Page 77 of Trusting Tanner
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Jules!” Tanner moved to go after her then stopped. He turned back to his brothers. “What the fuck did you say to her?”
“Nothing.” Ryder shrugged. “We were just confirming she didn’t give a shit.”
“Yeah, then she freaked out and screamed at us.” Xander grabbed his beer and chugged what was left.
Tanner clenched his hands into fists, unsure if he should coldcock each of them before going after Jules. He had no idea what was said other than Juliana declaring she had more money than him. “You two need to stay the hell out of this.”
Spinning on his heel, he shoved his way through the crowd, praying he’d find Jules. As he pushed through the doors and stepped outside, he saw her getting into a cab. “Shit.” He laced his hands on top of his head and blew out a breath.
He doubted she’d take a cab all the way back to campus, so the only place she could go would be back to the hotel. Digging his keys from his pocket, he ran to his car and peeled out of the parking lot. As soon as he fixed things with Juliana, he was going to kill his brothers. He should’ve known better than to leave them alone with her.
The drive to the hotel was short, and Tanner rushed toward the elevators. He stabbed the up arrow, but the doors didn’t open. He took a step back then looked around. The stairwell was few feet away. He glanced to the still-closed elevator doors then back to the door leading to the stairs. Which would be faster? Taking a step toward the stairs, he stopped and turned back. Indecision hummed through him.
“Fuck it.” He made the choice to take the stairs and headed that direction when the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. Turning around, he raced back and dashed inside the elevator before the doors could close on him.
He took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm his racing heart, but it was useless. He couldn’t get enough air into his lungs, and his hands trembled. He had no idea what happened or what was going on in her mind, and until he did, he wouldn’t be able to relax. He flexed his fingers and stared at the numbers as the elevator climbed too slowly toward his floor.
The elevator came to a stop, and he was out before the doors were fully open. He raced down the hallway and fumbled with the key card. “Damn it.” He paused and blew out a shaky breath. What if he was too late? What if she’d already left? Finally, he got the door to unlock.
“Jules?” He entered the room, which looked exactly as it had when they’d left earlier. “Juliana? Are you here?” He went to the bedroom and found her shoving her clothes into her bag. “What’re you doing?”
She ignored his question and went into the bathroom, returning with her makeup bag, shoving it into her duffel bag, too, and then went to the opposite side of the bed and scooped up the shorts she’d worn last night.
“Stop packing.” He stood in the doorway, arms crossed.
Juliana grabbed her shoes and put them in her bag, still ignoring him. This was all so surreal; he couldn’t wrap his mind around what was happening. Two hours ago they’d been in the shower together, touching, kissing, pleasuring each other. And now she was completely ignoring him, packing her bag, planning to leave him. And hell if he knew why. The thought of letting her walk out before he had the chance to tell her how he felt was enough to bring him to his knees. He couldn’t let her leave. Not like this.
“Jules.” He walked farther into the room. “Damn it. Stop packing and talk to me.”
She zipped her bag and then turned to him. “There’s nothing to say. Your brothers wanted to know why I didn’t give a shit about your money, so I told them.”
“If that’s all it was, then why did you run out of the bowling alley? Why are you packing your bag right now?”
Juliana shrugged. Her eyes were wet with unshed tears. “I’ve called Devon to come get me, so you can stay here and hang out with your brothers.”
“You called Devon?” Tanner stomped toward her, rage burning hot inside of him. There was so much wrong with this entire situation, the least of which was he had no fucking clue what was going on. He couldn’t make sense of what she’d said at the bowling alley. He couldn’t understand why she’d run or why she was leaving now. But he’d have to be dead on the floor before he willingly let her leave with Devon.
“Yeah. I figured it would be easier this way.”
He rubbed his hands over his face, desperate for things to click into place in his brain so he could say something intelligent to fix this mess. But he was at a complete loss.
“Okay, just…stop for a minute.” He paced in front of her. “What happened at the bowling alley? What did my brothers say to you?” He was facing her now, pleading. He wouldn’t hesitate to beg if that’s what it took to get her to stay here with him.
“I told you. Your brothers wanted to know why I didn’t care about your money.”
“You told them you’re worth more than me. Is that the truth?”
“Yes,” she whispered. Then, clearing her throat, she met his gaze. “And thanks for thinking I’m a liar.”
“That’s not what I said, Jules, and I’ve never once thought that about you. But in my defense, it was quite a shock to hear you say that. You can’t demand total honesty from me and then lie to me about something like this. That’s not fair. We had a long talk about money and my trust fund on the way here. Hell, we’ve talked about money multiple times before that, and you never once bothered to mention you were richer than me.”
She snorted and shook her head. “Is that what’s bothering you? That I’ve got more money? Is this some sort of competition? Is your ego hurt?”
He ground his teeth, clenching and unclenching his fists. The money didn’t mean a damn thing, but if she wanted to have this argument with him, he was going to give it to her. “How much?”
“What?”
