Ari felt Selina poke her on the ribs.
"He likes you, you know," Selina whispered in her ear.
Ari smiled, welcoming the ego boost that covered up her gloom.
Dylan might prefer to be with Pretty Miss Rosie, but he wasn't the only man in the world.
CHAPTER NINE
Dylan groaned as he tried to get out of bed. The dull throbbing in his head reminded him of the miserable night he'd had. What exactly possessed him to get himself drunk?
Ari's face floated in his head.
Ah, yes. Guilt. Shame. Remorse. Or whatever else the discomfort in his chest was called.
He slumped back in his bed and pulled the covers over his head.
Last night hadn't been all bad. He'd been entertained by Trey putting Rosalie through the ISAG. Trey was really good at it, and Rosalie had no idea she was being tested. She'd passed, but it was a moot point because he wasn't interested in her.
Well, at least it wasn't Ari in Rosalie's shoes last night. That had been his whole intention for the last two weeks. He was hell-bent on proving to Trey and Adam—and, yes, to himself—that Ari wasn't anyone special.
Except that he couldn't get rid of this...this...heavy feeling that sat on his chest.
Why the hell didn't anyone warn him that Ari was going to be at his parents' last night? He was already feeling bad for not returning her call. Ari must have thought he was done with her when she saw how Rosalie stuck to him like glue.
But he wasn't done with her. He just didn't want Trey to annoy her.
Okay, in all honesty, he just wasn't ready for the emotions she stirred up in him. Damn it, they scared the shit out of him. The first and last time he'd let a girl in, he'd gotten so soft he'd almost lost his and his friends' money. Thank God no one else knew about his stupidity besides Trey and Adam. It was something he would never live down.
I sure as hell am not going to be that insane again.
The pounding in his head grew harder. In the fuzziness, an idea flashed brightly.
He should let Ari go through the ISAG. He was only fooling himself by pretending she didn't affect him. If she passed, he could re-assess the situation and decide what next step he wanted to take.
Good. That was a way forward. He hated getting stuck.
In the meantime, he had to talk to her. The feeling of wanting to explain about Rosalie was swamping him.
He reached for his phone and rang her. Disappointment welled as he got her voicemail.
"Hi, Ari, it's Dylan. Could you give me a call when you get this message, please? Thanks."
Would she call him back? He certainly hoped so.
*******
"What do you want, Adam?" Dylan growled at his phone.
"Someone's in a bad mood," Adam commented dryly.
"Sorry. I have a massive headache. So what do you want?" he repeated.
"I'm five minutes away from your place. Can I drop by?"
Dylan cursed to himself. He wanted to be alone today.
"Is it important? I'm not feeling too well."
"You and me both," Adam replied despondently.
He picked up something in Adam's voice. "You okay?"
"Hell, no."
He sighed. "Fine. Drop by."
*
"Coffee?" Dylan asked as Adam plopped himself on the couch like a defeated man.
"Yes, please."
Dylan busied himself with making coffee as he waited for Adam to open up.
"It looks like you were right about Sandy," Adam said after a period of silence.
Dylan sucked in some air and released it slowly. He joined Adam at the sofa and handed him his steaming mug.
"She'd been buying all these things with her credit card," Adam continued. "Then she made noises about having unexpected expenses and how she hated not being able to pay off her credit card in full because then she would have to pay interest. She was quite subtle—not asking me for anything; just complaining. Fool that I was, I offered to lend her money to pay off her card so she wouldn't accumulate interest.
"That was more than a month ago. She hadn't mentioned paying me back even once. Then this morning after we had breakfast, she dragged me to the shops so she could buy a present for her niece who's having a birthday today. She bought her niece a bracelet which I thought was too expensive for a five-year-old, but hey, that's none of my business. Then she spotted some diamond earrings she wanted. She dropped hints about how she didn't have enough credit on her card to afford them. I ignored her and she stomped off, muttering something about me not being sensitive to her needs," Adam finished with a heavy sigh.
"Did you have a fight?" Dylan asked.
"Kind of. We didn't talk in the car and she jumped out when we got to her place. I just drove away and came here."
"What do you plan to do?"
"I don't know. I have feelings for her, but her behaviour has me questioning her intentions. This isn't an isolated incident, but you already know that. You've been warning me all along."