Breaking Stars - J. Sterling Page 0,38
apartment all alone, rocking back and forth, if I hadn’t gotten out of there when I did.
I logged off and turned around, searching for Tatum. He was standing in the kitchen watching me, but his eyes had a faraway look about them.
“So, about tonight…” I started, and watched as his eyes blinked and refocused.
“What about it?”
“I wanna go.”
“Have you thought about this, Paige? I mean, really thought about this?” He crossed the space between us and stood in front of me.
“What is there to think about?”
“The repercussions of your actions, maybe? That going to this party might ruin everything for you?”
I let out an exasperated breath. “Tatum, just stop.”
“Stop what?” he asked as he tucked his hands inside his jeans pockets.
“You’re trying to control me, and that’s exactly why I left LA in the first place. I don’t need more people in my life telling me what I can and can’t do.”
“I don’t want to control you. I just want to protect you,” he said, and the sincerity of his words took the edge off my anger.
“Protect me? I don’t need you to protect me. I just want to do something normal. But I don’t want to do it without you. Please come with me tonight.”
He looked conflicted as he pondered my request. I didn’t want to fight with him, but I would in order to get what I wanted. And right now, I craved normalcy. I longed for something typical. And a Southern field party was something I wanted to experience.
“Okay.”
“Okay?” I repeated with a slight smile.
“We’ll go.”
“Yay!” I hopped up and wrapped my arms around his shoulders without thinking, my body pressing against his in every place it could. I felt him harden against me as he quickly pushed me away. “Sorry,” I said quickly, feeling stupid, but secretly turned on by what had just happened.
“We’ll head out after dinner,” was all he said before leaving me standing alone in his living room.
I knew Tatum was attracted to me. I could see it in the way he looked at me, but he apparently had far more self-control than I did. He had indifference down to a fine art, and every time he hit me with it, I felt dumber and dumber.
“Tatum?” I shouted toward his bedroom, and he poked his head out from the doorway with his eyebrows raised in response. “Any word about my car?”
Changing the subject seemed to be a good idea. Maybe if we focused on something else, he’d stop running away from me.
“The tire’s going to take a week to get here,” he said flatly.
“A week?” I honestly didn’t care, but my surprise made my words come out sounding as if I were annoyed.
He blinked, then said deliberately, “It’s a specialized tire, so it’s taking extra time. I can put a rush on it if you need to get out of here sooner. I’ll go to town and pick it up or—”
He was shutting me out again; I could see it written all over his face, so I shook my head and interrupted him. “No. It’s okay. I was just surprised, but you know I’m not in any rush.”
Did he know I wasn’t in any rush?
Well, he did now.
• • •
After changing into my dark brown sundress that went perfectly with Mrs. Montgomery’s leather boots, I accessorized with some turquoise jewelry and was all set to go. When I stepped out of my room, I found Tatum waiting for me wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and a black sleeveless shirt. His arm muscles bulged with definition, and his baseball cap was on backward, covering his dark brown hair. He looked as hot as hell, and I wanted to meet the hell maker.
Tatum examined me from head to toe, hesitating on my legs for a moment, long enough for me to catch him doing it. I smiled, happy he liked what he saw, even if he’d never admit it.
We walked together toward his truck, then Tatum opened the door for me and Buster suddenly pushed me aside and tried to jump in. “No, Buster! Go lay down,” Tatum shouted, and Buster retreated toward the house. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay,” I said before hopping into the truck and tugging down the hem of my dress.
Tatum sat in the driver’s seat and cranked the ignition. The truck’s engine roared and he shifted into reverse. Before he let his foot off the brake, he turned to me, his fingers mere inches from my shoulder. “You look