24. Chapter 24
Daria
I’m emotionally wrecked by the time I park my car and head toward the café. Not only did Dane and I cross a line I swore to never cross with him, but he just had to go and make a declaration along with it.
Giving me hope.
Making me melt.
Sending my heart soaring to places it has no right to go.
I spot Jamie and Briar seated at one of the outdoor tables. They’re chatting away, oblivious to my approach. I’m so excited for us all to be together after almost a month of her and Parker being wrapped in their little honeymoon bubble, but I’m also...hesitant.
For a second, I just stare and attempt to catch my breath. Since leaving the apartment, oxygen has been scarce. Like I’m struggling to make my lungs work, knowing I’ll have to set my budding romance with Dane aside and put on my unaffected demeanor again.
It's not what I want to do. But it’s what I need to do.
If Jamie caught so much as a whiff of my feelings for Dane, she’d have a bridesmaid dress delivered tomorrow. And I don’t want that. Not right now. Not when I’m just coming to terms with the change in mine and Dane’s relationship.
The apartment manager called me yesterday to let me know my apartment will be ready on Monday after the fashion show in two weeks.
I’m so ready to let my designs speak for themselves.
I can finally see a light at the end of the dark tunnel that’s been the last few weeks.
I’d be an idiot to screw it up by obsessing over my relationship with Dane right now.
A guy who could wreck me just as easily as he makes me swoon.
I can’t—won’t—allow myself to get too caught up.
So I take as deep of a breath as I can manage and head straight for my friends. Briar sees me first and smiles. "Hey, you. You’re late.”
“Sorry,” I say with a tight smile. “Slept in.” I give Briar a quick hug, then wrap Jamie up tightly. “I missed you so much.”
“Oh my gosh, same. Sorry you’re tired, though. Were you up late?” Jamie asks, pulling back to look at me. Why does it feel like her bright eyes are boring into my soul?
“Uh, no. Not really.” I force my voice to remain light. Nonchalant. “Dane got back last night, but we didn’t stay up late or anything.” I press my lips together, hating that I brought him up. “Did you guys already order drinks?”
My heart’s racing uncontrollably. Maybe if I take a little walk and flag the waiter down myself, I’ll be able to calm the heck down.
“Oh.” Jamie’s narrowed gaze seems to home in on me. “Do you guys usually hang out?”
Briar laughs. “Come on, James, this is Dane and Daria we’re talking about. They’re practically mortal enemies.”
“Hah, right.” I snort. “That. Exactly that.” Grabbing the menu from the table, I bury my face in it and act like I don’t already know what I want. Thankfully, my sunglasses hide that I’m squeezing my eyes shut, and I pray Jamie doesn’t see through my weirdness this morning.
“I wouldn’t say they’re enemies,” Jamie says sweetly. “I’ve seen them get along. And now they’re roommates. Forced proximity does wonders for some people.”
I look up at the hint of humor in her tone. “What are you talking about?”
Her smile widens but she shrugs. “Nothing in particular. But I’ve read enough romance novels to know that being forced to be around someone you’re attracted to can make sparks fly.” She wiggles her eyebrows at Briar, who lets out a girlish giggle.
An unexpected rush of anger shoots through me. “Did Dane say something to Parker?” I demand hotly. “I swear, if Dane blabbed to his brother about that kiss—”
I stop, realizing my mistake.
Jamie and Briar stare at me, wide-eyed and clearly full of questions. They didn’t know . They didn’t have one, single shred of anything resembling evidence on what happened between Dane and me. But I opened my big mouth, and now they’ll never let me leave this table without spilling everything.
“Are you ladies ready to order?” A new, particularly attractive waiter appears beside our table.
“Um,” Jamie starts, reluctantly dragging her eyes away from me. “Yes. I’ll have a mocha latte.” Briar follows with her order, while Jamie’s curious gaze remains glued to my face.
“And for you, miss?” The man’s smooth voice snags my attention. When I meet his eyes, his upturned lips quirk higher. “Something sweet and a bit spicy, perhaps?”
It takes my muddled brain a minute to realize he’s flirting with me.
And I’m completely unavailable.
Not because Dane and I discussed being exclusive. Of course we didn’t. But more because…I have no desire to be with anyone else. There’s not even a lingering inclination to want this attractive man’s attention.
It’s the strangest thing…
“I’ll just have a coffee with cream, please,” I say, closing my menu.
He easily slips it from my hands and smiles. “I’ll be right back with your orders.” Offering me a sly wink, he saunters back inside the restaurant. And with that, I’m left alone to defend myself.
“So,” Briar says, leaning forward. “Are we going to address your little…” She waves a finger over me. “Slip up there?”
“Hm?” I decide to play dumb. At this point, what else can I do?
“Oh, don’t act coy with us, missy.” Jamie pokes me in the side with her sword finger, causing me to jump. “You said that you and Dane kissed .”
“Did not.” I cross my arms. “He just happened to witness me kiss…” I pause, fighting for something— anything —that makes a bit of sense. “This new guy I’m seeing. We were making out in front of his door, and he walked in on us.”
“He walked in on you ?” Briar’s blue eyes widen, like the thought of being seen kissing a man is a horror she never wants to live through.
“Yep.” I smack my lips together and pop the p. “Opened the front door, and we nearly toppled into him. I think he was embarrassed by it. You know, since he can never get a decent date.” I lay that last dig on thick just in case they suspect I don’t still despise him.
“You never told me you were seeing someone.” The hurt in Jamie’s voice nearly makes me give up my act. Instead, I place my hand over hers and lean into the lie.
“That’s because we’re not serious.” I give her hand a squeeze. “Come on, James, you know me. I’m in and out and onto the next guy before either of us gets our heart broken.”
Her brows pull tight. Something about her pained expression tells me I’m too good at lying. Or rather…speaking the truth. I am usually in and out and onto the next guy before either of us can blink. It’s how I’ve managed most relationships. All but the two women sitting with me at this table.
I know Jamie thinks I end relationships too soon because I’m a sad loner who’s been hurt one too many times, and I don’t fight her on it because…well, because she’s right.
“It’s too bad you’re taken,” Briar says, oblivious to my inner turmoil. “Because I think the waiter has the hots for you.”
The man in question returns with our drinks, setting them in front of us. “Are you ladies eating today or just stopping for drinks?” His eyes cling to mine, almost as if he’s begging me to find him attractive enough to ask out.
And it’s not that I don’t. Light brown hair, dark eyes, beautifully built, but…
I press two fingers to the space between my eyes, needing to relieve some of the pressure in my brain. Because it’s about to explode. It can’t comprehend that I don’t want to date anyone else but Dane for the foreseeable future.
My friends mutter their orders, but I’m too busy working on another elaborate lie to feed them to notice anything else happening around me.
“D?” A hand comes to the center of my shoulder blades. “Are you okay?”
I pop up with a wide smile. “I’m fine. Great.” My brow furrows. “Wait, where’d the waiter go?”
Briar looks at me with concern. “When you ducked your head, Jamie ordered for you. Your usual.”
“Do you have a headache?” Jamie applies pressure to my back, rubbing back and forth. “Is it your period?”
I almost groan aloud. “No, it’s not that. Really, I’m fine.” When neither of my friends seem to buy my line, I add, “In fact, I think I will get the waiter’s number. He was pretty.” I take out one of the packets of coconut sugar I keep in my purse and sprinkle it into my drink.
When I peek a look at Jamie, it’s as if she’s trying for a lighthearted smile. It ends up looking more like a grimace. “You sure? You seem...off today.”
I am off. Off my freaking rocker.
My best friends look at me like I’m one more weird statement away from being carted off to the hospital. I need to say something to throw them off my trail, but what? Something I won’t have to lie about, something dramatic...
“Did you guys know that Dane had a stalker?”
Briar’s eyes go wide while Jamie's lips form a pinched pout. “Who told you that?” she asks.
I give her a pointed look. “Dane’s friend, Max.” As soon as I say the name, I realize I’ll have to fabricate another half-truth about how I met Max. Because there’s no way I’m willingly telling them the puke story.
Crap.
“He came to the apartment last week,” I rush to say. “And sort of let it slip that Dane had been stalked by some girl from work.”
“Dane has a stalker?” Briar’s mouth drops open like she can’t fathom such a thing.
“ Had ,” Jamie clarifies. “She hasn’t tried to contact him since she got hit with the restraining order. Or at least, I don’t think she has.”
“That’s wild,” Briar says, sitting back in her seat before taking a long sip of her latte.
“How did you know about it?” I ask Jamie.
She hesitates a second before admitting, “Parker told me after we started dating. Well.” She waves a hand in front of her.
“That’s not exactly true. He brought it up in front of Dane one night, then Dane explained the story to me.
It was a really traumatizing experience for him, from what I understand. ”
I grip my drink with both hands and try not to let it show that I’m hanging on her every word.
“I guess he asked this girl out, they went on one date, and Dane could tell early on that they weren’t right for each other. Well, she started blowing up his phone. Like would not quit texting him, even after he explained he wasn’t interested in a second date.”
My stomach sinks a bit at hearing that. “If a guy did that to me, it’d be an immediate block.”
“He tried,” Jamie says. “But she kept finding new numbers to text him from. Then it escalated into her showing up at random places he frequented. She even parked outside the Kent’s home one night just to watch him.
He saw her car speed away after family dinner and almost had a panic attack right then and there. ”
My heart aches for Dane. That had to be scary.
“Wow.” Briar breathes out a heavy sigh.
“That’s not even the worst of it.” Jamie says with a wince.
“She ended up breaking into their apartment one night. Dane wasn’t there because he picked up some overtime.
Of course, she wouldn’t have known that since it was last minute, but Parker was there, asleep.
She left notes on Dane’s pillow, his fridge, in the bathroom. That was the last straw for him.”
“I’m shocked it took him that long to act,” I say.
Jamie nods. “For a while, he thought he was imagining things. But when they only got worse and affected his brother, he knew he couldn’t ignore it anymore.
” Jamie’s fingers clutch her mug tighter.
“Anyway, because of that, he shied away from dating for a while. Dane said he swore he’d never give another girl his number. ” Jamie’s gaze finds mine.
I shift a bit under her scrutiny, focusing on picking at my nail polish.
“Poor Dane,” Briar says, ever the softie. “He’s such a dreamy guy, too. He deserves to find a nice girl.”
“You interested?” Jamie asks playfully. “I could set you guys up!”
Briar nearly startles, shoving away from the table. “Uh, actually, I need to...um. Use the restroom!” Then she bolts from the table, leaving Jamie and I blinking at each other.
“What’s gotten into her?” I ask.
“I think she’s afraid of men.” Jamie cranes her neck to look back where Briar ran off to. “Not like afraid afraid, but nervous. Shy. You know how she is.”
It’s true that Briar is shy around guys who try to flirt with her. There’s one in particular who frequents her yoga classes who just can’t seem to take a hint.
“Complete opposite of you, Miss Maneater.” Jamie smiles like she made a joke, then takes a sip of her latte.
I force a smile that goes against the anxious knot my stomach twists into.
If she knew just how afraid I am to be falling for Parker’s brother like this, she’d never have called me a maneater.
Maybe it’s true that’s who I’ve been for as long as she’s known me, but there’s something inside of me that’s begging for change.
Begging for me to give Dane and our budding relationship a real, fighting chance.
And maybe I will. After the fashion show, after I move out.
We’ll just have to see how things go.