Page 48 of Trusting Tanner
She didn’t regret a damn thing about the time she’d spent with Tanner, or kissing him, or telling him about her past with Zach. “Okay, that’s enough.” Juliana stood and balled her hands into fists. “I’m not talking to you about this.”
I need to get out of this room.She gathered her shower caddy and noticed her basket of clean laundry was sitting near the head of Rebecca’s bed. What the hell? Stomping across the room, she grabbed the basket. The toe of her foot slipped on something, and she lifted her leg. A used condom hung from the bottom of her shoe. “Are you fucking kidding me?” She scraped her foot on the trash can. “That’s disgusting, Rebecca.”
Laughing like it was no big deal, she waved her hand dismissively. “When you’re in the middle of things, aiming for the garbage is the last thing on your mind.”
Jules could feel the color fade from her face, and a sticky, cold sweat broke out on the nape of her neck. There’d be no stopping the vomit this time.
…
The following morning, Juliana sat in class, anxiously waiting for Tanner to arrive. She’d spent all night tossing and turning, replaying her day with him, analyzing every word he’d said, reliving every kiss. Her heart was telling her he wasn’t lying, but the damn nagging voice in the back of her mind disagreed. Once before she’d ignored that voice and followed her heart, and, well, that had gone to shit real fast. She turned to stare out the window, frowning. She needed to talk to Devon. He always knew what to do.
“I have literally been waiting all night to see your gorgeous face.” Tanner set a cup of coffee in front of her then leaned over and captured her lips in a sweet kiss.
Her eyes fluttered closed, and she returned his kiss a little too eagerly considering where they were and how jumbled her thoughts were about him. “Morning.” She smiled against his lips then pulled away. “You brought me coffee?”
“Yep.” He rounded the lab table and took his seat next to her. Then he held up a bag. “Brought you a donut, too.” His eyes twinkled with mischief, and the corner of his mouth lifted in a sexy half grin.
She sighed. Why did he have to be so sweet? “Did you bring napkins this time?”
He laughed, and a stabbing pain seized her chest. She didn’t want him to be like her ex. She wanted Tanner to be different, to be the kind of guy she could count on, the kind of guy she thought he was, the kind of guy she could fall in love with.
“I had napkins last time,” he reminded her, handing her the bag.
She opened it and peeked inside. There was a single cinnamon donut with a thick stack of napkins. Her heart melted, and she refused to acknowledge the sting of tears forming behind her eyes.
Dr. Shaw arrived and promptly started class, but she was too distracted to pay attention, and she made a handful of careless mistakes during the lab. And Tanner had noticed, because he kept raising his eyebrow and giving her odd looks, but he hadn’t said anything. Class ended, and she shoved her lab book into her backpack.
“Okay, what’s going on?” Tanner took her hand, lacing their fingers.
“Nothing. Why?”
“Jules.” He sounded slightly annoyed. “Please don’t lie to me.”
She almost snorted at the hypocrisy of his request. Providing, of course, he was the liar in this situation, which she wasn’t 100 percent sure of. “Rebecca told me a bunch of stuff last night, and I don’t know what’s true and what isn’t.”
The easy grin had slipped from his face, replaced with a hard scowl. “C’mon.” He led her out of Fallon Hall and across the quad, stopping only once he found an empty bench. “All right. What did she say?” He was no-nonsense, and she immediately missed the fun, playful side of him.
Juliana gave him the condensed version of her argument with Rebecca, leaving out the part about stepping on a used condom. That still grossed her out.
“Wow.” Tanner blew out a breath and rubbed his hands over his face. “And you believe her?”
She averted her gaze and shrugged. She was basically calling him a liar to his face, and that left a bad taste in her mouth. He’d done nothing to make her distrust him, but it was like an addiction she couldn’t kick. A “get them before they get her” mentality. An unwanted parting gift from Zach.
“That hurts, Jules.” His voice was low and full of pain.
She jerked her head up, meeting his gaze. “I’m sorry.” She blinked rapidly, hoping she’d win the battle against the tears that seemed intent on falling no matter what she did or said.
“I didn’t lie to you.” He nearly spat he was so angry. “You can ask anyone in the Alpha house. Hell, ask any guy in any frat on this campus. Rebecca has a reputation, and not a good one. The nicest thing I’ve heard anyone call her is a manipulative liar.”
She’d seen firsthand how easygoing Rebecca was, and in a completely depraved sort of way, Juliana was jealous of Rebecca’s confidence to do whatever she wanted without a care for what anyone thought.
His cheeks were red, and his eyes were wild. “I didnothave sex with her. Ever!”
She’d never seen him so mad before. Granted, she’d be pissed, too, if someone she liked had called her a liar.
“If you still don’t believe me, I’ll call both of my brothers right now. They were there the night she was hitting on me. They can tell you how it went down.” He reached for his cell phone.
Jules put her hand on his wrist, stopping him. “You don’t have to do that.” His offer to prove himself was enough to calm her worries. “We both have to get to class, but we’ll talk about this later, okay?” She stood.
