“Okay,” I agreed, defeated.
“Loosen up, she’ll come around.” Ruby nudged my shoulder with her fist. I merely nodded, not feeling the most agreeable.
Work passed by in a blur. I ignored the girls hitting on me and pushed away Ashley’s advances all night. People milled in all night and all of their faces seemed to just mesh together. All I could think about was Leah and what Ruby had said. Leah ignored my messages yet again and it was eating away at me. I had to be patient and try not to scare her away for good, I told myself. The next night started off much like the previous.
“Bro, turn that frown upside down,” Julian chided me, as we stood at the doors. “You need to get out and stop thinking about this chick that has got you so bent out of shape and twisted,” he continued. “Tomorrow Ronnie is having a poker game. Come, relax and have a good time like you used to. Before this girl turned your world upside down,” he said. Julian was right, before Leah everything was good, fun, and easy. I needed to go back to that. It was just so hard because although things were hard and sometimes stressful, everything was amazing when I was with her. The only real issue that we had was that we never solidified our relationship, I had agreed to that and now it was biting me in the ass. I knew I should have stood my ground when she made the proposition or have said something sooner. That was on me.
“Yeah man, I’ll be there,” I agreed, needing to have some fun and distraction from the mess at hand.
“Speaking of the little devil herself,” Julian said, his eyes widening and mouth opening. I turned to see what he was talking about and found my eyes widening and jaw-dropping as well. There Leah stood, in a pair of strappy heels and a sexy red mini dress. Her hair was down and loose in a cascade of soft curls and her lips were a bright ruby red to match her dress. She was stunning, a true sight to behold.
“I get why she’s got you so worked up,” Julian stated, ogling her body. I elbowed him hard in the ribs, getting him to stop checking out my girl. “Not cool bro,” he groaned, rubbing his side.
Leah was with her two friends Anne and Jenny, and the mysterious guy from the pizza parlour. The guy was taller than all the girls but still at least seven inches shorter than me. He looked younger too, like he was close to Leah’s age. I didn’t like him and the way he kept looking at Leah. Like he was in love with her, like they were a thing. She’s mine, I thought possessively. I wanted to yell in his face as they approached and he put his arm around her waist and whispered into her ear, I nearly lost it right there.
“Chill out bro,” Julian whispered as they reached us. I continued to stare harshly at Leah and the guy anchored around her slim waist.
“Hey Leah.” I smiled, trying to hide the hurt. “Ladies, nice to see you.” I nodded, purposely ignoring the guy. They all smiled politely but I could tell they all felt the awkward tension, everyone but clueless Handsy McGee. I waved them in, feeling so stuck and not knowing what to do. “I’ll catch up with you later Leah,” I said pointedly to the guy, as he looked me up and down, sizing me up. Yep buddy, don’t even think it. It won’t end well. The guy stood no chance next to me. Leah looked at me and then the guy, clearly uncomfortable by the whole situation and gave me a small nod and continued in. What did she expect from me? I had controlled myself. Did she think it was okay to ignore me and then bring a date to my place of work and rub it in my face? Did she think I’d be okay with that? Because I sure as hell wasn’t. I was jealous as all hell and pissed.
The minutes went by agonizingly slow as I waited for the lines to let up and catch a break to go see Leah. I didn’t want Mr. Hands-A-Lot to be touching her all night, I needed to get to her and talk things out.
“I’ll be back,” I told Julian as I headed in finally, to go find Leah. I found her bright red dress easily and walked up to her long sexy legs. The guy with them stiffened upon seeing me and put his arm around her shoulders. Leah looked up at that and saw me coming, her calm expression turned to pain and I hated it. What had gone so wrong between us?
“Leah can we talk for a bit?” I asked, ignoring all the looks from her friends. The guy went to step forward and I was so close to knocking him the fuck out but Leah held him back and with a small sorry to the guy, she followed me outside to the cold refreshing air. We stood there staring at each other in silence for a few moments.
“Are you on a date?” I barked out, out of nowhere, surprising the both of us. So much for keeping my cool. The blood rose to her cheeks, turning them pink but she looked angry now.
“So, what if I am?” she asked challengingly. I was dumbfounded, I’d never seen this side of her and I didn’t like it. Leah had never been anything but kind and sweet, she was a gentle girl, not angry. “It’s not like I didn’t catch you on a date yesterday!” she shot back. I knew she had a fiery side in bed, it was clearly the same when she was angry too.
“It wasn’t a date!” I defended. “She’s just a
