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“That’s okay, baby, we’re not judging,” I told him, the term of endearment slipping out. I found I didn’t want to pull it back. “Hey, did you two just meet today, or did you already know each other?”
Tristan told me about what happened at the coffee shop, why he was there, and how Romeo had a scary bodyguard. I gently nudged Tristan off me and stood to go to the front window. From the inside, the sidewalk was easily visible, as were the people walking by, though there weren’t a lot of them here.
“Where is everyone?” I asked. “Did your hired muscle scare them away? The streets should be busier.”
Romeo got up and came over to stand by my side. “I didn’t hire him. Someone else did. The reason for the lack of foot traffic is due to my neighbor down the block. People give Jordan Altair a wide berth.”
I gave him my full attention. “Yet you live near him. Why?”
“You’re not asking me questions until we work out whatever this is between the three of us.”
“Why bring Tris here if you’re secretive? It doesn’t make sense.”
“You should have seen him. I couldn’t let him walk away. He was miserable, and all I wanted to do was fix things for him. Before you got here, I showed him one of my spare bedrooms and offered it to him, but he hasn’t decided yet.”
We turned to find Tristan still sitting on the couch, biting his thumbnail like he was trying to keep his words inside by doing so.
“You can’t stay where you are any longer,” I told him. “Your grandmother isn’t good for your mental health. You shouldn’t be forced into situations you don’t want to be in.”
He released his thumb, leaving it a little wet. I wanted to suck on the digit. “I know. That’s why I was looking for an apartment. I didn’t want to rent a room. What if I lived with someone I couldn’t trust? At least Romeo took the time to talk to me. He didn’t push me or anything. But to ask me to live here? You don’t know me either.”
“Will it help if I tell you I’ll run a background check before letting you move in?” Romeo asked.
“I would want you to. You can never be too safe.”
“You could also move in with me?” I offered to give him options. “I’m not there all the time, so you’d have the place to yourself while I’m on tour.”
Tristan stood and joined our little chat semicircle by the window. “You two are very sweet. This isn’t a simple decision.”
We’d gotten off-topic. I still didn’t know if either of them wanted me for more than my body. “Can we get back to the commitment part of the program? Where do you two stand?”
“The kind of baggage I come with isn’t small,” Romeo began. “There are other elements that come into play. It’s why I needed to show Tristan around and talk to him. I had to let him know about my job too. But you got here before I could explain everything. I wouldn’t want either of you stepping into something with me without being fully informed. However, doing that opens me in a way I don’t like. I’m not a guy who has a lot of friends or who enjoys being the center of attention. Sure, on stage I’m good, but off, fuck that.”
I placed my hand on his arm and started soothing up and down it like I did that night in the club, my rings shining in the light. “I don’t care about your baggage. We all have some. I care about you and your feelings.”
Tristan nodded in agreement. “I had to move in with my grandmother because my ex brainwashed me and had me paying his bills. That was just part of the issue with him. There were others before him who walked all over me.”
Romeo glanced my way. “And you?”
“I’m in a rock band that tours, so I’m gone for months at a time. I have fucked-up schedules when I’m home and under a lot of stress to get new music out. But I won’t cheat. That’s not in my blood. It might be new for me to be in a relationship, but cheating? Hell no. And I want you both. I can’t explain it. There’s this raw need in me to be near you. I just… I want you.”
8
ROMEO
How long had I been trying to keep this panic attack from becoming so big I hyperventilated? Well over an hour. It started when Tristan bumped into me while I was walking to the counter at the coffee shop. One look at him and I didn’t need to worry. He was harmless and more freaked out than I was.
But then I opened my mouth and brought him home with me. I couldn’t look into his big brown eyes and say no. It was like someone holding a puppy out to me and asking me to take it for a minute. I would always want to hold a puppy.
Of course, my panic attack slammed into me again when we got to my place. Tristan was in my space—my sanctuary. It wasn’t him. It was wholly me. The person who didn’t form attachments outside of the one with Jordan and my mom. And yet I asked him if he wanted to move in.
When he told me about his grandmother, I felt sick. How could anyone treat their family like that? I didn’t want to make him go back there. I had four large bedrooms and three bathrooms. There was more than enough space.
Inviting him in meant telling him about Jordan, about my father. I couldn’t have another living here and get the shit scared out of them when Jordan walked in like he owned the place.In truth, I didn’t care that he did it. Him strutting in with his expensive shoes and clothes didn’t bother me. Someone else, it might.
Then there was Dash. Kind, caring Dash, who soothed a panic attack from me at the club when I couldn’t figure out why I’d had one. He just stepped through my door and said he had a crush on Tristan and me.
Seriously.
