Page 34 of Dirty Pucking Tease

I flashed Parker an apologetic smile before glancing over my shoulder to see if Jax had come in after me. He hadn't.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Trystan muttered.

"Yeah, funny, neither did Jax." I was over this night. I was over these commitment-phobic brothers, at least for tonight, anyway. I slid back out of my seat. "Parker, do you want to get out of here?"

"Yes." He nodded, his tone laced with relief.

I shoved my chair in as my gaze landed on Trystan, who was obviously mentally plotting Owen's death. "I'll meet you at the car." I forced a smile, and Parker nodded. My gaze followed him until he was out of sight, and then I whipped around. "Trystan." His gaze snapped to mine. "Get. Your. Shit. Together. Or go the fuck home." His brows pinched in confusion. "Make her your girlfriend or leave her alone. You can't have it both ways."

His entire body slumped with defeat on a heavy exhale. "I can't," he said after several long seconds.

"Why not? Why do you and your brother have the same commitment issues."

His lips curled into a smile. "I don't have commitment issues, Kai. I'm just not ready to settle down, and I don't want to end up hurting her." He swallowed hard as he flicked a glance back to the dance floor before returning to me. "I was going to tell everyone tomorrow, but the band got a spot at Rock Fest, andthen we will be touring with Wicked Sinners as their opening act for the following six weeks."

"Oh my God, Trystan," I squealed. "That's amazing!"

"Since she has too much going on here and she can't go with me, it wouldn't be fair for me to tie her down, especially when we both know that in the back of her head, she'll be wondering if I'm being faithful."

My gaze flicked out to Cam on the dance floor. He had a point. Trystan was a playboy, and he was about to go on the road where thousands of women would be throwing themselves at him every day. It would drive Cam crazy. "Fair enough." My attention snapped back to Trystan. There was no hiding the jealousy etched on his face. "So you told her she could date other people, but that's not what you want, is it?"

He shook his head. "No." His throat bobbed on a hard swallow. "I want to rip out his throat." Owen and Trystan were friends. We'd all grown up together, and I had a feeling if Trystan did rip out his throat, he'd regret it later.

"Come on, Tryst. Don't sit here and torture yourself."

He slid out of his seat and followed me to the door. "Can I give you a ride home?"

"I came with Parker."

"Okay, let me rephrase that. Will you ride home with me?"

I was over tonight. Between Jax showing up and acting like an ass and everything going on with Trystan, I wanted to call it a night. It also wasn't very often that Trystan asked me to ride with him, so I assumed he either didn't want to be alone or he wanted to talk.

"Yeah, give me a second to let Parker know, and I'll meet you at your truck."

I met Parker at his car, and apparently, he'd had enough of the evening, too, because he seemed like he couldn't leave fastenough. We agreed to give the skating thing a try in the morning, but neither of us mentioned another date.

"You ready?" Trystan jerked the driver's side door open.

"Are you sober?"

He huffed out a laugh. "I don't think I've been this sober in a long time."

We climbed into the truck in silence, neither of us speaking until we were in traffic and headed toward the house.

"So, why did you want me to ride home with you?"

"Because you looked like you needed someone to talk to." He swerved the wheel to the right. "So, spill."

Slouching in the seat, I grunted as my lip curled into a snarl. I didn't even know if I wanted to talk about it or, if I did, where to start.

"Come on, Kai." He flicked a glance out the corner of his eyes.

No one knew Jax better than his brother, so if I were going to talk to anyone about Jax, it would be him.

"What's Jax's deal?" His head twisted to me, and his brows furrowed. "I mean, where do his commitment issues come from?"

"So, this is about Jax." I shrugged, hoping he wasn't going to ask questions. "Have you tried talking to him?"

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