Page 61 of The Through Duet
Anyway, all that to say that I hadn’t been surprised when a few people had recognized me walking into the room, and my popularity was also going to work in my favor if the redhead sitting on my lap was any indication.I hadn’t been here twenty minutes before she had walked over, sat down next to me, then gave me some story of how I’d done one of her friend’s tattoos.Now, whether true or not, it didn’t matter.My dick needed to relieve some tension, and if she was up for it, then I was game.
“You know, nobody would miss us if we slipped out early,” she said, her finger running up and down my chest.“I’m also pretty sure that the birthday boy is too drunk to even care right now.”
Since I never took women back to my place, I asked, “Are you okay with a motel?”
As soon as her dark eyes flared, I knew that she wasn’t.She wanted to matter, and so taking her to a random hotel room would make her just like all the rest.Of course, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if she skedaddled on her way, but I really had been hoping to get laid.
“A motel room?”she echoed.“Honestly, I would have thought that you could afford better since you’re friends with Koen Wilder.
My entire frame stilled underneath her.“I’m sorry, what?”
Oblivious to my tone, she said, “Well, I saw a post a couple of weeks back, and you were with Koen Wilder and some girl, and the post was about their matching tattoos.”
I knew exactly what she was talking about.A couple of weeks back, Koen had wanted to get Rya’s name tattooed on him, and because she hadn’t been able to talk him out of it, Rya had gotten his name tattooed on her.Now, because it’d been Rya’s first tattoo ever, there’d been no question that I’d be the one to do it, and so after deciding on a font that they both liked, I had inked up a design to make the tattoos match, and that had been Koen Wilder’s marriage proposal, though Rya didn’t know it yet.
Needless to say, with the way that Koen adored Rya, he’d wanted me to post a photo of them with their matching tattoos, basically announcing to the world that he was in love with the girl, and that anyone who didn’t like it could go eat a bag of dicks.
So, I had posted the picture, but had been smart enough to disable the comments, because no matter what Rya looked like, no matter what she did for a living, and no matter that she was my best friend, Koen Wilder was rich and good-looking, and jealousy and hate were just too easy to spread on the internet.
Unfortunately for my dick, the girl kept talking before I could correct her.“I mean, the tattoos are awesome work, but I still can’t believe that Koen Wilder is dating such a nobody.She’s not even a pretty nobody, which blows my mind.Koen Wilder can have any girl that he wants, so how did he end up with a girl that’s so plain and...well, she’s not skinny.”
I could feel my jaw tightening as she prattled on, and I just didn’t fucking get it.I didn’t understand tearing down someone’s appearance just for the sake of being catty.This girl didn’t know anything about Rya, but that wasn’t stopping her from talking shit about a complete stranger, and for what?What could she possibly gain from judging their love story?I mean, I knew that jealousy existed in the world, but you’d think that people would leave that kind of shit behind in high school.Instead, this female was talking crap about the one girl-besides my grandmother-that I’d ever loved in my life, and for no fucking reason at all, not a one.
Refusing to entertain this shit much longer, I said, “Well, I’m not friends with Koen Wilder.I’m actually friends with his girlfriend.Best friends to be exact.”
The second that my words registered, her eyes widened with embarrassment.“Oh...uhm...I...”
I put my hand up to stop her stammering.“I think you need to get off my lap now.”
“Oh, no...”she rushed out.“I was just...I’m sure she’s a sweet girl-”
“Get off my fucking lap now,” I said, making sure that there was no mistaking my tone this time.
Smartly, she quickly scrambled off my lap, clearly looking horrified, but I didn’t care.Rya was my best friend, and the last thing that I’d ever let anyone do was talk shit about her.
I stood up, and as Rachel stared up at me, I said, “Thanks for the conversation.Honestly, had you not opened your mouth, I might have made the biggest mistake of my life.”
She gasped as I walked away from her in search of Gary.Now, while we weren’t the best of friends or anything like that, it’d be rude of me to leave without telling him since he’d been the one to invite me.Besides, it wasn’t his fault that Rachel Whateverherlastnamewas had turned out to be a cunt disguised as a sexy redhead.
Once I found Gary, I told him that I was leaving, and though he looked disappointed, he didn’t make a big deal about it, which I could appreciate.It’d been enough that I had showed up, and I knew myself enough to know that I was no longer fit company for others.Rachel had pissed me off, and she’d done it in a way that I needed to take my ass home.
The second that I walked into my apartment, I locked the door behind me, then headed straight to my bedroom to begin removing my clothes.That was one of the best things about living alone; I could walk around in my boxer briefs at random if I wanted to.
Sitting my ass on the bed, my phone chimed, and when I saw who it was, I let out a tired sigh.
Blondie:There’s a fundraiser for Paws & Pets next month.R u interested?
To her credit, Leandra was a real animal lover, and so she was always up on any local events or fundraisers, and though Precious Pets always donated a few primpings, there’d been a few times when I had donated a tattoo session for anyone interested.
Me:Sure.I’ll send u the details later
Blondie:Awesome!Thanks!
Me:Did u let Rya know?WT might want 2 donate
Blondie:Great idea...I’ll text her 2morrow
Now, while I was certain that Wilder Technologies had a list of regular charities that they donated to, if it was important to Rya, then it was going to be important to Koen.So, if nothing else, the animal rescue charities might start getting some real help.After all, no twenty-something needed billions of dollars at his disposal if he wasn’t going to do anything with it, and Koen Wilder was a billionaire, even though Rya liked to live in denial.
