Chapter 16
Dane
I was walking along the promenade, enjoying the sun on my back and the sight of the turquoise sea sparkling, when I noticed Sydney and Leo walking towards me. They hadn’t seen me yet, and I was quick to notice how close they were to each other and I gulped. Last night’s sex was great with her, but it was also supposed to be a one-time thing. The very reason why I decided to stay on in Tramore was that things would be normal between us now. I hadn’t once considered that I would be jealous if I saw her with someone else.
And it wasn’t even like they were flirting, or holding hands. They were only walking together and talking, but from their body language…or at least Sydney’s; I could tell that she was giddy to be in his company.
Leo, friendly as before, waved when he saw me and the smile on Sydney’s face dropped. She looked sunny and bright in a yellow dress, with her long brunette hair blowing in the breeze. Her bare arms were slender and delicate, as she pulled the sunglasses of her face as we approached each other.
“Hey man,” Leo said and stuck out his hand to me. I shook it and eyed Sydney from the corner of my eye.
“I hope you’re enjoying your stay in our humble little town,” Leo said and I nodded and smiled.
“You were great last night, Leo,” I said, because I had nothing else to say. I could sense that Sydney was standing by, growing more nervous by the second. While Leo was completely oblivious to the dynamics. I was surprised to even see her with him. They had both slept with other people the previous night, what were they doing together the very next morning? Were they on a date? Did they have some kind of open relationship that I wasn’t aware of?
“Thanks man, and Sydney here has graciously agreed to help me out with my record,” Leo said and beamed at her. Sydney looked nervous and she shook her head.
“Like I said, Leo, I can only try…or I don’t know…I’ll have to see,” she was fumbling with her words.
“You’ll think of something. I know you will,” Leo added and I could see that her cheeks were flushed.
“I can’t promise anything,” she added, looking up at him with her eyes narrowed.
“You don’t have to, I know you’ll be able to do something,” he continued and I felt an urge to tell him to shut up. It was so obvious that Sydney was under pressure, that Leo was cruelly pressuring her for his own benefit. He was aware of her attraction to him and he was willingly using that for his own gain.
“I’ll see you guys around?” he said and before Sydney could say anything else, he had bent forward to engulf her in a tight hug. I felt those pangs of jealousy again. Watching them hug, Leo’s muscular arms around Sydney’s petite small body…I wanted to punch him. But I could do nothing other than stand aside and watch.
Leo left in a hurry. He was pleased with himself and smiling as he walked away. Sydney was left by my side, watching after him.
“What was that about?” I asked her and Sydney shook her head when she looked back at me.
“He wants me to see if I can ruffle up some connections from my old contacts. He has a record that he wants someone to listen to,” she said, and I noticed that she was avoiding my eyes.
“And…?” I urged her on and she lifted her heavy lids slightly, and tucked in her dark strands of hair behind her ears.
“And I’m going to try and see what I can do,” she replied.
“Why?” I asked her bluntly and she jerked her head up to look at me. She glared at me for a few seconds, before looking away, to where Leo had disappeared out of sight.
“Because he’s my friend and I don’t mind,” she said with a shrug and when she looked at me again, her brows were crossed.
“You look like you do mind and he shouldn’t be making you do something you don’t want to do,” I told her and Sydney licked her lips slowly. It reminded me of how her mouth tasted in mine. Just the previous night, just a few hours ago I had her naked in my arms. I was sliding into her. I had her nipples in my mouth. I felt a movement in my pants and tried to control it, by saying something else to distract my mind.
“I’m serious, Sydney. Whatever your reasons are…probably you just don’t want to talk to your old contacts or whatever, you shouldn’t do it after how he’s been behaving with you,” I said in a stiff voice. She was glaring at me still, with her brows crossed. Like I was telling her to do the unthinkable.
“He’s a talented guy and I would hate for it all to go to waste,” she said after a few moments and I stuck my hands into the pockets of my pants.
“Well, I guess you’re free to do what you want. I was just giving you some friendly advice,” I said and she gulped and looked away from me.
“I want to help Leo, because I don’t want to see his talent going to waste and on the other hand…I don’t want to go back to that life,” she said and I noticed the way she was looking out at the sea. I wanted to reach out and touch her face, feel the softness of her skin on my fingers.
“Why? What happened in that life?” I asked her and she took in a deep breath.
“I was made a fool of,” she said flatly and when she turned to look at me again, her large brown eyes had become small and narrow. She was trying very hard to not cry.