Page 6 of Trip

Years of pent-up pain were controlling his tongue.

Multiple women he couldn’t connect with who served as nothing more than a warm hole. Day after day of acting like she meant nothing, her betrayal forgotten. Resentment and jealousy because Thunder and Bullseye had something he coveted. Those things were doing the talking, and with every syllable, Trip lost even more of himself.

“Anyway, stay. At least pretend you can stand to be in the same room as me. Meri ambushed us both. But only because she cares and wants us to move past, well, the past.”

Trip said nothing. He was too lost trying to decipher all the things swirling in her warm whiskey eyes, which were pretty damn cold at the moment.

“Your arm?” She pointed, and he shrugged as best he could.

She sat on the coffee table, motioning him to come her way. He took off his belt and handed it to her. He shifted his body weight toward her.

“Not that I know more than what I’ve seen in medical dramas.” She spoke as she ??wrapped the belt around where he indicated. “I did actually watch Meri do it once at work. That’s an ex story I’d rather not remember. Anyway, Meri hadn’t needed a belt, but again, my knowledge is limited.”

Trip didn’t speak, just communicated with a series of grunts and occasional pointing accompanied by nods or shakes of his head. He couldn’t. He rankled at hearing there was an ex. Not like either had been celibate, but he damn sure didn’t want to discuss it.

Besides, she was rambling, which meant she wasn’t unaffected by being near him either. Good.

“When I opened that door and saw you, I closed it immediately and was leaving. Meri stopped me because she promised she’d back off if I just gave her the holiday. So, Cristofer, you have a choice.” Without warning, she pulled the belt. Trip heard an audible pop and grunted, trying not to cry out like a pussy. She dropped her foot from his thigh and unwound the black strap.

She left and returned before he even opened his eyes from the pain. Fashioning a sling for his arm from a pillowcase, she spoke softly.

“Leave now and break your sister’s heart. Not to mention be forever hounded by her efforts. Or, you suck it up for a few days and be free of ever even hearing my name again. Ignoring me until she gets here should be a cakewalk since you’ve done so already for ten years without issue.”

With her little speech, she stood and turned for the bedroom. Trip watched her delicious ass sway in the leather skirt that didn’t quite cover it all. Damn. Three days would be an eternity.

Letting her get the last word was impossible. “Jessika, it’s Trip now, don’t forget it.” It was lame as fuck, but he was off his game.

She whipped around, dark curls flying. He couldn’t see her face in the shadows of the hallway, but he heard a level of pain in her voice that broke him. “Jessika is dead. She died that Christmas. I’m JJ. And you don’t forget that.”

In a flash, she was gone. The door slamming felt like a round to the chest. Trip wanted to run to her and take that pain away. As he neared the door, his anger rose. Fuck it. Why does she get to feel pain about it? He was the one cheated on. He was the one who left for basic training with a broken fucking heart.

Sympathy was gone. He was about to burst through the door and give her a piece of his mind when it opened. Jess stood there in shock, staring at him with a blanket and pillow.

Her mouth formed a perfect O in her surprise. Trip bit back a groan. He knew exactly what that mouth, that body, could do. Anger or not, he wanted her as much as he ever had, if not more. Add that to the pile of things pissing me off.

“Here’s some bedding. Looks like Meri locked the doors to force us together. She didn’t count on how much you hated me, so you get the couch.”

He didn’t hate her. That was the fucking problem.

Jess looked down at her feet as she toed the floor. He’d been in a constant state of half chub since he set eyes on her. The shy look on her face caused the half to go full. Fuck the couch, fuck the past, fuck his sister’s plans for them to talk. Fuck everything. There was only one thing Trip wanted to do with his mouth and words didn’t have fuck all to do with it.

There was no forgetting and forgiving what happened, but hell, if his sister needed them to kiss and make up, he could do that for the duration of the vacation. It was a win-win plan. He could fuck her out of his system and get his sister off his back.

“I’m not sleeping on the couch. Too small.” Trip dropped the pillow and blanket. “We’re sharing the only available bedroom. No talk of the past, no talk of the future. We’ll give Meri what she wants and have a damn good time doing it, then we go our separate ways when vacation is over. Meri never needs to know the truth about anything, past or present. After Christmas, we say it didn’t work out. We part with the past settled as far as she’s concerned. Only you and I will know the truth, deal?”

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