“I have a present for you, too.” Technically, I had two of them.
She sat up. “Mine first.”
I didn’t have the chance to tug her back to me with the promise that we would exchange gifts in the morning. I clicked on the bedside lamp just in time to see her rushing out the door, giving me a peek of her rounded ass under my tee she wore.
Going into my closet, I grabbed the better of the two gifts before flopping in bed with my back propped against the headboard. I wondered if she would see the other present downstairs.
When she came into the room, I smiled. “Did you see it?”
“Is this some kind of a joke?” she asked softly. Even in the dim light, I could see the way her lips were curved down in a devastating frown that didn’t make any damn sense.
“What’re you talking about?”
“You’re free to do what you want, Tripp. We said from the beginning that this wasn’t serious, and I know having sex doesn’t change that.”
It sure as shit did. For me, at least, but I’d hoped the growing feelings were mutual. Her words fucking cut at me, but not as badly as her sad tone did.
“Okay, what the hell are you talking about?” I semi-repeated.
Greer held up a bundle of loose papers like I should know what they were. “If you think this was a clever way to emphasize that point, you’re a dick.”
She neared the bed, and I thought she was going to climb back in, but she didn’t. She tossed the pages at me before ducking down. I didn’t look at what she’d thrown when I realized she had her clothes in her hand.
She’s going to leave.
“Whoa, hey, hold on.” I scrambled up, trying to cut off her escape. “Talk to me.”
“I think you’ve said enough.”
Her tone was no longer wounded or soft. It was blank. She was shutting down. Building back those walls that I’d broken through until she’d finally shared.
She kept her gaze averted from me as she tried to redress. I grabbed her upper arms, but there was no wide-eyed stare that made a lot more sense once I realized she liked to be restrained. No hitched breath that shot straight to my dick.
There was nothing.
Fucking hell fuck.
What did I do?
She jerked back, and I released her to look at the papers for a clue. A hint. I’d buy all the damn vowels to solve the puzzle of why she looked at me like I was a monster.
Oh shit.
Screenshots.
“I don’t care that you have these, baby,” I started, trying to figure out why she’d gone on the deep dive through my phone to find them. “I’m not mad?—”
Her laugh was harsh. Cruel. “You’renot mad?”
I kept talking. “I’ve got nothing to hide on my phone, including these old messages. I just don’t getwhyyou have them.”
“Why do I have your new wallpaper? Shits and giggles, I guess. And if you think these are old, we have very different definitions of the word.” The snapped attitude was gone just as fast as more bricks were added to her walls. I could see each one being carefully mortared in place. “But again, it’s fine. What you do is your own business. There’s no reason for you to be an ass about it, though.”
Unease twisted in my gut and prickled at the back of my neck. “My wallpaper?”
“Yeah.”
I tugged on my discarded pants, not bothering with the button before grabbing my phone. I went downstairs and turned on a light for the first time since we’d arrived home.
