I woke up not knowing how long I had been passed out, but seeing Della’s pale blue eyes staring down at me, made me really not care. She bit down on her lip, her head leaning on her propped up elbow, one leg draped over mine. I couldn’t wait until I woke up to this every day. The only problem that I could see with it was my dick might possibly get broken. I mean, really, how could it not? I wanted her constantly whenever we were together, and now, that time would probably be doubled.
“I need to get going.” She traced a finger over my arm and I groaned.
“Then quit touching me, princess, or I’m not letting you go anywhere.”
“Oh, sorry.” She pulled her hand away, holding it up defensively as she rolled her eyes to the ceiling. “I’ll keep my hands to myself then.”
“That really doesn’t sound like a very good idea.” I made a grab for her and she moved to the edge of the bed, but not quickly enough. I wrapped her in my arms, not ready to let her leave. “C’mon don’t go yet.”
She pursed her lips at me. “You know, that puppy dog face is almost impossible to resist but…if I don’t show up at the house, I’m pretty sure all three of them will come hunt me down and ruin all of our fun anyway. So….”
“Fine.” I loosened my arms and she brushed a kiss across my lips before crawling out of the bed and searching around the room for her clothes. “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”
“What do you mean?” she asked after she pulled her tank top over her head and began combing her fingers through her hair.
“Don’t even bother playing dumb.” She looked away from me, bending down to put on her shorts, taking an extra-long time in doing so. “I know you, Della, better than I know myself.” I got off the bed, tipping her chin up when I reached her. “What’s wrong?” I repeated.
She huffed loudly, shaking her head. “It’s not a big deal, really. I just…you know I hung out with Nash last night, right?”
How could I forget? I had been driving myself to the edge of craziness last night thinking about it, but I hadn’t wanted to question her about it today. That would make it seem like I didn’t trust her and I did. It was him that I didn’t trust.
“Well…” And then she proceeded to tell me everything that went down. And then I began to get pissed off. And as she continued on, I started to get angry—beyond angry really, I didn’t even know what word could describe what I was feeling. I was shaking by the time she was finished, that’s how bad it was.
“I can’t believe that motherfucker said that to you. I’m going to beat the living shit out of him.” Somehow, through my livid state, I managed to stroke her hair and place a kiss on her nose. No matter how pissed I was, I still felt like I needed to soothe her. His words had hurt her to the core. And then he dropped the ‘let’s be friends’ bullshit again. I knew that was coming. Really, it didn’t surprise me. What surprised me the most was that Della stood up to him.
“I felt like a five-year-old telling him we can’t be friends anymore.” She rolled her eyes, swiping at a couple of tears, and I wiped off one that she missed with my thumb. “So is this where you tell me ‘I told you so.’”
“Never,” I said against her cheek. “This is where I go find that douchebag and beat the shit out of him.” I pulled on a pair of boxers and shorts, slipping a shirt over my head as I walked out of the bedroom. “C’mon, I’ll drop you off at home.”
“Justin,” she called out in a warning tone, trying to catch up with me. “Just leave Nash alone. He’s out of my life, so he doesn’t matter.”
“Della,” I replied through gritted teeth, picking up my keys and holding the door open for her. “What he said to you matters. I don’t give a fuck if he had one beer or twenty in him. No one talks to you like that. Ever.”
She groaned as she walked past me. “Don’t Justin. I’ll be mad at you forever.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’ll get over it.”
I CHECKED MY phone again, unable to stay focused on the movie the four of us agreed to watch while we sipped away on a very large pitcher of margaritas. I couldn’t stop thinking about what Justin was doing. We had a long talk on the way back to my house, and eventually, he promised to forget about Nash. I trusted him, but I wasn’t so sure that I could trust that he wouldn’t do anything to Nash. I know he was just upset and trying to protect me, but beating the shit out of Nash wasn’t going to solve anything.
“Need a refill?” I smiled at Mia, nodding my head as she filled my glass to the very top and then sat down next to me. “You know, I really am going to miss you, sis.”