Page 60 of Grip Me Tight
She bites my lip. “Stop talking, Tanner.”
I still, holding her on my lap, all the blood in my body flooding to where the heat of her rests against me. When she looks at me, I hold her gaze. “It’s always been you.”
“Then why have you stayed away from me? Talk to me.”
I exhale, turning my face away. I can’t tell her about my mother. Seeing the pity in her face, hearing her compassion, will undo me. I don’t need her fighting my battles for me. She has enough to deal with.
She stands and the absence of her body leaves me cold. I raise up on one elbow. “What are you doing?” I ask.
“You’re not talking, and I can’t think when you’re near me.” She picks up her phone and mug and turns back to me, phone up in my direction.
“Did you just take a picture of me?” I scramble to my feet, grabbing my shirt and shaking the sand out of it.
“We can’t forget why we’re here. We need to make our fake relationship look good.”
I’m not ready for the flare of anger bursting in my chest. “It’s not fake, Sterling.”
“It’s not real either, is it?” She shakes her head. “I’m just giving you want you want. No history. No future.”
“What if I want more?”
“What happens next week when you decide you don’t? I can’t trust you if you won’t talk to me.”
We walk back to the bunkie in silence. Inside, I see the strawberries I’d washed for her. I don’t know how my perfect day went downhill so fast. Sterling’s phone buzzes and she glances down. “It’s Vera.” She heads to the couch, tucking her feet up under her. I should go for a run, let the heat pound down on my head, until my muscles burn, and I can’t think anymore. Maybe if I run far enough, the music will come back without me needing Sterling.
“What?”
My head shoots up at her exclamation. Her eyes meet mine.
“Hang on, Vera. I’m going to put you on speaker.” She taps the screen.
“Hi Tanner, how are you?” Vera’s voice fills our small space.
“Fine. What’s up?”
“Well, I have good news. Natasha’s not an issue anymore.”
I look at Sterling and she gives a little shrug. “How’s that now?”
“There’s no baby!!”
“Jesus, Vera, don’t sound so excited, did something happen?” A knot tightens in my stomach and a cold shiver races down my spine as I remember Laird saying the drone was a last resort because she was trying to speak with me about some medical test. The baby isn’t mine, and Natasha is set on fucking with my life for some reason, but that doesn’t mean I want anything to happen to her, or to the baby. My mother’s voice echoes in my head and I raise a hand, rubbing my temple. I give myself a little shake and notice Sterling looking at me, her brows drawn in concern. “Did something happen to the baby?” I ask, afraid to hear the answer.
23
Tanner
“No, Tanner. There was no baby, if you can believe it. I’m shocked by how fast this worked, but maybe Natasha wasn’t expecting to find you with anyone on that hotel balcony. Maybe she thought she’d get something to blackmail you with, I don’t know…”
“Vera.” I cut her off. “Can you back up? What do you mean there wasn’t a baby?”
“I don’t have all the details yet, but she and the boyfriend broke up. Apparently, he found out she was cheating on him and he reached out to the producer who worked with you guys on the documentary and wanted money to come forward with his story.”
Sterling’s covering her mouth with her hands, her eyes tracking me as I pace the twenty steps from one side of the room to the other.
“Why would we pay him? In five or six more months, there’d be no baby.”
“I don’t know, Natasha was panicking and said she was going to get pregnant for real and, according to him, during the documentary she collected stuff you’d thrown out, like napkins, straws, and she even saved some of your hair from the styling room. She thought she could forge a paternity test.”
