The tension spearing across my shoulder blades lifted when I spied his crooked smile.
“I will, and I am. I think now that we’re here and I don’t have the cake to focus on, it’s all hitting me a little. I shouldn’t be this damn uptight. I just need to shake it off. A drink would be good.” He inched closer, and a zap of electricity ran down my arm when he brushed my hair off my shoulder. “I can play ball, Sanchez.” I swallowed a moan when he nuzzled my neck, his breath fanning hot against my skin. “See?”
“Yeah,” I replied with a raspy, needy voice. God, he smelled good. I looked at his mouth and the dark dusting of stubble around his soft lips. I had a reputation for being pushy, usually asking for forgiveness, not permission when I wanted something. But could I ever really kiss Tyler? Not because I issued a challenge, just because I wanted to?
“Just making sure.” I cleared my throat. “Come on, I’ll even buy if the open bar didn’t start yet.”
A few people had trickled into the bar when we found our seats.
“Anyone you recognize?” I asked and took a sip of pinot grigio. Usually I enjoyed red more, but despite the bravado I was hoping to pull off, my insides were a little shaky. The last thing I needed was a giant stain on my dress.
Tyler took a long pull from his beer bottle and scanned the space. I was transfixed by the roll of his throat as he gulped down a mouthful.
“No. Maybe Cassandra’s family or just guests at the hotel. I think only the restaurant is closed to the general public tonight.” He set down the bottle with a groan. “I shouldn’t be this rattled.”
“Why shouldn’t you? You’re human. After all that happened before you broke up, you have to face her here, with her husband, under the eyes of people like Alan and the rest of your cousins.” I wrinkled my nose in disgust. “I’m glad I’m here for you tonight, even if you still hate me a little.” I smirked as I twisted the stem of my wine glass between my index finger and thumb.
Tyler leaned back in his chair. “Despite it all, I never really hated you.”
“So ‘antichrist in heels’ is a term you give to the girls you like?”
He blinked before his eyes grew wide. “Christ, do you have ears everywhere?”
“Sometimes.” I lifted a shoulder. “You called me that to a guy on your baseball team back in senior year of high school. I was by the exit, and you didn’t see me standing there.”
“That’s because you were flirting with him to get a rise out of me, and I didn’t want him to get his hopes up.”
“How do you know that was the reason? He was cute, whatever his name was.” I shrugged.
“If he wassocute, why did you keep looking back at me while you were talking to him?”
My glass stilled in my hand as I met his narrowed eyes.
“Your memory is fuzzy. It was a long time ago.”
“When it comes to you, I remember it all. Trust me.” He pointed the beer bottle at me and took another sip, not breaking his gaze from mine.
“What did you care that I flirted with some guy on your baseball team? Or the bigger question, why did you watch?”
This was too much of a routine with us. The jabs back and forth, egging each other on, always having to have the last word. I had fought a confusing attraction to Tyler for most of my life that caused me to act out. But now that I was wondering if the attraction was mutual, I wasn’t as free to be as brazen as before.
“You knew I watched,” he growled in a low, sex-soaked voice. “That was your whole point. How about a little honesty for once?”
“Okay, then,” I set the glass down and rested my elbows on the table, clasping my hands. “Yes, I did it to bother you, like I did everything else. But why did you watch if I was the antichrist in heels? What did you care if I flirted with anyone?”
“Because I didn’t like it,” he spat out. “For reasons that I never wanted to see but that had nothing to do with hate. And I’d bet you always knew that.”
Air rushed out of my lungs along with any words to form a coherent reply.
The games I played with Tyler were the equivalent of a dog chasing its tail. If he caught it, he probably had no clue what to do with it.
With Tyler’s golden eyes growing dark as he bore his eyes into mine, I’d finally caught what I was chasing. Now, what the hell did I do about it?
“Okay, so you don’t hate me.” I swallowed a large gulp of wine, downing the rest of the glass in hopes it would cool me off. “Now that we talked about the usual tension between us, how are you feeling about the rest of tonight? About seeing Amy again?”
I wasn’t sure he’d heard me until I spied his small shrug.
I sucked in a breath and scooted my chair closer, hating his vacant stare. I was almost tempted to start a little argument with him to get that fire back in his eyes from only a moment ago. “Before you see them both, maybe getting something off your chest would help. I’ll try to be a good listener and not a demon.”
