Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The last several weeks had been perfect.
Well, as perfect as Tripp could hope for. Wendy was still trying to maintain that wall between them. While she was content to spend time with him, flirt, and even kiss, she wasn’t inclined to go further than that.
Unfortunately, Tripp was quickly realizing that he was open to more. As terrifying as that was, he wanted Wendy to drop all her defenses and accept that they could be good together. Really good together.
To the outside observer, they likely looked like a couple. His brother and his cousins could see it. Serenity had given him more than one pointed look when he’d stop in at the antique shop.
It was just Wendy who hadn’t come to terms with the potential they had together.
Perhaps this was his comeuppance. All the years he’d kept women just outside of that relationship status had finally come back to bite him. Now that he was interested in a woman and willing to risk his heart, the woman in question wasn’t willing to do the same.
Now he knew what it felt to be on the other side of things.
“Good morning, Tripp,” Serenity sang the moment he entered the shop. “Wendy isn’t here. Decided to take an early lunch with some guy.”
He frowned. Wait, what? He’d come to take her to lunch or rather beg her to come to lunch with him on her break.
Any amount of time he could get with her was better than nothing.
But hearing that she had accepted a lunch date with someone else had his nerves fraying.
The demand to know who it was clung to the tip of his tongue but then the sound of footsteps drew his attention elsewhere.
At that moment, Wendy emerged from the back. Her eyes locked with his and she smiled.
Tripp shifted his seething look toward Serenity. She laughed, ducking away as she headed for the back of the store. “I’m going to take inventory of the shipment we got this morning,” she murmured.
Wendy nodded, her eyes following her friend before landing on Tripp again. “What happened?”
He straightened. “What? Nothing.”
She arched a brow. “The way you were looking at her mere moments ago tells a different story. Did she say something to you?”
Tripp locked his jaw. There was no way she would be ready to hear the thoughts that had blown up in his head when he’d believed that she was dating someone else. Based on the smug smile that graced Serenity’s lips, she’d blatantly lied just to get a reaction.
And boy did she ever.
If nothing else, one thing was made perfectly clear.
He was in over his head.
Tripp’s heart already belonged to this southern beauty before him. Her smile. The way her eyes lit up with joy or darkened with irritation. Even the way she could hold her own in an argument. Every last piece of this woman had been made for him.
If only he could get her to accept it.
Clearing his throat, noting the expectant expression on her face, he flashed her a smile. “I wanted to know if you’d come to lunch with me today.”
“Tripp…” she sighed.
“As a friend, of course.” Those words were more bitter on his tongue than they’d ever been.
He was growing to despise the term. Why couldn’t they cross the line just once?
He was sure that doing so would give them both the clarity they needed to move past this strange limbo in which they found themselves.
Her eyes searched his as if seeking out the falsehoods in his promise.
He looked away and leaned himself casually against the counter, arms folded against his chest. “Even you have to eat, right?”
Tripp didn’t have to glance back to her to know she was debating whether or not to accept his request. The term hanging out had started to feel more serious. At least to him. She could feel it too, he was sure of it.
Fighting the urge to just lay it all out on the table and tell her that he thought he was falling in love with her, Tripp exhaled a slow breath.
There was more to lose in making such a confession.
Wendy could shut him out of her life completely if she felt cornered. That was why he had to be patient.
And yet that patience was wearing thin with each passing day.
He turned his head and quirked a grin at her.
“Tick tock, sweetness. You might want to take me up on my offer before I extend it to someone else,” he teased.
There was no one else because no one could compare to the beauty who stood behind the counter.
Something about her expression tightened and he fought a laugh. She really didn’t like it when he suggested he would spend time with other women. Well, at least that was how he was choosing to read her reaction.
Wendy huffed but she didn’t call him on his bluff. Instead, she slipped through the door to the office.
He straightened, preparing to go after her and tell her he was joking, but then she returned with her purse.
“I’m taking my lunch break, Serenity,” she called. “You gonna be okay while I’m gone?”
“Sure thing!” Serenity called back.
Wendy’s expression was one of exasperation but woven beneath the surface was something else. Veiled excitement? Happiness? She enjoyed his company as much as he enjoyed hers.
Tripp didn’t even bother covering up the smug smile that toyed at his lips. “Any requests?”
“I could go for a burger.”
“Mmm. Sounds good to me.”
The burger joint they found themselves at was one reminiscent of those found in the fifties. While the servers weren’t wearing roller-skates, they did have a uniform that seemed to fit the era.
Once they got their food, Tripp pulled open the tailgate and together they dug through their paper bags.
Wendy held her burger with both hands. She kept the yellow paper wrapped around the lower half as she brought it to her mouth.
Then she paused and gave him a strange look—one that mirrored his own. “What?” she demanded.
He arched a brow. “You gonna eat the paper, too?”
She lifted the burger and mimicked his expression right back. “Are you going to let all the contents of your burger fall into your lap?”
Tripp scoffed. “That’s never happened.”
“Your funeral,” she smiled sweetly. “Have you ever eaten a burger here before?”
“I’ve eaten plenty of burgers.”
“Here?” she clarified again.
“No,” he drawled. “But a burger is a burger.” And to prove his point, he made a show of unwrapping the burger in its entirety before lifting it to his mouth and taking a large bite.
The action of biting down seemed to push some of the contents to the back end of the sandwich and he realized his mistake too late.
Lettuce, onion, and a pickle slipped free from the bun and landed in his lap with a plop. The mess was covered in the mayo-mustard concoction that had been slathered on the buns. He stared at the mess, blinking.
Wendy cackled.
His head snapped her way and his eyes narrowed. “That… has never… happened before.”
“I figured as much,” she mused. Then she took a big bite of her own sandwich. The paper wrapping seemed to keep the whole burger from falling apart. Yes, that was a strange way to think about a burger, but that was the only way to describe it. None of the contents in her sandwich shifted at all.
Tripp scooped the mess from his lap with a sigh and tossed it to the asphalt beneath his feet.
Then he grabbed a couple napkins in order to clean up what he could.
He’d set his burger on the wrapper at his side while he went through the whole painstaking process.
Then he tried again, with the wrapper reattached to his burger.
“I don’t know that I’m going to come back here again. ”
Wendy snickered. “That’s a shame, because this place has a really good burger. Not that you’d know since your lap got most of it.”
His narrowed gaze seemed to only add to her amusement. “Next time, I’m choosing the place.”
She opened her mouth to speak but someone calling out his name had both of them turning their heads. A small group approached. Two men and three women.
Tripp grinned widely and hopped down from the truck.
He clasped his hand with Jason and pulled him in for a hug.
Then he did the same with Tate. The twins pulled back and Tripp turned his attention to Wren, Faith, and Lydia.
They each got a hug as well. When their curious gazes shifted to Wendy, he smiled broadly.
“Wendy, these are my friends. They live a couple towns over. This is Tate and Jason. And these are their sisters, Wren, Faith, and Lydia. Guys, this is Wendy, my… ah… friend.”
If Wendy was bothered by his slipup, she didn’t show it. She put her burger to the side and slipped from the tailgate until her feet were planted firmly on the ground. Her southern charm on full display, she held out her hand and smiled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“So, Wendy, you been here long?” Tate questioned
She frowned. “Yes, a couple years now. Why?”
Tate was beside Tripp and he wrapped an arm around his shoulders to shake him playfully. “Because we’ve never met you. Tripp here is one of the most social people there is. I thought we knew everyone in his social circles. But I’ve never met you before.”
“That’s because we only met recently,” Tripp offered before she could say anything. The last thing he wanted was for Wendy to say it was because she’d despised him in the beginning.
Wendy gave him a look that made it clear she wasn’t above embarrassing him.
“Oh? That’s nice.” Lydia said, her eyes darting from Tripp to Wendy.
He wouldn’t have been able to miss the inflection in her tone if he tried.
Lydia was closest to his age and she’d thrown around hints that she wanted Tripp to ask her out, but that would never happen.
Her brothers wouldn’t allow him within six feet of their sisters if they heard even a whisper that he wanted to ask one of them out.
No one was more protective than the Dennison men.
Tate’s hold on him tightened. Yep, he’d heard it too.
Lydia turned her attention to Tripp and reached out to touch his forearm briefly. “Tate and Jason are entering the bronc riding contest in the rodeo. Are you going to be there?”
Wendy shifted closer to Tripp, so her arm brushed against his. It was as if she wanted to remind him that he was here with her. Nothing gave him more pleasure in that moment than seeing the way she was sizing Lydia up.
“Tripp?” Faith murmured.
All eyes were on him, and he flashed Tate a grin. “Really?” Then he glanced to Jason. “Both of you, this time, huh?”
“Yep. Even our folks are going to come out for it.”
The focus now on the twins, Tripp risked a glance at Wendy. She was still staring intently at Lydia. His friends wouldn’t notice the tight line to her jaw or the way her body was tense. She was on edge. And there was only one reason for that.
The way Lydia was currently looking at Tripp—he’d gotten used to it over the years. Heck, maybe her brothers had, too. Because they were still going on and on about the practice they’d been putting in for the competition.
Wren and Faith had moved away to some other friends on the far side of the parking lot, but Lydia remained with her brothers. Tripp couldn’t help but notice her focus never wavered from him.
He sighed. The girl had it bad. And he’d always made sure not to show her even an ounce of interest. Unfortunately, it appeared she still had a crush.
By the time Tate and Jason headed off to gather their other sisters, Wendy was fuming.
No one but Tripp would be able to sense it. He’d gotten that good at reading her.
“What’s up, buttercup?” he asked as he pulled himself back into the truck.
Wendy didn’t meet his gaze. “Nothing,” she murmured, her voice a little pitchy.
“Nothing?” He chuckled.
She shot him a dark look. “Yeah, nothing.”
“You sure about that? Because by the way you were looking at Lydia—”
“Let me guess, she was one of your conquests.”
He grasped at his chest, clutching his t-shirt in a fist. “Conquest? You wound me.”
She rolled her eyes. “Did you or did you not date her?”
Tripp stared off at where Lydia and her siblings were gathered with another group of friends.
“You did, didn’t you?” she gasped.
He laughed. “Actually, no. I’ve never dated any of the Dennison women.
Did you see their brothers? They could take me out without breaking a sweat.
And let me tell you, they wouldn’t take kindly to anyone breaking their sister’s heart.
Least of all, me. I would rather not have my nose broken, thank you. ”
She followed his gaze and frowned as if contemplating what he’d said. “I suppose you make a good point.”
Tripp couldn’t help but laugh again, drawing another odd look from Wendy.
“What?” she demanded.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s kind of fun to see you jealous.”
She stiffened. “What? I’m not jealous.”
One brow lifted as he took another bite to let her words sink in for both of them.
Then he shifted. “Really? Then why ask me about Lydia? And before you answer that, let me remind you that you’re the one who said we’re not going to be serious.
This isn’t a date, remember? So if I decided I wanted to ask her out… ”
“Okay, okay, fine,” she muttered. “You’re right. It’s none of my business who you’ve dated or who you plan on asking out.”
They were quiet for a few moments then Tripp nudged her with his shoulder. “You know what I think?” His words were quiet, teasing. “You want me.”
She scoffed. “Not if you were the last man on earth.”
This was how it was between them. And the familiarity of it warmed his heart.
“One day you’ll love me, Wendy. Just you wait.”
The woman he was definitely hopelessly in love with, cut him a look out of the corner of her eye. But the best part was the twitch of her lips. That day might be closer than either of them expected.