Conklin's Foundation (Conklin's Trilogy) (12 page)

“We went to high school together,” I
announced before Gage could say anything else mortifying.  Instead he gave me a glare.

“We were
really
good friends in high school,” Gage added.

I bravely glanced at Tyler, who had his full blown scowl on his face, one hand clenched tight in his lap while the other rested on the table.  Gage took a sip of his beer, never taking his smug expression off of Tyler.

Cooper looked between Tyler and Gage.  He must have felt the animosity. 

Could this be any more
awkward?

“Did you two date or something?”  Cooper asked.

Gage set his beer down, biting his lower lip, as though trying to hold in a smile.  “Something like that,” he murmured.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.  Cooper laughed and hit his hand on the table.  “Let
me pour you another beer, Tyler,” he laughed.

If I could shoot lasers with my eyes at Gage, I would have. 
He could tell I was pissed, but instead of looking frightened, his smirk only grew bigger. 
Bastard. 
Needing to regain my composure, and wanting to give Tyler some reassurance I decided to turn the tables.  I set my napkin on the table and stood up.

“I’m going to use the restroom,” I
mumbled.  I turned to Tyler whose eyes were glued to Gage’s, anger radiating from his pores.  I reached for his face with both hands so he would turn and look at me.  Leaning down, I pressed my lips to his, letting them linger until I felt a quarter of the tension leave his body.  “I will be right back,” I whispered, giving him another kiss.  As I left I heard Gage sigh and Cooper laugh.

“I think you are losing,” Cooper
cackled to Gage.

Once I was done using the restroom I stared at myself in the
mirror.  I hadn’t put any makeup on and had hastily thrown my hair up in a bun.  I let it down and ran my hands through my hair in an attempt to smooth it out before I put it back up.  I felt silly for wearing workout clothes while attempting to be Tyler’s arm candy.  I sighed.  What did he see in me?  What did either of them see in me?  And how the hell did I end up at dinner with another guy I had slept with accompanied by Tyler?

Maybe you should
n’t sleep with so many men.

I want
ed to give my conscious a big F YOU for that inner comment.

Huffing at my appearance, I made my way back to the table to prove I was there for Tyler and no one else.

I slide into my seat, giving it a good scoot so I was right next to Tyler.  He turned his head towards me as I slithered my hand on his thigh.  “Miss me?”  I asked, batting my eyelashes.

“Always,” he said, his eyes softening.  He leaned over, meaning to give me a chaste kiss, but I kept my lips pouted, letting him know I wanted more.  After the third quick kiss
, a huge grin spread across his face.  He gave me Eskimo kisses as I grinned back at him.

I looked over at Gage who was shaking his head at me, a smile playing at his lips.  I couldn’t help but smile back at him
while resting my head on Tyler’s shoulder.  He knew what I was doing, and he was conceding.  If I knew anything about Gage, it was that he liked to play games, and this time I won.

“God you two are damn near embarrassing,” Cooper
groaned, eating another piece of pizza.  Tyler shrugged his shoulders and grabbed another slice.

“Where did my salad go?” I asked, staring down at the empty space in front of me.

“I told them it looked awful and sent it back,” Gage said.

Tyler looked over at me as though he actually agreed.  “I called and order
ed from Louis Benton.  I’m almost done. We can leave as soon as I pay the bill and pick it up.”

Gage glared at Tyler.  “Or,
she can eat some pizza.  I know you like pizza better than sex, Becca.”

My face went red. 
Holy shit, did he really just say that?
  And here I thought I beat him at his own game.  He always threw a mean curve ball.

Tyler stretched
his jaw and shook his head as though preparing for battle. 

Oh no
… here comes round three…

Leaning over the table with amusement
he looked Gage right in the eyes.  “Maybe when it
was
with you.  Now she is willing to skip pizza to go home with me.” 

My
jaw nearly hit the table the second the words came out of Tyler’s mouth.

A loud
oh led by Cooper came from the whole table, who happened to turn their heads once they heard the word, “sex.”

I gave Tyler a hard nudge to the side, causing him
to bend and let out a grunt.  “What?”  He smirked.  His eyes were dancing with humor now, his male ego taking the upper hand.  He picked up on my discomfort with his statement and wrapped both arms around my shoulders, pulling me in so he could force a big wet kiss on my cheek.

“I can’t believe you just said that,” I
grumbled under my breath. 

Gage took a piece of pizza, putting it on a plate in front of me.  “Just eat a fucking piece of pizza, Becca,”
he grumbled, clearly embarrassed by Tyler’s statement.

Tyl
er nuzzled my ear with his nose then brushed his lips against my ear with a whisper.  “You know you will work it off tonight. Remember, we are going to have our own workout.”

I blushed again, still
sure the redness never left my face in the first place.  I nudged him again and picked up the God damn piece of pizza and took a bite.

Chapter 7

I practically stormed out of the restaurant to Tyler’s black Lexus XL.  I attempted to yank the door open but failed because Tyler hadn’t unlocked the car.  Steam radiating from my ears, I stomped my foot waiting to hear the click of the car unlock.  Once Tyler reached my side, he hit the button and opened the door for me.  I glared at him as I sat in the car.  His expression wasn’t exactly pleasant either.

“I’m not to
o happy right now either, Becca,” Tyler grumbled as he slammed his door shut, firing up the engine.  “Your ex fuck buddy is a pompous asshole.”

I rolled my eyes.  “Don’t call him that.”

“Call him your ex fuck buddy or call him a pompous asshole?” he asked, raising his voice in annoyance.

“Ex fuck buddy,”
I emphasized.

“That’s what he was, right?  Or did he mean more to you
, Becca?  Because it sure as hell looked like he meant more.”

I jerked my head in his direction.  How the hell did it look like I was anything but irritated with Gage throughout dinner?
  I’m surprised Gage didn’t have holes in his body from the death stares I was giving him half the time.

“Did it look like it when I
intentionally went to the bathroom so I could kiss you in front of him?  Or when I came back and snuggled up to you?”  I scoffed, raising my voice.

Tyler pulled out of Vitale’s, his knuckles turning white against the steering wheel.   His jaw was tense.  “Do you still have feelings for him?”

“No!”  I shouted in desperation.  How could he think that?  “Tyler you need to learn to ignore him.  He likes to push buttons.”

“Why did you
hang out with him when we weren’t together?  Did you really eat pizza with him?”

I sighed.  “I ran into hi
m at the gym, and yes, we went out to get food.  It wasn’t a date or anything.”

“Did he touch you?” h
e growled.

I bit the inside of my cheek, wanting to go back to w
here we were before Cooper called and asked Tyler to come play basketball, where he had me pinned against the mirror on my bathroom counter, towel falling off my shoulders giving me sweet kisses. 

“Becca!”

“He tickled me so I would eat a freaking piece of pizza, all right?  If I wanted anything to do with him in a physical manner I would have let him keep touching me, but I didn’t, okay?  I ate the stupid pizza and I felt like shit about it, just like I feel like shit about eating it just now.”  I went from angry to the verge of tears in seconds.  I hated cheating on my diet. It made me feel weak.  It made me feel like I was going to gain weight again.

“Don’t feel like shit for eating two pieces of pizza, Becca.  It’s nothing.  I told you we would work it off tonight,” he grumbled again.  I raised an eyebrow at him.  He still wanted to be with me tonight even though we were annoyed with each other?

“I hate that he touched you,” he groaned under his breath.  “I hate that he throws the fact that you two have a history in my face.  And I
really
hate that he obviously still wants you.”

“And you think I enjoy the fact that old bitch sunk her teeth into you when you were only 16?  How she manipulated you for 10 years while she was screwing God knows who else?”  I
sneered.

Tyler’s jaw tensed tighter as his face contorted into anger.  “She didn’t manipulate me,” he growled.  “She was good, quick
, and easy.  Any sane 16 year old would have taken advantage of the situation.”

“Okay, so a 16 year old
, yes, but 26?  You let her take advantage of you for 10 years, Tyler.  How do I know you still don’t have feelings for her?”

“Don’t turn the tables around on me, Becca,” he snapped.  “If I still had feelings for her I would be fucking her against
a wall tomorrow instead of you,” his eyes frosted over.

That hit
a nerve in me.  I was furious and emotional.  Not sure if I wanted to cry or claw at him.  How dare he relate our intimacy with what he had with that cougar.

I didn’t say anything
on the short ride back to Tyler’s condo. I was trying to calm down before I said something irrational or completely broke down.  He turned into an angry and spiteful person.  He didn’t need to be so negative about anything, especially Gage’s behavior.  He had nothing to worry about.  And he sure as hell didn’t need to compare us with his first and overly drawn-out fling with his nanny.

I opened the door on my side of the car before Tyler could reach me.  I
stomped passed him without raising my eyes from the ground.  We stood waiting for the elevator in silence.  Once the doors opened we walked in, and as soon as the doors closed, Tyler pinned me to the opposite wall.

His hands were on either side of my shoulders against the wall.  “What’s going
through your head right now,” he whispered, his breath brushing across my cheek.  His head was tilted downward so we were face to face.

I
peeked up at him with my arms crossed, trying not to be intimidated or weak.  But his expression was different from inside the car.  He was calmer, but more anxious, even nervous. 

“I don’t like when you a
re angry with me.  It scares me,” I whispered truthfully.  “How could you compare me to her?  I thought what we have is more than fucking.” My voice cracked as I cursed.

Tyler filled the little amount of space between us, his chest practically touching mine.  He still smelled amazing, even after
playing in a basketball game and eating pizza while drinking beer.

“
Baby, you know our connection is irreplaceable to me.  I would never compare my quick flings with Margo to the crazy intense love making sessions we share,” Tyler murmured then continued.  “I’m not angry with you.  I just… it’s hard for me to think of you spending time with another guy, whether it means something to you or not,” he said, rubbing his nose against mine. 

I gr
abbed the pockets of his jacket. “Gage does mean something to me, but nothing compared to you. He did touch me, and I’m sorry. It was against my will.  If he understood me like you do, he wouldn’t be such a pain in the ass about why I didn’t want to eat pizza.”

The elevator beeped while the doors opened to his floor.  I slid under Tyler’s arm to his condo.  Quickly following me, he pulled out his keys and went
to open the door.  I walked in and was immediately grabbed by the waist and spun around to face him once the door was closed.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have
let Gage send your salad back.  I should have been on your side about the whole pizza thing,” Tyler said staring down at me.  His hands tighten on my hips.  “But I don’t like Gage. I don’t trust him,” his teeth were clenched along with his hands as he spoke.

“Don’
t you trust me?”  I said exasperatedly. “Don’t you think the fact that Margo could be knocking on your door in Chicago when I’m not with you haunts me?  She had a hold of you for so long, and we have only been together for a few months,” I whispered, feeling my eyes water.

He stared down at me, eyes pained.  “Of course I
trust you.  Don’t you trust me?  Margo hasn’t knocked on my door in two years, and I doubt she ever will again.  And if she does I will tell her I’m involved with the most amazing girl.  And Gage is a manipulator.  He flirts and finds ways to cross lines, and you are too nice to tell him no.”