Dalton
~
She was pretty, built, and tall. In fact, she had legs for days, and they probably felt phenomenal wrapped around a man’s waist. Her voice was also not annoying, and that was definitely a plus if she was a talker in bed. Plus, I’d gone home alone the other night, so I was still due to get laid.
I was also pissed.
I was pissed, and it was either make nice with the blonde, or else go kick that guy in green’s ass for sending Leandra a drink.
It was an unspoken rule that you never assumed just friendship when the numbers were even, and had Leandra actually been my girlfriend, I’d be getting arrested as we speak.
“Well, while I appreciate the gesture, I don’t let females buy me drinks, sweetheart,” I told her. “So, what is it that you’re drinking, and where are you sitting?”
She smiled, and it was a cat-that-caught-the-canary kind of grin. “I’m drinking cosmos, and I’m over at the back table with a few of my friends.”
“I’ll be over in a bit,” I told her before finishing off my beer, then taking the one from her hand.
“I’ll be waiting,” she replied coyly before sending me a wink.
The second that she was gone, I looked back over at Leandra, and she looked visibly upset. “Are you serious right now?” she asked.
“What?” I replied coolly. “I thought we were making new friends tonight, no?”
“What happened to it being rude to approach a table when the numbers are even?” she shot back.
“What happened to being polite?” I countered. “After all, that’s all I was doing...being polite.”
“So, let me get this straight,” she said, her voice wavering a bit. “It’s okay for someone to hit on you while you’re minding your own business, but if someone hits on me, then I asked for it. Is that right?”
“The difference is that I’m leaving Rya in the company of her boyfriend and friend before I run off to get fawned over by some random pussy,” I shot back, making Leandra’s head jerk back as if I’d slapped her. “I’ve never abandoned her to ride some asshole’s dick.”
“Dalton-”
“She can fight her own battles, Rya,” I said, cutting her off. “Or can’t you?”
Leandra stared at me for a few seconds before she finally looked over at Rya and Koen.
“Thanks, guys. I had a really good time, and we definitely need to do dinner again, Rya.” No one said anything as she jumped off her chair, then grabbed her purse.
“But I think it’s time for me to leave. I drove, and I’d hate to get a DUI. ”
“Uhm, I’ll call you later,” Rya said, doing her best not to add any extra fuel to the fire.
“Yeah, okay,” Leandra muttered before heading to the front door without another word.
However, as soon as she reached for the door, Rya was saying, “Seriously, Dalton?”
Setting the fresh beer on the table, I decided to go after her because I didn’t like Rya being upset with me...or, at least, that’s what I told myself.
When I pushed the door open, I looked around to see Leandra nearing her car, and so I actually ran after her, not really knowing what the fuck I was doing.
All I knew was that she made me fucking crazy, and I didn’t know why.
It shouldn’t be this hard to be her friend, but she just kept doing things that didn’t vibe with me.
I reached her just as she was about to open her car door, and my hand slamming it shut had her looking up at me in surprise. It was clear that she hadn’t expected me to come running after her, and she’d have no reason to think that I would.
“What do you want, Dalton?” she asked when she finally got over her surprise.
“Rya’s upset,” I said, and though it was the truth, the look on her face made me want to take the words back.
Leandra let out a hollow laugh. “Well, Rya will get over it. After all, like you said, this isn’t anything new for us.”
“Christ, why can’t you just be a friend?” I asked, frustrated beyond what I normally felt around her. “Why does it always have to be you and some random guy? Why can’t you just hang out without batting your goddamn eyelashes at every guy that walks by?”
Her mouth dropped open at that. “Are you...are you serious? Is that...is that what you really think of me? Do you honestly think that I...that I shake my ass for attention? That I only use Rya for company until someone shows me some interest, and then I just ditch her?”
“I just know that there’s always some guy whenever we go out together, and more often than not, I’ve shown up to find Rya sitting alone,” I told her honestly.
Fire replaced the hurt look in her eyes as she said, “But then that’s all you would see. From the moment that Rya introduced us, you’ve never given me a fair chance.”
“That’s not true,” I denied, even though there was a little truth to what she was saying.
“It is true,” she insisted. “From day one, you identified Rya as some sort of...of emotional victim, and you’ve always judged me for not treating her the same way.
Your hero complex is all about coming in to save her, and instead of giving me credit for acknowledging that she’s strong enough to have a beer on her own, you keep accusing me of being a shit friend to her, and I’m not a shit friend to her. ”
“Look-”
“No, you look,” she practically yelled. “If you don’t like me, I’m fine with that, Dalton.
But what I’m not going to let you do is sabotage my friendship with Rya.
I love her just as much as you do, and I’m not going to let you keep punishing me for not seeing her as some fragile damsel in distress when she isn’t one. ”
Just then, the door to the bar opened, and we both turned to see Rya and Koen walking our way, and the worried look on Rya’s face was killing me.
Now, while Rya wasn’t necessarily a victim, it was obvious that she’d never had any raw, honest, painful conversations with Leandra about her past experiences, and why would she?
No matter how much Leandra may love her, how would someone who looked like Leandra ever understand Rya’s self-esteem issues?
“You guys okay out here?” Rya asked when they finally approached the car.
“We’re good,” I lied. “Just clearing some things up.”
“Are you sure?” she asked. “Don’t lie.”
“We’re good,” Leandra echoed, falling in line with my lie. “Just clearing up that it’s none of Dalton’s business who I go home with, and it’s none of my business who he goes home with.”
I wanted to fucking strangle her.
“Oh, okay...so, then...you guys coming back inside?” Rya asked.
“I’m not,” Leandra quickly rushed out. “I forgot that I’m supposed to meet my mother tomorrow for breakfast, and if I show up hungover for that, she’ll kill me.”
Rya automatically winced, and I knew enough to know that Leandra’s relationship with her mother was a complicated one. “Yeah, no...I understand.”
Leandra walked over to Rya, then gave her a hug and a kiss on her cheek. “I’ll make it up to you later. I promise.”
Rya hugged her back. “No problem.”
When Leandra stepped back from Rya, I said, “I’ll be back inside in a minute.”
“Yeah, can’t forget that you have that pretty blonde waiting for you,” Leandra drawled out, and if I didn’t know better, I’d say that she sounded jealous.
“Okay, well...we’ll see you inside,” Koen said, reading the situation correctly, though that was probably because he was the new kid on the block and not emotionally invested in our past the way that we all were.
As soon as Koen took Rya back inside the bar, I turned back towards Leandra. “Are we good, or do we need to continue this conversation at a later date?”
I watched as she let out a heavy sigh before saying, “We’re fine. In fact, we’re more than fine.”
I stepped to her until her back was pressed up against her car. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Leandra’s blue eyes were clear as day as she looked up at me.
“It means that I’m tired of your opinion mattering to me, and I’m exhausted, Dalton.
So, if you want to think that I’m some..
.some attention-seeking whore who doesn’t understand the concept of loyalty, then have at it.
As long as Rya knows the truth, then that’s all that matters. ”
Yeah, that bothered me.
That bothered me a lot, even when it probably shouldn’t.
“Sounds like we need to finish this conversation at another time,” I said, rejecting everything that she’d just said.
She let out another sigh before saying, “Suit yourself, but I’ve got to go.”
Reluctantly, I stepped back to give her some space, but it was clear that this thing between us was becoming toxic, and so something had to be done about it.
I also couldn’t let her go on thinking that I hated her, because I didn’t.