Brave kid.
Now all I needed was to harness some of her bravery so I could tell Tristan how Ireallyfelt.
The second I saw Tristan walking back, I was on my feet, desperate to get to him, only to freeze when someone else got to him first. His eyes darted to me as the guy he’d been on a date with a couple of weeks ago put his hand on Tristan’s shoulder.
Jealousy streaked through me, so powerful, my knees buckled, and I fell back into my seat. Helpless to watch them, Tristan pulled out of the guy’s grasp, his eyes darting to me as they spoke. Every part of me wanted to storm to them, grab Tristan, and kiss him. Claim him and show the worldthathe was mine.
But I couldn’t move a single muscle, fear holding me prisoner.
After whatseemedlike an eternity of them speaking, the guy pulled Tristan into a hug, not giving a damnthatthey were surrounded by people. My jaw clenched, and I ripped my gazeaway, unable to look at them any longer as little voices began whispering in my head.
He’s not scared to touch Tristan in public.
They went on a date together.
Tristan should be with someone who isn’t afraid to be who they are.
“Hey, sorry I took so long. Ivy wanted to play another game,”Tristan said, sitting next to me.
“It’s fine,”I replied when I was anythingbutfine.“Wasthat…uh…the guy you went on a date with?”
He couldn’t meet my eyes.“Yeah.”
“Oh.”
My heart slammed against my rib cage as jealousy continued to rush through my veins.“What did he want?”The question fell unbidden from my lips, and I internally cursed. I didn’t want to know the answer.
“Nothing. We were just talking.”
I chuckled, but there was no humor to it.“You’re not a good liar, Bug.”
He sighed.“He asked me out on another date.”
“Did you say yes?”I asked, pushing the words past the lump forming in my throat.
A deep frown creased between his brows.“Of course I didn’t.”
I shrugged.“You could have.”
I didn’t know why I saidthat, and as soon as the words were out, I regretted them. Of course I didn’t want him going on a date with another guy, but with the little voices in the back of my head spewing their vitriol about how I wasn’t good enough for Tristan, I couldn’t bring myself to take them back.
Tristan’s features twisted into a scowl.“Maybe I willthen,”he said coldly, piercing my heart.
Abruptly, I stood.“Good. Well, I hope you enjoy yourself.”He opened his mouth to reply, but I continued before hecould.“I’vejustremembered I’ve got some stuff to do this afternoon, so I best get going.”
“Right,”he replied, his tone laced with sorrow.“Guess I’ll see you tomorrowthen.”
“Yeah. Say bye to the twins for me.”
He nodded, his gaze dropping to his lap, and like the coward I was, I bolted.
By nightfall, I was climbing the walls. I needed to talk to Tristan. From the minute I arrived home, the afternoon had played on a constant repeat in my head. I was such a fucking idiot. Instead of telling him how I felt, I’d pushed him away.
I waited as long as I could, not wanting to ruin the rest of his day with the twins, but when I couldn’t hold on any longer, I dialed his number, my heart lodged in my throat.
His phone went to voicemail.
Hanging up, I redialed only to get the same voicemail message. My brain went into overdrive, the ghosts of my past taunting me, telling me Tristan’s phone was off because he was on a date with the guy from earlier.
