Oh. My. God. He knows.
“Did Sierra tell you?”
Pulling his head back, Tristan asked, “Tell me what?”
Swallowing hard, I turned back and looked at the kitchen island. He knows Dodge took me against the kitchen island. I saw it in his eyes. Looking back at him, I felt the need to explain everything about Dodge. How I had only used him for sex and that our relationship was nothing more than just that. Sex.
“Tristan . . . I’m so . . .”
Tristan held up his hand and attempted to smile. “Hey, whatever happens with you and Dodge is your business.”
My eyes filled with tears. “Did you mean it?”
Tristan stared at me with a confused look. “Did I mean what?”
I let the tear fall and I could see what that single tear did to Tristan. He sucked in a breath of air and took one step closer to me. “You just answered my question by not knowing what I was asking.”
“Ryn, what in the fuck are you talking about? You’re talking in circles.”
Smiling weakly, I said, “Thank you for taking care of me. I loved spending time with you again.”
Tristan’s eyes lit up and he moved closer to me. “I enjoyed it too, Ryn.” My cell phone rang but I ignored it.
Taking another step closer to me, Tristan lifted his hand and placed it on the side of my face. Leaning my head into his hand, Tristan smiled. I wanted nothing more than for him to pull me into his arms and kiss the crap out of me.
Leaning in closer, Tristan’s lips hovered just above mine. My cell began ringing again and for some reason thinking it might be the office, I reached into my back pocket and swiped to answer it without looking.
“This is Ryn Webster.”
My eyes moved across Tristan’s face before they landed on his lips. Kiss me damn it!
Tristan reached up and was about to take the cell phone from my ear.
“Hey babe, are you packing up?”
Dodge.
Taking a step away from Tristan, I spoke into the phone. “Hey. Yeah, I um, I’m getting ready to start packing now.”
In that moment I could see it on Tristan’s face. He knew it was Dodge.
Oh God. Why did I answer the phone? Why didn’t I just let him take my phone and hang up?
“When you get back, dinner’s on me if you get in early enough.”
“That sounds like a plan. Okay, I’ll let you know when I’m leaving and . . .”
Tristan turned and began heading to the front door. Panicking, I began to try and walk after him.
“Dodge, can I call you back in a few minutes?”
Tristan picked up his pace and made it to the front door. Pulling it open, I called out after him. “Tristan? Tristan, please wait!”
I stared at the door as I listened to him start up his truck and pull out of the driveway.
Dropping the cell phone from my hand, I wrapped my arms around myself to control my sobs.
“Why did I answer the phone? Oh God . . . why?”
SHUTTING THE DOOR BEHIND ME, I walked away quickly. I knew Ryn couldn’t move fast enough to catch me before I got to my truck.
Opening the door, I jumped in, started my truck and backed out of the driveway. I didn’t bother to look back. It was clear to me that Ryn had moved on. Sierra was wrong; Dodge wasn’t Ryn’s fuck buddy. He was more.
I wanted to get back to the house, pack my shit, head back to Austin and put the last two weeks behind me.
Walking into Starbucks, I smiled when I saw her. Standing there talking away to some poor older woman was Sierra. The older lady would nod every now and then to be polite, but I could tell she just wanted Sierra to stop talking to her. Ordering my coffee, I made my way over to the table.
It was as if Sierra could tell I was there before she saw me. Looking over her shoulder, Sierra smiled when she saw me. Turning back to the older lady she said, “Excuse me, my fuck buddy is here. Gotta run.”
The older woman’s mouth dropped open and she said, “Oh my goodness,” as she watched Sierra walk up to me. Kissing me on the cheek, Sierra asked as she wiggled her eyebrows up and down, “So? Did y’all make up and end up having hot sex?”
Feeling my stomach drop, I looked away.
“Well? I’m waiting to hear all the juicy details.”
My expression was emotionless as I turned back to her. “Sorry, darlin.’ There are no juicy details to share.”
Sierra narrowed her eyes at me. “Tristan! You promised you were going to talk to her. You had her living in your house! What in the hell!”
Looking around, I grabbed Sierra and pulled her to the side of the room. “Jesus, Sierra, keep your voice down.”
Placing her hand on her hips, she rolled her eyes. “What happened?”
The barista called out Sierra’s name and then mine. Getting our coffee, we headed outside to sit. Letting out a deep breath, I started talking. “I wanted to show her I could take care of her, without sex and all that other shit. There were a few times I thought there was something brewing between us, but one of us would pull away.”
Blowing on her coffee, Sierra shook her head. “Okay, so y’all didn’t get it on, but how did you leave things? Did you make plans to take her to dinner or anything?”
Looking away, I mumbl
ed, “Not really.”
Leaning closer to me, Sierra said, “Excuse me? I didn’t understand what you said.”
Remembering how I left Ryn was making me feel sick to my stomach.
“Oh. My. Gosh. You didn’t. You acted like a dick again, didn’t you? Pushed her away when things got to heated huh, Tristan?”
Giving Sierra a dirty look, I shook my head. “No. Not really. Well, kind of.”
Taking a drink of her coffee, Sierra gave me a look. “What does that mean? Kind of?”
“I tried a few times to talk to her, but I just couldn’t.”
“Pussy,” Sierra said as she sat back in her chair. The guy next to us turned and gave Sierra a look.
“I tried, I was about to kiss her the last day we were together. I brought her back to your place so she could pack up and her damn cell phone rang. She answered it and when she realized it was Dodge, she took a step away from me and kept talking to him while I fucking stood there like an idiot.”
Sierra made a face and whispered, “Ouch.”
Taking a sip of my coffee, I nodded my head. “Yeah. Ouch.”
Leaning forward, Sierra placed her elbows on the table. “Maybe she was just being polite.”
I shook my head and looked away. “Nope. Heard her talking to him before I brought her back to your place. She said she missed him. My guess was they were making plans to get together when she got back.”
Blowing out a breath of air, Sierra asked, “Why didn’t you offer to follow her home, Tristan? You know. Make sure she made it home okay with her sprained ankle and all.”
Shit. I hadn’t thought of that.
I fell back in the chair. “Sierra, guys don’t think like girls.”
Chuckling, Sierra said, “No shit. Life would be so much better if you did.”
Giving her a smirk, I asked, “How have you been?”
A look of sadness spread across her face as her eyes looked down. “My ex is taking me to court. He’s claiming I used money that belonged to him to buy my house.”
“What? Did you?”
Snapping her head up, she glared at me. “No! Why would you ask me that?”