Bad Things(108)

I used even more force than I intended, sending her sprawling somewhere behind me. I glared at Tristan, feeling jealous and hurt and betrayed.

He straightened. “Danika—”

“What is she doing here?” I asked him, wondering just how deep this went, but knowing that, even if it was shallow, it still felt like a deep cut.

“Dean invited me!” Natalie said, out of breath as she got back to her feet behind me. “You know I went to high school with them, right? That was about the time you were starting kindergarden.”

“Fuck you, Twatalie,” just sort of slipped out.

“Danika—” Tristan began, his tone annoyed. With me.

I exploded.

“You two can have each other! Have fun being whores together!”

I tried to storm away, but Tristan stopped me with a hug from behind. “Danika,” he said again, squeezing hard enough to get my attention.

“Nat,” he addressed his ex. “Give us some privacy, please.”

She didn’t say a word, just walked back inside, looking putout. That was fine with me. She was lucky that all she lost was a handful of hair.

Tristan’s mouth moved to my ear, and I elbowed him hard in the abs. I didn’t even get a satisfying grunt of pain out of him, which infuriated me, too. In fact, I didn’t think there was anything that could calm me down just then, though I would have liked to throw some plates.

“Whatever you’re thinking that was, you’re wrong,” he explained very quietly.

A bitter laugh burst out of me. “You know who else said that to me? My ex, right after I caught some girl with his dick down her throat.”

He squeezed me again, both arms pinned to my sides. “Don’t compare me to him. I’ve never lied to you. I’m not a liar, and I’m telling you that was just two people who used to be friends talking.”

“You’re still in love with her,” I accused, not keeping any of my pain at the notion out of my voice. “I could tell just by the way you talked to her. You wanted her to be jealous of me. Is that why you invited her here? To make her jealous, so she’d want you back?” My voice was shrill by the end of my little tirade.

His arms tightened again, his voice a frustrated growl in my ear. “You’re being ridiculous. We were talking, and that was it. I don’t have feelings for her. I haven’t for years.”

“You were flirting with her,” I snapped.

He moved his lips to my neck, pressing there so softly that it made me shiver. “Maybe I was, but it was harmless.”

“Harmless?” I tried to elbow him again, but my arms were locked down tight, so I tried kicking my heel back into him. He didn’t even seem to notice when my shoe made contact with his shin. “How was it harmless? It wasn’t harmless to me. It hurt like hell to see you flirting with your ex!”

His hands were on my arms, and he started stroking softly, a soothing motion, his face nuzzling into the spot just behind my ear. “I didn’t think of it like that. I thought it was harmless, because it didn’t mean anything to me, but I’m sorry if it hurt you. You’re right, that’s not harmless, and it won’t happen again. Just understand this, even if we weren’t together, I’d never go near her again, not like that. I know that woman too well to ever want to lay a finger on her, okay? And I don’t need anybody but you.”

I took a deep, trembling breath, finally convinced that what I’d seen hadn’t been two exes that still wanted each other.

“But, sweetheart, listen carefully, when I say that I don’t need anybody but you, what I mean is that I never have. I need you. I’ve never needed anyone or anything the way I need you. I need you in a way that would break me if I lost you. Being with you makes every part of my life better. Every second I get with you is the best second of my life. I’m not good at expressing myself, not like you are, but I treasure this thing between us. Don’t think I don’t.”

I nodded, my heart racing. He’d never said anything so revealing to me before, and I savored every word like it was a feast. And I’d been starving.

His mouth moved back to my neck, kissing and biting at that tender flesh.

I gasped.

“I need you. Now.”

“I think you might just enjoy it when I have jealous fits,” I told him.

“I just might,” he murmured, biting down on that tendon between my neck and shoulder. “But let’s not pretend I don’t want to f*ck you just about every waking moment, regardless.”