Twisted Perfection (Perfection #1)(29)

“Have a seat,” Tripp said as he came up behind me. The warmth of his body was startling and I quickly moved to sit down in one of the chairs sitting around the patio table.

Tripp smirked at me as if he could read my mind and took a seat in the lounger stretching his legs out in front of him and leaning back. “God, I’ve missed this place. Not the people in it but the place itself.”

That was odd. Everyone I’d met missed Tripp. Did he just mean his parents or did he truly not miss anyone here?

“You enjoying it here?” he asked, turning his head to look over at me.

“Yes. It’s a nice place,” I answered truthfully.

He grinned. “Yeah, it is.”

“Why are you in Dallas then?” I asked. I’d heard from everyone else why Tripp had left but I didn’t know the whole story.

“My parents wanted me to be someone I wasn’t. I wanted freedom. So I left. I couldn’t be free here.”

But he had come back.

“I won’t be here long. The need to travel and experience life will get to me soon enough. I resigned at the bar. I’m positive Jeff is screwing the newest bartender. I can’t keep working for that man. Besides, Dallas was getting old.”

Was this his way of telling me I could stay? I wasn’t sure I wanted to. He didn’t know me. I didn’t know him really. If I stayed here he’d learn more about me than he probably wanted to know.

“I should be moving on along anyway. I’ve enjoyed staying in your place. It’s really nice.”

“Are we back to this again? I didn’t come here to run you off. I don’t want you to leave. At least not yet. You’ve only been here a few weeks. Enjoy the coast a little longer before you head out. I promise I’m a good roommate. I don’t snore and I don’t drink out of the milk carton unless it’s almost empty and I’m finishing it off.”

His teasing tone made me smile. It was time I was honest with him. I couldn’t lie my way out of this one. He’d think I didn’t like him and I couldn’t let him think that. Not after he’d been so kind to me.

“My leaving isn’t because I’m worried you’ll be a bad roommate,” I began and stopped. What did I say here? How did I explain this without sounding crazy?

“Good. Then there’s no problem,” he finished for me. That wasn’t true, however.

“Yeah, there is. I’m the problem. I’m not exactly easy to live with. I… I might not snore but I have bad dreams. They might… No, they will wake you up. I also have anxiety issues. I can hide it but if we’re living together then you’re going to end up seeing me at my worst. I, I’m just not… living with me isn’t something anyone wants to do. Trust me. I need to just be on my way.”

There I’d said it. He could read between the lines.

Tripp sat up from his reclined position and put his feet on the ground. I watched as he leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees and staring at me. I swallowed nervously. I didn’t want to answer questions about this. If he made me remember too much then I’d show him exactly how insane I could be. I started to count sheep in my head. It helped fight off other thoughts.

“If that’s the case then you don’t need to be living alone anyway. How are you supposed to deal with that shit all by yourself? You’re not,” he paused and pressed his lips together tightly. I could tell he was choosing his next words with a great deal of care. “I’ve got my own demons. Ones that I keep tucked away. We’re a pair you and me. Both of us not ready to stay in one place and wanting to explore the world. I think we could be really good friends. It’s why I gave you the keys to my place and sent you here. Who says we have to travel alone? I’m tired of being alone all the time. Why don’t we let this be a trial run? We both stay here a couple of weeks and see if we can put up with the other one.”

I let his words sink in. Responding to that was hard. I hadn’t been expecting it and I wasn’t sure what I thought about it. He wanted to travel around together? Didn’t that seem intimate? We barely knew each other. But then if we shared a condo for a few weeks we’d know each other much better and he would be very sure that he couldn’t deal with my crazy shit by then.

I wasn’t going to overthink this. “Okay. Deal,” I replied.

A slow smile spread across his face. That would all change really soon. Possibly tonight.

“Also, warning. Jace is happy I’m home. He’s coming over tonight and he’ll bring friends. I hope that’s okay.”

Things around here were about to get a lot more social. I needed to adjust.

Woods

A “Welcome Home Tripp” party wasn’t exactly something I wanted to attend. That was a shame really. I liked Tripp. He was a friend. My bitterness over the fact he was home and staying in his condo with Della was overriding everything else.

I was going so that I could get her alone and talk to her about this. I didn’t want her to feel like she had to stay here if she was uncomfortable. I’d give her a fully furnished condo to stay in if she wanted it. She didn’t have to stay with Tripp.

I knocked once then walked on in. No one was going to be able to hear me over the noise anyway.

The place was packed. I scanned the crowd for Della.

“Woods, about damn time you showed up,” Tripp called out over the music that was pumping through the condo’s built in speaker system. He was sitting at the bar with Jace, Bethy, Thad, and some unknown female who was sitting in Thad’s lap. Della wasn’t anywhere in the room. Dammit.