Page 90 of Loving Leo

Selena rolls her eyes and then grabs another bite of food from the plate, shoving it into her mouth, looking very unladylike.

“Sure thing, mom-a-do.”

Her mother’s cheeks flush red and she huffs as Selena wanders off, leaving me standing there, face to face with this woman. She should leave, ignore me and go back to gossiping with her friends. But instead, she lingers.

“How do you know Selena?” she finally asks.

I don’t answer, just try to move around her, but she stops me, a hand on my arm.

“Please just let me go,” I say softly and her eyes narrow.

“Selena has a habit of hanging out with the wrong type of person.”

“We don’t hang out,” I murmur, trying to move my arm from her grip, but she only seems to dig her claws in.

“She was very friendly with you.”

“I barely know her, now please let me go so I can get back to work.”

She doesn’t seem to want to let me go and I debate just dropping the platter and making a run for it when I hear his voice.

“Mother, let him go.”

Her grip loosens on me and I take a step back.

She glances at Heath who is behind her with Lana at his side. She’s even more beautiful up close.

Hell.

“He knows Selena. I was just making conversation,” his mom says.

She tries to play it off, but it doesn’t quite work.

“Leave the help alone,” he says and then winces when he realizes what he’s said. But I can forgive him for it. He didn’t mean it. I know that’s not what he thinks about me.

Right?

“Just leave him alone and let him do his job.”

His mother purses her lips and turns to walk away, leaving Heath to linger, his gaze meeting mine, his cheeks slightly flushed. I offer him a small smile, hoping he’ll give me one back, but he doesn’t. He just offers me a clipped nod and then turns around and walks away, Lana at his heels.

I don’t like that. Not at all. I run a hand through my hair, feeling like shit, but knowing that this will all be over soon. And then Heath and I can discuss it and it will all be fine.

Everything will be fine.

Everything is not fine.As the afternoon turns into evening, I find myself growing more and more agitated. Heathis constantly with Lana, doing nothing to stop her from clinging to him and she’s hanging off him like some kind of drapery. Asher even notices and purses his lips in distaste.

“I don’t like that. She’s too pretty to be a curtain.”

I know and neither do I, but what do I do to make it go away? I’m going to finish out my shift and then we can talk. That’s what we do. We communicate. And when we do, he’ll assure me its alright, that he’s not getting back together with her. That this is all just a spiral in my head, but when she places a kiss on his cheek and he does nothing other than reach up and wipe it away, not rebuking her in the slightest, I feel myself start to wither.

I just want to go home.

He said she meant nothing and while that may be true, he’s doing nothing to deter her either. Not really. Although, right now he’s leaning toward her, his face set in stone, seeming to be saying something forceful to her. She huffs and then smiles back at him, trying to undermine his feelings with batted eyelashes.

I don’t like that at all.

Part of me wants to pretend this evening never happened, but the other part of me wants to go over there and tell her to fuck off.

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