Stay For Me - Megan Smith Page 0,23
in Toms River, about a half hour away. This night is getting stranger and stranger by the minute.
Eli
What are the chances that I run into her? Slim to none although I had an inkling of hope. I’ve felt bad since Friday night dismissing her the way I did but I was holding back what I really wanted to say to Brian. I needed him gone and if she had to go with him then, so be it. I don’t know the guy truthfully but I’ve heard of his friends and you know the saying, ‘You are the company you keep.’ I tried to take the higher road and introduce myself to him hoping he would be more comfortable with Layla working at Fierce. Jaylinn tried to warn me not to, to save my breath, but I didn’t listen.
The only words that were exchanged were, ‘She’s mine, stay the fuck away from her.’ Knowing that nothing I was going to say would change the direction of the conversation, I just nodded. I didn’t need to explain that I was aware and he had nothing to worry about. It would have fallen on deaf ears anyway. I could tell by the way he was watching her when we had the grand opening and I can tell now. He’s claiming what’s his.
I’m still trying to figure out what the fuck Layla is doing with someone like him though. I can tell he’s the kind who has another girl on the side. They’re missing the spark, the smiles, and the emotions of a relationship. There is nothing between Layla and Brian, anyone can see that if I can. I’m a pretty good judge of character, at least when it comes to jerk-offs. If he was so worried about her, he would be picking her up every night after work, but he’s not. He’d stop in more, keep her company, but he doesn’t. He doesn’t care about her so why is he keeping her around? Why put in the effort? Why is she staying?
“Eli?”
Shaking those thoughts away, “I stopped by Cooper’s to check on things.” I answer her question. “I just needed to clear my head a little.”
Erin had called me again last night crying and it’s weighing pretty heavily on me. She doesn’t understand why it’s so hard to find someone to love her. I don’t have those answers. I’m actually wondering why it’s so damn hard for me to find a decent girl myself. It kills me to hear her so upset. She should be worried about Sophia and not some damn guy. She thinks she’s going to grow old by herself and she doesn’t want that for Sophia. I don’t blame her there but she’s trying too hard.
“Everything okay?” Layla asks tucking her short dress under her legs and it’s suddenly all I can see. From the tips of her toes, her tiny ankles, her toned calves and her slender thighs, I take a deep breath, and let it out slowly. So much shit rolling around in my head but everything seems to stop now that she’s here. Everything becomes her.
It’s an unnerving feeling because normally I don’t give much of my time to a passing girl but with every day I find myself wanting to be around Layla. That’s never happened before. “Yeah, nothing I can’t handle. What about you? All dressed up just to come here?”
She shrugs and seems a little defeated. “I was supposed to meet Brian for dinner down the street but he never showed.”
My case in point, if he loved her, if he cared about her, where is he? What sort of man stands up their girl for a date? The feelings I have about Brian want to be vocalized to Layla, but it’s not my place and now wouldn’t be the time.
“That’s too bad.”
I slide my jacket off and place it over Layla’s shoulders. She’s not wearing enough clothes to be out this time of year.
“Purple looks nice on you.” Layla says softly.
I look down, forgetting I even wore a purple shirt today. “Thanks.”
My phone beeps with a message. I pull it out of my pocket and it’s a picture of Erin and Sophia making a funny face. I chuckle, glad that she seems to have pulled herself together, at least for now anyway. I message her back, ‘Goofballs.’ Before tucking my phone away again. I notice it’s nearing seven-thirty and if Brian didn’t show up for dinner she probably didn’t eat.
I clear my throat. “So