This moment feels loaded. It’s too much after spending years pretending these feelings didn’t exist. I promised that this would be casual, but with the way he’s looking at me now... I’m milliseconds from tumbling headfirst into something I swore I’d never let myself feel for him. And that would mean risking something I’m not sure either of us is ready to risk—not only his friendship with Wes but my friendship with him as well.
I turn my head, slamming the door on the jumble of old and new feelings threatening to spill over, and swallow past the dryness in my throat.
“We can’t do this here.”
Tripp may think I’m worth it, but I’m definitely not. And as turned on as I am right now—I’m not willing to risk the fallout when I know the one who will suffer Wes’ wrath will be Tripp, and Tripp alone.
He pushes up onto his knees with a quiet chuckle. “Then stop undressing me with your eyes.”
He gets up, and the loss of his warmth is like a missing limb. I ache from its disappearance, shivering as the adrenaline from the chase dissipates—the cold water and mud seeping through my T-shirt to my skin.
“Go shower and get warmed up. I can finish on my own.”
I quirk a brow and my lips twitch. “What if I wanted to help you finish?”
I can’t help it. I turn into a hormonal teenager around him, finding double entendres in everything he says.
He barks out a laugh and gives me a playful swat on my butt. “Get your ass inside and warm up, trouble—before I take you up on that offer right here and now.”
My smile widens as relief floods through me. I know how to handle this playful side of Tripp. This is the side I’m used to seeing. It’s the earnest, tender Tripp I have a hard time keeping my heart in check for.
Never Take Up a Life of Crime
Quinn
The screen door screams on its hinges as I walk into the house, and Pops eyes me from his recliner.
“What the hell happened to you?”
I glance down, spotting a Tripp-sized handprint high enough to be telling if Pops sees it, so I cross my arms over my chest, hoping he didn’t notice.
“Um, slipped and fell in the mud,” I mumble. “I’m gonna go shower. Do you need anything before I head up?”
“Yeah, you not to track muck all over my floors.”
I snort. “I’ll clean it up.”
Pops eyes me again, more suspicious. “What’s Tripp doing?”
“He’s finishing up the enclosure. I was starting to shiver, so he sentme inside.”
He grunts, scrutinizing me with his gaze.
I shift uncomfortably. He’s looking at me like he can see right through me and all my pretenses.
Damn my transparency.
This is why I was always such a good girl growing up. Secrets always show on my face. It always took Mom five seconds with me to parse out I was hiding something.
Avoiding Pops wasn’t an option, so I’d just have to learn to lie better.
I clear my throat. “I’ll be back down after I shower to make you lunch, alright?”
“Don’t rush. I’m not all that eager to be eating more of that woo-woo granola stuff.”
I roll my eyes. “Vegetables are good for you, Pops.”
“Yeah, yeah. Go clean up.”
