Page 67 of Summer Fling
"Get the strawberry mojito. It's divine," Elena suggested.
"That works. Thank you," I said to the server who went to put in my order.
"Now, tell us about you and Dalton," Elena prodded.
"We're just so happy that Dalton found someone who isn't Oakley. She's had him in her web for so long," Ivy said.
I sighed. "Yeah, she's something else."
"Has she been hassling you?" Hazel asked, her brow furrowed.
"There was the one time she stopped by when Dalton wasn't there. She said some things."
"That girl will say anything to get Dalton under her thumb again." Elena's voice filled with disgust.
Daria bumped my shoulder with hers. "You'll have to be strong."
I dipped my hand into the basket of popcorn at my end of the table. "Anyone who ends up with Dalton will have to contend with Oakley. That's for sure."
Elena's face filled with concern. "Are you saying that you don't think it will be you?"
I looked away from her. "I don't know."
"Oakley can be a lot to deal with. But it sounds like Dalton is doing a better job of keeping her in her place and not letting her walk all over him," Elena said.
"Lately, he's stood strong against her demands to see Liliana outside the fifty-fifty arrangement," I said, pride in my voice.
"You know that Dalton won't let Oakley mess with you, right? He only let her do it to him because he thought he'd get more time with Lilliana. When he realized how it might affect his daughter, he set boundaries," Elena assured me.
"I know." Dalton had been upset when he found out that Oakley said those things to me. But I wasn't sure I wanted to deal with her forever. "I don't think she's ever going to let up until she has him for good."
Elena waved a hand, dismissing the thought. "That's never going to happen. Dalton knows who she is."
Ivy's nose scrunched. "He was going to break up with her before she told him she was pregnant."
Elena nodded. "He only stuck it out with her because he wanted to support her when she was pregnant and was hopeful he'd get to see his daughter more when she was born."
"That's when Oakley got even more demanding of his time and attention. No one liked seeing Dalton deal with that. His whole family is so happy he's with you."
"How's everything else?" Ivy asked me.
My drink came, and I swirled the tiny straw in the liquid, wondering how honest I could be with these women when they were dating Dalton's brothers. "I took a break from my classes to decide what to do with my life, but I still feel stuck."
Ivy inclined her head. "What do you want?"
I shrugged miserably. "I don't know. I love watching Lilliana and Henry, but I've been dying to teach art classes to more kids. Not that Henry and Lilliana aren't good students?—"
A small smile spread over Ivy's face. "But they're little."
"You want to be an art therapist?" Daria asked.
"I'd have to go back and take more master's-level classes in art for that. I don't know if I want to take out more loans. The practical thing to do would be to go back and finish my doctorate program."
"Do you always do what's practical?" Daria asked since she didn't know me as well as the others.
I nodded without any hesitation. "Except for this thing with Dalton. I knew going into it that it was a risk. His life is here, and mine isn't."
"Your life is wherever you want it to be, and who says you can't offer art classes now? Do you need a degree for that?" Daria asked.
