Page 56 of Flock
“You think I’d let you get away that easily?” Hazel eyes glitter down at me, along with the dazzling smile I can’t banish from my thoughts.
“What are you doing here?”
The slap of the closing gate has me peeking around Sean as Tyler comes into view, hauling a cooler. “Hey, beautiful,” he greets, scanning my yard and letting out a whistle, “I can see why you’re holing up here.”
With the salute of my hand, I cover my eyes, peering up at Sean. “What the hell are y’all doing?”
“We shared our spot with you,” he shrugs. “Only fair.”
“That may be, but I assumed you could take a hint.”
His eyes flare and his jaw twitches. “Don’t play bitch. I like you too much.”
He takes a seat next to me and I don’t know whether I want to kiss him or slap him. I decide on neither.
“Kiss,” he says, reading my thoughts all too well. He leans in, and I do my best to hold my breath but fail, inhaling him fully. It’s like coming home.
“Get that asshole out of my pool.”
“Stop it,” Sean snaps.
I rear back. “Who the hell do you think you are?”
“I’m the boyfriend you’re pissed at.”
His statement strikes deep, threatening my progress, as Tyler sets the cooler between the loungers and pulls off his T-shirt.
“Give us a minute,” Sean asks Tyler, who nods, grinning at me over his shoulder.
“Hey, Cee.”
I can’t help my return smile, especially when that dimple appears. “Hey, Tyler.”
“I’m jealous,” Sean whispers.
“About what?”
“That smile you just gave him. Did I really fuck up that badly?”
“You hurt me,” I decide on stark honesty. “I thought we had a good thing, and I feel like you threw me to the wolf.”
“That’s what I’m trying to avoid. But you twisted the whole situation into what you expected to happen. You expected me to show my Gemini side, but I’m a Virgo, remember? I had no chance against your imagination. This fight was inevitable. We both knew the minute I pissed you off that this would be your argument.”
I gape at him. “I might have a hard time trusting, but you’re making it impossible.”
He grips me by the neck and leans in so we’re nose to nose. “Tell me you don’t miss me.”
“Irrelevant. If I can’t trust you to have my back when I need you, then what’s the point?”
“The point is you didn’t need me. You just thought you did, and I wanted you to realize that. Instead, you left my bed and decided to punish me for not handling your business.”
“My business?” I gawk. “You have some nerve.”
He refuses to give me space and grips me tighter. “I call it faith. You are a lot stronger than you think you are, and I wanted you to see that.”
“Why?”
“Because I want you around, and often,” he murmurs. The part of me that wants to fight is growing weak by the sight of him and his logic. My feelings for him scare me. They scare me a lot; maybe I was looking for a reason to push him away.
