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ChapterSix
“Okay, I’ll ask again: what the hell happened in there? Because it didn’t look good.”
I knew she was going to press me for details, but we’d barely reached the bottom of the stoop outside before she dove right into the hard stuff.
Rather than expecting people to walk around us like River seemed to, I stepped out of the path and closer to the building. She joined me, leaning her back against the wall and propping the heel of her boot up behind her.
“It was nothing. Darrio and I were hanging out and she and her cronies came in starting shit.”
“Really? That was it? She walked in and started running her mouth, then we showed up?” She eyed me from top to toe. “Is that why you look like you just spent prom night in the back seat of a coupe getting felt up?”
My hair had to look a little wild from my exertion, and my panties were uncomfortably damp, but was it really that obvious what I’d been up to? From her raised brow, I was going to assume I wasn’t even kinda pulling off the artfully messy look.
I wasn’t eager to share about my slip up with Darrio at the moment, though—was it a slip up? Last I checked, we were together, even if there’d been a little distance between us—so I changed the subject to her.
“Why were you in such a hurry to get out of there?”
“I didn’t want to come in the first place, and I don’t like crowds.”
The last part checked out with her personality, but she didn’t seem like one to be intimidated by a large crowd of people, and it was cold as shit outside. There had to be something in there she wanted to avoid bad enough to endure the icy breeze.
“Okay, fair, but what else?” Her eyes flicked up to the face of the building before she met my gaze again. When she didn’t offer anything further, I crossed my arms over my chest and stared. If she could play the silent game, so could I. Not like I had anywhere else to be at the moment.
“People were getting on my nerves.”
“Was it Ben?” Her eyes flashed in anger, but I held up a hand to stave off her denial. “It’s obvious you like him. At least it is to me. I see you when he’s not looking, and I know you’re into him.”
“He’s alright, I guess.”
“Well, damn, isn’t it a little early for declarations of love?” And from River, that’s pretty much what it was. “Why don’t you tell him? I don’t think he knows. Guys are so blind to stuff like that, you have to spoon-feed the truth to them or they’ll never get it.”
She stared at me with an unreadable expression before gazing off into the distance. “It’s complicated. He doesn’t feel the same way.”
“How can you know if you haven’t even talked to him about it? Or have you?” Would she have even told me if they’d had a talk like that? She wasn’t an open book, but damn, it was like she had one of those little diary locks on her emotions.
I could picture her as an all black journal complete with a flimsy silver lock, but I knew there had to be pages of brightly colored Lisa Frank stickers in there. I was determined to get her to show me.
“No, I would never bring that up to him.” She shrugged and tucked her thumbs into the pockets of her jeans.
“But then, how will he ever know?”
“Who says he will? Or that I even want him to? Not everyone has as easy a time with men as you do, Thea.”
“Whoa, back that shit up. Who says anything is easy for me with any of them? They all stress me out and make me crazy in one way or another. I’ve had more anxiety and headaches from relationship drama since we’ve been here than I’ve had in my entire life!”
“Then why are you messing with all four of them? Why not pick one? Or pick none, if they’re all so stressful.”
“Believe me, I’ve tried. I’ve weighed the pros and cons, considered who makes me the happiest, who I have the most in common with, but in the end, none of them outmatches the others.” I squeezed my arms around myself a little tighter, a shitty attempt to ward off a chill that might have been more emotional than physical. “Doesn’t really matter, though. I’m not even sure what I’m doing anymore.”
“Sure.”
Indignant, I straightened my shoulders and held my head up higher. “I’m serious, I don’t know how to deal with them. They’re liars and complete pains in my ass.”
“Oh, is that where Darrio was fucking you? Didn’t know that was what you were into.”
Damn. I would be pissed if I weren’t so proud of her. Getting her to joke—even at my expense—was a triumph.
“Well, if you must know, I’m not opposed to it, but no, that’s not what was happening. Seriously, I think I need to step back from all three of them—if you count Varon again, we’re no longer friends.”
