I Just Need You - J. Nathan Page 0,53
said with a grin.
The guys smiled as I attempted to steadily make my way to the hand sanitizer by the door. Truth be told, I would’ve been steadier on a trapeze. I washed my hands then yanked open the door, almost falling back when Tristan stood there glaring at me.
I straightened my spine and tipped up my chin. “Move,” I said.
He didn’t, his broad chest remaining in my face. I wished I didn’t know what that chest felt like beneath my hands or how strong it felt when pressed to mine while he was thrusting inside me.
“She said move,” one of the guys behind me said.
I kept my chin lifted in defiance.
Tristan’s eyes remained locked on mine, but he eventually relented, stepping back so I could walk out.
It took everything in me not to make a dig about the blonde at the bar, but I’d made plans with Chris, so I really had no right. And in my drunken stupor, I was bound to say way more than I should.
The guys in the men’s room walked me toward the dance floor before going their separate ways.
I was about to step back out onto the dance floor when someone grabbed my arm and tugged me back. I spun around, coming chest to chest with Tristan. “Let go,” I said through clenched teeth.
He didn’t release me.
I cocked my head, tears threatening to pool in my eyes. I willed them back. “What do you want from me?”
He stared at me long and hard, his lips twisting regrettably.
His silence kept my tears at bay, pissing me off instead of making me sad. “I get it, Tristan. You’re here to make a point. I get it. We’re never happening. Message received.”
His eyes dropped away from mine, and he let go of my arm.
Coward.
I spun away from him and went back to the dance floor, pushing my way to Elodie and Alice. “You guys ready?”
They could see the urgency in my face because they didn’t hesitate, following me toward the exit. Briggs and his partner met us outside and walked us to the car. We slipped into the backseat, and the girls knew enough not to ask what was wrong. Briggs drove us back to the dorm. It was a quiet ride, but only because Elodie and Alice fell asleep.
I’d sobered up dramatically after the run in with Tristan and the sight of him with someone else.
I woke the girls at the dorm, and Briggs helped them out of the car.
“Piggyback?” Alice asked him.
“No,” Briggs said, though he stifled a smile.
“No fun,” she slurred.
Briggs’ partner parked the car while Briggs helped get them upstairs. We used the bathroom then said our goodnights. After Briggs checked my room, I slipped into my pajamas and climbed into bed. I felt sick for more than one reason.
Sometime in the middle of the night, my door opened and closed. Tristan’s crisp scent filled my room and I sensed him sit down in the chair. I was too angry and exhausted to say anything. I lay there for a long time, hating him. Or, at least trying to.
“I know you think this is easy for me,” he said softly. “Having to be around you.”
“You’re fired,” I said. “There. Now you can go home.”
“I’m not joking, Kresley.”
“Neither am I, Tristan.”
“I’m trying to do the right thing,” he said.
“For who? You? Me? Your employees?”
I could hear him push the chair back and stand. “This was a bad idea.”
I rolled over in my bed so I could finally face him. “You mean a mistake?”
He stared at me, exhaustion heavy in his features.
“Dammit, Tristan. Stop lying.”
“About what?”
“Everything.”
His eyes stayed on mine for a long time. I willed him to be honest. I willed him to tell me the truth. I thought he was actually going to, but instead, he resorted to his cowardly ways. “Good night.” He turned and walked out of my room.
I listened, waiting for his door to open, but it didn’t. Had he left? Had he finally taken me at my word that he was fired?
Then I noticed his shadow lingering outside my door, and I knew he sat in the hallway.
I wished he hadn’t. I really wished he hadn’t. Because it just made me think he still cared—even just a little bit.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Kresley
I didn’t see Tristan at all on Saturday, just his shadow outside my room that night. But, Sunday morning, he was leaning against the hallway wall when I opened my door to go volunteer. My feet caught on the