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“Don’t worry, Danny, I’ll still keep you as my side chick, give you a snuggle when Emma’s not looking.” He squeezes me, and I quell the urge to laugh at them.
“I’m too much to be your side chick; I’m an all-or-nothing kind of guy when it comes to you,” Daniel replies without looking back. There’s a moment’s pause, and then his body language changes subtly as he changes tone. “Have you heard from Leila lately?” His voice is tense, and I catch Jake frowning at the back of his head rather pointedly for a moment.
“Why would you ask about Leila? I thought you two stayed very clear of each other?” Jake asks, sitting up. I know that look on his face, a dog with a bone sniffing out some little secret. Whatever he’s caught onto has piqued his Rottweiler mode.
“No reason. Just, you know, sometimes I wonder how she is.” Daniel places his food container on the floor and stretches out across the end of the bed, lifting his feet to get comfy.
“Okay, cut the shit. What happened with Leila?” Jake’s domineering, protective tone cuts in, and he picks up the TV remote and pauses the movie. He slides up, leaving me lying on the bed, and leans forward, arms braced on his bent knees.
Looking sheepish, Daniel sits up, hesitates, then blurts out, “I kinda did a shitty thing. Don’t go crazy. I know you’re going to want to go crazy but swear on Emma’s head.”
“Don’t you fucking dare!” Jake jumps to his feet beside the bed and stalks toward him menacingly, male testosterone flying now. “What did you do?”
“Look, maybe we should take this elsewhere. I mean, I know Emma and Leila are kinda close.” Daniel’s stalling, hands up defensively, and Jake looks ready to start going twelve rounds with him.
“All the more reason she should know. Because if Leila needs a shoulder to cry on, then I’m pretty sure she would choose Emma over me. Spit it out.” Jake is mad, and Daniel hesitates, eyes darting to the floor, fidgeting with the chopstick in his hand. He sighs heavily.
“We had sex … and then I kinda bailed out and didn’t call her again.” Daniel at least looks sorry, his complexion losing all color. I tense, and Jake goes stiff, his fighter mode engaging, before he stalks away angrily, pacing around and muttering a string of curse words as he clenches and unclenches fists.
I’m shocked that Leila would even look at Hunter, let alone sleep with him. I’m devastated that he would treat her that way, and the urge to call her hits me monumentally in the stomach. I glare at him with severe hatred.
“What the fuck? I told you to stay away from her. You don’t think you hurting her once was enough? Of all the women to fuck around on, she isn’t one of them.” Jake is yelling, his voice tense, and waving his hands at Daniel. I sit biting my lip, nervous about the unfolding scene, confused that Jake’s implying this isn’t the first time Daniel’s hurt her. I want to punch Daniel in his smarmy face.
“I know, okay? I was a complete shit. I didn’t know how else to deal with it.” Daniel is also pacing in the opposite direction; they keep bypassing each other at the foot of the bed.
“You deal with it by not fucking sleeping with her. Did you learn nothing when you did it the first time around? You ripped her fucking heart out!” Jake is furious; Daniel even seems nervous of his rage. They’re doing some male walk-around dance in a circle now, with a lot of heightened tension. I almost choke on the thought that he and Leila have been together twice in that way. I can’t imagine it at all.
“I know, I know! Okay? Leila’s like goddamn kryptonite for me. I want her, but when I get her, I want to run for the hills, man. You know me. I didn’t go out to intentionally hurt her; it just happened.” Daniel slumps down on the bed, and Jake looks exhausted, his anger drifting away quickly as his friend crumples, forlorn.
“How did it happen? You swore …” The two of them sit down on the end of the bed side by side, and I watch intently, silently sending daggers with my eyes into the back of Daniel’s head.
Asshole!
“I know. We were drunk, partying … you know how it is. And you know how she is, all fun, smiles, and flirty, and then she kissed me. That’s all it took.” Daniel gets up and runs a hand through his hair. “Leila is too good for me. I know that. I can’t help myself, though. I haven’t talked to her since. Jake, maybe you could ….”
“Hell, no! Not this time. You do the decent thing, and you talk to her. You man up, and you tell that girl you’re sorry. Stop being the asshole you always make her think you are.” Jake gets up too, and they face each other.
“I don’t know what to say to her.” Daniel looks lost, and they stand silently, mulling it over, staring at one other, Daniel wary and Jake furious.
“Can I just intervene? Daniel, Leila would probably feel a lot better if you just sent her a text and said something like, ‘I’m sorry I’m an asshole.’ She doesn’t hold grudges. She’s not naïve, and if it was just a one-night hookup, then show her some respect at least. Treat her like a human, not a cast-off.” I still want to punch him in the throat for hurting my beautiful little friend.
“That’s the issue,” Jake says, turning to me with a look that seems deflated, “Daniel’s been in love with her since forever; he just can’t admit it to himself, so he acts like a prize moron instead.” He throws an accusatory glare back at Hunter.
I almost choke. I never imagined that the man-whore known as Hunter could give a crap about any woman, let alone love one. I was with them on the yacht; he had his porn star, and she was with one of Jake’s twin friends. Neither seemed to care that the other had a date.
“I’m not in love with her; she just makes me crazy.” He retorts, pacing away and then back again as though he’s unsure how to behave.
“Scared. I think that’s the word you’re looking for,” Jake says as he folds his arms across his chest and taps a bare foot, watching Hunter mull around.
“Shut up. It’s not love. I’m not scared. It’s just … it’s ….”
“Complicated?” I butt in and sigh with a smile when I see his nod of agreement.
“Told ya,” Jake smiles at me.
“Totally,” I sigh.
“What? What the hell does that mean? You two have some couple-y, inside language now, or what?” Daniel’s almost pouting as Jake and I turn to sigh at him a little sympathetically.
“I think I used the word ‘complicated’ maybe a dozen times to brush off how I felt about Jake,” I point out.
“I think it was more like thirty times for me,” Jake shrugs.
“Fuck’s sake. You two need to back off, okay? Leila is not the girl I’m in love with. Enjoy your Chinese; I’m going to hit the gym and then abuse your shower. I’m staying the night, so keep the noise down.” Daniel goes to storm off, but Jake halts him with a hand on his shoulder.
“Stay here, Bella,” he says to me while looking at Daniel, “I need to have some words with my so-called best friend. I won’t be long.” He leans down and kisses me, his hand smoothing my hair back, before he stalks out with Daniel, closing the door behind him. I exhale heavily, a weird trepidation in my gut.
I wait until everything goes quiet in the sitting room before pulling on more modest clothing. I pick up all the food boxes and arrange them on the tray the security guard brought them in on. I pad out of the room with the tray to the kitchen, lay it on the counter, and get myself a drink. I notice neither of them is in the open-plan space; they have gone to Jake’s game room, his room full of games consoles, boys’ gadgets, and all things I’ve zero interest in. It’s far down the hall on the opposite side of the apartment from Jake’s room.
I ponder what to do about Leila, whether I should call her or wait to speak to Jake first. She’s my friend, but all of this is widely outside my comfort zone and my knowledge of sex, love, and relationships. They all seem to have a history, and I know nothing until Jake returns. If Daniel is in love with her, then Jake needs to talk sense into him. Daniel needs to figure it out before Leila can hear from him. I ache for my friend, having been on the receiving end of heartache for the past few months, and agonize over how she must be feeling. I won’t do anything until Jake tells me more; I need details. I need to know what’s gone on between Daniel and Leila in the past to understand how they got to the here and now.
It’s been a long couple of weeks already. A wave of exhaustion runs over me; lately, I haven’t been getting enough rest, thanks to Jake and his eternal spark and over-potent libido. Maybe I should just hit the sheets early tonight and sleep. No doubt Jake will come back and watch the rest of his movie; he could use an early night too. Despite his appearance of boundless energy, there’s no way he isn’t as tired as I am.
Returning to the bedroom, I change back into his T-shirt and climb into bed, picking up a book from my bedside table, a light-hearted romance Leila gave me that never piqued my interest back then. It’s early yet, but it’s past seven, so going to bed isn’t exactly unheard of, and it’s not long before my over-exhausted mind drifts off mid-sentence.
* * *
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