Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Tripp laced his fingers behind his head, breathing heavy as he made his way back to the party. His life had never felt this out of control before. Or maybe he’d never wanted something so bad that it put him in a tailspin when he couldn’t get it.
He was overheated and angry—not because she told him no.
Wendy had every right to turn a guy down.
It was the reasons she was giving him. How dare she tell him he wasn’t capable of everything she wanted and more? How could she judge him so easily when they barely knew each other? Something wasn’t adding up.
Yanking out the chair where he’d been sitting, he avoided looking at the empty one next to it. If he tried hard enough, he’d still be able to smell her sweet perfume. It was maddening.
Everything came back to one solitary thought.
He wanted more.
Not with just anyone. Tripp wanted more with that woman who had managed to get his heart into a chokehold. He wanted to be the reason she smiled. He wanted her to stay up late thinking about him. He wanted to be her whole world.
Sighing, he tilted his head back and stared up at the starlit sky. How had his life changed so irrevocably in such a short time?
Sure, most anyone who knew him might say that this was a phase. Maybe he just wanted Wendy’s attention because she was the one he couldn’t have. But Tripp knew better.
So why did he walk away?
Because it had been easier than facing the reality of a hard conversation. Tripp dragged a hand down his face. It was too late now. He couldn’t go back out there and stop her from leaving. She was probably halfway home by now.
“Hey,” Brent grunted as he settled into Wendy’s vacated chair. A cursory glance of his brother indicated that Brent looked about ready to call it a night. He might be younger, but he was an early riser and that meant he went to bed earlier than most.
“Hey,” Tripp muttered.
“You look like—”
“If you know what’s good for you, you won’t finish that statement,” Tripp snapped.
His brother chuckled. They sat in silence, both watching the scene around them. Tripp hadn’t seen his brother show any interest in anyone, but that didn’t mean anything. Brent kept to himself. He was quiet.
Kinda like Wendy.
Great. Was everything going to remind him of her, now?
“So, I was wondering if you could answer something for me,” Brent finally broke the silence.
“What’s that?”
“Do you know why that Wendy chick decided to sneak off to the barn?”
Tripp’s whole body went rigid. “What?”
“Yeah. I was out front to help decorate Reese’s truck and I saw her sneak away. I thought maybe you’d told her to wait for you there.” Knowing amusement laced his voice.
Tripp was up and out of his seat before his brother finished his statement.
“Hey, where are you—”
He didn’t care if he ruined his dress shoes. Tripp sprinted toward the nearest barn where they kept their horses. Wendy was drawn to the animals, it would make sense that she’d go there to get some form of comfort if she was feeling stressed.
Perhaps he should feel guilty. His parting words weren’t exactly kind. But he had suspicions that they were the reason she didn’t officially run. And if he was right, he had a hard time regretting what he’d said.
The barn had muted lighting at night to allow for anyone to find their way around in the dark. Horses tossed their heads restlessly when he entered. “Wendy?” he called out the second he entered. “Brent saw you come out here.” Straining his ears for any sign of her, he willed his breathing to slow.
It took a few minutes before he finally heard it.
A distinct sniffle.
Tripp took careful steps toward the sound. “Wendy. I think we should talk.”
She emerged from an empty stall, fury in her gaze. Her arms were folded and if looks could kill, he’d be six feet under. “Really? Not done slinging your insults?”
He grimaced. “I was upset.”
“Yeah? Well, so was I.” She scoffed and shook her head. “You have a lot of nerve coming in here and—”
“I’m sorry.”
Wendy stilled.
Continuing toward her cautiously, like he’d approach a wounded animal, Tripp held up both hands. “I’m sorry I hurt your feelings. But I’m not sorry about what I said.”
Her eyes narrowed and she shifted so she continued to face him fully as he approached. “That’s not an apology, Tripp.”
“I get it, okay? I get that we started off on the wrong foot.”
She snorted. “That’s the understatement of the century.”
“Yeah, I know.” He couldn’t fight the grin that slipped on his face. “You don’t exactly make things easy on a guy.”
All the work he’d done to get past her defenses had been wasted. This woman had hunkered down and she was ready for a nuclear attack. She folded her arms and continued to give him her most scathing stare. “What do you want, Tripp?”
He stopped once he got within three feet of her.
Any closer and he was sure she’d dart away like a doe in the woods.
“You can’t tell me you don’t feel it,” he rasped.
His voice was on the verge of cracking. Tripp could be hot headed.
He could lose his temper and sabotage the things he wanted most. But he was also realistic enough to realize his mistakes, and the way he’d left things out by her car wasn’t his best.
Her gaze searched his. There was a flicker. It was brief, but he saw it clearly. Uncertainty. Nerves. Wendy wasn’t scared of him. But she was scared of something.
“Despite our arguments, the ridiculous war we started, you can’t deny that there’s something between us.
A spark. Chemistry. Whatever you want to call it—it’s there.
It’s alive. It’s breathing.” The last word was said with a hushed whisper.
“There was only a glimmer of it at first, but it’s grown.
Please tell me that I’m not going crazy. ”
He watched her pull her lower lip between her teeth. Emotion flooded her eyes and she looked up and away. Then she shifted and her voice broke the silence. “But that’s the worst part, isn’t it?”
“What is?” Tripp inched closer to her.
She sniffed and rubbed at her nose with the back of her hand. “You. This.” She gestured wildly with that hand before crossing it with the other one once more.
Tripp couldn’t make sense of what she was saying. What was so bad about him? Was he so horrible that she couldn’t stand being attracted to him?
A harsh breath burst from her and she threw her fists down at her sides. “Olivia.”
He’d been closing in on her but that one word had him stopping in his tracks. “Olivia?”
She blinked rapidly then lifted her chin.
The anger wasn’t in her eyes any longer.
It had been replaced with pain. He wanted to swallow the distance between them and wrap her in a hug so tight she wouldn’t be able to escape.
Wendy’s voice grew stronger. “Olivia Kingston. Though you’d remember her as—”
“Olivia Greyson,” Tripp murmured. His brows furrowed as he attempted to make sense of how Wendy could possibly know that name. Were they friends? Wendy was from Georgia. It was entirely possible. He pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled. “What about her?”
“She was my best friend. Still is,” she admitted quietly. “We grew up together and we stayed in touch even after I moved out here.”
“And… she told you… about us.” Of course, Olivia would tell her best friend about the guy she was dating.
Out of everyone Tripp had dated, his relationship with Olivia had been the longest. Not only that, but she’d also been the one he’d gotten most serious with.
That relationship above all others had stuck with him.
“Yes, she did.”
He became all too aware of the heat that flickered to life in his chest. He fought the urge to grip his shirt where the tightness in his chest deepened. “Are you listening to yourself?”
Wendy’s head reared back. He could practically hear her demand an explanation for his irritation.
Tripp spread his arms wide. “Olivia is married, Wendy, or have you forgotten that?”
“It doesn’t change the fact that you broke her heart.”
He threw his head back with a baffled laugh. “I dated a lot of women, yes. Some of them were short relationships, others were longer. None of them worked out because… well, that’s life.”
“And you’re trying to tell me that you’re not the type of guy who gets bored and simply moves on when things get hard?
” Her words were a dagger to his chest. Maybe he had been scared.
Maybe he was just good at reading people and he knew when it was time to move on.
Regardless, he hated the way she seemed content at using his past against him.
He took one large step closer to her, eating up the distance between them.
His voice lowered to a hiss as he got in her face.
“None of that should matter. People change. They grow. My past is exactly that. My past. Forcing me to take accountability for my past actions is one thing. But holding it against me is something completely different.”
Her eyes were wide and her breathing had stuttered. The tension between them crackled in the air as he continued.
“We’re in the now, Wendy,” he rasped. “This thing between us? It’s real and it’s right in front of us.
To ask me to ignore it would be an impossibility.
These feelings… what I experience when I’m with you…
it’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before.
” Tripp rested his hand against the wood panel at her back just above her left shoulder.
With his other hand, he grasped her chin.
“Tell me right now, sweetness. Stop me if you don’t want this to happen.
Because I want nothing more than to kiss you and I’m going to do it unless you stop me. ”
Tripp wasn’t sure, but he thought she might be holding her breath. She’d pressed her body against the closed stall at her back.
“Breathe, Wendy,” he hissed. “I can’t have you passing out on me.”
Her chest rose suddenly and she whispered, “Tripp…”
His mouth crashed down on hers, consuming her, taking every last piece of her. This was more than fireworks. Kissing Wendy was sweet oblivion. Tripp lost himself in the feel of her. All this time she’d been holding back and for what? Out of some misguided loyalty? Or did her issues run deeper?
It didn’t matter. Not anymore.
Right now, Tripp was willing to lose himself in this woman. He’d kiss her until she was dizzy, breathless, and finally willing to accept that what they had was bigger than any reservation she might have.
Her hands pushed into his hair as she clung to him.
Relief, desperation, and exhilaration fueled his every movement. She was his. In this moment, as long as it would last, Wendy belonged to him. He didn’t know what would happen after this moment, but he had a feeling he’d gotten past the first hurdle.
She moaned into his lips and he murmured her name. This was happiness. This was perfection.
“Hey, Tripp, Reese is looking…”
Wendy gasped, tearing away from Tripp at the sound of Brent’s voice. She moved far too quickly for him to see if she regretted the moment they’d just shared. Like a streak of lightning, she darted from his side and toward the door, her head down.
Brent mumbled something as he jumped out of her way then he turned a knowing grin in Tripp’s direction. “So…”
“Shut up, Brent,” Tripp muttered, pushing past him. At the speed that Wendy left, there was no chance that he’d catch her. Calling after her would only draw more attention. He’d give her some space, then he’d track her down. This wasn’t over.
Despite the way their kiss had ended, Tripp smiled to himself.
He’d call this little encounter a win.