I hear the front door open and then a loud thump followed by a faint… “Ow.”
“Dusty, will you just put Tristan’s glasses on before you fall down the stairs and break his neck?” Chan says in amusement.
I let out a long and exasperated sigh as I turn to follow them. I have a feeling it’s going to be a long day.
16
“You look like you’re a million miles away.” I glance up to find Maddie hovering over my desk with two mugs of coffee. “Want to talk about it?”
I take the mug she offers me and sip gratefully, my head pounding. I barely got any sleep last night. Not only because I’ve gotten so used to being curled up with Tristan wrapped around me like a gangly octopus and my bed felt incredibly cold and empty, but because I can’t stop thinking about the past forty-eight hours.
Tris was acting very strange. I mean, he’s always been a little quirky, but this was odd behaviour even for him. I could’ve sworn… and this is going to sound really weird… but there was a moment when I looked into his eyes, and I could’ve sworn it wasn’t him looking back at me.
Shaking the ridiculous thought from my mind, I take another gulp of my coffee, almost burning my tongue in the process. This isn’tInvasion of the Body Snatchers,after all; he’d just come around from being drugged. I'm sure there’s nothing more complicated to it than that.
“Christ, Danny. I can practically hear the gears grinding from over here. What’s going on? If you can’t trust your partner, who can you trust?”
“It’s nothing.” I shake my head again. “I’m being stupid or paranoid. To be honest, I’m not sure which.”
“Well, I know for a fact you’re neither, so if something’s bothering you, it’s for a legitimate reason. So spill.”
“It’s Tristan.” I release a slow breath, wondering how to explain when I’m not really sure what the problem is.
“Okay.” She pulls up a chair and plants herself next to me.
“It’s going to sound stupid.”
“Quit stalling and spit it out, Danny.” She leans back in the chair comfortably and sips her coffee.
“Tristan is being… well, not Tristan.” I frown when I realise how dumb that sounded.
“Huh?”
“He’s been all cagey and pulling back from me. In the hospital, it was awkward between us, and it’s never been like that. From the moment we met, we just clicked. There was this connection between us so tangible you could feel it, and yesterday it was just… I don’t know.”
“Can I be brutally honest here, Danny?” I nod and she continues. “Stop being a baby and give the poor guy a break. He was just given enough sedatives to drop an elephant according to the docs. His eggs are probably going to be a bit scrambled for a few days.”
“I really don’t know how you get through life weighed down by your mushy and sympathetic bleeding heart.”
“I think you’re mistaking me for my wife.” Maddie grins.
“Isn’t that the truth,” I huff in amusement before sobering. “I guess I was just surprised that he didn’t want me to stay last night. He said he just wanted some space.”
She winces. “Ouch. Do you think he’s having second thoughts about you two moving in together?”
“Well, now I am,” I say in alarm.
“Relax.” She holds up her hand. “It’s probably not the case. I’m sure his noodle’s just a little baked. Like you said, it’s been a weird couple of days. He maybe just needed to decompress. He’s had a lot thrown at him in a short space of time and if he was feeling rough, maybe he really just did want some space to sleep it off. He probably felt like he wouldn’t be good company.”
“I didn’t need him to be good company, I just needed—”
“To take care of him?” She cuts me off, finishing my sentence. “Danny, you’re one of the good ones, and I’ve never been into guys but even I can see that. But let’s be honest here. Are you sure this isn’t more about you than Tristan?”
I watch her silently, afraid to admit she might have a point.
“You got your feelings hurt. What happened to him the minute your back was turned scared you. Knowing you the way I do, you’ve probably got a good hefty dose of guilt mixed in with a little sting of rejection that he didn’t immediately fall into your arms and let you make it all better.”
“That’s not exactly it,” I say sulkily.
