Trish gave a smug wiggle of her shoulders. “Maybe you should ask him about it. I’m sure he’ll tuck his tail between his legs and dodge your questions. Try it, sweetheart. Oh, and if you haven’t already, don’t let him put his cock in you. You have no idea where it’s been.”
I stood there frozen in rage for too long to actually do anything. All I managed was to run through a few imaginary scenarios where I grabbed wine glasses or plates of food and tossed them on her stupid face. Except I was too slow, so she was gone by the time I snapped back to reality and realized I still had to pee. Badly.
When I came back out of the bathroom, Trevor was leaning against the wall of the small bathroom hallway, apparently waiting for me.
“Hey,” he said, flashing a crooked smile.
Jesus. Does anyone else want to bump into me while I’m up from the table?
“Uh, hi.”
“Once you’re off the clock, maybe we could grab drinks.”
“Oh. I’m flattered, but I—”
Before I knew what was happening, Damon was standing between us. He hadn’t put a hand on Trevor, but I could see his knuckles were white and his jaw was clenched.
“Can my employee leave the restroom in peace?” he asked after a tense moment of silence.
Trevor pulled a face. Damon might’ve just undone all the good rapport they’d built, if the expression he wore was any indication. “Yeah, man. Didn’t realize you two were a thing. Is that how you run things at Rose Athletic? You bring a little sex buddy on all your work trips, or—”
Now Damon’s hands were on Trevor’s shoulders. He had him pinned against the wall. “Careful.”
“You’ll wish you were,” Trevor said. “We’re done here.”
“Are we?” Damon asked.
“Yes,” I said firmly. “Let him go.”
Damon grudgingly obliged.
Trevor dusted off his jacket, then shook his head. “Fucking waste of time.”
Once he left, I turned to Damon. We had relative privacy in the small hallway leading to the bathrooms, so I didn’t have to worry about spectators.
“What the hell was that?” I asked. “I don’t need a caveman to bash anyone who looks at me over the head. You just embarrassed us both.”
“That was me wanting you. For myself. All to my goddamn self, okay? Is that what you want to hear? I tried not to, but I can’t stop thinking about you. Wanting you. Remembering the way you taste. You’re addictive, and I spent five years trying to convince myself I wasn’t addicted to something I’d never get my hands on again. And now…”
I gripped his jacket and pulled him in, kissing him on the mouth. He kissed me back slowly and tenderly.
“I’m still pissed at you, for a lot of things,” I said. “But yeah. Okay. It’s possible I feel some of what you’re talking about, too.”
“Good. Because I don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t have more of you.”
“Damon… Trish was here. She stopped me on the way into the restroom. She said something weird about how you were her ‘bitch.’ What is she talking about?”
I hadn’t realized it until the words left me, but it felt like a test. If Damon could finally trust me and open up, maybe I could tell him the truth about Luna. God. I still dreaded that conversation, because I knew I wasn’t completely in the right for keeping the truth from him. Then again, I was willing to be wrong to protect Luna, and that was what it always kept coming back to.
Damon shook his head. “Trish will say anything she can to fuck with me. That’s all.”
“Damon…”
“That’s all,” he said again, more firmly.
And just like that, I felt my resolution to tell him about Luna slip away once again.25DamonIt was Sunday, and that meant Chelsea and I were still booked in the same hotel room for one more day. After the disaster of a dinner with Trevor and the quick conversation that made Chelsea go mute on me afterwards, we’d slept separately and barely spoken.
I woke before the sun rose, but I already heard the shower running. The door was closed, and I had no doubt it was locked.
We’d been on the brink of something, but it felt like everything split apart in a single moment last night. She wanted to know what Trish was talking about, and I didn’t want to say.
Was that all it took? Was everything between us really so fragile?
I threw on some clothes, smoothed my bed-messed hair with my hands, and headed out from our hotel room. I needed to talk to Trish.
I sent her a text telling her to meet me at a breakfast place not far from my hotel. I had no idea if she’d show, so I got seated in the corner and ordered some eggs and coffee while I waited.