Love Letters

The night was turning out to be nothing short of fantastic. The only problem was that both Roxy and Dalton were here—I knew they were secretly fighting when I wasn’t paying attention—and so was Ruby. That was the worst part. It was bad enough being around someone who didn’t like me but it was worse that she had shown up to my party when I just assumed it was for people that actually liked spending time with me.

Either way, I wasn’t going to let that get me down. With all of my guests and myself, we took up at least five separate tables that seated eight people each. There were a lot of people and going around to each one of them to personally thank them for coming was going to take up a lot of time. I sat with Andy, Trey, Pax, Dalton, Roxy, Ruby and Josie, who wasn’t really annoying me at all. She had been very quiet and composed, whereas before, she had been loud and constantly excited about something. But she looked nervous, so that was probably the reason.

“Oh my God,” Pax said, nudging me. “Look at that.”

I followed his arm to where he was pointing and my jaw dropped. A few tables away, Mr. Griffin and Ms. Anderson were sitting together at a private table. And this was a “reservations only” restaurant. He was wearing a suit instead of jeans and she had on this gorgeous red dress. That meant they were on a date.

“Wow! Mr. Griffin works fast,” Andy said, laughing. “At least we helped!”

“Do you think he would have noticed her if we didn’t intervene?” I asked, crossing my legs.

“Maybe,” Trey said, his arm around Ruby. “He knew she was alive and everything but I doubt he would have looked at her in a romantic way if you guys didn’t do something about it.”

“We just set up the place to meet. They did all the rest,” Pax said. “Technically, we didn’t do anything.”

“Well we started it,” Andy replied with a shrug. “That’s what’s really important.” And then she whipped out her camera.

After the waitress arrived and we were waiting for our main dishes to arrive, enjoying casual conversation, I excused myself and slipped off to the bathroom to do a makeup touchup. Andy had taken so many pictures in such a short period of time that it had nearly blinded me and I was positive that my mascara had smudged when I rubbed my eyes.

As I fixed it up in front of the mirror, I thought about Dalton and Roxy. I was surprised that they weren’t bickering but I could tell by the evil glares she was sending him—and he was returning—that they weren’t happy with each other’s presence at all. I had assumed that they just agreed to stay relatively civil for the night, as not to cause a scene, but I wasn’t about to ask, just in case that started something. I was also surprised that Andy hadn’t bitched out Roxy or the other way around. It wasn’t like they were on good terms. Any verbal communication tonight between the two of them was going to be considered a “rare event”.

When I was about to turn around to leave and head back to the table, I saw through the mirror that Ruby had stepped into the bathroom. She put one hand on the wall beside the door and the other on her hip. I turned around to face her and plastered a smile on.

“Hey, what’s up?” I asked. “Are you having fun? I’m glad you could make it.”

She shook her head swiftly, her hair falling over her shoulders. “Let’s cut the crap, okay? I know you heard me that night.”

Ruby walked around me to the mirror and ran her pointer finger over her bottom lip. Then she looked at me, and I was still struck for six, trying to think of something to say to her. I couldn’t come up with anything.

“Look, I’m not going to bother to apologize to you, because I know you’re just acting nice to me for Trey’s sake, but I’m not going to pretend that we’re friends. I’m not fake so if I don’t like someone, I’ll let them know,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Then why didn’t you tell me when you and Trey first started dating?” I asked.

“Trey and I have been together for a while now, Karlee,” she replied, speaking down to me like this was something I should have already known, like I was a child. “You don’t think I’ve brought it up before? I asked him to spend less time with you because you two are always seeing each other but he didn’t let up. He said some crap about how he’s not going to choose between his best friend and his girlfriend. I thought maybe he had a thing for you; I don’t know.” I raised my eyebrows, surprised. “Anyway, that’s when it started. You never bothered me before, until that point. But I think that if it ever came down to it, we both know who he would choose.”

I said nothing.

She looked back at the mirror and pushed up her bra.

“If you only came to confront me about my relationship with Trey, then maybe you should leave,” I said, crossing my arms. Ruby turned to me again and smiled.

“I’m not a stereotypical bitch, Karlee,” she said. “I know you probably think that I’m about to rip your hair right off your head and say ‘stay away from my man’ but it’s not like that. I just want more time with my boyfriend, and that’s why I came tonight. We both dislike each other, we can agree on that, can’t we?” I didn’t even have a chance to reply because she walked passed me but stopped by my side and leaned close to my ear. “Oh, and uhm . . . happy birthday.” Then she left.

I groaned and ran my fingers through my hair.

Andy walked in then and raised her eyebrows.

“Are you okay?”

“No,” I mumbled, throwing a hand towards the door. “Why the hell was she even invited?”

“Who, Ruby?” I nodded. “She’s Trey’s girlfriend. It’s common knowledge that wherever he goes, she follows. Even if she doesn’t like you, she’s going to try and get all off his attention off you and onto her. That’s the way those girls operate.”

“I’m so sick of this,” I mumbled, digging my fingernails into the bathroom counter. “She’s making it out to be a bigger deal than it is. It’s not like Trey and I are seeing each other behind her back or anything. She knows I like Dalton so why is she bothering to tell me to stay away from Trey? He’s my best friend. I wouldn’t do that for anyone and I certainly wouldn’t do that for her.”

“She’s territorial,” she replied, shrugging. “Just ignore her. Trey’s attention is on you tonight and so is everyone else’s so she’s just going to have to suck it up, okay?”

“Yeah, you’re right,” I sighed. “She could at least make an effort to be a little bit nice. I’m working on my side so it shouldn’t be that difficult for her to even it out.”

“Karlee,” Andy said, putting her hands on my shoulders and giving me a light shake. “Ignore her and enjoy your birthday.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

“Now get out there,” she added, shoving me out the door. “Everyone’s waiting for you. The waitress brought a cake and it’s time for you to blow out your candles. Make a wish!”

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

“Dude, you know I can’t dance,” I laughed, wrapping my arms around Trey’s neck as his slithered around my waist. He grinned.

“Neither can I, so it works out in the end,” he replied.

“We’ll look like fools.”

“That’s okay.”

I smiled and looked around. Once we had finished eating, all of the party guests and a few others in the restaurant got up and made their way to the hardwood dance floor, where a jazz band was playing on a platform in front. Then I saw Ruby glaring at Trey and I from the side.

“Your girlfriend is giving me a very nasty look,” I said. Trey looked over. “Do you want to go dance with her instead?”

“No.” I raised my eyebrows. “I mean—look, I’m not going to just leave you here on the floor by yourself. You’re the birthday girl and I asked you to dance, not the other way around,” he said.

“Are you sure? She’s you’re girlfriend. She’s going to get angry.”

“Well, she can suck it.” I burst out laughing and Trey’s eyes went wide. “Oh God. I didn’t mean that. Imagine if she heard me.”

“She didn’t but I did,” Dalton said from behind Trey. He laughed and shook his head. “Can I steal her away from you for a second or two?”

“Sure.” Trey gave me a wink and a nudge on the hip and walked over to Ruby. I watched him leave as she wrapped her arms around his neck and planted her lips firmly against his. I couldn’t watch anymore, and turned back to Dalton.

“What’s up?” I asked. “Did you want to dance?”

He shook his head. “I can’t dance. I’m like Bambi on ice.” He took my hand and intertwined our fingers. A shiver shot up my spine just from the smallest touch. “Let’s go for a walk.”

I followed him stiffly. Dalton Tanner was holding my hand. Just over a month ago, the longest conversation we had was when he asked me for a pencil and now he was holding my hand, opening the door for me and pulling me out toward the beach.

“Are we allowed to leave?” I asked, looking over my shoulder. “We haven’t paid yet.”

“They won’t notice that we’ve gone anywhere,” he said, shrugging. “There’s like five hundred other people in there. And we’ll go back soon; I just wanted to get some time alone with the birthday girl.”

I snickered. “That makes me sound so childish.”

He smiled and turned to face me full on. “So listen,” he began. “Roxy told me you liked me.”

My eyes went wide. I was going to kill her.

“She . . . she did?” He nodded. “Since when do you guys talk?”

“Before you showed up,” he said. “She just kind of told me. I don’t know why but she just blurted it out.”

I covered my face in my hands, embarrassed. I could feel my face heating up by the second. “Oh God,” I moaned helplessly. I was considering running away to avoid the humiliation of having to look him in the face but if I did run, then I’m sure I would look like an even bigger idiot.

And now, Dalton was laughing so it made it even worse. He took my hands off my face and lowered them to my sides. “What are you hiding for?”

“Because it’s embarrassing,” I whined, turning to walk away but he grabbed my arm now and pulled me right against him. As if my face wasn’t red enough; he was just making it worse and I was positive he was aware of it.

“I wasn’t finished what I was saying before,” he said, smiling.

“Stop doing that!”

He chuckled. “I’m not making fun of you. What I wanted to say is that I’m . . . also interested.”

I froze. “What?”

His smile turned crooked, like he was embarrassed now. I wasn’t feeling so bad anymore.

“Wait, so you like me?” I blurted, disbelief evident in my voice. “But . . . how is that possible?”

Dalton laughed. “Should I not?”

“No! I mean . . . how?”

“Well if I didn’t like you, why would I ask you out on two dates?” he said, tilting his head to the side. “You’ve fairly oblivious, aren’t you?”

“Just a bit.”

He cleared his throat and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I didn’t want to ask you if you wanted to actually go out with me, like boyfriend and girlfriend because I know that Roxy would be hounding your ass for weeks until she somehow would manage to convince you to break up with me. That, or she’d tell you horror stories about us and I’d much rather date you if she was okay with not. I’m not so sure she is.”

“Yeah, she’s not,” I said, shaking my head. “She hates you.”

He shrugged. “Fair enough. I’m not too fond of her either. I’ve tried dropping hints to you for ages now but . . . well . . . it’s water under the bridge now.”

“What is?”

“You and Trey,” he said, frowning. “Ruby told me he kissed you.”

I shrieked loudly and walked in a circle. Dalton looked shocked. “Nothing happened!”

“Really?” He appeared to be angry now. “Then why would she say something did?”

“Because she hates me.”

“Why?”

“Well my best friend is her boyfriend,” I stressed, digging my nails into the palms of my hands so deep that it left marks. I felt that I was about to puncture skin soon if I didn’t unclench. “I swear, nothing’s going on with Trey—nothing ever has. He’s just my friend but everybody thinks we’re crazy about each other and we’re not.”

“Wow.” Dalton let out a deep breath. “There’s so much drama, it’s driving me crazy.”

“Well Ruby’s full of crap, okay? I know she’s your friend and everything but she’s lying. She knows I like you and she’s like . . . out to get me. Roxy thinks she likes you too.”

Dalton’s eyes shot wide open. “Ruby?”

I nodded.

“No way,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m not interested. She’s like my sister. I’ve known her for way too long to consider her anything but that.”

“Same with me for Trey.”

He nodded. “Okay, then why are we discussing this?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know.” He laughed and took a step closer. “You really like me back? Like, you’re not just playing some kind of practical joke? Because that’s not funny.” He shook his head, took another step. “Your sister didn’t put you up to this? Maybe like some kind of personal vendetta against my sister—”

“Karlee,” he said quietly. “When a guy tells you he likes you and then continues to get closer to you in an effort for something to happen, some good advice is to not say anything to ruin it.”

“Are you planning on kissing me?” I asked shakily.

He didn’t answer, just leaned down and pressed a very light kiss on my lips. It could hardly even constitute as one because it was like a prelude to a kiss, like touching lips with a ghost. But the fact remained that even from the simplest of contact, my body was on fire and my legs felt like they were about to give out. It may have only lasted a few seconds, but it was already one of the most exhilarating moments I ever had.

“Roxy and Ruby are staring through the back,” he said, running a hand down my arm. I shivered. “Otherwise, I would have kissed you better. They’re like hawks.”

It was a bad time to laugh, but I did.

“Nothing happened, if she asks,” I said. “I don’t want them to kill us.”

Dalton nodded and put a hand on my back, turning me around and walking back up the beach to the restaurant. If he took my hand, that would be too dangerous and we would surely be entering the dead zone with that move. He knew too, so he kept his hands to himself.

“Why did you kiss me if you don’t want to date me yet?” I asked quietly when we started to approach them. I could see clearly now; both girls had their eyes narrowed. I wasn’t sure if Roxy was protecting me from her ex, or keeping tabs on Dalton to make sure no girl had her hands on him, but I knew that Ruby was keeping an eye on him. There was no way she was going to watch after me when she basically wanted control over every guy in her life.

Dalton looked down at me and smiled. “I did it because I want you to know what you have to look forward to.”