Chapter 79

She repeatedly blinked, then she licked her lips and turned her face to the side. That's as as close to a confession as she was going to get. I sat up in my knees and took off my shirt, then I handed it to her and asked her to put it on. Otherwise my conscience would not rest , in all earnesty, I was deeply disturbed by the fact that she still had on Arden's shirt. She closed her eyes for a second, then she lazily took off the shirt and placed it aside, grabbing mine and putting it on.

" It's inside out, " I informed her after she was done, she glanced at it, then she shrugged dismissively and lay back down. 

" I have to go, " 

I couldn't stay there for too long, if Arden woke up and got curious then there would be no way to explain things. She shrugged once more, I hated the fact that she was trying to shut me off. She was making me do and say things I would never in a million years thought of doing. For me to tell her that I cared was a lot, I mean, I had never uttered those words to anyone other than Arden and perhaps his parents a couple of times. And those were the most important people in my fucking life.

It wasn't a lot but it was quite significant. If only she knew!

" Kiss me goodnight, " 

She looked at me, then she narrowed her eyes and probably tried to understand how my mind functioned, how I could be so random and inconsistent. And I'm sure she considered turning me down and plainly asking me to leave,but then she realized that the kiss would be for both our benefits. We both wanted that connection, we both needed to feel that surge of intensity that screamed to be felt. To scratch that itch that would only distract and infuriate us otherwise. So she reluctantly cradled my face in her hands and she pulled me slightly down for a kiss. And she was unable to hide her want, her need. Even when she was mad at me she still craved me. It wouldn't have been fait to deny herself the satisfaction.

" Sleep tight, " I told her, then I enjoyed her beauty for a bit longer before getting off the bed and switching the lights off. My mind was scolding me, yelling, asking me why I had to go. Why I couldn't just stay there with her.

Why I couldn't just make things easy for us both and speak up, but that wasn't going to happen. I had never been dependent on anyone to survive and I wouldn't start now.

Arden was still sleeping when I got back to my room, he had rolled over to my side of the bed and I let him stay there. 

Sleep was slow to come, I was busy wondering how we had come to that point, and how I was going to get my best friend to back off my girl.

🌼💮🌼💮🌼

LAYLA'S POV

Being a Sunday, one would think that it would be slow at the restaurant, but it was quite the contrary. 

Didn't people go to church anymore?

Apparently people liked to eat out at expensive restaurants and pay an insane amount of cash for coffee when they could have happily been sleeping in. I hardly got a moment to breathe, I had to prepare desserts while Carl stuck to the main course. We had worked on the appetisers together and gladly, they were done. I got into my usual groove, so it wasn't hard to get things done, all I had to do was concentrate on what I was doing and push all other thoughts away. 

But still, what was his problem?! 

Yesterday it dawned on me that all we would ever have was a stupid physical relationship. And in as much as I liked that, I wasn't satisfied. And I was setting myself up for some serious pain. He said he cared about me, and I believed that he did, but was that really all? Because if that was all then I was going to suffer, all I had to do was enjoy the pleasure, but no. 

I, like the foolish person that I am, went ahead and developed freaking feelings for the most arrogant man on the planet. He was probably going to forget my existence the second I left, yet I'd be stuck thinking about him every minute of the day because my mind couldn't let him go. He was messing me up, and I had known that something like this would happen, that I wouldn't be strong enough to prevent it, but I had decided to jump into the freezing water without thinking about the effects that would occur afterwards.

And now I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to go on with whatever the hell we had, I was too emotionally invested. I cared about that fool. I liked him, I liked him a lot. 

An astounding amount. 

And it hurt to think that to him I was just a pretty face that served to lighten things up for him. I wanted to be more, and knowing that I could never be hurt. The only problem was that he wouldn't be willing to let me be, he'd said just as much. 

One thing was for sure though, next time I saw him, I was going to halt any sort of advances he made towards me. He wasn't good for me and it was time I realized that. He had literally turned me into an entirely different person, and he expected me to just go ahead with whatever he wanted. 

Our relationship was definitely not healthy. Sighing, I took out the plates and began plating everything so that it could be ready for serving. And once I was done, I asked Carl whether he needed a hand, he looked at his work station and seemed to be thinking.

" I'm almost done, but you can get me some strawberries from the fridge, " I went and grabbed them for him, and on my way to hand them over I got a phonecall. If course whenever my phone rang he was the first person that came to mind. My social circle was really small and less than five people actually called me. I blew out a breath when I realized it was Cassie calling. I hadn't talked to her in quite a while, and I actually missed her. 

" Layla! How are you? Did you forget I exist?" We're the first words she said when I picked up, I chuckled, handing Carl the fruits and moving to a quiet corner to talk. 

" Of course not, I've just been busy with work. And things back at the house are really weird, " 

I had told her about Arden's parents immediately after he had told me, she asked me what was wrong and I told her that they were still staying with her, but gladly, they would be leaving today. I was actually expecting them to drive over to the restaurant before they left so that they could tell me bye. 

" Whoa, you must really feel awkward around them, I would if I were you. "

" Well lucky for you, you're not me. "

" Anyways, tell me how things with our man are going. "

By our man, she meant Gabriel. Despite being in a committed relationship, Cassie still had a crush on Gabriel, she told me that the last time she had visited me, she had hardly been able to focus on anything else. 

I glanced up at the ceiling, then I squeezed my eyes shut. 

" I don't know, I just, " I groaned my frustration and Cassie asked me what was wrong. But I didn't want to have to tell her over the phone. There was too much to say and I was still working. So I asked her whether we could meet up later on. My shift ended at six, thank God! 

" Yeah sure, I'll drive over there and pick you up after you're done. We could go out for pizza or something. "

" Sounds great, I'll see you then. " 

I was about to cut the call when she spoke.

" Oh, I almost forgot, "

" What is it?" 

" The other day, I was cleaning out my dad's office and I came through some papers, "

I wondered what that had to do with me, her dad and I had rarely ever talked. He had been nice and sweet but he had realized how reserved I was and had always refrained from trying to make conversation with me. 

" Did you know that Gabriel was the one that bought the store?" 

My eyes widened, then I frowned, knitting my brows together. Wondering whether she had just said what I thought she had. 

" What?"

" Yeah, his name was listed as the buyer. Strange huh?" 

I didn't respond, I was too busy thinking about the things that had happened in the past, coming to a lot of conclusions on my own. 

" Layla?" 

I pressed the fingertips of my thumb and forefinger to both my eyes, then I shook my head and tried to come back to the present.

That imbicle!

" Yeah, that's really strange, hey I really have to get back to work. "

" Sure, bye bye, I'll see you soon. "

" See you soon. "

I cut the call and let my hand fall to the side, and then I thought about the convenience store. I thought about that and other things as well, and I couldn't help but feel betrayed. I mean, I wasn't surprised or anything, it's Gabriel we're talking about, but that was just wrong. And knowing that he had done that only intensified my goal to end whatever we had.