“Do you have any hobbies, Dodge?”
Rubbing the back of his neck, Dodge started mumbling. “Oh God. Oh shit. She’s got brain damage. I swear I didn’t hit her that hard. Shit! Ah shit.”
“She doesn’t have brain damage you ass,” Tristan said.
Dodge pointed to me. “She is talking nonsense.”
Holding up my hand, I said, “No. I was trying to think of how to describe your face and it looked like someone had taken away your favorite thing. But then I didn’t know what your favorite thing was. So that’s why I asked, do you have any hobbies?”
Tristan and Dodge both stared at me. “Holy fuck, you did give her brain damage,” Tristan said.
Closing my eyes, I let out a heavy breath. “Tristan? Will you please take me home?”
Dodge reached out and took my hand. “I swear I didn’t mean—”
Giving Dodge a weak smile, I said, “I know. We’ll talk soon.”
As Tristan walked me back to my house, he kept saying how the next time he saw Dodge he was going to beat his ass into the ground. I stopped trying to argue with him about it. He was pissed that Dodge said what he said to me, and he was even more pissed that Dodge ended up almost knocking my lights out.
As Tristan laid me down on my bed, I tried to figure out what I was going to do about the whole Dodge and Tristan thing. I needed to talk to Dodge. Alone. I should have done it the moment I came back. Even though I had been clear with Dodge that there would never be a future with the two of us, I should have told him how serious things were with Tristan and I. Closing my eyes, I knew the reason I put off telling Dodge I was back with Tristan was because he was going to be hurt.
Tristan placed a bag of frozen carrots onto my eye. Letting out a gasp, I jumped as Tristan winced. “I’m sorry, baby. I hate that you got hurt because of me.”
Looking at Tristan, I noticed how his eyes appeared wet from the tears he was holding back. “I didn’t get hurt because of you.”
“Yeah, you did. I let my temper get the better of me. It’s just, I’m tense around Dodge anyway because of your past relationship and him saying that. It just pissed me off. I’ll be glad when you are away from him.”
Sitting up, I pushed the bag of carrots off of my eye. “Excuse me?”
Tristan stared at me. “What?”