Chapter Eight #2
He looks perplexed, a crease forming between his brows. “Your leggings. They arrived, and I was going to stop by with them, but since you’re here”—he reaches behind him, tapping the training bag on his back—“I might as well give you your gift over breakfast.”
Despite his permanent cocky, self-assured smirk, I can tell he’s making an effort to be friendly, and I wonder how many people he does that with.
I drop my gaze to my coffee and takeout bag.
“Unless you really do need to leave and it wasn’t the bullshit excuse I think it is?” Tommy adds, cocky smile morphing to a grin.
I tip my chin at the table. “All right. Five minutes.”
Ten minutes later, I’m the proud owner of multiple new pairs of Lululemon leggings, watching Tommy inhale eggs on toast.
He swallows his latest mouthful, chasing it down with a sip of water. “At the risk of being a flirt, you look like shit.” He circles his fork at my hair. “Did you wake up this morning and decide to make even less effort than you usually do?”
I wrap my hands around my to-go mug, trying to work out if he’s being serious since I do, in fact, look terrible.
“Maybe I did. Did you abandon your sense of humor too?” I feign a light-bulb moment. “Oh wait, for that, you’d actually have to have one in the first place.”
He laughs into his eggs, taking a final bite before wiping his mouth and throwing the napkin onto the plate in front of him.
Leaning back in his chair, Tommy stretches both arms above his head, and I can’t help but sneak a little glance at his lower torso when his hoodie rides up with the motion.
He has a deep V, one that’s been replaying in my mind since he pushed his way into my Boston hotel room wearing only sweatpants.
My entire body heats, threatening to warm the rapidly cooling coffee still nestled between my palms.
“No, seriously …” he says on a yawn, finding my eyes when I flick them from his body to his face. He grins as he catches me, and I flush a little more. “Did you have a rough night last night?”
I clear my throat, shifting slightly on my seat. “I guess you could say that.”
Tommy’s grin falls, replaced with mild concern. “Did something happen?”
I shake my head. “Yes—well, no. Nothing bad or anything like that.”
Picking up his water glass, he pauses with it to his lips. “Were you finally caught sneaking into another guy’s room and depositing last night’s food by his door?”
I half wince, half laugh at the memory. Kendra and I were in hysterics when we snuck Jack’s room key from his overnight bag and slipped my ruined surf ’n’ turf inside the hotel room. It must’ve really stunk.
“You’re halfway to the truth. I was inside another guy’s room last night. Only I wasn’t playing any pranks.” I lift a quick shoulder. “I guess you caught me doing the walk of shame.” I straighten in my chair. “Not that I have anything to be ashamed about.”
When I look across at Tommy, his jaw is clenched, eyes boring into the table beneath us.
“Did I say something wrong?” I ask, giggling away as I take a sip of coffee.
Tommy remains motionless until, suddenly, he pushes back his chair, the screech turning heads from a few of the other customers.
Shocked, I leap to my feet, grabbing my handbag and leggings. “Tommy, what the fuck is wrong?”
Without another word or glance at me, he grabs his bag and makes for the door, practically pulling it off its hinges as he exits.
I follow after him into the chilly fall air. “Tommy,” I yell.
“All right then, just ignore me.” I try one final time.
Tommy stops in his tracks, turning on one heel to face me. He’s around twenty feet away, although it feels like he has me pressed into the wall, like he did that time in Boston.
Pulling at the back of his neck, he tips his face toward the sky before centering his focus back on me. His gaze is intense, and I can’t deny it; it’s sexy as hell.
“You’re nothing but a fucking tease,” he spits.
I balk at his tone and take a couple of steps toward him. “Excuse me?” Memories of the fight we had in Lloyd’s come racing back. “What did you just call me?”
He closes the rest of the distance between us. “I said … you’re nothing but a tease.”
“What?” I scoff. “How could you possibly reach that conclusion?”
His gaze descends my body, and despite the menacing way he’s looking at me, I can’t suppress the attraction I feel to him. It’s like a pull I can’t get away from. No matter how hard I want to.
“Don’t play dumb with me, Jenna … or should I say, Hellion?” He rolls his shoulders back, both thumbs hooked under the straps of his backpack. “You blow me off in the bar that time, then proceed to flirt and check me out on the regular, and now I find out you’re hooking up with random guys again?”
My mind is spinning with thoughts and possible responses. I’m so taken aback by his reaction that I don’t know what to say first.
“Where the fuck is all of this coming from, Tommy?” Keeping my attention on him, I fling an arm out behind me, Brooklyn traffic speeds past us as we square up to each other. “You literally told me you weren’t interested, and now you’re calling me a tease?!”
I don’t miss the pink briefly staining his prominent cheekbones.
“So, why don’t you fill me in here and tell me what’s really going on, huh?” I bite out, anger levels quickly rising.
Just like in Lloyd’s that time, when he inches closer, I contemplate if he’s going to kiss me. I wouldn’t stop him if he did, but at the same time, I’d hate myself for allowing his mouth on mine.
He speaks very low but with purpose. “Back when we were in Lloyd’s, I told you I wasn’t interested. And I wasn’t. I’m still not interested.” He squeezes his eyes shut and then looks at me. “I just need to fuck your brains out.”
I shake my head at him. “You’re talking in riddles.”
Tommy pulls his thumbs from underneath the straps of his backpack, letting both palms slap against his thighs.
Over my shoulder, he gazes off into the distance.
“Although we can’t stand the ground each other walks on, it’s undeniable there’s this magnetic force pulling us back together, and it’s charged as hell.
You want to hate-fuck as much as I do, and you know it. ”
He’s right. I’d only be fooling myself if I tried to refute it.
Still, I’d never go there with him. Not after everything that’s gone down and especially not after the incident with Holt. They say to keep your enemies close, but having him in my bed would be taking it way too far.
I glare up at him. “I’d rather become celibate.”
He releases a single puff of air into the small space between us, his brown eyes burning to amber. “Careful what you wish for, Jen. With an attitude like that, I’m betting you’ll die old and lonely too.”
I’m determined not to reveal how deep his callous remark cuts.
“Maybe you should take a hint then. When an aging woman way past her prime won’t even hate-fuck you, I’d probably call time on trying to woo the opposite sex.”
I can tell he loves this. The toxicity feeds him, and I quickly conclude that getting at people, male or female, is how he lives his life.
His sad, pathetic life.
“Oh, I wasn’t planning to woo you.” He laughs darkly. “I was planning to fuck you and then toss you to the side. Think of it as an itch I wanted to scratch. Or a brother I wanted to piss off.”
Fire burns through me, and I’m ready to bite back when he spins back around and stalks off into the crowd, waving a sarcastic, tattooed hand above his head.
“Have a nice life, Hellion.”