Living Your Lie (boyxboy)

Chapter 32

Dante stepped forward and Russ lunged in front of him, a firm hand straining against Dante's chest to keep him back. In the meantime, Dakota helped me to my feet. I could barely hold myself up even with his help.

People milled around us as they moved from one room to another, but I was glad that no one had seemed to notice the four of us yet. Which was a wonder considering Dante and Dakota both looked like they wanted to murder someone.

"I asked what you just called him," Dante yelled at me, causing me to wince. And then I laughed because I couldn't think of anything else to do in my alcohol muddled brain. I was definitely not fit enough to be having a conversation like this.

"None of your fucking business," Dakota snapped back at the same time I said, "I'm way too drunk."

Dante tried to step forward again but Russ pushed him backwards with both hands. "You don't want to do this," he told Dante. "We shouldn't have come here."

Dante looked furious, but Dakota said, "No, you shouldn't have. But we're leaving so have fun."

He tried to sidestep them, pulling me along with his arms around my waist and one of my arms draped over his shoulders.

"You're not going anywhere until he talks to me," Dante protested, reaching out and roughly grabbing my free arm.

Dakota, caught off guard, lost his grip on me and I stumbled before falling to the ground; Dante's hand lost its hold on me as well. I was flat on my back at Dante's feet with the wind knocked out of me and I began wheezing as I tried to laugh. I rubbed my eyes as I stared up at the three lacrosse players.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Dakota shoved Dante in the chest to get him out of the way before crouching down to try and lift me up again, but I was completely dead weight now as I got lost in a fit of laughter. "Harley, why are you laughing?"

"Because, this is so funny," I choked out between laughter. I wasn't even sure if anyone understood me. "Here I am, lying at Dante's feet again, like some stupid puppy. It's hilarious."

"No, it's not," Dakota scolded, pulling me up into a sitting position. He tossed a livid glare at where the other guy stood, watching us with hate in his dark blue eyes. "He's a selfish bastard who doesn't care about anyone."

"You don't know a fucking thing about me, so keep your mouth shut," Dante hissed.

"I know plenty," Dakota threw back. He stood up to full height to face Dante, abandoning his efforts to help me up. Somehow, I managed to get to my knees and I grabbed onto Dakota's arms to haul myself to my feet again. "You treated Harley like shit before you threw him aside. Not to mention you violated his privacy by telling everyone about—"

"Stop," I said to Dakota, cutting him off and causing him to meet my pleading eyes. "Come on, let it go. He's not worth it."

Dante gripped my shoulder and spun me around to face him. The sudden motion made my stomach lurch again, but thankfully there was nothing left, otherwise I'd have thrown up on him for sure. Part of my muddled brain kind of wished I had, though.

"Why did you call him babe?" Dante asked, his voice quieter and more desperate as his eyes pierced mine.

Russ stepped up and said, "Dante, stop. Just let them go."

"No!" Dante yelled. I looked past his shoulder and saw a few people were stealing curious glances at us now. I felt my face flush at the unwanted attention. "Answer me, Harley."

"It's none of your business," I whispered, holding eye contact with him. It was after I said it that I realized I probably could have done a better job at deflecting his question--preferably one that didn't make it sound like I was trying to lie about my relationship with Dakota--but in my current state, that was asking a bit much.