Fuck, it was like I’d kicked her puppy while she was already down. How was I supposed to deny her offer of wine now, leaving her to mourn the loss of her boyfriend and so-called friends alone?
I may not be a people-person, but I wasn’t an asshole either. Well, actually… I wasn’t so sure about that. But, in my defense, I’d learned the hard way to just keep to myself out of self-preservation. It was safer that way.
If that made me an asshole, I’d wear that badge loud and proud.
Glancing back at my bed wistfully, I gave up on my own plans for the night.
Maybe tomorrow night, Lucien.
Swinging my gaze back to Hannah, I reached out hesitantly and patted her shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay. They’re a bunch of jerks anyways. You don’t need them. Let me grab my keys to lock my door and then I’ll come over for wine, okay?”
She perked up like a puppy being taken to their forever home, and a part of me really felt bad for her. Sure, maybe I was a little lonely, but I’d take that all day over having fake friends that wouldn’t be there for me when the tough shit in life happened.
At least I knew at the end of the day I’d always have my own back.
“Okay! Yeah!” she chirped, a bright smile on her face as she nodded to herself. She must have been just as shocked as I was that I said yes. “I’ll go pour our glasses!”
As she turned and headed for her door, she quickly paused and looked over her shoulder, calling out, “Alex?”
Now probably wasn’t the best time to tell her I didn’t like her pet name for me, so I swallowed my annoyance. “Yes?”
Her lips thinned as her eyes traced my face before she smiled softly. “Thank you. I know you have no reason to be nice to me or to give up your night to spend time with me. I wish there were more people in the world like you.”
My head reared back and my eyes bulged at her compliments.
She laughed lightly before doubling down on her sentiments. “I’m being serious! You give me hope that the world isn’t as bad as it seems sometimes.”
With that, she opened her door and went inside, leaving me gobsmacked and alone in the hallway.
Why did it feel like her words fed my soul?
I gave her hope?
That was perhaps the best compliment I could have ever asked for.