“Okay, fine,” I said, frustrated all over again.“Do what you want, Leandra.”
Turning away from her, I went back to wiping down my chair, and it was a good thing that there wasn’t anything else left to do after my last client had left.I needed to get the fuck out of here because I wasn’t sure that I was strong enough to keep my mouth shut once Lynne’s gun started buzzing.
So, without another word, I left the shop, but as soon as my feet hit the sidewalk, I pulled my phone out, then dialed Rya.If Leandra had mentioned a tattoo to Rya, then I’d reconsider and go back to talk to her some more.However, if this was the first that Rya was hearing about it, then I’d know for sure that this was an emotional decision for her.
When Rya answered on the fourth ring, I got straight to the point.“What do you know about Leandra wanting a tattoo?”
“Huh?”she asked, and I cursed when I realized that it was past ten.
“Sorry for calling so late, but Leandra came into the shop, wanting a tattoo,” I explained.
“Really?”she asked but sounding a little more awake.
“Yeah, really.”
Confirming my suspicions, she said, “She never said anything to me, but I do know that her mother visited her earlier today, so I could see her wanting to do something impulsive to help her forget about the visit.Her mother’s awful.”
“Well, I suspected that she hadn’t thought this all the way through, so I wanted to call you in case I was wrong,” I confessed.
Rya let out a long sigh.“Dalton, sooner or later, you’re going to have to get a handle on this thing between you and Leandra.The back and forth isn’t healthy, and you both are driving me crazy.”
That got a chuckle out of me.“I’ll get right on that.”
“I’m serious,” she said.“I’ve never been around two people who needed to hate-fuck more than you two do.”
“Because you’re saying that she’d be okay with that?”I laughed, but her momentary pause had me stopping in my tracks.“Rya, what aren’t you telling me?”
“Nothing,” she lied.
“Rya...”
After a few seconds of silence, she said, “Do you honestly think that I’d be...beencouragingyou if I really believed that she’d reject you?”
“I think that you have a lot of fucking explaining to do, babes,” I huffed.
“Hey, her secrets deserved the same amount of privacy that yours do,” she chided.“The only reason that I’m even saying anything now is because you two really are driving me insane.”
“We’re going to talk about this more later,” I warned her.
“No, we’re not,” she replied primly.“You’re either finally going to do something about this situation or you’re going to learn how to stop being a dick.”
Well, okay then.
Chapter 9
Leandra~
With Rya and Koen finally agreeing on a house, today was their official housewarming party, and I couldn’t be happier for them.While Rya had wanted something smaller, Koen had found them something with an awesome backyard, and the second that he had mentioned pets, Rya had been sold.
Nonetheless, with both Rya and Koen having been living on their own for a while, they hadn’t been in need of anymore coffee makers, toasters, or soup ladles.So, rather than buy them stuff that they didn’t need, I had decided to get personal and paint them a canvas of their matching tattoos.
“This is so awesome,” Rya said as she held it up, examining it as if it belonged in a museum.“You know, you’re talented enough to take your painting professionally, Leandra.”
“I don’t know about all that,” I chuckled.“But thank you for that anyway.”
“I’m serious,” she insisted as she set the canvas aside.“I know you say that it’s just a hobby, but you could easily turn it into something more if you wanted to.”
“Well, we’re not here to talk about me,” I reminded her.“We’re here to talk about this awesome house of yours.”
