Page 76 of Trusting Tanner
Heat pricked at her skin, and she swallowed hard. “I just don’t.”
“Yeah, but why don’t you?” Ryder pressed. “Every single girl we’ve ever met has cared. Then you come along and don’t?”
She rose up on her tiptoes and attempted to see over the crowd.Where the hell is Tanner?When she couldn’t find him, she fell back on her feet harder than intended. Ryder and Xander stared at her expectantly. “Look, I liked Tanner before I knew he had a trust fund, okay? Knowing he has one now doesn’t change anything for me.”
“You’re telling us you don’t like him a little more now that you know he’s loaded?”
She gritted her teeth. “No.”
“Why not?” Xander’s gaze was unwavering.
Christ, what was with these two? It was obvious they were much more concerned about Tanner’s trust fund than she was, which was odd considering they probably each had one of their own worth just as much. “Because money causes more problems than it solves.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Xander asked.
Ryder tilted his head and gave her a disbelieving look. “Only someone without money would say something like that.”
She took a few steps back, needing to reclaim some of her personal space, but the attempt was pointless, because Xander and Ryder invaded what little space she had to breathe.
“All right. Explain this to us.” Xander set his beer on the table and crossed his arms. “What makes you different than every other girl he’s ever dated?”
“Yeah,” Ryder chimed in. “Why should we believe you’re any different than the others?”
She jerked her hands out of her pockets and balled them into fists by her sides. “I don’t care about every other girl he’s dated.” Her words were clipped, her jaw clenched so tight, her whole mouth ached, and her stomach revolted.
She knew absolutely nothing about his previous girlfriends. Not that she really wanted to hear about his exes, but it was sobering to suddenly realize she knew very little about his past relationships. Was he hiding something from her? Her breaths became sharper and painful. What if he wasn’t the man she thought he was? She’d been so horribly wrong about Zach, and she’d known quite a bit about him. More than she currently knew about Tanner.
“Then explain why you’re different,” Xander pressed.
They closed in on her, invading her space. The crash of balls into pins echoed, lights flashed, the base from the band pounded through her chest, and she broke out in a sweat. No matter where she looked, everything was out of focus, and she wanted nothing more than to find Tanner and get out of there. Why wouldn’t they leave her alone?
She shifted uncomfortably on her feet and tucked her hands under her armpits to hide the fact they were shaking. “I don’t care about Tanner’s money, okay? Now can we please drop this?”
“We’ll drop it as soon as you convince us you’re not a gold digger,” Ryder said.
Xander’s eyes widened. “Yeah.” He nodded.
“I don’t have to prove anything to you guys.” She took a deep breath and tried to calm down by reminding herself these were Tanner’s brothers, and it was important she get along with them, but damn! They just didn’t know when to stop.
“You do if you want to be with our brother.” Ryder’s stare didn’t waver.
“What are you, the girlfriend police?” She rolled her eyes then laughed, hoping they’d finally back off.
“Something like that,” Xander said with a one-shoulder, lazy shrug. “It’s our job to watch out for one another. Don’t take it personally.”
“Well, it’s kind of hard not to when you’re interrogating me.”
“If you’d answer our question, we’d stop,” Ryder challenged.
“Fucking Christ!” Juliana threw her hands up in the air. “Because I’m worth more than Tanner. That’s why! I don’t need his damn money when I have more than enough of my own.”
“What?”
Juliana spun around at the sound of Tanner’s voice. She could feel the color drain from her face. The room started to spin, but everything seemed to slow to a snail’s pace.
“Did you just say you’re worth more than me?” Tanner approached her, confusion evident in his stare.
Shit. Her wealth was something she’d never shared with anyone before, and it was something she never planned to tell anyone but her husband, whenever she finally got married. But now Tanner knew. And so did his brothers. They were all watching her, waiting for an explanation. Ice cold fear spread quickly through her body, freezing her tongue and her ability to speak. No way in fucking hell was she going to stand there and tell them the horrifying story about how she got all her money. Prying off her fingernails with a dull, rusty knife would hurt less. She shoved past them and ran out of the bowling alley.
