Page 58 of Wild Ever After
JADE
A couple of weeks later,post the kiss that I can’t stop thinking about, I go over to Scarlett’s house with the girls to hang by the pool and catch up.
“It’s been two weeks,” I say. “He’s definitely avoiding me.”
“Leo’s barely been home either. I don’t think he’s avoiding you.”
The guys have started meeting up at the arena to skate and workout together, so I know it’s not all about me, but even when he is home, I barely get a grunt out of him. He doesn’t sit in the living room and watch TV or ask me to hang out. He fills his few hours at home working on one house project or another.
“Tell me again, why you two can’t be a real couple?” Piper asks. “I love him for you. You two are cute together. He’s all tough and quiet, and you’re vibrant and fun. I think it could work.”
“I’m rarely the sane one, okay, but I feel like I owe it to him to make the right decision for us. I got him into this mess and I don’t want it to get worse. I owe him too much.”
Kissing him again was everything I thought I wanted until it happened. Knowing what he’s been through and how he’s made so much of himself, I don’t want to drag him down. I respect him too much for that.
“No.” Dakota shakes her head and lifts her sunglasses to rest on the top of her head. “You can’t take the decision out of his hands and claim it’s for his own benefit.”
I usually appreciate Dakota’s bluntness, but today, I scowl at her. “He doesn’t see how bad this could be.”
“I think Dakota’s right,” Scarlett says, glancing quickly at her. “Declan’s a smart guy. Maybe he jumped in without thinking it through, but he’s had plenty of time now to consider all possible outcomes. He wants you, and he doesn’t care if it makes it messier.”
He might not, but I do. “I’m living in his house, writing about how happy and in love we are. If it goes south—”
“Stop focusing on the negative,” Piper says, cutting me off. “What about if it goes right?”
“You’ve all lost your minds,” I say, but her words fill me with more hope than I’d like to admit. Is it possible we could make some sort of relationship work amidst all this?
“Are you still hung up on Sam at all?” Scarlett asks softly.
“Definitely not.” I’ve barely thought of him since the honeymoon. I feel some guilt for how it all ended, but I think he probably made the right decision. “I like Declan, but I don’t think it’s a great idea for us to start something right now.”
“Has he dated anyone since Crissy?” Dakota asks, pulling her shades down and lying back on the lounge chair.
“Who’s Crissy?” Piper asks.
They all look at me.
“I have no idea.”
Dakota hesitates, then says, “She was an intern a couple summers back.”
“I’ve never heard anyone mention her.” Scarlett sits up. “They dated?”
“I figured one of you had the details.” She lets out a breath before continuing, “All I know is that she is the reason that they put a ‘no dating players’ rule into the handbook for interns. They hooked up or dated, not sure on the specifics, while she was interning one summer. Then, something must have happened because she posted a photo of them together in bed on the team page with the caption, CHEATER. It was a whole thing.”
Piper lets out a little gasp. “Wait. Really? Declan?”
Dakota nods.
“Actually, you know, something Leo said makes sense now. I asked him if Declan had dated much, you know, getting the basic background check since this one decided to marry him.” She points to me.
“What did he say?” I ask.
“That he didn’t really know of many women Declan had dated, but that he tended to go after the wrong kind of girls. He must have meant her. What kind of person do you have to be to post something like that?”
“Maybe he really cheated on her?” Piper suggests.
A knot forms in my stomach. Not because I think he cheated. I’m still stuck on the idea that he goes afterthe wrong kind of girlsbecause, isn’t that what I am?
