Chapter 13
Daniela
“You look absolutely gorgeous,” I tell Layla, who’s just had her hair and makeup done as a trial run for the wedding day. We’re at her house.
“Thank you,” she replies, looking pleased as she studies herself in the handheld mirror.
“Your turn!” she says with glee.
“You know it’s really not necessary for the maid of honor to do a trial run. No one’s going to be looking at me.”
“I don’t know if that’s true.”She shoots me a sly look.
I roll my eyes and sit in the chair, ready to be poked at for an hour. “Tell me a story.”
“What kind of story?” Layla asks.
The makeup artist, Kayla, has been very sweet so far, but she’s very quiet. I can’t sit here in silence for that long. I’ll get all jittery and antsy.
“I don’t know. Anything.”
“How about I just put a movie on instead?”
“Okay. Good idea,” I laugh.
“Romantic comedy?”
“Of course. Is that okay with you, Kayla? Or would you prefer something else?” I ask.
“That’s fine.” Her voice is soft and gentle, and she has a sweet smile permanently glued to her face. I wonder if she’s ever been through anything tough in her life. Then again, you truly never know what someone’s been through. You can’t judge that based solely off how much they smile.
Kayla works fast. Twenty or thirty minutes later, she’s already moved on to my hair. The makeup looks great. Subtle and natural, just how I wanted. The usual foundation, blush, mascara, and eyeliner, with just ahint of gold on my eyelids. It makes my green eyes pop.
I don’t usually love wearing a ton of makeup. It’s kind of uncomfortable for me to wear anything too bold, but this is surprisingly not so bad.
As she begins curling my hair, we hear the front door opening, and the sound of two guys laughing. Liam and Dex. I already know. Of course he shows up when I’m trapped in this chair with a burning torture device half an inch from my scalp.
“Hey guys,” Layla calls happily. “How did it go?”
“Chairs are good. Tables are good. Everything is all set to go for the big day. And for your shower.” I hear Liam respond. I can’t turn to the side to see them, but I know they’re there.
“You’re an angel,” Layla tells him. I hear her walk toward him and greet him, but I keep my eyes glued on the movie.
“You look absolutely beautiful,” I hear Liam tell her.
“Thank you,” she replies.
Then there’s a moment of silence, and I have no idea what’s happening behind me.
“Love this movie.”
That’s Dex’s voice. I try to stifle a laugh.
“Something funny, Daniela?” It’s Dex again. He doesn’t sound defensive or anything. Merely curious. Maybe even a little amused.
“Nope. It’s a good one. You have impeccable taste.”
“Thank you.”
“So guess what we heard today while we were out and about town?” I hear Liam ask Layla.
“What?” she replies.
“You remember that dude Josh Clemmens? The one who messed with you and Carly when I was out of town? The one she unfortunately had a date with? ”
“Ah. The one Dex saved us from?”
“I did not save you from anything. You had it handled just fine. I just happened to be there. At my restaurant.” Dex clarifies.
“Whatever,” Layla says with a laugh. I can hear the eye roll from here.
“Anyway,” Liam continues, “apparently he’s in jail now for a long, long time. Got busted dealing some heavy drugs or something.”
“Damn,” Layla remarks.
“Gotta love the small-town drama,” Dex adds. He sounds almost bored.
I sense some movement from the side and watch as they all move to the couches in front of me. Now I have a clear visual of everyone and don’t feel like a creep listening in on the conversation.
Except now, everyone’s quiet. Zoned out on the movie. I close my eyes for a few minutes as Kayla pulls at my hair, pinning half of it up.
When I finally open them again, my eyes instinctively lock with Dex’s. He was already watching me, a blank expression on his face.
After a pause, I avert my gaze back to the TV.
“So,” Layla says, “should we go out? We’re already all done up. It would be a shame to waste it.”
“It wouldn’t be a waste. Not for me.” Liam pulls her into him.
“Pass,” I say .
“What? You are passing? Why?” Layla looks at me, shocked. As if I don’t enjoy a night in now and then.
“I don’t always like to go out, you know?” I answer, glaring at her.
She squints back at me, her mind working behind that gaze. “Fine then,” she finally concedes.
“Oh, come on. Jackson isn’t here, no one’s doing anything, let’s just hit the bar for an hour. Grab some greasy bar food.” Liam adds.
“Yum,” Layla says sarcastically.
As if on cue, everyone turns to look at me.
I let out an exaggerated sigh. “Fine.” Then I glance over at Kayla, who’s putting the finishing touches on my hair. “Do you want to join us?”
“Oh, that’s okay. I’m only twenty, so…”
“Oh,” I laugh. “I’m sorry. I had no idea.”
We thank her as she packs up her things to leave, and twenty minutes later, we’re all dressed and heading out. Dex meets us there in his truck.
As we walk up to the same bar I was at the other night, Layla wraps her arm through mine. “This was a good idea. I’m glad you caved.”
“Yeah. Except for Daniela trying to be a bad influence on minors,” Dex laughs.
“Shut up.” I suppress a grin. “I had no idea she was so friggin’ young! She does makeup and hair really, really well. ”
Everyone laughs as we make our way inside. I take a seat next to Layla, and Liam sits beside her, with Dex on the far side.
“Hey, it’s the girl from Delaware!”
Great.
It’s the same bartender from the other night, and he’s grinning right at me.
Everyone leans over the bar to look down at me, confusion on their faces. Layla laughs because she knows me best.
I roll my eyes and wave them off. “Long story.”
The bartender laughs it off. “This must be the famous soon-to-be bride and groom.”
“We’re famous around here? Cool,” Layla jokes.
We order drinks and a couple sides of food to pick at. The boys get caught up watching some game on TV, and Layla and I talk on the side. I can’t really hear anyone else anyway.
After maybe twenty minutes, I notice two young girls on the other side of Dex, chatting him up.
Of course.
He is hot. I can’t blame them.
I turn my attention to the screen, trying and failing to get invested in whatever’s going on there. I have nothing against sporting events; I’ve just never gotten into them before. Maybe because I didn’t have the typical dad who had a different game on every evening at home .
“Great game,” Layla remarks beside me as she shoves a fry in her mouth. She’s watching it too. Kind of.
She looks at me, and we both laugh.
When I lean back a little farther in my fit of laughter, I accidentally catch a better look at the girls over by Dex. Their attention is fully on him, but he keeps glancing at the game, or at Liam. He doesn’t seem to be paying much attention to them.
I sip my drink and take in more of the scene. It’s more of a sports bar than anything. There’s no loud music, no dancing. Just people sitting around watching the TVs.
I’m starting to feel tired and am about to call it a night and get a ride home when Dex stands up first, announcing that he’s heading out. The girls who were beside him are now walking off, looking less than happy.
“Are you guys ready to go?” I ask Layla quietly.
“Oh, come on, you guys,” she says much louder, looking between us. “We came all the way here.Let’s all stay a little longer.”
I pause, looking at Dex, who glances around, rubbing the back of his head.
“Okay.A little longer.”
“Darts?” Liam asks.
“Um…” I hesitate.
“It’s easy,” Layla assures me. “We’ll show you.”
A couple of minutes later, I’m standing in front of a bullseye with three darts in my hand. They made me go first. I feel like an idiot. Then again, how hard can it really be?
Hard.
On my first throw, the dart smacks the wall, completely missing the target, and flops to the ground in a pathetic spiral.
“This is great.” I roll my eyes.
“Just aim the pointy part.”
“Thanks Layla. Not very helpful.”
Liam laughs.
“Aim the pointy part?” Dex looks at Layla, amusement all over his face.
“Yep. That’s what I do,” she says proudly.
“I’ll try again. It’s fine.”
Another miss. At least this time it hits the target—sideways still.
“Already getting better,” Liam encourages me.
Please.
Dex looks at me, the teasing smile gone from his face. “Do you want a couple pointers?”
“Nope. I’ll figure it out.”
“Okay.”
The last one is another dreadful miss. This game is dumb.
“It’s okay. That was a practice round. It was your first time”
“Thanks, Layla. ”
They explain the rules to me, then decide Liam and Layla are one team, and I’m with Dex.
Layla is hit or miss. She has random amazing shots mixed with some flops. Liam is more consistent. Dex is damn near perfect.
“Are you sure you don’t want any help?” Dex asks.
“No, thank you. I like to figure things out on my own.”
“I respect that,” he says quietly, standing close beside me. His smell is even sexy, damn him. “But the thing is…Liam and I get really competitive with each other—because we’re a couple of stereotypical guys that way—so I kinda need us to win.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“I know.”
I concede and let him show me how to place my elbow, how to move my forearm and wrist. And then he places his large, veiny hands over mine, the one holding the dart. I clear my throat and pull away after a moment.
“Okay. I get it.”
“Okay.” He gives me a reassuring smile.
I roll my eyes. It’s hilarious how into this silly little game they get.
Then I release the dart, and it actually hits the board. Granted, it’s very close to the edge, but I’ll take it.
I instinctively jump in celebration, then curse myself immediately after .
“Great job.” Dex is leaning against a table, arms crossed, giving me a proud smile. Ugh.
I hit the target two more times.
It’s a close match, but we end up edging them out, much to Layla and Liam’s dismay. I hadn’t realized how competitive they could get. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this side of Layla before. It’s kind of funny.
I’m glad Dex doesn’t try to high-five me or anything. That would be awkward. He simply flashes me a proud smile and offers some encouraging words after every turn.
“Okay, well, I really am getting tired now,” I mutter through a yawn. “Can we call it a night?”
“Yeah, I’m ready too,” Layla agrees.
As we head out, Dex falls behind with me. He glances over at me with a smirk.
“What?”
“So…are you going to admit that you had just a little bit of fun?”
“Never,” I reply.
He chuckles to himself, chin down and hands in his pockets. “Okay.”
We reach the parking lot, and he glances at me once more. “Goodnight,” he says, then walks to his truck, waving goodbye to Liam and Layla.