His words were like a soothing balm to his actions, dulling the emotions that had been wrapped around me before. His words and touches were enough to ease him back into my good graces because I believed him. I felt his affection toward me through his hug and chaste kisses, but the sharp edges of the business card in my hand reminded me of Kieran. I wondered briefly if words and apologetic actions were really enough when it came to this thing with Tristan. At times I felt like he thought of me as more than a friend or sister, but it fluctuated so much I didn't understand and was not willing to push for an explanation.
I figured if he wanted me, he'd make it known.
Later that night, Tristan was running up the stairs to my apartment, his long legs pumping him up the stairs faster than I imagined he could possibly go. His fist was clenched and his teeth were grinding. The poor sucker needed to pee, and I was taking my sweet ass time making it up the stairs. "Kat!" he hissed at me.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," I said, walking over to the door and unlocking it.
He pushed passed me and dodged into my bathroom with Matlock trailing after him. He'd been exceptionally sweet the rest of the day after the aquarium incident, taking me to eat at this cool Japanese restaurant before taking us back to his house to play with Yoda a while. Tristan would brush his fingers through my ponytail randomly, put his arm around my shoulder more often, and then kiss my temples a couple more times. Needless to say, I was turned on beyond belief. I swear he radiated magical sexual energy with his hands and lips. Maybe I was just so interested in him that my desperate body would take any attention it could get and milk it shamelessly.
I wanted him to give me a sign that he felt something for me besides friendship.
I know that his actions and looks were more than just platonic. Over the course of my life, I'd had male friends before that were just that — friends — and it was never like this. Never. Tristan was different, I knew that but I wanted it to be really different. The notion that he was leaving the next day to go fornicate with other girls killed me inside. It killed me because I wanted him to do those things withme.
"I may have peed on your toilet seat by accident," his velvet voice stated from the doorway to my bathroom. He stood there in all of his muscular, professional glory and a sheepish face.
I grimaced and tossed one of my pillows at him. "Did you at least clean it off?"
He nodded, holding my pillow between his hands before plopping down on the bed right next to me. "I did, don't worry."
"Yuck." I told him but honestly, I really didn't care too much. Having shared a bathroom with Josh for a year, I'd become pretty desensitized to the things that could happen when a man peed. Josh used to leave puddles on the floor and lets just say I was fond of walking around barefoot. I figured that as long as my ass didn't come into direct contact with it then I was fine. A sudden thought popped into my brain, and I felt a little like Zoey as I hopped off the bed and pulled the sliding door to my closet open. She'd be so proud of me and my plan. "Tell me which dress you think I should wear to wedding. I can't decide on one."
Silence answered me and I had to bite back a snort. Every time I'd brought up the wedding, which had really only been one other time besides Sunday, Tristan's mouth would lock up like a jail cell. I grabbed the three dresses I had in mind from the closet and laid them out on the bed right next to him. The strapless dress Zoey had brought up the day we went bowling didn't fit anymore and I was relieved by it. Tristan rolled over so he was propped up on his elbow, while his other hand was free to touch the three very different dresses laid out.
One was short, gold, and sparkly with thin straps and a black band of fabric right below where my breasts would be. I thought it was a little on the short side but maybe not. The other was a sea foam color that reminded me of Kieran's eyes for a brief moment, it was strapless and a decent length. The third I was definitely not sure about, the midnight blue dress was silky and sleeveless with the material bunching up on one shoulder, leaving the other completely exposed. It was pretty fucking short and if that wasn't bad enough, I couldn't wear a bra with it. I didn't have huge boobs but they were still too large for me to successfully pull off going braless.
"Try them on," he suggested with a smirk on his face. "They might be too short to be appropriate for a wedding."
I nodded and grabbed the dresses to change in the bathroom. I tried on each in order, stepping into the bedroom to show him each time. He simply nodded at the first two, but it was when I wore the dark blue one that I saw his eyes widen. I swear his nostrils flared as I stood in front of him and tugged at the hem. That one was definitely way too short, it barely covered my ass, and the material against my nipples made them pucker up like some of the fish I'd seen earlier in the day.
"Come here," he motioned me forward, keeping his eyes trained on my face and throat. His jaw was clenched, but then he licked his lips when I was right in front of him. If I would have taken a step forward our knees would brush against each other, or I'd find myself standing in between his legs.
He sat up as his gaze made a hot trail down the path from my nose to my mouth before circulating down to my throat, collarbones, and finally landing on my chest. I was self-conscious but not at the same time. A blind man could see how hard my nipples were through the thin silk fabric and obviously, Tristan's bad eyesight was only limited to small printed words. He started to reach up with both hands, the L shape created by the webbing of his index finger and thumb hovered over the undersides of my breasts for a split second before they suddenly dropped to his lap.
Tristan cleared his throat and shook his head. "Definitely not this one," he said in a husky voice.
My mind reeled at what I thought he was going to do for a moment. It looked like he was going to touch me, and I would've let him a thousand times over but he didn't. I knew Tristan was all about control.Control. Control. Control. That was one of the requirements for being a man in porn. They couldn't be three-minute pump chumps like my first boyfriend in high school. Tristan knew how to control himself and I kind of hated him for it. Maybe always. As I stripped out of my dress and put on my jeans and shirt from earlier, I made a quiet wish to myself that he'd lose control because I was getting tired of waiting. What did Nicole tell me? I needed to keep living my life.
When I came out of the restroom, Tristan wasn't in my bedroom anymore, but instead he was sitting on the couch with his new best friend, Matlock. He gave me a tightlipped smile when I sat down next to him. I watched him pet my idiot cat for long moments, stroking his long fur very gently. It was silent but okay and easy. "You should wear the light blue dress," he blurted out.
"Okay," I replied with a short laugh. "Why that one?"
"It's the longest one," he looked at me, and then had the audacity to wink.
Chapter 39
Ryan Quinn was trying to seduce me.
I was also shamelessly eating up his attention in the same way I would devour a bowl of strawberry ice cream.
His game was on the moment I opened up my door to invite him in. He stood there, all six feet of glorious, dark hair and warm eyes, leaning up against the doorframe with a red rose in hand. I wasn't really a roses-type of girl, but I could definitely appreciate the gesture. "Kat, I do believe you might be the most beautiful thing these eyes have ever seen," he cooed, eyeing my sea foam colored dress appreciatively. "This is for you," he finished, extending the rose toward me.
I rolled my eyes but blushed profusely, taking the flower from him and waving him in so I could grab my shoes. "Come on in, Romeo."
He was a complete gentleman throughout the service, opening up doors and gently leading me wherever we were heading. Ryan was attentive and sweet, introducing me to all of his friends and touching me every chance he got. We trekked our way across the parking lot to the reception hall where the dinner and dance were taking place. We had just sat down at a table when my phone chimed, alerting me of a text message. I expected it to be Zoey, but of course, it wasn't. 'Magellan' spelled out across the display.
I miss you. How's the wedding?
Was it wrong that I enjoyed the fact that he missed me? I didn't think so. I chanced a look over at Ryan to see him in the middle of a conversation with one of his friends.
