Chapter 253

Grandma Jo had made some extra muffins this morning, and I thought that they would be the perfect way to distract James, seeing as he was always hungry.

"You think you can just wave desserts in my face and I'll be happy?" James asked as his eyes studied the bag of muffins. I could see his mouth beginning to water.

"Is it working?" I asked as Lucas chuckled. James looked as if he was being hypnotized.

James seemed to snap out of his trance, his resolve weakening as the aroma of freshly baked muffins wafted toward him. With a defeated sigh, he reached out to grab one.

"I guess it's better than nothing," he conceded, stealing the bag from my hands.

"Told you that would work," I whispered in Lucas's ear before I sat down across the two of them.

Lucas chuckled softly, shaking his head in amusement at my successful bribery tactic.

"You know him too well," he murmured back, a playful glint in his eyes. "I thought he was supposed to be my best friend."

I smiled, feeling a sense of relief that James seemed to have softened his stance. "Call it woman intuition."

James groaned in between bites, and I was shocked to see that he had already eaten an entire muffin. "Grandma Jo makes these for you every morning?" he asked incredulously. "Does she have room for one more guest at her house?"

"No," Lucas said shaking his head. "If she had to cook for you every day she would never get any rest."

I chuckled at Lucas's response, appreciating his playful banter with James. Despite the light-hearted atmosphere, I couldn't shake the feeling that James had something important on his mind.

"So, muffin distractions aside... what's been going on with you two?" James asked, his tone shifting slightly as he glanced between Lucas and me. "You've been MIA for days."

I looked at Lucas, suddenly feeling guilty that our best friend didn't know what was going on. James deserved to know the truth, and if he didn't find out now, he would find out eventually.

Wouldn't it be best for us to just get it out of the way now?

I was about to open my mouth to tell James everything when Lucas cleared his throat to stop me.

He exchanged a meaningful glance with me before he leaned in, his voice dropping to a whisper. "We'll tell you everything, James. But there's something important we need to discuss with you first."

"Okay..." James leaned it, looking between Lucas and I with a hint of confusion. "Why are we whispering?"

Lucas leaned back, clearing his throat again. "This is just a serious matter... I thought it fit the tone of conversation."

James's curiosity piqued as he leaned forward, his eyes narrowing in anticipation. "What is it? You're not in trouble, are you?"

I shook my head quickly, trying to ease his concerns. "No, no, nothing like that."

Lucas's eyes snapped towards me as if trying to silence me.

I frowned at him, not sure where he was going with this. Were we going to tell James, or not?

"It's actually good news," Lucas said, giving him a nod.

I was silent for a moment. Was it good news? I supposed it wasn't horrible... shocking maybe... but not necessarily bad.

I took a deep breath, preparing myself for the conversation we were about to have.

"Remember how we were worried about my father not accepting our relationship as boyfriend and girlfriend?" Lucas began, casting a sideways glance at me.

I froze, unsure of what Lucas was trying to say. Kendrick? What did he have to do with me being the White Wolf?

I chose to remain silent, letting Lucas take the lead in the conversation.

James nodded slowly, his expression serious. "Yeah, you mentioned it a few times. I'm not surprised though, your dad is a total psycho."

I snorted, trying to hide my laugh. "Yeah, that's one word for him..."

"What happened?" James asked. "Is he trying to blackmail you again or something?"

Lucas exchanged a quick glance with me, silently urging me to play along with his story. "No, nothing like that," he replied smoothly. "Actually, Kendrick surprised us. He, uh, he finally came around and accepted our relationship."

"It seems like he's had a change of heart," I explained, trying to keep my tone light. Unsure with what other information to add.

I didn't know what Lucas wanted me to say.

"He decided to take us on a short vacation to, uh, work things out," Lucas explained, and I hoped that this was convincing enough for James to believe.

"A vacation?" James's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "That's... unexpected. It doesn't really sound like him."

"Yeah, we were caught off guard too," Lucas added, his voice tinged with a hint of amusement.

"He even took us in his private jet," I added, which wasn't a complete lie.

I thought that adding some truth to the story would make me feel less bad about somewhat lying to James.

"The private jet?" James's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "I've always wanted to go in that thing! You said I'd get to one day," James said to Lucas.

Lucas chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head. "Uh, yeah, sorry about that... Maybe next time."

"So, where did you guys go?" James asked, his curiosity evident. "Somewhere exotic?"

I exchanged a glance with Lucas, silently freaking out over what we would tell him. I didn't like lying at this, and it only reminded me of all the times Lucas had lied to me.

Was it this easy for him to deceive people? It made me feel a little sick to my stomach and I had to avoid eye contact with Lucas.

I couldn't wait to talk to him after this and give him a piece of my mind.

"Uh, yeah. Sort of," I replied, trying to sound convincing. "Kendrick surprised us with a trip to a private island resort. It was... nice."

James's eyes widened in astonishment. "A private island? That's incredible! Where at?"

"We went to this small island in the Bahamas... I've never even heard of it before. My dad has some business associates there." Lucas looked at me briefly before looking back at James.

"Bro, that sounds sick!" James sounded genuinely excited. "I've always wanted to go to a tropical resort."

"It was definitely an experience," Lucas chimed in, his tone carefully neutral.

"Yeah, it was pretty cool," I replied, forcing a smile. "We had a good time, just relaxing and stuff."

"Man, I can't believe Kendrick would do something like that," James remarked, his disbelief evident. "Is he on drugs or something?"

"Not that I know of..." Lucas trailed off.

"Well, then damn. He must really like you two." James shook his head. "At least he finally came to his senses and isn't being so uptight anymore.

We remained silent as James leaned back in his seat, a satisfied grin spreading across his face.

"Well, it sounds like you guys had quite the adventure. I'm glad everything worked out with your dad. I knew he'd come around eventually... Well, actually I hoped he would."

"Thanks, James," I said, relieved that he seemed to buy our story. "We appreciate your support."

"No problem," James replied, reaching for another muffin. "Just remember to bring me back a souvenir next time, alright?"