“You can sleep, Leandra,” he said, cutting me off.“You can sleep peacefully beside me, which will be more than enough.”
“It’s beginning to feel like you’re too good to be true, Dalton,” I told him, half-serious.
“I’m going to remind you of that the first time that I piss you off,” he chuckled.
Because of the uncertainty that clouded our past, I wanted to start fresh with Dalton.While I wasn’t naïve enough to believe that our history might not come back and haunt us from time to time, this moment felt right, and I felt right in Dalton’s arms.In fact, this entire night was one worth remembering on my death bed, and I thought that he should know that I wasn’t holding any grudges.
“Is it okay if I act like I barely met you tonight?”I asked.“Can we pretend like we’ve never fought before?”
“No,” he answered swiftly and surely.
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t deserve that from you, Leandra,” he said.“I have a lot that I need to make up to you, and I refuse to let you give me a free pass just because you’re feeling good right now.”
“I’m not holding any grudges, Dalton,” I told him honestly.“I hope that you’re not, either.”
“Baby, there’s nothing to hold against you,” he replied.“So, trust me when I tell you that I’m good on that end.”
Instead of arguing the point, I let his warmth swallow me whole, and I decided not to cause problems where there weren’t any.
Chapter 16
Dalton~
Now, because Leandra’s apartment wasn’t very big, the sounds of voices in the living room were enough to wake me up from another deep sleep.Plus, because my sleep schedule was so sporadic, it was easy for me to fall asleep on a dime, and it was also easy for me to fall into a deep sleep if I was overdoing it during the day.So, between Rya’s party and spending all night making sure that Leandra never doubted my feelings for her, it was safe to say that I could do with a couple of hours of more sleep.However, it looked like those voices in the living room weren’t going to let that happen.
I could also recognize Rya’s voice as if it were my own, so I knew that it wasn’t her in there with Leandra, and that’s what made me reach for all of my clothes.Granted, it wasn’t like I paraded around naked in front of Rya, but there’d been plenty of times when she’d seen me in just my boxers, having had our share of drunken morning-afters.
At any rate, as I was pulling my shirt over my head, that’s when I heard Leandra’s voice getting louder, and that had me quickly rethinking about joining her.She was clearly arguing with someone, and I couldn’t imagine who it could be.She didn’t have a whole lot of close friends, but then I remembered how Rya had mentioned that her mother was a bit of a pill.
Nevertheless, I quietly made my way to the door, then opened it slowly to shamelessly eavesdrop on the conversation.Now, while it was obviously none of my business, I no longer approved of Leandra being upset, so I had no qualms about stepping in if I needed to, even if it was her mother.
“I’m tired of having this conversation,” Leandra stated quite forcefully.“When are you going to finally accept that I am not touching that money.”
“You’re being ridiculous,” the other female voice replied haughtily.“That money wasn’t left to you just so you could give it all away to charity, and for animals no less.”
“Mother-”
“It’s time that you stopped playing understanding commoner, Leandra,” Mrs.Rollins said, talking over her daughter.“You are not a commoner.”
Commoner, really?
“Why can’t you just be happy for me?”Leandra asked.“Why can’t you be happy that I’m happy?”
“Because you’re better than some dead-end job, this tiny apartment, and just look at you,” Mrs.Rollins bit out.“Instead of using your inheritance to put your best foot forward, you look like you haven’t even heard of moisturizer.I mean...seriously, Leandra.”
“If you came here just to insult me, then you can leave,” Leandra told her, and I was surprised that she was able to stand up to her mother like that.Honestly, most people weren’t when it came to their parents.
“I amnotinsulting you,” Mrs.Rollins lied.“I am simply giving you some useful advice, and if you have any sense in that head of yours, you’d take it.”
“Even if I did decide to touch my inheritance, it wouldn’t be to buy a mansion or fancy car, Mother,” Leandra spat.“It wouldn’t be for facelifts, lip fillers, or whatever else you think I need.”
“You say that as if personal improvement is a bad thing, Leandra,” Mrs.Rollins huffed, clearly offended, which told me that she probably had regular appointments with a plastic surgeon.
“It is when it’s being pushed on you by other people,” Leandra countered.“I am happy with the way I look, Mother.I am happy with my job, my friends, my apartment, all of it...I’m happy with my life.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Mrs.Rollins scoffed, clearly refusing to take her daughter seriously.“How can you possibly be happy living such a mundane life?Do you know how many people would love to have access to your kind of money?Think of all the traveling you could be doing, Leandra.You could be experiencing different cultures and having real adventures to speak of.Instead, you wash animals for a living and then come to this...this place at the end of the day.”
