“Sounds more like she’s avoiding me because she’s tired of me being a dick to her,” I countered, which we both knew was the truth.
“It’s a little more complicated than that,” she replied.“Whatever is going on between you two, it’s now officially a problem.”
“I’ll take care of it,” I promised.
“I think you’re overestimating your charm,” she snorted.
Despite the seriousness of our conversation, I grinned at the woman.“On the contrary, I’m quite charming.”
After a few seconds, she said, “You owe her an apology, Dalton.”
I wasn’t quite ready to concede to that just yet, so I said, “I owe her a conversation.”
“Dalton-”
“Nonetheless, I’ll make it right,” I repeated.“I promise.”
Even if I’d felt as if I’d done nothing wrong, it was still time to make things right for Rya’s sake if nothing else.I knew that Rya loved us both, and the constant bickering couldn’t be fun for her.Plus, I’d never want to put her in a position where she’d really have to choose between the two of us.
“Quit judging her would be my first suggestion,” she retorted.
“I already said that I’ll make it right,” I told her.“Now, instead of busting my balls, let’s get this party going and open your gifts.”
Rya chuckled.“Okay, you’re off the hook for today.”
With that addressed, I finally made my rounds, greeting everyone else and trying to forget that Leandra was not going to show up.I felt bad, and I could admit it.I hadn’t ever wanted it to come to this, but four weeks without seeing her was proof enough that it’d had.If Leandra was rearranging her life just to avoid me, then that was a problem, and maybe I did owe her an apology.
At any rate, there wasn’t anything that I could do about it right now, so I was going to enjoy Rya’s party, watch her open her gifts, then sit with her as she pulled up the shelter websites to start searching for her dream pets.
I was also going to make serious plans for dinner with Norman and Cynthia.In fact, we were long-overdue for a family get-together, and I found that I was eagerly looking forward to something with just us, though I had nothing against the Wilders.
Four hours later, all the gifts had been opened, the cupcakes had been a success, and Rya was chomping at the bit to finally adopt some pets to make her perfect life finally complete, and I’d never been happier for her.
Chapter 11
Leandra~
Even though it was a Saturday night, I had no desire to go out and mingle.So, instead of taking Rya’s advice and finding another guy to help me forget all about my feelings for Dalton, I was at home, sitting on the couch, watching Web of Lies on Investigation Discovery, and the more episodes that I watched, the more that online dating was becoming out of the question.
Seriously.
Here I was, in the comfort of my own home, and I was fresh out of the shower, my hair thrown up in a messy bun, my face free of makeup, and an old Care Bears t-shirt, cut-off sweats, and fuzzy socks keeping me warm, but I still kept checking the door and windows whenever I got up to go pee or get something to drink.The fact that all the shows on ID were derived from real-life was scary indeed.It also had me reluctantly agreeing with Dalton about Rya or me visiting him at Blood & Ink after the sun went down.
Of course, I could have opted for a happier channel or program, but the intricate details of investigating work fascinated me enough to have to sleep with the lights on if needed.While most of the stories were harrowing and sad, I wasn’t a big fan of trashy reality television, nor did I watch sports.
So, nestled comfortably on my couch the way that I was, my heart immediately began racing when there was a knock on my door, and then thoughts of polite serial killers who knocked rattled around in my head.I mean, seriously.Not only was it seven in the evening, but if a serial killer really was out to up his body count, why wouldn’t he just hit the first floor of the building?Why make his way up to my floor to possibly be seen by a lot more people?
Jesus, I needed to get a life.
Nevertheless, because I wasn’t stupid or naïve, I always checked the peephole before opening the door, no matter how safe my building may be.If nothing else, there was always a good chance that it could be my mother, and I definitely needed to prepare myself anytime that she ever came over.So, looking through the peephole always helped me to bide some time before dealing with the woman.
However, as I squared my eye up against that little hole, I saw that it was Dalton standing on the other side, and right now, this wasn’t much better than a visit from my mother.Now, while I had no idea why he was here, it didn’t matter.He was here, and I figured that I might as well get this over with.
As soon as I opened the door, Dalton walked past me, not even waiting for an invitation, which shouldn’t surprise me.After all, having been here before, he probably assumed that he’d always be welcomed, and as long as Rya was in the picture, he was right.
“Why weren’t you at Rya’s party today?”he asked, getting straight to the point.
“No, sure...come on in,” I drawled out as I shut, then locked the door because Web of Lies was still airing on my television.
