AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Jeez, this snowballed faster than I'd anticipated. Knocking the heel of my hand against my head, I glanced around the room for inspiration. Anything. Anything except I want to do your friend, not you, and I feel terrible about that and don’t want to keep stringing you along. “Uh, that's really not fair to you, Le.”
“Look, I want you, Riley.”
“I, uh…”
“I'll wait. I wouldn't have touched anyone else if I knew it would piss you off.”
“I'm not! I'm not pissed off, Leon. I just…” my voice trailed off, mainly because I didn’t know what the hell to say. I'd never doubted he liked me; I just didn't think there was anything real there. I certainly didn't expect this much resistance. I didn’t want to hurt him.
“Please, Ri. Just give me a chance. Give us a chance.”
The plea in his voice struck me directly in the chest. What the hell have I done?
My mouth opened but struggled to form words. “I... I... can’t—”
He cussed down the line, anger and frustration bleeding into his tone.
“Leon?”
“You think I don't know what this is?” There was an edge to his voice I'd never heard from him before. My pulse sped up. Games of the heart were no fun.
“What, what is?” I mumbled.
He went quiet. The silence stretched until it became uncomfortable. Just as I was about to speak up, he did, his voice low and angry. “He doesn't want you. He messes with you because he can. Because you wind up like a goddamn toy.” He practically spat the words down the line, and I felt the threads of our friendship strain.
“Leon—”
“No. I get it. You think I don't see the way you look at him, fucking drooling? You leave a puddle every time you're in the same room, and not just from your mouth.” Uh, gross. “You see the girls he fucks? Who throw themselves at him? And what, you think if you dump me, he'll trade all that for you?”
His mocking laughter hit my ears, and a flare of anger dampened my guilt.
So, I'd hurt him, and he was hitting back. I accepted my part, but I wasn’t about to just sit back and take it.
“Wow. Guess you see a lot standing in his shadow, huh?”
“You bitch!”
“Yeah, well, you're being an asshole!”
“Yeah, well, you're a whore!”
“I'm a virgin!” I screamed.
“You're fucking frigid!” he shouted.
“Make up your mind, you fucking idiot!” My breath huffed and my fingers flexed. If he were here, I'd be throwing fists right about now.
“You know what? Go fuck yourself, Ri!”
“Well, I definitely won't be fucking you!”
The line went silent.
I exhaled heavily. Great! Just great. Well, you handled that like a pro, Riley. Goddamn.
I flopped back on the bed, springs poking me in various places, thinking about how this was all Reno's fault.
Five
