Trish, Just Trish (17 page)

“Hey,” I said to the room. All eyes hit
landed on me except for Landyn’s. He was looking at Lex. Lex looked
like she’d seen a ghost. And she had, Destiny haunted us all.
Landyn had a protective arm around her shoulders. He kept her
tucked into his side, but it looked like that was the last place
she wanted to be. Adam was looking at me like lollipop and Tony…
well, there were too many things flashing across Tony’s face to
pick one.

“Where are the girls,” I asked, when I
realized two very important little people were missing from the
room.

“Mom and dad are staying at the house with
them,” Lex responded. She tried to shrug off Landyn’s arm and
that’s when he stood, “Excuse us,” he grumbled to the room, grabbed
Lex’s hand and pulled her from the couch to go back out on the
front porch.

I turned to Tony and threw up my hands. “Do
you see why I hate your sister?”

“Mi reina, come here,” he ordered in a light
voice. That was weird. I paused. I glanced at Adam.

“Mi reina,” Tony warned.

“Oh all right.” I walked to Tony and sat
down beside him. He grabbed my hand and laced out fingers
together.

“I love her because she’s my sister, but I
hate her most of the time. Don’t let her ruin what we have goin’
on,” he said and I was confused. From our conversation in the
bedroom only moments ago, I didn’t know what we had going on
anymore.

I opened my mouth to tell him that, but he
kissed me sweetly, right in front of Adam and I decided to do
whatever the hell he asked me too... maybe.

“Ah hell, not you too,” Adam muttered.

I frowned at him.

He grinned.

“Adam,” I said, annoyed.

His grin grew bigger.

I shook my head. He was always the trouble
maker.

“You gonna show me around this place and let
the chicks do chick shit or what?” Adam asked Tony. “And I think we
better make it quick before Lex eats my brother alive.”

Tony chuckled… literally chuckled.

Tony turned to me and slammed his mouth
against mine real quick before mumbling, “I’ll be back,” against my
lips. He stood. I turned to Adam and he rolled his eyes.

I crossed my fingers and prayed that the day
was about to change for the better.

As soon as they walked out the front door,
Lex walked in in a huff.

“If I wasn’t pregnant I would have hit her
again,” she grumbled and I smiled. I missed my best friend.

“So, you let him take your virginity?” She
blurted when we made it to the kitchen and sat at the breakfast
table.

“Yes, but he doesn’t know.” I felt, rather
than saw her stare because I was too busy watching the guys as they
walked over to the stable.

“What do you mean he doesn’t know?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. When it happened
I thought he’d be able to tell, but he just thought I hadn’t had
sex in a long time.”

“Don’t tell me he still thinks you had sex
with Destiny’s fiancé?” she asked suspiciously.

“I told him I didn’t, but he doesn’t believe
me.”

“He loves you,” Lex informed me.

I faced her and lifted my eyebrows.

“How the hell did you get that he loves me
from everything I just said?”

“I don’t know. The way he was looking at you
outside when Adam was holding you. Tony didn’t like it. If he
thinks you cheated on him, but he still looks at you like that… he
loves you.”

“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever
heard. I asked him if he loved me; he said he cared about me.”

Lex smirked. “That’s because he’s scared and
too macho to admit it.”

I thought about her words and admitted, “He
said he was scared to love me.”

“Well, there you go. He’s scared because he
already loves you and he doesn’t know what to do about it. You have
to tell him everything.”

“I’ll think about it,” I told her. And I
did.

All damn day.

“Trish, you ready?” Tony called from the
bedroom just as I walked out of the bathroom. Oh yeah, I was ready…
more than ready.

“Yup!” I said excitedly as I headed for the
closet to put on my sandals. I wore a red strapless top and
wide-leg jeans with my silver gladiator sandals. I shouldn’t have
even been this dressed up, but I went a little overboard when Tony
said we were taking my friends to town for dinner.

I walked over to the dresser, spritzed on a
little perfume and Tony walked up behind me. He wrapped his arms
around my hips and kissed my shoulder.

He faced me in the mirror.

“You look gorgeous,” he said at my neck.

“Thank you.”

“Once Zacharias is caught, I promise I’ll
take you out, just me and you and we’ll do it often.”

“Really? You’re not going to kick me out as
soon as you can?” I asked softly. Tony placed another kiss to my
neck making goose bumps spread out over my skin.

“I’m not letting you go,” he whispered as he
stared at me in the mirror. “Come on, your friends are waiting for
us.”

I turned in his arms and met his eyes.
“Promise me,” I whispered. “I know you can’t predict the future, I
know you’re scared to love me, but please promise me you’ll
try.”

“Hold that thought,” he said, backed away
and headed for his dresser.

When he came back, he said, “Lift up your
hair.”

I did.

When he finished, he kissed tenderly. “I’m
already trying, mi reina,” he said and I glanced down to see the
crown charm necklace he’d given me years ago. I thought it’d been
lost forever. I’d dropped it and never found it.

“Don’t cry,” he ordered when he saw my eyes
water.

“How did you get this?” I asked softly.

“It’s not the same one. It’s new. I saw this
one awhile back and had to buy it. It’s identical to the original.”
I fisted it my hand so tight it left an indention in my palm. It
made me feel special.

“How long have you had it?”

“Awhile,” is all he said, and his tone said
he wasn’t going to elaborate.

“I love it. I’ll never take it off,” I
promised.

He replied in an instant. “Good.”

Dinner was great. We didn’t go the diner,
but the restaurant we ate at wasn’t much nicer. The food was
fantastic though. Lex and Landyn really seemed to enjoy themselves
and Adam flirted with every piece of ass that walked by.

Lex and I excused ourselves to the
restroom

“Where the hell did that come from?” Lex
asked, shocked. She knew what it was.

“Tony gave it to me earlier. He said it
wasn’t the original, but he’s had this one awhile.”

“I told you he loves you.”

And that’s when the older, attractive
brunette at the counter washing her hands laughed. I stiffened. So
did Lex.

“Do you mind?” I asked.

“Sorry, honey, I couldn’t help but overhear.
Don’t get your hopes up with that Tony of yours.”

“Excuse me? Who the hell do you think you
are?” I snapped.

She smiled.

“Let’s just say that he likes to visit me…
often, but I can see why he’s stopped coming by. Hadn’t seen him in
a few weeks and I wondered what happened. Knew that little Bobbie
Jo never could keep his attention even though she begged for
it.”

Oh my God! He was sleeping with them
both!

I grabbed the counter to steady myself. I
didn’t feel so good.

“Good luck to you though. You look like you
can handle him better than she did.” And with that, she walked
around us, and out the door.

“Don’t listen to her, T. It’s different with
you and Tony, and you know it.”

“He was sleeping with them both,” I
whispered and met her eyes. “I’m trying to stand strong here, Lex,
but every time I turn around I get knocked on my ass.”

“He wouldn’t cheat on you.”

I didn’t know that. She didn’t know that and
I really didn’t want to hear any more. “Let’s just get back. I’m
ready to leave anyway.”

“Trish--”

“I’m just tired, Lex. Please,” I said and
didn’t give her a choice because I opened the door and walked
out.

Tony watched for me. As I started for the
table he smiled his beautiful smile and I tried to smile back, but
I knew it didn’t meet my eyes. He stood and headed my way.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Geez, could he really tell
something was wrong just because I didn’t smile right?

“Trish, don’t lie to me,” he said deeply and
I glanced around the restaurant until I found who I was looking
for.

“That’s what’s wrong,” I said, looking in
the direction of the brunette. Tony looked too.

“What’d she tell you?” he growled.

“Nothing. Don’t worry about it, I wasn’t
even going to say anything,” I said. I wanted him to drop it
because I wanted to forget, but when he stared me down until I
caved.

“She said you visit her often. She said you
were fucking her and BJ at the same time. Well, not like in a
threesome, but… you know what I mean.”

“What the fuck?” he asked in a low,
dangerous tone and I knew whatever was coming next was not going to
be good. I glanced over his shoulder to catch Lex’s attention, but
I didn’t need to, she was already watching. So were Landyn and
Adam.

Tony grabbed my hand and pulled me behind
him.

“What are you doing?” I hissed. He ignored
me and didn’t stop until we made it to the brunette’s table. She
sat with two other women and they all faced us. A huge smile broke
out across the brunette’s face and she opened her mouth to say
something, but snapped it shut when Tony demanded, “Apologize.”

“What?” she asked looking between the two of
us now, a frown having replaced her smile.

“Apologize to her,” he barked so loud and
she jumped.

She looked at me and breathed, “I’m sorry.”
I didn’t say anything in return because I was uncomfortable and
pissed, and there wasn’t anything
to
say. I just tugged his
hand so we could go back to our table. He followed, but not before
warning the brunette, “Keep your fuckin’ mouth shut.”

Everyone at our table, the whole restaurant
actually, stared at us when we sat down.

“Everything all right?” Adam asked. He
looked directly at me, but Tony answered, “Fine.”

“Are they everywhere? Will I see someone
you’ve had sex with everywhere we go?” I asked and Tony’s face
softened when he looked at me. “Because if that’s the case, I’d
rather not leave the house.”

“”Oh shit,” Landyn groaned.

“Why weren’t you going to tell me what she
said?” he asked, ignoring my question.

“Well, I was, I just didn’t want to
embarrass you in front of everyone like you just did me.”

“Then we’ll talk about it when we get
home.”

“You’re the one that started this crap
here.”

“Did she upset you?” he asked and I
stiffened.

“She did,” he answered for me and then
lifted a hand to my cheek. “I’m telling you now, preciosa, you have
nothing to worry about. I’d never touch another woman. I can barely
handle the one I got,” he said softly against my lips, just before
taking them quickly.

“Well, it’s nice to know my brother isn’t
the only douchebag at the table,” Adam chimed in. Tony and I both
glared at him.

“Shut up, Adam,” Landyn and Lex said at the
same time.

Our company left as soon as we got home. And
thank goodness for that.

“Somebody upsets you, I wanna know about it.
Don’t keep anything from me,” Tony groaned at my neck as he held me
up against the shower wall. My legs were wrapped around his hips,
hands digging into his shoulders as he pushed deep inside me.

“Okay,” I breathed.

“You taste so fuckin’ good.” He bit my neck
and I moaned.

“You’re close,” he told me.

“Come with me,” I whispered.

He groaned and possessed my mouth, his
tongue opening the seam of my lips to find entrance. He throbbed
inside me when he groaned in my mouth again and I called out his
name as I came. He seated himself inside me completely as he came
with me.

I could barely stand after we finished, but
we took turns washing each other. Neither one of us bothered to
dress after we toweled off. We just went straight to bed. He
enveloped me with his body and we both passed out… but not before I
whispered, “I love you.”

“Babe, can I ask you something?” I asked
Tony as we sat at the kitchen table and ate breakfast. He looked
delicious in his dark jeans and blue polo shirt. He had a couple
meetings today and he would be leaving soon so I decided to take a
chance.

I’d been here one month and one week and I
still loved it, but I wanted more to do.

“What’s up?”

“I talked to Shane yesterday.” He
immediately stopped eating and sat his fork down. Tony didn’t like
Shane… or more like, he didn’t want me to like Shane or Shane to
like me. He didn’t want me around him. He didn’t like it when Shane
was too close to me. He was jealous, but he had no reason to
be.

“And?” he prodded.

I shook my head.

“I don’t understand why you don’t like him,
Tony. You didn’t have a problem with him when I first got here, but
now if you see him anywhere near me, you go crazy.”

“I don’t like the way he looks at you.”

No, that wasn’t it. He just didn’t trust
me.

“He’s in love with Shannon,” I told him,
even though he already knew. I’d told him a million times. Tony
still didn’t care.

“What is it you want to ask me?” He changed
the subject back to my original question and I slouched. This
wasn’t going as I’d hoped.

“He asked if I could help at the clinic
again, even if only part time. He offered to pick me up and bring
me home… or he said he’d work something out with you.”

“No,” Tony responded instantly.

“Tony, it’s not him you don’t like, it’s me
you don’t trust. I can’t stay locked up here because you don’t want
me around Shane.”