Chapter 27
Ihate her.
I hate her for holding shit against Tanner he had no control over, and I hate that she made him feel small. I watched, from my seat in the car, as the plains in his back tensed and relaxed, at the balling of his fists when she ran a hand over her very round, very pregnant body. I don’t know much of anything about his relationship with this bitch, but I will personally hurt her if she ever makes him feel small again.
“Hey,” Tanner’s deep voice comes up from behind me, his hand finding the same spot on my hip from earlier. Butterflies swarm in my stomach at the contact, but I brush it off to I turn in his arm again. A brief stint of deja vu racks through me as his eyes soften. “I’m okay.”
I stare into his eyes for longer than what feels necessary, but I can see the storms brewing through them. He’s not angry but conflicted. Hurt, even.
I don’t blame him at all.
“I didn’t say you weren’t,” I retort, still assessing him for any sign of distress. I don’t like people hurting the ones I care about, even if that includes this newfound friendship—or whatever it is—with Tanner. He’s in my circle now, and I won’t allow somebody to hurt him in any capacity, especially if she enjoys doing it.
“You’re shaking,” Tanner offers softly, squeezing my hip in a way that makes goosebumps trail up my body.
“Yeah, well, I don’t like how she was talking to you,” I grumble, breaking his stare to look down at his chest. “Nobody gets to talk to you like that and get away with it.”
He reaches for my chin and lifts it slightly, our eyes locking as his breath fans across my face. “Thank you,” he says lowly, the deepness in his voice rumbling through me. “What you did out there—“
“It was nothing,” I say with the same softness, my hands resting against the hardness of his stomach. He tenses against it but relaxes. “Friends do that stuff all the time.”
“Friends,” he chuckles dryly, although heat fills his gaze enough to make me force my legs to stay apart. “Daisy Girl, I don’t think—“
“Are you guys almost done?” Yasmin’s screechy voice echoes through the hall, and Tanner and I both step away—me, faster than him. His arm drops as the heat dissipates from his eyes, but he still gives me an approving once over before he bends down to grab a box, standing at the same time Yasmin enters the hall. I roll my eyes, which causes Tanner to chuckle.
“We’ll be out of your hair in the next five minutes,” he says coolly, but I notice the irritated muscle feathering in his jaw. He shoots me a look, eyes softening slightly. “If you can carry that box, it’s all yours, but if not, I’ll come back in and grab it in a second.”
I shrug, bending down to pick up the box. “I got it. The faster we can leave, the better.”
Yasmin’s eyes flare, but like the smart woman she is choosing to be, she keeps her mouth shut. We walk past her, Tanner nearly out the front door when she comes up behind me.
“He’ll never love you like he loved me,” she hisses. I stop walking and turn around with the box still in hand. “I was his first everything. Boy was still a virgin at eighteen,” she laughs dryly. “I took everything from him, and I can guarantee when he’s buried in you every night–” A cold once over. “-he’s thinking of me.”
My mind drifts to the visual—not whether Tanner still thinks of Yasmin or not, but what it’d be like to be filled with him. I quickly blink away the thought, not wanting to be involved in anything this woman says, and give her the same once-over she gave me.
“I certainly hope he doesn’t love me the way he does you,” I say. “Because if he did, I would’ve already let him go.”
She opens her mouth to refute, but I’m not done with her. “And just to be clear,” I say, my voice turning predatory as I take a step forward, which causes her to take a step back and rest a hand on her stomach. I refrain from not only rolling my eyes, but keeping the shake out of my voice.”The only name he moans when I’m on top of him is mine. You’re the furthest thing in his mind, Yasmin and it’s best that you move on and leave him alone.”
I don’t bother waiting for her to respond because my knees are about to give out from speaking up for him, but I halt my steps when I find a grin pulling against one side of Tanner’s mouth, his emerald eyes darkening as he roams me from head to toe. My lips part and my face heats, but he chuckles and shakes his head in disbelief, taking a step forward to grab the box from me. His lips hover mere inches from mine, his warm breath fanning across my lips, and this time, I do shudder.
“All mine, Daisy Baby,” he murmurs, and I’m half tempted to chuck this box and jump him right now, but he straightens before gesturing with his head. “Let’s go, baby girl,” he says, and the sudden nickname almost makes me whimper, but I remember that my stunt is an act in the heat of my own anger, watching him get treated less than. I nearly curl into myself as embarrassment floods through me, but don’t linger on the feelings for long. I’ll have time to ruminate the rest of the day for that.
I follow him out the door, spinning on my heel to wave at Yasmin. “It was a pleasure meeting you. Hopefully, we don’t do this again.”
I close the door without getting her response and smirk as we walk down the steps. That may have been a bit childish, but it felt fitting. Imagining Tanner with a girl like her fills me with sadness. It’s clear from the brief encounter she doesn’t care about how her actions affect him, even after their breakup.
I feel sad for Tanner, mostly because he deserves to be with somebody who loves him as much as he does them. Tanner and I haven’t talked about whether he wants kids someday or not, but I heard the tail-end of that conversation between him and Yasmin and could see how it affected him. It affected me, and none of coming here today was about me. It was for him. And still, all I want to do is hold his hand and reassure him that it’ll be okay.
My gaze slides to him and notice the feathering in his jaw. I swallow thickly as nerves plummet through my stomach. Now that I’m thinking about it, I shouldn’t have been so direct, so protective over him. Tanner’s a grown man who can take care of himself, and my interjecting into his arguments clearly makes me as bad as Yasmin. I slow to a stop, lost in my thoughts, when warm arms encase mine, a press of his lips to the top of my head making my body feel lightweight.
“You are everything amazing that I do not deserve,” he says softly. “Thank you for what you did in there.”
I process the words before pulling away slightly to look him in the eyes, confusion filling my face. I didn’t do much of anything besides be there for him. But then it hits me that he’s thanking me for that, specifically.
His eyes are bright, but not with pain—maybe a twinge of hurt, but overall, there’s amusement there. “Tanner,” I begin, trying to reach for some part of him to hold onto. “I’m so sorry—“
“You have nothing to apologize for,” he continues. “I’m the weak one. I should’ve—“
The anger burns. “I’m going to stop you right there,” I snap, which causes him to jerk his head in surprise. “You, Tanner Moore,” I reach up for his face, cupping both sides and pulling him down gently towards mine. His eyes widen, but the anger flickers through me too quickly to care about his reaction. “Are anything but weak. I barely met her, and she seems like a pure nightmare. The fact that you can say such positive, good things about her still is—“ I shake my head in disbelief. “It says more about you than it does her. And, for what it’s worth,” I continue, swallowing thickly. “You would be an amazing dad. If that’s what you wanted someday…” my voice softens. “You would be amazing.”
His entire face—no, his entire being—softens in my hold, like what I just said healed something deep-rooted with him. His eyes are brighter now, brimming with unshed tears. He opens his mouth to speak, closes it, and then does the thing I least expected.
Kisses me.