Loving War(87)

“Well I’ll be damned,” Raya says while crossing her arms over her chest. “You’re in love with him, too.”

That destroys my smile, and Rain’s eyes lose their momentary excitement.

“What’s wrong?” Ash asks, her eyes shifting from me to Rain. “Why do you look like someone just kicked you in the stomach?”

Forcing a smile that I don’t feel, I shrug. “Because I love him. Too much. Which is why I’m not willing to put my heart through a grinder again. He only thinks he loves me because he can’t have the girl he really wants.”

Rain curses while running a hand through her hair, and she begins arguing. She just doesn’t get it. She’d understand completely if Dane had been in love with me for eleven years before finally noticing she even existed.



***

KODE



“So you’ve talked to her?” Tag asks, still reeling over the fact that I’m confessing my love for Tria to anyone here that will listen.

Yeah, I’m making a bitch out of myself, but I’m determined to prove to Tria that she’s the one. The only one.

“Went to her house today,” I say, letting my eyes once again trail over to my girl. She’s frowning. Why does she look upset? Hell, why does everyone around her look so damn sad?

Resisting the overwhelming urge to go to her, I swallow back the disappointment. I was sure she’d be happier once she started hearing what was circulating tonight.

“And?” Tag prompts.

Reluctantly, I stop trying to read lips and return my attention to talk to Tag.

“And her fucking business partner opened the door in his boxers. She was in the shower, and he went in there. I had to get out of there before I punched a hole through the wall. I wanted to beat the fuck out of him, but I knew that would only piss Tria off, and I’m trying to get her back. So I played it cool, and left her in a way that would only inspire the right thoughts.”

Tag smirks. I hate that jackass smirk.

“You forgot to mention that part,” Corbin says, his eyebrow raising. “Were they—”

“Don’t finish that if you want to keep your balls attached,” I growl, already on the edge of losing my damn mind. Doesn’t he know better than to push me?

Corbin holds his hands up, surrendering, but he’s grinning like he just won a prize. Fucker.

Maverick walks up, and he hands me a drink. “You need this, Pretty Boy. That ugly scowl is going to mess up your reconciliation scheme otherwise.”

It’s hard to plot murder and force a smile for Tria’s sake.

Tria glances down at her phone, and I watch as she types in a message. Whoever has just lit up her screen has also lit up her smile. It’d better not be that beast that was at her place.

“Dude, you’re still scowling. You’re going to freak her out if you look pissed,” Maverick says, grinning like the dick he is.

This is torture. I only came here because Rain sent a text saying that Tria was coming. For some stupid reason, I thought spreading the word that I loved her would do the trick. Should have known I’d done more damage than that could fix.

“Tria doesn’t freak out when I look pissed,” I mumble.

It’s one of the many things I love about her.

“She used to,” Dale says as he joins us, his smile also too fucking big.

“That was before she started trusting me.”

And I shredded that trust with one mistake after another.

Deciding I need to loosen up, I chug the drink in my hand, and Tag goes to grab me another. I think they’re all trying to keep me in place so that I don’t go drop to my knees in front of Tria and beg like a motherfucking baby for her to take me back.

As soon as Tag returns with a new glass full of amber relief, a sight catches my eyes that has me grinding my teeth. That beast is here, and he’s scanning the crowd. That’s who sent her a text. He probably wanted to know where she was.

“Might want to hold him back,” Tag says, laughing. “Before he kills the guy he’s eyeing.”

I start to move, but Corbin really does start holding me back. Then Jamie Burton walks out onto the patio, joining Leo at his side. A few spurts of mocking laughter come in from behind me as I watch the duo slowly make their way toward my girl.

“Dude, you just went postal over a guy who really isn’t looking at Tria in that way,” Tag jokes.

“Narrow-minded dumbass. They’re probably just friends.”

I refuse to hope that Leo is on a date with Jamie. It just seems too good to be true, and with the luck I’ve had lately, I don’t see that happening.

Tria hugs Leo in greeting, and Corbin tightens his hold on me when I try moving again. She backs away to shake Jamie’s hand, and he laughs as they talk. Then Jamie leans over to Leo to say something in his ear, and I almost do a fucking cartwheel when he bites Leo’s earlobe like a lover’s nip. When Leo smiles like a fool with a crush, my anger flees to make room for relief.