"Oh." That wasn't what I wanted to hear. I didn't know exactly what I'd hoped he was about to tell me, but I knew it was more along the lines of 'because I want you'. It was now more than ever that I loathed all the fairy tales I'd surrounded myself with while growing up. They were all lies setting up the female race for heartache and disappointment. "Well, he's gone now. I'm sure she's still willing to fuck you. The women around here are stupid like that." I shoved myself from his arms and walked to Gia.
"Switch positions with me?"
"Sure thing, Ella." She glared at Dace as she moved to my end of the bar. I threw myself into working hard but I could still feel Dace's eyes on me. For the rest of the night, I felt him watching me. He never left, but I refused to make any kind of contact with him. There was no doubt in my mind, I'd been hurt by Dace. I needed to be true to myself. My relationship with Dace would never be more than it was. We were friends - and he was a good friend. But that was all he could be. The flutters in my heart and the weak knees would have to go, because I couldn't handle the kind of humiliation I'd lived through tonight ever again. I didn't have it in me. Dace was a womanizer and I wasn't so foolish as to believe that I could ever change a man. Living on that kind of hope was like walking a tight rope over the Amazon. It was stupid and the probability of making it to the other side alive was hopeless.
Chapter 9
"Can I ask for a ride home?" I winced at Gia as I shoved my arms into my leather jacket.
"You don't have a car?" Her eyes were wide.
"Dace drove me." I rolled my eyes on a shrug. "He insisted."
"Dace drove you?" She scoffed. "On his bike?"
I nodded. "Yeah."
"Wow," she eyed me up as though seeing me in a new light. "I don't think he's ever allowed a girl on his bike before. And I know for a fact that he's never made a scene like the one he made tonight over Greg flirting with you. Ever." She shook her head in obvious awe and I shifted uncomfortably. "I don't care what you say, that boy is all kinds of warped for you."
I raised a brow, "Warped?"
"Yeah, totally damaged," she waved her hand looking for a better explanation. "Completely distorted over his feelings for you."
I held up my hand. "That's enough. I really don't want to hear it. I'm mad at him right now."
"Yeah," she ran a hand through messy red curls. "I would be too."
"About that ride?" I asked again and she laughed.
"Of course I'll drive you. Don't be silly!"
I breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks. I don't live too far…just by the university."
I walked with Gia through the hall toward the back doors and to my surprise Rex was still here. Did he never leave? The man was like a live-in doorman.
"Later, Rex." Gia waved and he looked up from his phone.
"See you tomorrow." His eyes registered on me and his tone turned gruff and accusatory. "Where are you going?"
"I'm taking her home, Rex." Gia threw open the back door and I waved, but Rex stood.
"Dace's driving you!"
"Nope," I shook my head. "I asked Gia for a ride and she said she could. You can tell Dace goodnight for me though, if you see him." I smiled sweetly as Rex's eyes widened.
"I'll do that, girl." He shook his head, running a hand over the bald surface before peaking back up at me. "But you know he'll be mad?"
I shrugged. "I don't care. I'm already mad at him."
Rex's eyes widened and a hint of a smile lit his face. "You're braver than I thought." He sat back down in his seat. "Good luck with Dace."
"See you later." I winked. "If I still have a job."
Both Rex and Gia answered at the same time. "You will."
I laughed as I followed Gia into the frosty October air. The stars were high in the sky and through the leather of my jacket I felt the bite of the chill. Suddenly, I was happy I wasn't letting Dace drive me. I couldn't imagine freezing my butt off for the next half hour as he drove. I'd be a worthy ice sculpture before I even got home.
Gia unlocked her car with the remote and we both dove in, hoping for warmth where there was only cold. "Shit it's cold out here."
"No kidding." I rubbed my hands together as I blew on them. My breath was visible. "Did you see Dace's bike?"
She shook her head, looking around. "I don't."
I laughed. "Maybe he left without me." I shrugged but the thought stung. "I don't care."
"You do." Gia wouldn't let me pretend. She wasn't the kind of girl who found fake appeasing or easy. "You care about him more than you know or care to admit."