completely exasperated with this conversation. Whatever, she knows me well enough to know that I’ll badger her with questions over something like this.

“Exactly what I said to you.”

“Why would I propose to ANYONE after only three months?”

She heaves a sigh and I know she’s annoyed with me at this point but I can’t just let it go.

“She said you guys are serious about each other.”

“It’s been three months,” I repeat, still not understanding how the hell Janice managed to come up with this. There’s no way she honestly believes I’m going to propose marriage to her. I’ve never given that impression. At least…not that I can remember.

“So let’s drop this subject,” Laina says, cutting into my thoughts. “And sorry I ever brought it up.”

I open my mouth to protest ending this conversation but then shut it. She’s probably right.

“Okay what can I do to help?” I ask, sliding off the counter. Laina immediately puts me to work putting things for the tacos into bowls.

Dinner is uneventful but fun. I always have a good time with Laina. That’s what drew me to her in the first place. It’s pretty special when you can find a person who you can completely relax around and lose track of time with.

Laina’s telling this story and I’m practically doubled over in laughter at it. I’m so distracted that I don’t even realize anyone else is in the house until I hear the click of heels across the tile floor. My laughter stops when I look up and see Janice standing in the doorway, staring at Laina and I.

Laina’s the one who breaks the awkward silence. “Hi, Janice. How are you?”

Janice’s eyes move around the messy kitchen. “Fine,” she says.

I push my chair back a bit from the table and wipe my mouth with a napkin. “I thought you were going for dinner with your mom.”

Her eyes cut to mine and she has an annoyed look to her. “I did. It’s nine o’clock.”

I glance at my watch and am surprised to see it is indeed just after nine. I had no idea it was getting so late. “Oh,” I say simply, not really having much else to say. Just seeing Janice is bringing back the conversation Laina and I had back to mind and I can’t help but be a little irritated.

“It’s such a mess in here,” Janice says. “I just cleaned it this morning.”

Laina stands up. “So I’ll start cleaning up,” she says simply.

I get up before either of them can say anything else and start walking towards the doorway. “Come here for a sec, Janice,” I say on my way past her. She follows, almost on my heels.

“You didn’t say she was going to come over here when I talked to you this morning,” she hisses at me as we exit the kitchen.

I don’t look at her. “This morning I didn’t know she would be. Her car broke down and she called me.”

“She has a boyfriend. Why didn’t she call him?”

“She did. He was at work.” I open the door to the laundry room and once Janice is in with me, I shut it. “If it makes any difference, I’m only number four on her list of people to call.”

“You shouldn’t be on any of her lists!” Janice says, her voice slightly louder now that we’re alone.

“She was stranded far away from home and needed some help,” I say, wanting to end this conversation so we can move onto the other one I need to have with her. “I’d do it for anyone.”

“Not anyone,” she mumbles under her breath but I choose to ignore it.

“I’m not going to talk about this anymore,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest. “I have to talk to you about something else.”

She leans back against the washing machine and stares at me. “What?”

“You realize we’ve only been dating for three months, right?”

“Yeah.”

“And I mean, we have fun and everything and I really care about you but we really haven’t known each other that long.”

An uncertain look flickers through her eyes. “Are you…are you breaking up with me?”

“No,” I quickly say. “But I also don’t want you to be thinking I’m ready to propose marriage to you at this point.”

Her eyes get wide. “Why would I think that?”

“I’m sorry, but did you not say that?”

“Who told you that?”

“Pete told Laina you told him that.”

She’s quiet for a second before speaking. “I was kidding around with Pete and it was a stupid joke.” Her hands raise to her hips. “Maybe Laina should get her facts straight before repeating stuff.”

My eyebrows draw together as I examine her face, trying to decide if she’s telling the truth or not. Her eyes are giving me a pleading look as if begging me to believe her and I do.

“Okay.” A small laugh escapes me. “Sorry but I had to make sure. I was a little freaked out by it.”

A smile pushes away the pleading expression and she comes over to me and wraps her arms around my waist. “I’m not some psycho commitment freak who’s trying to get a rock on my finger,” she says with a giggle. “It’s only been three months.”

I nod with some relief and bring my hands up to rest on her hips. A lot of stress has left me knowing that she’s not expecting anything of me. “Exactly.”

She leans up to kiss me and I return it but pull away before it gets too deep. Laina’s still in the kitchen and I’m not going to stand here and make out with my girlfriend while she’s by herself in another room.

“Come on,” I say, breaking away from Janice. “Let’s go help Laina clean up.”

“I don’t see why I should help clean up her mess,” Janice says, trailing after me out of the laundry room.

“Then don’t help,” I reply. “But it’s my mess too so I’m gonna help.”

Janice says nothing but I don’t miss the glare she throws Laina when we re-enter the kitchen. I give Janice’s arm a light pinch, silently telling her to not start anything.

“Whoa, superstar,” I say, taking in the mostly clean kitchen. “You’re a cleaning machine!”

Laina smiles and takes a mock bow. “Thank you. It’s just one of my many talents.”

Janice breaks past me and goes to the fridge. I have to restrain a groan when I see her not so accidentally brush past Laina. I realize it’s stupid to figure my ex girlfriend and current girlfriend would get along but some civility would be nice.

The tension in the room is obvious and after only a minute of silence, Laina acknowledges it.

“So I guess I’d be the third wheel in this situation,” she says, receiving a not so attractive snort from Janice. “I’m going to go home. I should call Wes.”

I step in before Janice can make any snide comment that is surely on the tip of her tongue. “I’ll walk you out,” I say, ignoring the look I’m getting from my girlfriend.

“I’m getting you in trouble,” Laina says as we step onto the front step outside.

I roll my eyes and follow her down to the driveway. “Janice doesn’t control who I hang out with,” I say a little annoyed. Seriously, why does everyone think she has this big hold on my life? I’m not completely whipped.

“So are Horace and Bella still hanging tomorrow night?” Laina asks when we reach her car.

“Seven o’clock, dog park,” I confirm. “I would never disappoint Bella and cancel that date.”

“Perfect.” Laina opens her car door and hops inside. “Thanks for the rescue, J-star,” she calls through the open window and I give her a wave as her car sputters off down the driveway.

I stay standing there, not overly anxious to get back inside. But when five minutes has passed and I know Janice’s irritation is probably growing by the second, I give in and go to the lecture I’m sure I’m about to endure.