Rock Bottom (Tristan & Danika #2)(60)

It felt wrong.

“How’s that? When have you had Tristan’s cooking?”

“I visited the band’s house for dinner one night, and he was cooking. He made lasagna, and it was to die for.”

That was better, but only a little. I still couldn’t believe that Tristan had met her and not said a word to me about it. There was no way I wouldn’t be grilling him about it later. Not a chance in hell.

I gave her the address in case I lost her, but still had her follow me to the apartment. I sent Tristan one brief text on the way.

Danika: We have an extra guest for dinner.

I didn’t check for a response, and put my phone away, as I always did, before I started driving.

It took us forty-five minutes to get from the strip to Tristan’s Henderson apartment with the traffic, and I was thinking about Dahlia the entire time.

Something was going on with her, something troubling, beyond even her accidental pregnancy. Even after hours of opening up to each other, she hadn’t given away even a hint about how it had happened.

Dahlia was right behind me when I parked. She’d trailed me with diligence for the entire drive.

She followed me closely up the stairs, and to Tristan’s front door. When I opened it, unexpectedly, she rushed in first.

Before I could even close the door behind me, she was in the kitchen, throwing her arms around a surprised Tristan, giving him a huge, exuberant hug.

His own arms went slowly and tentatively around her, giving her a ghost of a hug back before he tried to disentangle himself.

“Tristan! It’s so wonderful to see you again!” she gushed.

I just stared, feeling a little queasy.

He set his hands on her shoulders, moving her gently away from him. “Nice to see you, too. Excuse me.”

He strode to me, wrapping me in his arms, pulling me very close, and kissing me, long and deep. It was nothing that my kid sister needed to see, but that didn’t stop him from doing it, and it didn’t stop me from reacting. I never had been able to tell the man no.

By the time he pulled back, my brain was near to mush, but that still didn’t distract me enough to keep my questions in.

“Why didn’t you tell me you’d met my sister?” I asked him, watching his face carefully.

His brow furrowed, and he shot Dahlia one unreadable look before he answered. “I barely met her, so it wasn’t such a big deal. Can we talk about it later?”

That answer wasn’t what I’d wanted, but I held my tongue, not wanting to have this strange confrontation in front of my sister.

Dahlia and I sat on the couch, chatting it up while Tristan cooked dinner.

He’d come out of the kitchen every so often, sit down beside me, and kiss my on the forehead, the hand, the cheek. He’d always been like this, but my delicate state had seemed to send his natural inclinations into steroid levels. I loved how demonstrative he was, but the fourth time he did it, I noticed the way it made Dahlia look down and, a few times, grimace.

Finally, I had to ask. “Are you okay? Is something the matter?”

She shook her head, but just kept looking down at her hands. “No, no, I’m just fine. You two are really affectionate, huh? I didn’t realize how serious you were.”

“I told you it was serious,” I said carefully. I wondered if I should just tell her how serious, but then I thought of the Jerry connection. I didn’t know how good she was at keeping secrets, and I’d just as soon wait and tell everyone when we were ready to. If Bev didn’t hear it directly from me, she’d be so hurt.

“Yeah you did. Did you fall in love with him the second you laid eyes on him?”

I pondered that. “Just about. He and I…we always had chemistry. We tried to fight it at first, but here we are.”

She nodded. “Yes. Tristan plus any woman would be mad chemistry.”

I didn’t appreciate that. And she wasn’t done.

“I assumed you’d be head over heels in love with him. Who wouldn’t be? But I didn’t realize that he was mad for you, as well.”

“You didn’t? What did you assume? Tell me, what impression has he given you?”

“Well, he’s just…I don’t know, out of town so much. He’s as good as living in L.A., away from you. I just thought that if he was serious, he’d try to be here more.”

“You think either of us have a say in the recording schedule? We don’t, but it’s a temporary problem. I guess he could quit the band, but they should be done in a matter of weeks, I’ve heard.”

She shrugged. “If you say so. It just seems to me that you don’t just turn that lifestyle on and off. I don’t know, I guess that when I heard he had a girlfriend, and then saw the kind of life he leads over there, I just assumed it was a casual thing. The things that go on in that house would test any serious relationships. I don’t know how you can stand it.”

“What kinds of things? Do tell.” I felt my cheeks flushing, my temper rising.

She glanced at the kitchen as though she wanted to be sure that Tristan didn’t overhear what she was about to tell me. “Drinking, drugs, constant parties…women,” she said quietly, pointedly.

I felt bile rising in my throat, but I held my composure. “Are you telling me that Tristan’s been unfaithful to me?” The drugs concerned me too, and even the drinking, when he took it to extremes, but that last one caught my attention like nothing else could.