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“I can go out with whoever I want,” Troy says. “I’m not stupid enough to be tied down to some girl.”
“But you expect Tara to be tied down,” I say. “Or are you okay with her dating other guys?”
“Why are you asking?” Troy glares at me. “You got something to tell me, Sanders?”
“Hey, Troy, you want something to eat?” Sean says, sensing the tension in the room and trying to diffuse it.
“Later,” Troy says. “I want to know why Sanders is getting into my fucking business when he should be staying out of it.”
“It was just a question,” I say to Troy, keeping my eyes on him. “I’m trying to figure out why you can be with other girls but Tara can’t be with other guys. Shouldn’t it be—”
“Jake, let it go,” Sean says. “Who the fuck cares what they do? It’s between them.” He grabs the TV remote and turns the volume up. “Jake, you staying or leaving?”
“I’m going.” I get up, not looking at Troy as I leave.
Sean follows me outside to my car. “What the fuck was going on in there?”
“I’m calling Troy on his shit. He gets to do whatever he wants, but Tara can’t do the same? How is that fair?”
“It’s not, but why do you care? Why can’t you leave it alone?”
“Because it’s not right. Tara’s our friend, and Troy’s fucking around on her. That doesn’t bother you?”
“She knows about it. It’s not like he’s doing it behind her back.”
“That doesn’t make it right.”
Sean glances at the house, then back at me. “I know it’s her. You can stop lying to me.”
“What are you talking about?”
He lowers his voice. “You got something going on with Tara. I knew it weeks ago, and I told you then to stay away from her. But it’s obvious you haven’t.” He shoves my shoulder. “What the hell is wrong with you? Why her?”
I can try to deny it, but he won’t believe me. So I decide to fess up.
“Okay, yeah, I’ve been seeing her,” I say, keeping my voice down, even though there’s no way Troy would hear us out here. “She’s going to end it with Troy. She was waiting until he got back to town.”
“And then what? She breaks up with him and you two announce that you’re dating? You don’t think Troy’s going to figure out this started when he was still with her?” He shakes his head. “You really fucked this up.”
“Why are you acting like I’m the bad guy? If Troy gets to be with other girls, then Tara should be able to be with me.”
“You really think he’ll be okay with that? You heard how pissed he got when you asked him why Tara can’t be with other guys. Imagine how pissed he’ll be when he finds out she actuallywaswith another guy, and that it was you.”
“He’s not going to find out. Tara will break up with him, then we’ll wait a week or two before we tell anyone we’re together. We don’t even have to tell Troy. He doesn’t need to know I’m with her. It’s not like he’ll see us together. He never goes to that part of town.”
“Yeah, but he knows people who do. He has friends who deal up there. Supply all the colleges.”
“Fuck,” I mutter as I imagine Troy’s drug dealing friends coming after me. “Why didn’t you tell me that before?”
“Because you told me there’s nothing going on with you and her. And I was stupid enough to believe you. As far as I know, he hasn’t hung out with those guys for over a year, so you’re probably okay, but if I were you, I wouldn’t risk it. Tell Tara it isn’t going to work out and then go find someone else.” He glances at the house. “What about April? Would you go out with her if you weren’t seeing Tara?”
“Maybe, but Iamwith Tara, and I’m not breaking up with her. I love her.”
Sean stares at me, like he can’t believe I just said that. I didn’t mean to. It just came out, because it’s how I feel. When you love someone, it’s hard to hide it.
“Youloveher? You’ve only known her a few weeks.”
“I’ve known her since we were kids. And I’ve been seeing her for a month.”
