“Forgive me?” Her voice had gotten very, very quiet. “I overstepped back there. I know it. It’s just so hard for me to see him suffer any more, and no one can hurt him like you can. But I overreacted. I was a dick, and I’m sorry.”
“Frankie, I’m well aware of the position we’ve put you in, and how hard it’s been for you, but you’ve got to stop interfering, and you’ve got to stop thinking it’s your job to protect him or even me. We are adults, and we don’t need a buffer, much as I might like one, may even have depended on it in the past. He and I…we need to sort our messes out ourselves.”
“Of course. And for the record, I never took his side. Or yours. You know I’m always just trying to help whichever one of you is hurting the most.”
“I know. We’re both lucky to have you.”
I considered the matter settled, and apparently so did she as she didn’t mention it again. We sat there for a long time, just watching the revelry.
There were a lot of people in the colossal reception tent, but I could still tell that there was no sign of Tristan. He hadn’t returned yet, and I found that odd. I was sure he’d gone and cleaned up, but he couldn’t possibly need more time than I had, even if he’d taken the time to get in an actual shower, and to change.
I was so involved with this thought process that it took me a moment to realize who else was so glaringly missing. “Did James and Bianca ditch out on the rest of their own reception, already?”
Frankie laughed. “I would bet a lot of money that they’re off in the forest somewhere having a quickie. James is a kinky f**k, but they’ll be back.”
We continued to watch the dancing crowd. “Who is that Marnie and Judith are assaulting on the dance floor?”
Frankie squinted, then started laughing. “That’s Jackie’s dad. Marnie is making it clap for him. I think Jackie was right. They’re going to give that poor man a heart attack. And get a load of Lana and Akira. They’re making out like teenagers. God, that guy is huge.”
“He’s hot,” I added.
“So is Lana. And this is the first time I’ve met her brother, Camden, but he’s smokin’. This tent is chock-full of hot people.”
“True. Some good dancers too.”
Finally, I saw Tristan re-enter the tent. He stopped at the entrance, scanned the crowd, and zeroed in on me. The second his eyes touched on me, he started striding towards our table.
“Did you two, uh, work out whatever that was you two were having? Was it a fight?”
I couldn’t quite hide my wince. “Yeah, I guess we worked it out.”
“So you finally had a good talk? You both disappeared for a while.”
“I guess. You know how we are. It’s complicated.”
“Complicated. Now there’s an understatement of epic f**king proportions.”
I had to laugh. She wasn’t wrong.
And that’s how Tristan found us as he approached, laughing and relaxed.
The relaxed part went a bit south as he sat right next to me, and I instinctively started to tense up.
“If you’ll excuse me,” Frankie told us with a grin. “I have some freaking to do on that dance floor.”
“Who the hell calls it freaking?” I called to her back, but she just kept walking.
It wasn’t easy, but I made myself turn and look him in the eye.
I’d likely be mortified in the morning over what we’d done, but I thought the entire thing was too new for my shocked mind to react appropriately.
His face was sober. “We need to talk.”
That surprised a laugh out of me. “We just tried that. Didn’t exactly work out.”
“I wouldn’t say that. I’d say it was cut short. I’d like to try again.”
I couldn’t stop laughing. “I bet you would!”
Finally, his solemn face cracked into a smile. I had to clench my fists to keep from touching one of those calamitous dimples. “Well, yes, of course I would. God, Danika, I’ve missed you, even just to see you laughing again.”
I looked down at my hands, the laughter dying a bit. “I think you’re right. I think you’ve always been right. We should be friends. I miss that, too. I know you’re worried that I’ll never speak to you after this—after that little scene back in the forest, but you don’t need to worry. That was insanity, and it does not need to happen again, but we can be adults here. I…won’t be a stranger when we get back to town. I’ll give you a call. We can sit down for coffee, or, you know, something.”
There was a very long pause on his end, and I wondered which part of what I said was eating at him.
He didn’t address that though, instead said, “Do you mean it this time, or are you just blowing me off like last time?”
I sent him a rueful smile. I hadn’t meant it last time, and I had blown him off. But I found that, shockingly, I’d had a real change of heart. “I mean it this time.”
I did mean it but, while I didn’t avoid him for the rest of the weekend, I also made sure our contact was limited. It was necessary. I needed time to think, to have a battle plan before we started to transition into this friendship idea.