I should’ve been okay with her leaving, but it left me unsettled. I tried to tell myself that it was because she ran out in the middle of a storm, and that the uneasy feeling in my gut was nothing more than concern for her safety. However, even I knew that it was a bunch of bull. The problem was…I couldn’t do anything about it.
What I could do, though, was go check on her to make sure she was all right. That would be the proper thing to do. It would also give us an opportunity to talk without the hormones and sex-fueled thoughts that had made us blind to reality.
I had a feeling that we would likely not see each other much after this, and the last thing I wanted was to have it all end on this note. Especially after we were able to get past the confusing attitude issue from the other day.
A couple of minutes after she fled, I gathered up the courage to go after her, for the sole purpose of understanding. I was prepared for the worst, hoped for the best, and prayed that it didn’t prove to be the most awkward moment of my life.
The back gate hung open—much like it always was, which I’d found odd. I thought security was important, especially for someone who was kind of a celebrity. Setting the lack of protection aside for a moment, I was grateful she was careless, because it gave me a way in instead of going around to the front. As soon as I made it to the patio, I found Dave outside, with a bottle of beer in his hand. If Tiffany had told him anything, then this could go all sorts of wrong for me.
“Hey,” I said, sounding out of breath even though I wasn’t. “Is Tiff inside?”
“Yeah.” He took a swig of his beer and then pointed to the small outdoor fridge next to the built-in grill. “Want one?”
“No thanks, man. I’m okay.”
As if he hadn’t heard me, he leaned down, grabbed a bottle from the fridge, twisted off the top, and handed it to me. “Here, take one anyway.”
I felt like I was walking into the lion’s den, except this lion was particularly welcoming. Which could go one of two ways, and I wouldn’t know which one until it was all over. Either way, liquid courage was a good idea, so I took it, chugged a quarter of it, and decided to feel him out to see which way this would go.
“Did she say anything to you when she got home?”
He shrugged. “She gave me a brief overview. I don’t know details, but she said she kissed you, and then you humiliated her and threw her relationship in her face.”
Well, he knew what had happened, and now he’d probably beat my face in. Although he didn’t seem to be a fighter. But you could never let your guard down around nerds; they were some of the most passionate people I’d ever met. I stood in a stance and got ready, just in case. “Listen—”
“Would you have handled that differently if she weren’t with Adam? Or anyone, for that matter? Would you have pushed her away if she were single?”
I lifted one shoulder and took another pull of my beer, needing a moment to contemplate my answer. Mostly because that hadn’t been the line of questioning I’d expected. “If everything else were exactly the same other than her being in a relationship, then no, I wouldn’t have pushed her away. However, that doesn’t mean I’d want to be with her, either.”
“Why not?”
I held out my hand and gestured to the opulence that was Tiffany’s house, that was Tiffany’s life. “This isn’t my scene. There’s a reason I live in my sister’s pool house rather than inside the main house. I’ve lived this before…I don’t want it again. She has cameras following her around. I want nothing to do with that. She hangs out with the rich and famous. Again, things I want nothing to do with.”
Dave hummed to himself while he swayed in thought.
“And before you ask how I would feel if she gave all this up, don’t. It’s a waste of time to even consider it. We’ve known each other for two weeks, have hung out only a few times—and one of those times she treated me like dog poo on the bottom of her very expensive shoe. So it’s a preposterous thought