Sierra sucked in a breath and before I could say anything, she pushed Dodge out of the way. “Oh, no you don’t. I noticed it first, so back off, boy toy.”
Dodge glared at Sierra. “I don’t think so, short stack. I noticed the moment I walked in.”
“I call bullshit,” Sierra said as she threw her hands onto her hips. Glancing over Sierra’s shoulder, I smiled. My body came alive the moment Tristan walked through the door. Tristan walked in and immediately came to my side. Walking by Dodge and Sierra arguing, he pointed at them and said, “What are Bonnie and Clyde arguing about?”
Chucking, I said, “I have no clue. The bigger question here is, how has Sierra not been banned from this Starbucks?”
Tristan laughed then whispered in my ear, “I think the manager wants in her pants.”
Giggling, I playfully hit Tristan. The smell of his cologne caused my stomach to clench with desire.
“Listen, dickhead, you think you saw what you saw, but really you didn’t see anything at all because you’re probably still hung up on her. Being hung up on her, you thought you saw something there, but you didn’t. You didn’t see anything.”
Dodge pulled his head back and stared at Sierra. “What in the fuck do you smoke every morning?”
“Language kids.”
Tristan and I both looked over to an older woman who I had seen Sierra talking to a number of times.
Taking Sierra by the arm, Dodge pulled her out of the Starbucks. Smiling at the older woman, I grabbed Tristan’s arm as we followed Dodge and Sierra out of Starbucks. “Did you know Sierra had the hots for Dodge?”
Laughing, Tristan said, “Oh, yeah. I saw those eyes light up the first time she ever laid eyes on the man whore.”
“Tristan!” I said as I glared at him.
Lifting his hands in surrender, Tristan laughed. “Sorry, I know he is a friend.”
Dodge had pulled Sierra away from the door. “Listen, why don’t you get your coffee and head on out of here? Go to work and do whatever it is you do.” Looking at Sierra dressed in her scrubs, Dodge laughed. “What do you do? You a secretary to some hot doctor who you screw at night before he goes home to his sad, lonely wife?”
“Oh shit,” Tristan said.
Sierra stared at Dodge. I was waiting for her to pop off with a comeback, but she didn’t say a word. I knew his words stung her to the core. Sierra’s ex was a doctor who had cheated on her with her best friend, who happened to work in his office as his office manager. Dodge’s smirk faded as his eyes searched Sierra’s stricken face. You could see the hurt laced in her features.
Turning, Sierra began to walk away. I saw the tear moving down her cheek and I quickly made my way over to her.
Dodge called out, “Wait! Sierra, I didn’t mean to—”
Looking at Dodge, I said, “Stop. Just stop talking.”
Tristan came walking up and asked if Sierra was okay. Nodding her head, she was barely able to talk. “I’m gonna head to work. I’ll give y’all a call later. Let’s do dinner so I can hear all about how y’all got back together again.”
Looking over my shoulder to Dodge, Sierra shouted, “Because I knew first she was back with him, you stupid asshole!”
Turning, Sierra made her way over to her car that was parked across the street. Tristan and I stood there and watched as Sierra got in her car and pulled out, headed to St. David’s Hospital.
Spinning on my heels, I glared at Dodge. “Why would you say something so awful?”
Tristan placed his hand around my waist. “Ryn, Dodge didn’t know.”
Looking away, I attempted to calm down. Dodge looked between Tristan and me. “What don’t I know?”
“Sierra’s husband—”
“Soon to be ex-husband,” I interjected.
Nodding his head, Tristan continued, “Her soon to be ex-husband cheated on her. Sierra came home early one night from work. It was their six-year anniversary and she wanted to surprise him. He’s a doctor and they hardly ever got to spend time together. Sierra walked into their bedroom and he was fucking her best friend, who happens to also work for him as his office manager.”
Dodge’s mouth fell open. “What?”
“Yeah, dude; couldn’t you pick a better scenario? Do you not remember me telling you her husband cheated on her?” Tristan asked as sarcasm fell from his lips. I knew it was going to take Tristan some time to get used to the fact that I still wanted to be friends with Dodge. We had talked about it a few nights ago when Dodge sent a text asking how my New Year had gone.
Dodge jerked back like someone had just hit him with a fire poker. “I didn’t . . . I mean I had forgotten . . . how in the hell would I have known that her best friend worked for her ex and was the one who fucked him? I don’t know anything about Sierra besides the fact that she is spit and fire. I see her in Starbucks at least three times a week and every single time she pops off with some smartass remark.”
Rolling my eyes, I looked at Dodge. “Can’t you see she likes you, Dodge?”
Dodge snapped his head over to me. “What?” Then he started laughing. To the point where he pretended he had tears and held his stomach like it was all too much.
Tristan gave Dodge a nudge. “Knock it off, your ass would be lucky to have someone like Sierra.”
Dodge stopped laughing and looked at Tristan and then me. “Um . . . yeah. No thanks, dude. I think I’ll pass.”
Shaking my head, I looked at Tristan as he brought me into his arms. I knew it was his way of showing Dodge that he had no chance of being with me ever again. “Congratulations by the way. I could see it on your face, Ryn, when I walked into Starbucks. You look really happy.”
Reaching for Tristan’s hand, they shook hands as Dodge gave Tristan a nod. “Listen, I’ve got to get to work and with my little argument with Princess Smartass, I’m going to be late for a meeting. Y’all should stop by the club sometime.”
Tristan half smiled. “Yeah, maybe we will before we leave for South Texas.”
My body went stiff. I hadn’t been planning on telling anyone just yet that I’d be moving to South Texas.
Dodge turned my way. “What? You’re moving, Ryn?”
Trying to smile the best I could, I said, “Yeah. I’ll um, tell you all about it over coffee.”
Tristan’s grip on my waist tightened. A clear indication he was still uneasy about my friendship with Dodge. I knew Dodge was not going to take the news of me leaving Austin very well.
“Wait a second here, Ryn. You just got back with him and now you’re going to follow him to South Texas?” My body tensed at Dodge’s response. I knew it wasn’t very long ago Dodge wanted something more from our relationship, but he also knew how much I loved Tristan. I wasn’t prepared for a showdown right now with Dodge over my moving to South Texas. Especially with Tristan standing right next to me.
Tristan dropped his arm from my waist and took a step closer to Dodge. Knowing Tristan was pissed, I stood between the two of them; I put my hand on Tristan’s chest to stop him. “Tristan, let me take care of this please.”
“This is insane, Ryn. He can’t just tell you he’s sorry, and you decide you’re giving everything up to follow him there. Jesus, Ryn. Don’t be so stupid. What, is he that great of a fuck?”
Tristan moved me out of the way so fast, I didn’t have time to stop him from doing what I knew was coming next.
Tristan punched Dodge square in the mouth. Grabbing him by the shirt, he yelled, “You apologize to her right now, asshole!”
Dodge pushed Tristan back and was about to raise his fist to hit Tristan when I jumped between them. The moment Dodge’s fist hit my face, I swore I saw stars.
Yelling out my name, Tristan grabbed me before I hit the ground.
“You motherfucker! You hit her!”
Everything was blurry in my left eye and I instantly had a headache. I’d never been punched before. Okay that was a lie. Once in fifth grade, I called my best friend Mindy a fat cow and she ha
uled back and punched me right in the nose. It was safe to say, I’d rather take Mindy’s punch over a guy’s punch any day.
“Ryn, baby, are you okay?”
Slowly nodding my head, I barely forced out the word, “Yes,” as I attempted to focus my left eye. The throbbing pain quickly moved up through my head and into an instant headache.
“I swear to God if she didn’t look like she was going to pass out I’d kick the living shit out of you,” Tristan told Dodge. There was a tightness in Tristan’s eyes and his face was red. The pulsing vein in his neck indicated he was upset.
Glancing up to Dodge, he looked like he was going to be sick. “Ryn, I didn’t mean to hit you. You stepped in between us and I couldn’t stop in time.”
Trying to smile, I said, “It’s okay. It was stupid of me to get in between two grown men who were acting like stupid high school boys.”
My eyes, or rather, eye, traveled to each guy. Tristan was still glaring at Dodge, but at least he was not threatening to kill him, and Dodge looked like someone had just taken away his favorite . . . um . . . what did Dodge like to do? I thought about it for a few seconds as Tristan held me in his arms in front of my favorite Starbucks. I was pretty sure after today, I was banned for life from my favorite Starbucks.
“Do you have any hobbies, Dodge?”
Rubbing the back of his neck, Dodge started mumbling. “Oh God. Oh shit. She’s got brain damage. I swear I didn’t hit her that hard. Shit! Ah shit.”
“She doesn’t have brain damage you ass,” Tristan said.
Dodge pointed to me. “She is talking nonsense.”
Holding up my hand, I said, “No. I was trying to think of how to describe your face and it looked like someone had taken away your favorite thing. But then I didn’t know what your favorite thing was. So that’s why I asked, do you have any hobbies?”
Tristan and Dodge both stared at me. “Holy fuck, you did give her brain damage,” Tristan said.
Closing my eyes, I let out a heavy breath. “Tristan? Will you please take me home?”
Dodge reached out and took my hand. “I swear I didn’t mean—”
Giving Dodge a weak smile, I said, “I know. We’ll talk soon.”
As Tristan walked me back to my house, he kept saying how the next time he saw Dodge he was going to beat his ass into the ground. I stopped trying to argue with him about it. He was pissed that Dodge said what he said to me, and he was even more pissed that Dodge ended up almost knocking my lights out.
As Tristan laid me down on my bed, I tried to figure out what I was going to do about the whole Dodge and Tristan thing. I needed to talk to Dodge. Alone. I should have done it the moment I came back. Even though I had been clear with Dodge that there would never be a future with the two of us, I should have told him how serious things were with Tristan and I. Closing my eyes, I knew the reason I put off telling Dodge I was back with Tristan was because he was going to be hurt.
Tristan placed a bag of frozen carrots onto my eye. Letting out a gasp, I jumped as Tristan winced. “I’m sorry, baby. I hate that you got hurt because of me.”
Looking at Tristan, I noticed how his eyes appeared wet from the tears he was holding back. “I didn’t get hurt because of you.”
“Yeah, you did. I let my temper get the better of me. It’s just, I’m tense around Dodge anyway because of your past relationship and him saying that. It just pissed me off. I’ll be glad when you are away from him.”
Sitting up, I pushed the bag of carrots off of my eye. “Excuse me?”
Tristan stared at me. “What?”
“You’ll be glad when I’m away from him? Dodge is a friend of mine. I don’t plan on giving up my friendship with him. Would you give up your friendship with Sierra? You didn’t hear me getting upset when you talked to her on the phone last night and made plans to go over to her house to fix her garage door.”
Tristan laughed. “That’s different, Ryn.”
Feeling the anger begin to boil in my blood, I inhaled a deep breath. “How is that different? It’s the same, Tristan. What if I don’t want you hanging around your college sweetheart who you just happened to have fucked after you ran into each other at the . . .”
Tristan stood up, clearly agitated.
“Wait, I only fucked Sierra one time and it meant nothing. It was a fuck that is all. No emotion.”
Swallowing hard, I asked, “Isn’t that how all your fucks are, Tristan? No emotions.”
Pushing his hand through his hair, he nodded his head. “That’s not fair, Ryn. I’ve never treated you like that.”
Laughing, I threw the bag of carrots at him. “The moment you called Liberty on the phone, you treated me that way, asshole.”
Tristan looked stunned. “Wait. What in the hell is going on here, Ryn? Why are you bringing up Sierra? She’s just a friend I met a few months ago.”
I was pretty sure my heart stopped beating. “What did you say?”
Tristan looked at me confused. “I said she’s just a friend I met a few months ago.”
“You lied?”
Tristan looked baffled until it hit him. Closing his eyes he shook his head, “No wait let me explain, Ryn, Sierra and I meet on the side of her house—”
“When you were watching Dodge fuck me?”
A grave expression rolled across Tristan’s face. He hesitated before speaking. “She told you?”
Dropping my head back, I laughed. “Oh my God. You were playing me? What did you two come up with some plan to make me jealous and beg for you back?”
Tristan looked away, “No . . . not really.”
“Oh my God! I thought she was my friend. I thought . . .” Turning away from Tristan, I tried to pull my anger back in. Not bothering to look back at Tristan, I asked, “So you only met Sierra that day. Then you finger fucked her in a club and what?” Spinning back around, I walked over to Tristan and pushed him. “Took her back to your house and fucked her?”
Tristan grabbed my arms to keep me from hitting him. “Stop this, Ryn. We weren’t together. You can’t get upset with me when you were fucking Dodge!”
His words stung for some reason. I instantly knew he was right. Why I had brought it all up was beyond me. I was upset he and Sierra had played me, but I knew the reason why. Tristan was trying to get me back. It was wrong, but I got the reason behind it.
Taking a few steps back, I stared at Tristan. His eyes filled with something I’d never seen before. Fear.
“I’ll leave you alone tonight, Ryn.”
Turning, Tristan headed to the front door. I was instantly brought back to the day at the beach when he walked away from me.
“Tristan. Please don’t go. Please!”
Turning, he gave me the saddest look. “Ryn, I don’t want to fight with you. I especially don’t want to fight about Sierra. If my friendship with her bothers you, I’ll walk away and let the two of you just be friends. As far as Dodge goes, I trust you and trust your judgment. Right now, I’m tired, Ryn and I don’t feel like doing this.”
Fearing he was going to walk away, I ran over to him and threw myself into his body. Tristan wrapped his arms around me and held me tight.
“I love you. Please don’t leave. Please don’t leave me,” I cried as Tristan ran his hand down the back of my head gently.
“Shh . . . baby, I’m not going anywhere.”
I couldn’t stop my sobbing. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me and why I was bringing all that up. I know you have a lot on your plate right now, Tristan. You’ve quit your job, you’re selling your house.” Burying my head in Tristan’s chest, I wanted to beg him to make love to me.
“My eye and head hurts,” I whimpered as I grabbed onto his shirt and held onto him, as if I was afraid he would walk away.
Moving his lips to the top of my head, Tristan whispered, “Let’s go lay down, Ryn.”
Letting Tristan lead me to my bedroom, the throbbing in my head moved to between my legs. Lying down on the bed,
I snuggled into his body. His breathing immediately began lulling me to sleep.
Whispering against his chest, I asked, “Will you make love to me, Tristan?”
“Baby, you never have to ask me to make love to you.”
Tristan moved quickly to undress himself and then me. He hovered over my body as he looked into my eyes. Slowly pushing into my body, he brushed his lips against mine. “I love you, Ryn. I’ll always love you.”
Tristan spent the rest of the morning making love to me until we both were overcome with exhaustion and sleep won us over.
WALKING UP TO RYN’S HOUSE, I breathed in a deep breath as I pushed my hand through my wavy brown hair. We were going out for dinner, some dancing, and then I was planning on taking her back to my condo. Tonight I was going to show her the side of me I had been holding back. I prayed like hell she wouldn’t turn and walk away. My playroom wasn’t set up nearly like other’s I had been in. I’d walked into a few and turned my ass around and walked right back out. I wasn’t into the dominant and submissive thing at all.
I didn’t get into all the BDSM shit that my buddy, Nick, from college did. I did however like to play hard. You were either into it or not into it. Nick took it serious though and was hard-core. Had the whole girl calling him sir and all that shit. All it took was that night we had spent with Michelle and Ash, and Nick was hooked for life. He spent over a year with Ash as she molded him to how she wanted him.
Opening the door before I could knock, Ryn stood there dressed in a beautiful teal blue cocktail dress. My eyes wandered over her body until they finally made their way to her black high heel shoes. Letting out a moan, I adjusted my instantly hard dick.
“Fucking hell, Ryn. You look amazing, baby.”
Giving me a smile that caused a zip of energy to rush through my entire body, Ryn said, “Thank you. You look pretty handsome yourself.”
Looking down at my clothes, I tried to wonder what she thought was different. I was dressed in jeans, cowboy boots, a blue button down shirt, and a cowboy hat. Glancing back at her, she had her finger in her mouth and I knew she was undressing me with her eyes.