Total pages in book: 152
Estimated words: 147051 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 735(@200wpm)___ 588(@250wpm)___ 490(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147051 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 735(@200wpm)___ 588(@250wpm)___ 490(@300wpm)
Then three days after the shit hit the fan, it hits the fan again. We’re traveling tomorrow, so I’m in the kitchen, hoping Bea will come down from the loft so I can talk to her. It’s going on ten. She has to go to bed soon. Could I go up there? Yes. But that would be invading her space, which she doesn’t have much of. And I’m terrified that if I push, she’ll end up leaving. She’s iced me out, and I’m sitting here fucking frozen.
Flip is out, and because he’s not talking to me, I have no idea when he’s coming home. If he’s coming home. We’ve been driving separately to practice.
This week is hitting high on the shitty barometer.
At ten fifteen, Flip walks through the door. He’s not alone, which is unsurprising. Nor are the two giggling women trailing after him. What is a surprise, and a kick in the balls, is that they’re familiar. Their eyes light up when they see me.
“Tristan! Hey! We didn’t know you were here.” One of them shoves at Flip’s chest. “We had so much fun the last time we hung out, didn’t we, Trinity?” She runs her nails down her friend’s arm.
“So much fun.” Her heels click on the floor as she shuffle-runs over and throws her arms around me, then tries to climb into my lap.
I untangle myself from her arms. The only person’s hands I want on me are Bea’s. “Sorry, I’m not part of the package tonight.”
“You sure you don’t want in?” Flip gives me a tight smile and throws his arm around not-Trinity’s shoulder. “We had a lot of fun last time, didn’t we?”
“So much fun,” not-Trinity says.
Of course now Bea comes down from the loft.
“Oh! Hey, girl! You joining the party?” Trinity asks.
“That’s my sister,” Flip says flatly.
“Fuck you, Flip.” Bea fires the bird at him.
“I think it’s my best friend you’re fucking,” he calls back. “Nice to know where everyone’s loyalty lies around here.”
“Eat a dick.” The bathroom door slams shut, and the shower turns on.
“She’s probably got her period,” Flip tells his friends.
“She doesn’t have her fucking period, you idiot. She’s mad at you for being a hypocritical asshole, and she’s mad at me for…” I don’t actually know why she’s mad at me, but I can guess. “…being me.” I run a hand through my hair and give the girls a tight-lipped smile. “Can you give Flip and me a minute?”
He pats not-Trinity on the butt. “Go get comfy. I’ll be right there.”
They hustle off to his bedroom.
“Look, Flip, I get that you’re pissed, and you have every right to be. I lied to you. Bea lied to you. But how does this make anything better?” I motion to his closed bedroom door. “Why are you throwing this shit in our faces?”
“Before Rix moved in, you would have been all over those two with me. In fact, you were all over those two with me.” He says it loud enough that I’m sure Bea can hear.
“You didn’t leave a lot of room to turn you down,” I snap.
“I never heard you complain.” He crosses his arms.
I rub the back of my neck, frustrated. I expected his anger, but this is blatant, in-your-face sabotage. “What could I say when you brought two or three women home and told them we’d all party together? If I ever wanted to tap out, you’d tell me you needed me as your wingman, that I had to take the pressure off. Before you moved in, you want to know how many times I tag-teamed a woman?” I make an O with my fingers. “Zero times. And now you’re bringing home these women for what reason? To remind me of all the shit I’ve done in the past? You’re disrespecting Bea. Like she needs to see this.”
“She doesn’t need to be here. She can get her own damn apartment. And it’s never bothered her before, so why would it bother her now?”
“How do you know it doesn’t bother her? Have you asked her? Or do you assume because she only jokes about it that she’s cool with it? Because that’s what you did with me. Just assumed I’d want to get in on your fuck parade.” I’m so angry that I’ve gotten myself into this shitty situation, that I sat by and allowed this to happen. I hate that I was so hung up on keeping Flip happy that I went along with his plan.
“I didn’t hear you complaining.”
“It was something we did, and I fully participated, but it was really your thing, Flip, not mine. Think about how things have been since Bea moved in. How many women have I brought home since the day she started sleeping in the loft?”
“You had that one who left all the scratches. Right at the beginning of training camp.”