“Why weren’t you at Rya’s party?”he repeated, and I hated how comfortable he looked in my home.He was standing behind the couch with his arms crossed over his chest, and he didn’t look fazed at all.
While it might have sounded childish, I said the first thing that came to my mind.“Why do you care?”
“I care because I’m not going to let Rya get stuck in the middle of this thing between us,” he answered, and I could swear that I could hear my heart breaking inside my chest.
I also should have known that Rya would be the answer.
“Well, you don’t have to worry about that,” I told him primly.“I’d also never do that to Rya.”
He gave me a tight nod.“Which is why you’ve been avoiding me for the past few weeks.”
“Yeah, well...it took me a while, but I finally realized that I can be friends with Rya without you in the picture,” I said, doing my best to sound strong and unaffected.“Despite how close you two are, Rya’s still her own person, and it doesn’t have to be all or nothing.”
Dalton cocked his head to the side a bit.“Is this about the tattoo?”
“No,” I answered honestly.“This is about you being a raging asshole, and I’m tired of it.You can not like me all you want, but that doesn’t mean that I have to suffer you treating me like dirt, Dalton.”
“I don’t treat you-”
“Bullshit,” I spat, years of resentment finally bubbling to the surface, and if he didn’t like it, then he could leave.After all, I wasn’t the one who showed up at his house-uninvited-demanding answers like I had the right or something.
“Leandra-”
“I’ve never done anything to you, Dalton,” I said, talking over him.“And while it’s perfectly okay to dislike me, it’s not okay to be rude to me.”
“I’ll give you that,” he said, surprising me.“But don’t stand there and act like your behavior has always been above criticism, Leandra.”
That straightened my back.“When have I ever said that I was perfect?”
“This isn’t about being perfect,” he shot back.“This is about knowing better, and I know for a fact that you know better.”
I arched a brow.“Are you sure about that?”
“Oh, baby,” he scoffed, and I hated how I liked the sound of him calling me that.“That dumb blonde act might work on all your clueless frat bros, but I know that you’re far from dumb.”
My heart began racing with the backhanded compliment.I was so used to being dismissed as if I couldn’t possibly bring value to any conversation, but Dalton was calling me out on it, letting me know that he saw more than most people did when looking at me.
Refusing to acknowledge that, I said, “I still don’t understand why you care.After all, Rya seems to be okay with it.”
Just then, screaming could be heard throughout the living room, and Dalton immediately started looking around, trying to find the source.When he finally realized that it was coming from the television, I could see him visibly relax, and that hero complex of his really was sexy.
“What in the hell are you watching?”
“Web of Lies,” I muttered, suddenly a bit embarrassed.
“Web of what?”he asked as he turned back to face me.
“Web of Lies,” I repeated.“It’s a show on Investigation Discovery about the dangers of meeting people online.”
“Not morbid at all,” he drawled out.“And why are you watching such a program?”
“I was...I was contemplating online dating,” I told him, even though that was no longer an option at this point.
The look that he shot me would have sent a weaker woman running, but since I was used to his rough edges, it didn’t faze me at all.Plus, we were in my house, so if anyone was going to be scurrying to the exit, it was going to be him.
“What?’
“I was thinking about online dating-”
