"He is not…" Lucy tried to speak, but she stopped and tried to talk past Rudy.
"Wait up." Rudy stopped Lucy by grabbing her from the shoulders.
Lucy wanted to avoid introducing Rudy to her friends, so she tried to run, but it was already toote.
"Lucy, do you know this guy?" Leah inquired.
"No." Lucy shook her head.
"What the—! Why are you lying?"
Lucy red at Rudy and muttered, "Why is he here? Thest thing I want is him to meet them."
Rudy smirked from the corner of his lips and said, "Hey there, I am Rudy."
"Oh!" Rosse pped her hands. "You are the step-boy… ther."
Suzan elbowed Rosse to stop her from spilling the beans.
"Hmm?"
"Brother. She means step-brother."
"Yes. I am Lucy''s step-brother. And I assume you are her friends."
Rosse moved her hand forward and said, "Hello, my name is Rosse. Lucy''s best friend."
"Hello, Rosse. Nice to meet you." Rudy shook hands with a charming smile on his face.
"I am Suzan. Lucy''s childhood friend. She might have told you about me."
Rudy moved to Suzan and shook hands with her as well.
"She hasn''t said a word about you, sorry."
Suzan''s face turned pale after hearing that. She nced at Lucy, who was trying her best to avoid eye contact with her.
"And you are…" Rudy looked at Leah.
"Leah. I am sorry for mistaking you as a thug. You look just like one, so I couldn''t help it. It''s a bad habit."
"It''s okay. I am happy that Lucy has a friend who is protective of her." Rudy forced a smile and shook hands with Leah.
Leah also forced a smile and shook hands with Rudy.
"Hey." Rosse grabbed Rudy''s hand and said, "Is it okay if I call you Rudy bro?"
"You can call me anything you want. My sister''s friends are like my sisters."
"Hmm~" Rosse pondered in amusement and mumbled, "If Lucy is your step-sister, then we are you step-friends?"
Suzan elbowed Rosse and pulled her hands away from Rudy.
"Stop step-ing everything!"
"You have funny friends, Lucy," Rudy chuckled.
"No, only this stupid is an idiot in our group.," Suzan quipped.
Rudy stared at Suzan''s face and asked, "Are your sses just for fashion or you genuinely have…"
"They are real."
"You are going to have difficulty swimming. And I would suggest you to not go on the rides alone."
"I know. I have been to the pools before."
"The sses suit you, though."
"…!" Suzan''s face flushed a little.
"It''s like… the sses were invented just so you could wear them one day. They are perfect."
"Tha…nks…" Suzan clenched Rosse''s hand tightly.
Meanwhile, Lucy couldn''t stop ring at Rudy.
''This is why I didn''t want them to meet him. He is so carefree and blunt!''
Lucy grabbed Suzan''s hand and said, "We are going to the washroom. Excuse us."<novelsnext></novelsnext>
The girls went to the washroom and entered their cubicle.
"He was so hot!" Rosse eximed. "Lucy! Why didn''t you tell us that you had a hottie at home?"
"…"
"What do you think, Suzan? What are your first impression of him?"
"He said the sses suit me. No one has ever told that to me before…" she muttered with a flushed face.
"Leah? Your thoughts?"
"He looks intimidating and handsome. But that''s just it. I would rate him 8 out of 10 for looks. But he seems to be faking his personality. Not a boyfriend material. He seems like a guy who would definitely cheat in a rtionship."
"You are looking too much into him! Damn, I wish I had a brother so hot like him!"
"What would you have done if he was your brother?" Suzan asked in a taunt.
"I mean, step-brother. I wouldn''t want a brother like him. But if he was my step-brother… I might have banged him. You know, just for fun. Nothing serious."
"Agreed, but I won''t do that. I think I would fall in love with him if I tried to interact with him every day," Suzan released a sigh as she flushed the toilet.
"I know right! Now I know why Lucy is so obsessed with him!"
The girls left the cubicle and went to wash their hands.
Suzan shot a re at Lucy andmented, "Apparently, she is so obsessed with him that she never mentioned anything about her childhood friend."
"I have! I have told him about you, but I never used your name. And we started living together recently, so how do you expect me to tell him everything?"
"Oh, shit!" Rosse bit her tongue. "I forgot to ask him about his phone number!"
"I think that''s a bad idea." Leah jerked her wet hands before pulling a tissue.
"What do you mean?" Rosse asked with a confused look on her face.
"A girl asking for a boy''s number is a major sign of her liking him. Of course, it''s the same if it''s the other way around. Unless it''s work or school rted, I guess."
Leah passed new tissues to everyone.
"And you have no rtion with him except through Lucy. You two just met."
"No, no. I don''t want his number for… anyway, I wanted to ask him if he could help me with an issue. I will tell youter. Let''s wait for Melinda and Rina."
After Melinda and Rina split up with the group, they went to Reina''s office.
Rina opened the door, but it was locked from inside.
"Sis?" She knocked on the door.
A few secondster, Reina opened the door with a surprised look on her face.
She didn''t let Rinae inside, and instead stepped outside and closed the door.
"Rina. What are you doing here?"
"Uhh… I told you that I aming here with my friends…"
"Is that… so…"
"Why are you acting like this?" Rina asked with a judging look on her face.
"Acting like what?"
Rina noticed that Reina was preventing her from looking inside her office.
"Don''t tell me you were fooling around with your boyfriend."
"Of course not! I would never do that during work hours!"
She responded, forgetting all the times she had fun with Rudy in her office during the day.
"So, what are you hiding inside?"
"Nothing. The room is a mess."
"What''s going on?" Rudy asked from behind.