Bad Things (Tristan & Danika, #1)(66)

He moved off me. I heard the faint sound of him slipping out of his clothes, then the louder sound of him ripping open the packet on a condom. He was bare and hard as he slid over me. I shivered at the feeling of skin on skin.

He took my earlobe very softly in his teeth as he parted my legs and slid between. His thickness pressed against me, teasing at my entrance, and I moaned, somehow already ready for him.

“I can’t give you all the time I need tonight to show you how good this can be for us, because I know you have to watch the kids in the morning, so just consider this a taste.”

What the hell did that mean? I didn’t know, and was afraid to ask. It seemed too much like asking about the future, and I emphatically didn’t want to do that.

I didn’t worry about it long, that was for sure. In fact, I didn’t worry about a thing as he took his mouth to my neck, and his hands to my body.

He took me over that way, owned every cell in my body. I surrendered, and he took me with hard, smooth strokes, and rough, sweet words. It was an experience I’d never forget as he taught me that I could put myself completely at someone’s mercy, and come out of it with no wounds at all. Instead, I felt more whole with the experience, as though the parts of myself that had been broken and lost weren’t so lost anymore. Under his touch, in his care, I felt more complete, like a newer, brighter version of myself.



We became passionate lovers and stayed the best of friends, but we didn’t talk about it. In fact, we treated the topic like the land mine it was. Almost week passed like that.

We just lived in the moment.

In a way, it was completely wonderful for me. I’d never been able to live in the moment, and here I was, living every second like I never wanted it to end. I didn’t think about the future. I didn’t want the future. All I wanted was now.

I wasn’t even inside of my body most days. I was still living in our last embrace. I would go through my chores, do my usual routine, but my mind was back in my bed, giving myself to Tristan. He owned me there. I was his, and I savored that ownership. There was no question that I wanted it to last forever.

We were inseparable, even more so than before, which was saying a lot.

A few careless comments brought it all crashing down, though it was bound to happen, one way or another.

The morning it happened was kind of horrible, and kind of wonderful.

Tristan was sweet as could be, cooking breakfast, making me keep him company in the kitchen. He touched me constantly, with his hands, his mouth, his smile.

I was on cloud nine until he spoke.

“I’m glad this worked out like it did. I didn’t think we could manage to have sex, and it not turn into a thing.”

I shot a glance at the boys, who were happily watching TV, but they were oblivious to him having said the word ‘sex’ in little more than a whisper. I was also trying to distract myself from what his words implied.

“Hmm?” I asked, going for oh so casual.

“I thought we couldn’t just be friends after something like that. I was afraid you’d start to develop, you know, romantic feelings. I love that it didn’t turn out awkward. Who says having a f*ck buddy is a bad idea?”

I tried not to visibly flinch, but didn’t quite manage.

He caught my expression out of the corner of his eye, sending me a rueful smile. “I know girls don’t like that term, but what else would you call it?”

“How about we just not talk about it?” I suggested, making a last ditch effort at averting the fallout that I felt building up in my chest like a scream that just had to escape.

“My bad. That’s probably a very solid idea. I was just saying…I like this. This has been…nice.”

I stewed about that all day. I tried to hold my tongue, really I did, but by bedtime I was in a state, the words ‘f*ck buddy’, and ‘…nice’ just rolling around in my head, looking for Trouble.

We’d made plans to go out late, and I found Tristan getting ready in my room.

“Can I just say something?” I began, my tone already on its way to angry.

Tristan finished shrugging into a thin T-shirt before giving me his full attention. “Yeah. What’s up?”

“I’m pretty sure you’re already aware of this, but I am not a casual kind of girl. I’ve only been with a few guys, and both of the ones I was with willingly, were in a committed relationship with me. Before you, I’d never slept with a guy who didn’t tell me he loved me. It goes without saying that I take exception to the term f*ck buddy.”

He didn’t look sorry, his brow arching at me, his eyes getting a little hard on mine, which I wasn’t used to, not from him. “I’m sorry I used that term. I was stupid to even bring it up. We going out?”

“Let me finish. You think I haven’t developed any romantic feelings for you…but that’s just not true. I have a hard time keeping things to myself—”

“You don’t say.”

“Let me finish,” I said again, through gritted teeth, mad now, just from the look on his face, and the sick feeling in my gut that I knew just how he was going to react to what I was about to tell him. “You’re fooling yourself if you think I don’t have those feelings for you, Tristan. I’ve fallen in love with you.”

I felt my jaw clench as his gaze turned insolent.