Chapter 15

Bruno let out a deep sigh, shaking his head. “She said she was with Tate when I talked to her,” he said, glancing over to Ryan with a questioning look.

Ryan turned to him, biting back his lip for a moment before nodding his head. “I don’t want to ruin your wonderful relationship anymore,” he said in a sarcastic tone. “But I know you would’ve kicked some ass if you were there. She was all over him.”

Bruno paused at his words, feeling his muscles slightly tighten up. Great.You’re shitting me, he thought to himself as he tipped his head back in his chair, trying to take a deep, calm, breath.

“I honestly don’t see why you’re even still bothering with her anymore,” Ryan said when Bruno didn’t reply. “She seems to cause more problems than anything good.”

“I’m starting to wonder the same thing…” Bruno mumbled under his breath. He finally brought his head back down, standing up from his spot suddenly. “Whatever,” he flatly stated, walking over to the coffee table. “I can’t deal with this anymore. I’m calling her,” he said as he picked up the phone.

—

“Ugh, I really shouldn’t do this to myself,” Natalie mumbled as she curled up on Savannah’s couch, still in her pajamas. “I’m just going to sleep all day,” she said as she laid down, pulling her knees up close to her.

“Don’t you have to work today?” Hadley asked, causing Natalie to open her eyes again.

“Shit, I forgot about that,” she whined, giving her friend a sad look as she thought about the idea of actually having to do something today. She worked only a few hours a week at the Aquarium in which her mom worked and studied at. It really wasn’t much of a mandatory job, but it was nice having extra money, especially now that it was summer. “I hardly even slept well last night.”

Hadley softly laughed, giving her a curious look. “You seemed to have had fun last night,” she said, tilting her head towards Natalie.

Natalie blushed slightly at her teasing, smiling toothlessly before closing her eyes again. “Shut up,” she said with a smirk, her eyes closed.

“…Natalie,” She heard Savannah’s voice approaching her from behind the couch. She opened her eyes for the second time, turning towards the back of the seat as she glanced up at Savannah who was holding the house phone, an odd look about her face.

“It’s Bruno,” she said as she held the receiver against her chest so he couldn’t hear her on the other end. “He doesn’t sound very happy…” she added as she bit her bottom lip, causing Natalie’s nerves to kick in.

She sat up from the couch quickly, grabbing the phone from Savannah as she nervously brought it to her ear. “Hello?” she asked in an obviously anxious tone, wondering why Savannah had thought he was mad.

“How was Bridger’s last night?” Bruno asked in a surprisingly calm tone, yet his question still making Natalie’s stomach churn.

“What?” she asked, sitting up taller on the couch. Oh shit, he’s going to killll me, she thought.

“Stop bullshitting it, Nat,” Bruno said with a tired sigh. “You called me on Tate’s phone last night.”

Natalie suddenly felt hot as she closed her eyes agonizingly. Shit. I was with Tate?! I don’t even remember talking to him, She thought as her nerves continued to heighten. “Bruno, I—“

“You don’t even remember talking to me, do you?”

Natalie paused for a moment, letting out a deep sigh. She opened her mouth to speak, but found no words to come out.

“Why does shit always go down whenever I’m gone?” he asked, cutting off her thoughts before she had a chance to even think about what she was going to say.

“But nothing happened,” Natalie replied, shaking her head into the receiver.

“And how would you know? What makes you think I’d even believe that?” He asked, his tone reminding Natalie of how he sounded several weeks ago.

“Because,” she began, standing up from the sofa. “You can trust that I wouldn’t do anything like that, Bruno…And besides you weren’t even there, so how would you know?” She asked in a sarcastic tone, mimicking his previous accusation. She walked out of the living room and down the hallway towards Savannah’s room, beginning to feel embarrassed from his anger while she was with her friends.

“Well Ryan was there,” Bruno replied, causing Natalie to close her eyes painfully as she took a deep breath. Shit, shit, shit. I hope I didn’t do anything,she thought as she continued to rack her brains to recall any memory of being with Tate last night. “…and he said you were all over Tate.”

Ugh.

Natalie felt her eyes beginning to burn slightly. Why do I manage to screw everything up? It’s barely been three weeks… “Can we not argue about this on the phone?” She asked in a small voice. “I’m with Sav and Hadley and I’d rather have you yell at me in person…”

“I’m not yelling,” he said after a long, drawn out sigh. She could tell her previous statement was most likely the only thing that refrained him fromyelling at her up until this point. “And I’d rather not…” he stated flatly in a quieter tone.

“Well I’m not talking about this right now,” she said, feeling more stressed than before. “So if you change your mind, you can come to the aquarium at four when I’m done.”

“Whatever, Nat,” Bruno replied much softer, his voice still keeping the same dull tone. He hung up a few seconds later, leaving Natalie by herself as she flopped down on Savannah’s bed, closing her eyes while squeezing the phone tightly in hand.

And here come the regrets…