The Air He Breathes (Elements, #1)(46)
“I’m worried about your heart, Liz. After Steven, you were destroyed. I don’t want your heart to get broken again.”
Oh, Tanner.
I lay my head against his chest, and he combed his fingers through my hair. “I’ll be okay. I promise.”
“And if you’re not?”
“Well, I guess I’ll just need you to hug me sometimes.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Tristan
“I don’t think we have properly met,” Faye said as we danced together. “So you’re the penis that’s been inside my best friend’s vagina.”
Well, that’s one way of putting it. “And you’re the highly inappropriate best friend.”
She smiled wide. “That’s me. So listen, this is the part where I tell you if you hurt Liz, I will kill you.”
I laughed. “She and I are just friends.”
“You’re kidding, right? Jesus. The two of you are two of the dumbest human beings on the planet. You honestly can’t tell that my best friend is falling for you?”
“What?”
“Look at her!” Faye said, glancing at Elizabeth. “She can’t take her eyes off of us, because she’s terrified that you might make me laugh, or I might touch your balls, or the wind might blow your penis into my mouth!”
“Wait, what?”
“Oh my freaking gosh, do I really have to spell it out for you? She’s jealous, Tristan!”
“Of us?”
“Of anyone and everyone who looks at you.” Faye grew sober. “Just, be easy with her, okay? Don’t break her heart. It’s already in a million pieces.”
“Don’t worry.” I shrugged. “So is mine.” My eyes locked with Tanner, who was giving me a hard stare. “What about him? Is he jealous and secretly in love with me too?”
Faye stared at Tanner with a look of distaste. “No. He just hates your guts.”
“Why?”
“Because for some reason Liz chose you over him. Can you keep a secret?”
“Probably not, no.”
She smiled. “Oh well, I guess I can’t either because I’m about to tell it to you. The night before Liz and Steven’s wedding, Tanner came stumbling over to Liz’s place. Luckily I answered the door and Liz was sleeping, but he told me that Liz was making a big mistake, that she should’ve been marrying him and not Steven.”
“He’s been in love with her all this time?”
“Love, lust, I don’t know, wanting what you can’t have? Anyway, it’s probably killing him that when she finally came back to town, she didn’t even bat her eyes at him once. He probably had his mind made up that Liz would finally pick him; what a blow to the ballsack when she came back and picked the biggest * there was.” She paused and smiled. “No offense.”
“Some taken.”
I swung her around once and pulled her close to me. “For the record, though.” Faye’s grin switched wider. “I don’t think you’re a complete jerk anymore, so in a few weeks we are having a birthday party for Liz and you’re invited. It’s just going to be about getting her to dance on bar counters and be free from the mind demons that take over her for a little while, and I am giving you full permission to touch her vagina that night.”
I laughed. “That’s really kind of you.”
“What can I say?” She smirked. “I’m a solid friend.”
After the dance with Faye, I found a seat in the back corner of the room and tried to absorb everything I’d been told. I watched Elizabeth talking to Sam before she hugged him and he headed out of the building. I guessed their night together was over. Good. When Elizabeth walked over, I couldn’t even deny the way my heart skipped.
“It looked like you and Faye were getting along well,” she said, sitting beside me.
“The same could be said about you and Tanner,” I replied.
“That’s not the same. Tanner and I are just friends. So what… Did she ask you to have sex with her? I bet you said yes. But I don’t think you should with all the issues you’re dealing with.” She bit her bottom lip. “But did she ask you?”
I cocked an eyebrow at her sassy expression. “Is that a real question?”
“I’m just saying, I don’t think sticking your penis inside a woman is a great way to cope with the stress of your life.”
“But isn’t that what you and I were doing?” I argued.
“And it didn’t work out too well, did it?”
Faye was right. Clarity filled my head as I took in Elizabeth’s features. Her face was flushed and she kept running her hands against her legs. Our gaze met. I edged my chair closer to her and placed her legs in between mine. Leaning in toward her, I whispered, “I get it now.”
I watched a sigh roll from her lips as she studied our proximity. “Get what?”
“You’re jealous.”
She huffed loudly and laughed. “Jealous? Don’t be ridiculous, Narcissus.”
Giving her a soft, therapist tone, I took her hands into mine. “You don’t have to be embarrassed. It’s completely normal to at some point develop feelings for one’s neighbor. Why would you think that’s ridiculous?”