Page 10 of The Through Duet
She glanced back at the table really quickly before looking back at me.“It’s just...well, Koen’s been looking over here, so I just figured...you know...”
I wanted to laugh; seriously, I did.While she was playing matchmaker in her head, she had no idea that he was looking over here out of guilt and/or pity.However, that was one of the best things about Leandra, if you asked me.She wasn’t a malicious person, so it never occurred to her that other people might not be just as genuine.In fact, it was only Dalton who seemed to bring out the worst in her.
“He came over here earlier to remark on how well I play pool, Leandra,” I told her.“He’s not interested in the way that you think.”
“And even if he was, Rya’s not going to ditch me for dick,” Dalton added, almost making me wince at the coldness in his voice.“I mean, how rude would it be to make plans with me, then leave me to go hang out with perfect strangers?”
“I didn’t ditch her,” she argued, shooting him a glare.“Rya said it was okay for me to-”
“Okay, that’s enough,” I said, refereeing the two.“There’s no need to point fingers about anything when we’re all just here to have a good time.”
“Well, she can go have a good time with her new friends, and we can have a good time playing pool,” Dalton replied, and I could tell that he was annoyed enough to mean it.
Turning back to Leandra, I said, “Lea, it really is okay.Go ahead and have a good time.”
She looked upset, but I also knew that she was going to do her best to pretend that Dalton hadn’t hurt her feelings.“Yeah, no...that sounds good.”
As soon as she left to go back to the other table, I turned to look at my best friend.“Was that really necessary, Dalton?”
“Was offering you up like some kind of last-resort solution necessary?”he countered.
“That’s not what she was doing, and you know it,” I chastised.“She was just trying to include us.”
“Includeyou,”he corrected.“As far as she was concerned, I was free to entertain myself with some random woman.”
“Can we just get back to the game?”I asked as I shook my head.
Dalton grabbed some chalk before walking around the table, but before he got ready to take his next shot, he said, “Maybe she’s not wrong about Casanova.Between coming to talk to you and continuing to look over here, it’s very possible that he’s interested in a little more than you just teaching him how to play pool, Rya.”
I couldn’t help but choke out a humorless laugh.
Yeah, right.
“Okay, let’s suspend reality for a second and say that he is interested in...in some quality time,” I said.“His last name is Wilder, Dalton.As in Wilder Technologies.”Dalton’s brows immediately shot upward.“As in the son of Ashford and Patricia Wilder.As in-”
“Okay, okay,” he chuckled softly.“I get it.”
“Yeah, exactly,” I drawled out.
“Well, better for me,” he replied with a grin.“I get to kick your ass in pool and avoid any complications tonight.”
It really was on the tip of my tongue to point out that he was just as complicated, but I didn’t.
