“I did.” She blinks like she wasn’t expecting me to be honest. The shock has her stay quiet a beat so I keep talking. “Because I was scared to tell you why I had to go to New York. But it has nothing to do with Gabby. She was with me as a representative of the Quake.”
“What?” Her pretty face is dripping with sarcasm as she says, “The Quake ordered you to wine and dine the trainer?”
“I went to New York with Gabby for a medical consult on my leg.”
She finally pushes the door closed. I sigh in relief. But she still looks angry enough to throw something. Thankfully she folds her arms over her chest instead. She’s wearing a white tank, with no bra, and a pair of pajama shorts. Her golden hair is yanked back into a ponytail and she has smudges of makeup under her eyes like she’s been crying. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me about it?”
“Because I wasn’t ready to talk about it, to anyone.” I sigh. “And because you already were… you already are in the middle of a cancer scare with your aunt Callie and I just couldn’t throw more shit at you. It wasn’t fair to do that to someone that, as you just pointed out, isn’t my actual wife.”
“I am your wife. I have the paperwork,” she argues. “And what the hell does a cancer scare have to do with your… leg?”
I see the light bulb go off and her whole face pales so fast it’s almost comical. A hand flies to her mouth, trying to hide the fact that it just fell wide open. “Nash. Oh my God. Do you have?—”
“No.” Fuck. “I don’t know. But the doctor doesn’t think it’s cancer. He thinks it’s benign and it’s this thing called a schwannoma and can be removed.”
“Thank God.” Her whole body crumples against the wall. I walk closer to her but she holds out a hand to stop me. “I’m still pissed you didn’t bother to tell me.”
“Tenley, I haven’t told anyone. Not my parents or even Crew,” I argue back. “I couldn’t. And besides you and I are great at pushing each other’s buttons, in good and bad ways, but we clearly aren’t great at communicating. We haven’t talked about what is actually happening between us now. Are we bed buddies or enemies making the best of a bad situation or is this real?”
Somehow that gets her even angrier. "You're right. We haven't talked about it, but this was the perfect reason to talk about it! And you opted to shut me out. And I've been walking around for days thinking I did something. You've been distant. You've been borderline cold and you haven't touched me so when that picture of you and Gabby showed up on the Puck Bunny site…"
“I get it,” I reply. “But why haven’t you said something to me? If I hadn’t gone to see the specialist, I would have gone to Silver Bay, to be there for you, but you didn’t ask me to.”
“Liv didn’t ask Crew but he showed up!” Tenley counters angrily and reaches for a pillow from her previous attack. She whacks the side of my arm with it. “I dare you to be more like your brother.”
“I dare you to be more like your cousin,” I bark back. “Liv forgave Crew his fuck up. She doesn’t expect him to be perfect.”
“You’re not perfect, you’re a damn robot!” she yells. “Robots don’t have feelings so why would I ever think you would, Nash-Hole?”
“Well joke’s on you, Tenley Garrison, because I do have feelings for you,” I yell back. “I’m falling in love with your stubborn, infuriating ass!”
We stare at each other. "Well, then I dare you to prove it. Kiss me or something, Nash-Hole."
“You and your stupid, childish, asinine…” I step into her, cup the back of her head, and do just that, my tongue sweeping into her mouth greedily, to not only show her how I feel but shut her the hell up.
It works and she’s kissing me back not a second later. After ten minutes of standing in her living room making out, I finally pull away. Her hair is coming out of the ponytail and sticking up in odd places. Her cheeks are pink and her chin chafed from my gnarly playoff beard. I stare down at her, run a thumb over her lips, and gruffly demand, “I dare you to tell me if you feel the same.”
“I fell so hard for you I should probably have worn a parachute.”
“Thank God.” I sigh in relief and kiss her again. “Now prove it. I dare you.”
“Nash,” she says, her voice suddenly serious. “You just told me you might have cancer. Shouldn’t we talk about it?”
“Not having make-up sex is going to help how?” I lift an eyebrow and wait for a response I am one hundred and ten percent positive won’t come. And it doesn’t so I flash her a cheeky smile and add, “Come on. I dare you to have make-up sex with me.”
“Nash, we should talk about it.”
“Cool.” I let her go and step back. “I win.”
“Oh hell no.” She grabs my hand and starts dragging me toward the bedroom.
I try not to gloat.
Minutes later we’re naked lying on her bed and our hands are exploring each other with a tenderness I wasn’t expecting after our little yelling match. But this is who we are, as a couple, we are the unexpected. We’re fire and ice. We’re dark and light. We’re yin and yang, snark and spice. We’re polar opposites that, despite our best efforts fighting it, belong together.
I stay close as I slide in and out of her, making sure my lips are never far from hers. We’re both really close, really fast and I don’t even care. She hooks her ankles behind my back and slides her fingers into my hair and I kiss her until I can’t breathe.
“Nash, I…” Her back arches and anything else she was going to say just becomes a moan.
