AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It might help if you yourself found someone new to play with.”
I grimaced. “I’m not ready for that. I couldn’t welcome another guy hitting on me.” I’d only be annoyed that he wasn’tthe man I truly wanted, and it didn’t seem fair to play with one dude when my mind was on another.
“So, then, we’d shove away any guy who tried his luck.”
“A perfect solution. But it wouldn’t solve the problem of how much shit would go down if I saw Danton with someone else. If it makes me weak to need a little time, well, it makes me weak.”
“It doesn’t make you weak, it makes you human. You were in an arrangement with him for over six months. It’s only natural that any possessiveness you felt toward him has lingered some.”
“Natural, yes, but unfortunate.” I munched a little harder than necessary on a handful of popcorn. “And highly irritating.”
“It’ll pass.”
“And I look forward to the day where it has. Hopefully it won’t be too far off in the future.” I doubted it would be. Generally, it never took long for me to ‘get over’ a guy. Then again, my exes hadn’t mattered to me on the same level that he did. Ugh.
Briar let out a weary sigh. “I wish there was something I could do or say that would make you feel better.”
My chest warmed. “You’re a good friend, Briar. I adore you for caring. But you don’t need to worry about me so much. I’m finding this hard, yeah. But I’m not devastated.”
“You said youcried.”
“It was a teeny, weeny cry. There’ve been no more tears since Saturday. I’m not in a pit of misery. I’m not feeling the need to mope or have a pity party. But I’m also not yet ready to go back to the basement. I need more time away from Danton. It’s only been, like, six days.”
She exhaled heavily. “Okay, sweetie. If this is what you really need, I’ll back off. I just worry about you.”
“I know.” Which was why it was impossible to be frustrated with her tenacious attempts to coerce me to head out for the night. “But I’ll be fine. Really.”
“He’s an absolute fool for letting you go.”
“Oh, totally,” I agreed before chomping down more popcorn. “I almost feel sorry for him.”
She softly snickered in amusement. “He’ll miss you. I guarantee it.”
Doubtful. Though he might miss the sex. Or, at least, my ego would like to think he would, since I’d certainly miss it.
“Have you told your family that it’s over between you two?”
“No, not yet. I’m going to take advantage of this time that Jorge considers me out of bounds.” He’d called a few times asking for information about Danton’s personal business, and he hadn’t been happy when I’d reported that I knew nothing. He hadn’t pushed too hard, though. Well, he wouldn’t want to chance that I’d get so mad I’d tell Danton, who had explicitly warned him not to turn me into a honey trap. “It may seem like I’m hiding behind Danton—”
“You’re not hiding behind anyone. You’re just enjoying this peace while it lasts. Can’t say I blame you. I’d do the same.”
“I’m not looking forward to losing that peace. As soon as he finds out that Danton’s out of the picture, he’ll descend on me, demanding I fess up anything that I might have discovered. Worse, he won’t believe for one moment that Danton never spoke a single word to me about his private business.”
“And so Jorge will threaten to hurt Teresa if you don’t tell him whatever you know … which would be a major problem, since you truly know nothing.”
My gut roiling, I swallowed. “Yup.” I grabbed my glass of wine from the nightstand and took a sip. “Any beating she endures will be for nothing.”
Briar puffed out a breath. “Either Danton didn’t fully think it through when he told Jorge that you two were ‘involved,’ or he was so sure you’d fall in line with what he wanted that he didn’t consider you’d end up in this situation.”
“I think it’s the latter.” I set my glass back on the nightstand. “After all, he believed that my only reason for walking away was that Jorge requested something of me. If he’d known right from the outset that I had other reasons, I don’t think Danton would have made his presence in my life known to my family.”
Pausing, I rubbed at my forehead, groaning. “I should have told him everything that night I first tried to end it. I was too much of a coward.”
“Not a coward,” she softly insisted. “You were protecting yourself. We all do that where and when we can.”
I dipped my hand into my bowl again. “Whatever the case, I’m partly at fault for my current mess.”
“Personally, I think you should just pin all the blame on Danton.Iam. The pussy deserves it.”
