“Seriously,” he replied, his crooked smile in place as he laced our fingers together. “I got it as soon as I turned eighteen. I told you that you were like my sun when you came to visit during the summer. Every minute with you was an escape from my dad, so I think you deserved some recognition. I thought this was the best way.”
Wow, I couldn’t believe someone had a tattoo of my name on their arm. Even if that someone was Nash. “You really give me too much credit,” I said, hiccupping as I sank down to the floor with him. “I’m really not that great of a person. If you really knew who I was, you would probably be getting that removed right now.”
“Della.” His hand grasped my chin, forcing me to look him straight in the eyes, “People make mistakes sometimes, no one’s perfect. But to me you are. No matter what.”
I groaned and buried my head in my hands. “Why does everything have to be so serious with you, Nash?”
“What? Like that boyfriend of yours or whatever the hell he is?” He snapped out, standing up abruptly. “Sorry that I have some sort of feelings Della. Would you rather me be an ass all the time? He doesn’t deserve you.”
“And you do?” I snapped back. “Just because you broke up with your girlfriend, doesn’t instantly give you the rights to me, like I’m a piece of property that you can just snatch up. I know we’ve been friends for awhile, Nash, but maybe we’re better off just being that. Friends.” I stood up too quickly, the alcohol rushing towards my head. Sure I didn’t know where my relationship even stood with Justin. Maybe I just needed to stop dating all together so I wasn’t so confused all the time.
“Maybe we just aren’t meant to be right now,” I said a little more calmly as I gripped the handle that was holding me upright. I hated to see that hurt look on his face, but I just couldn’t deal with him right now.
“You’re right, Della. I think we both have some growing up to do before that happens,” he answered back quietly. “I promise, I’ll keep things strictly as friends from now on.” I rolled my eyes, not believing him for a second, but I guess I could give him a chance.
We walked back out to the party, and I instantly spotted Justin on the edge of the crowd. His eyes landed on me, and he gave me a tight smile, but it quickly disappeared when he saw Nash behind me. “I’ll catch up with you later,” I yelled to Nash as he took off in the opposite direction, but not before giving me a scowl. Just friends, yeah right Nash. I don’t think that existed in your book, with me at least.
Justin pulled me into his arms, kissing my forehead, as he wrapped me up tightly and gently rocked me back and forth to the music. His body felt oddly stiff against mine, and I looked up at him, his gray eyes staring down at me with a look I just couldn’t read.
“What’s wrong?” I asked as I took a step back.
He pinched his lips together, and I could see his jaw tic as he stared back at me before he finally answered. “Nothing. You wanna get out of here?”
“Um, sure,” I replied, surprised that he didn’t want to stay. Parties were normally his thing, and while I hadn’t been to one with him yet, I had kind of been looking forward to tonight if he had decided to show up. “Let me just find Callie and Zoey, I’ll be ready to go in a minute.”
“I’ll meet you outside.”
I found Callie who looked like she had even more than me to drink so far, she was a serious lightweight, and Drew was basically holding her up. I told him to pass along the message that I was leaving since she probably wouldn’t remember. Zoey was still dancing away, with a different guy again. “Hey, do you mind if I leave? Justin showed up, and I was going to take off with him.”
“Sure,” she panted out, her eyes glittering with an excitement that was normally absent. “I’ll catch a ride home with someone.”
“Awesome, text me if you need me.”
I found Justin outside, one leg propped up against the house, his head tilted towards the dark sky as he puffed away on a cigarette. I wrinkled my nose at the smell, but grabbed onto his hand. “I’m ready to go whenever you are.”
“Yeah, sure,” he replied absentmindedly, staring at the dark sky for a second longer before he walked quickly towards the road where his car was parked.
“Are we going back to your place?” I asked after getting into the car. The silence was uncomfortable as I tried to figure out what was going on with this strange mood he was in.
“Um…” he chewed on his lip as he pulled the car out onto the road. “Let’s head somewhere for coffee. You look like you could use it.” He looked at me sideways, giving me a slight smirk as he turned out onto the main road.
My head was starting to clear, and I didn’t feel as wobbly, but coffee sounded good so I didn’t question it. I had only been to Justin’s a few times. He lived by himself about fifteen minutes away from campus in a tiny house.
“So what’s going on?” I asked after the waitress had brought over two cups of coffee and a piece of pie for me.