Chapter Three
Tyler
Layla sits smiling quietly in the seat next to me, and every so often, I catch her sniffing the floral arrangement she’s holding. I love making her happy, I just hope I can keep doing it.
Of course, after my family’s party, who knows what she’ll feel for me afterward. She might go back to hating my guts all over again.
I pull into Target’s parking lot, and Layla says, “What do you need from here?”
“A controller for Juliet. Did you forget?”
She frowns. “It’s not that I forgot about getting the controller. I can’t remember which one I broke. She literally has five gaming systems in her room.”
“Call her.”
“She hasn’t had her phone on since the whole Mark incident.”
“Why?”
She groans. “He was calling and texting her non-stop.”
“Okay. Block his number.”
She frowns. “She did. Look; it’s a really long story. The gist of it she found it easier to turn off her phone. Still didn’t stop him from winding up on our front porch begging to see her. The first time it happened, I threatened to record his tears and send it to everyone on the football team. That did the trick at first, but he came by yesterday making such a scene.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? I’ll go to his house and put an end to all of this,” I say as we both exit my Jeep.
Layla shakes her head. “Juliet told me to ignore him. She doesn’t want to be further humiliated. I hate this whole thing. I feel so helpless. I told her Mark was a good guy and it was okay to put her heart out there. The first time she does it, it got trampled on. I want to strangle him for what he did to her!”
Pretty sure Jared might beat her to that honor. Still, I wish Layla would have told me Mark has been showing up at random, upsetting everyone. “Has Juliet seen him?”
“No. Do you expect her to?”
I grab her hand as we walk through the parking lot. “I’ll talk to Mark. When I’m done, he’ll quit hanging around and calling your sister.”
“I want to respect her wishes but, I think you’re right. Today was the first time she’s left that room of hers for more than four minutes. I hate what he did to her. I hate it more just watching her crumble.”
It crushes me to see Layla so affected by her sister’s breakup. It kills me more to know that none of this would have happened if Jared would have asked her out instead of that dumbass Mark. I know if Jared gets wind of how much Juliet is hurting, he’ll probably end up in jail for killing Mark.
“Well, do you remember what the shape of the controller was?” I ask as we enter the store.
She shrugs. “It was blue and had two joystick looking things on it. I don’t know. I don’t play video games much.”
“It’s fine. We can just buy her two. She’ll just have an extra one. No big deal.”
We round a corner and go straight to the electronic section. “You don’t have to do that,” she says.
“Babe, I know I don’t have to. I want to.”
“Okay. I feel really bad about this.” The look she gives me says there is more to it than that, but I don’t want to ask.
“Well, I feel like shit for letting her date Mark.”
She stops walking and I glance back at her. “What do you mean letting her date Mark?” she asks.
I groan and dart my stare to the ceiling then back to her. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just should have put more effort into stopping it. We had our doubts that he wouldn’t screw this up. We were wrong. That’s all.”
“Who’s this we you’re referring to? And who else besides you knew Mark was a total douche?”
I squeeze my eyes shut. “Jared and I are the we. If you’re asking if I knew what Adam was like, I’m not discussing that.” My blood boils that she would even mention him right now. What’s it matter what I thought about him anyway? He made her unhappy and is a walking toolbag.
She folds her arms over her perfectly perky chest. “Did you?”
She’s not going to let this shit go. I scrub a hand over my face. “Yes. I thought he was a prick. Happy?”
Layla keeps her expression neutral. I don’t like this look because it makes it impossible to read her. I’m not sure if we’re about to have our first fight or not. Being about a week into a relationship and having a major blowout is never a good thing. Might as well tack that as a sign to end things now. Her neutral expression also can indicate she’s satisfied with my answer and happy with me. I’m hoping she’s happy. Taking a risk, I reach for her hands and pull her toward me. She wraps her arms around my waist, and I sigh before dropping a kiss on the top of her head. “Don’t think for one second I won’t rip his limbs off and beat him with them. I would in a heartbeat. But to be honest, I also must thank that dumbass. If it weren’t for his stupidity I wouldn’t be here with you.”
I plant a kiss on her lips and then on her forehead. “Are we good?”
She smiles. “Yeah.”
Even though we continue toward the controllers, hand-in-hand, I can’t help but worry if we really are good.