Just Friends by Delaney Diamond Page B

her
arms defensively across her chest.
    “ He’s white? ”
    “So what?” she asked defiantly.
    “You’re dating white men now?”
    “You’ve dated white women, or slept with
them”—she waved a hand dismissively—“or whatever you do with
women.”
    He ignored her snide remark. “I have dated
white women, but…”
    She placed a hand on her hip. “But what?”
    His mouth clamped shut. He couldn’t think of
a valid argument against her dating interracially, but he couldn’t
hold his annoyance in, either. “You’re all over the damn
place.”
    “Your ridiculous hypocrisy is showing,” she
said.
    Trenton rubbed his forehead. He was getting a
headache. “I don’t understand what you’re doing.”
    “I’m dating. I’m casting a wider net. It’s
really not that unusual.”
    No, it wasn’t unusual, but that didn’t mean
he had to like it.
    “I barely even know you anymore,” he
muttered. She was dating white men, cooking for them, and refusing
to let him meet them. A wave of anger crashed through him. Why
change the dynamics of their relationship? They had a good thing
going here. He jabbed a finger at her. “You know what, you’re
changing. Ever since you got your hair done and started working on
a new wardrobe, you been acting brand new.”
    The corners of her mouth tightened. “So you
don’t like anything about my makeover?”
    “No, because you’re changing, and not in a
good way.”
    Her eyes widened and she didn’t respond at
first. His accusation seemed to have surprised her. “I’m still the
same person. You’re the one acting different.”
    “If I’m acting different, I’m feeding off of
the energy you put out.” It was always the two of them against the
world. “I’ve always been there for you. I take care of you. I
protect you,” he said, grasping at straws.
    Their gazes locked, and tension bridged the
short distance that separated them.
    “Maybe I don’t need you to protect me
anymore.”
    The quietly spoken words squeezed the air
from his lungs. Trenton rested his forearms on the counter and
stared down at the plate of forgotten food. “That’s what I do.”
He’d been doing it for years, from the day they met.
    Her slippered feet moved quietly on the
kitchen floor, and then she stood behind him.
    “That’s not what I need from you anymore,”
she said thickly. Her voice reflected what he felt. Emotions
bubbling inside of him. A cosmic shift was taking place in their
relationship, and he couldn’t stop it. His stomach burned from the
unnatural fear that overcame him.
    Alannah wrapped her arms around his torso
from behind and rested her head on his shoulder. “I feel like this
is a stupid argument, like you’re picking a fight with me. If
you’re worried about me replacing you, don’t be. We’ve known each
other too long and been through too much together. You know me
better than anyone else. I’ll always need you, Trent, just not in
the way I have in the past.”
    Her words were meant to make him feel better,
but they were ugly. And they hurt. They gutted him.
    “Things are different now. I’m different, but
you’re irreplaceable in my life. You’re my best friend, Trent. I
don’t want to lose you…I can’t.”
    The sensation of her heart beating into the
muscles of his back provided a bit of comfort, and the sweetness of
her scent surrounding him eased his unrest.
    Trenton swallowed the lump in his throat,
angry at himself for the irrational hurt and anxiety he felt. He
had no idea where it stemmed from.
    He twisted in the chair and pulled her around
so he could cup her face in his hands. He saw the sadness in her
hazel eyes and hated being the cause, ashamed of the guilt he’d
heaped on her.
    Then, as if his vision cleared, he didn’t see
only a friend he wanted to hug and console. He saw the woman this
Connor character undoubtedly saw—skin the color of a milky tea,
freckles, and coral-tinted, rosebud lips that invited a man to
kiss. The thought