Page 24 of Gamble
His smile dipped. “Oh, come on… this is going to be so much fun. And I’ll make it up to you. We can go out for dinner tonight after I get eliminated from the tourney. Jeff and Jules already booked us a table at that new wave place they’ve been wanting to go to.”
“Wow… just wow.”
He was oblivious to how completely fucked up this weekend was from her point of view.
Am I being self-centered? Am I the one acting selfishly?
The immediate revolt in her brain was her answer.
“You know what, Tristan? I have a little surprise for you too.” She paused long enough to see him glance at his watch. Knowing he was more concerned with getting to the poker tournament on time than making sure she was happy gave her the courage to cut to the chase.
“This isn’t working. I moved from Seattle to L.A. so we could spend more time together, not less. I moved because I thought you cared about me, but it’s clear to me you don’t know the first damn thing about what it takes to make me happy, or worse,” she paused before adding. “I think you know… you just don’t care enough to make it your priority.
“So, here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to take your suitcase and leave. Go take a shower in Jeff and Jule’s room since you seem to be more interested in making them happy this weekend than me. I’m going to order a nice breakfast for myself and then pack up and fly home.
“Don’t call. Don’t text. We’re done.”
“Seriously? You’re breaking up with me?” he asked incredulously.
It dawned on Reagan that with his looks and outgoing personality, this might be the first time someone had broken up with him and not the other way around. The realization should make her reconsider, but it told her she was doing the right thing.
“Are you going to stand there and act surprised?” Reagan asked. “If so, you haven’t been paying attention at all.”
“Of course I wasn’t paying attention. I had to tune you out after you started getting all clingy!” He countered.
Reagan couldn’t help but break out laughing, which was at least better than crying. “You’ve literally been out of town over fifty percent of the time since I moved to L.A. And even when you were in town, we only saw each other one night a week if we were lucky. That is the antithesis of clingy, Tristan. And if that is what you define as being too suffocating, then I have a piece of advice for you. Stay single. You’ve got the playboy traveling salesman gig down perfectly, but you are terrible boyfriend material.”
The couple stood for a few long seconds, giving Reagan enough time to waver. The last thing she wanted to do was let him see her cry.
“You’d better get going. You wouldn’t want to be late for your first card game.”
By the time he picked up his carry-on bag and glanced back at her, the brief bout of anger she’d seen on his face was already gone. His cheerful smile was back, proving that he was going to happily bounce along to the next event in his life as if he hadn’t just had a six-month relationship end.
“Take care, Reagan,” he said before leaving, letting the heavy hotel door slam closed behind him.
“Fuck off, Tristan,” she said to the empty room.
CHAPTER TEN
ELIJAH
The fog of smoke hit him as soon as he exited the elevators. It was just one of the things he despised about coming to Vegas. Sure, he enjoyed a good cigar as much as the next guy, but after years of twenty-four seven chain smoking guests, the public areas of the Vegas casinos were permeated with stale cigarette stench.
Elijah walked as quickly as the weaving path through the slot machines allowed, heading to find a restaurant to grab some breakfast. A flash of red caught his eye as he was about to turn down a corridor. Craning his neck, he tried to see if he’d imagined Reagan. He was about to give up when she came into view again, heading away from him.
It wasn’t really a decision to change direction to follow her. He followed as she headed toward the lobby. Was she going to meet her boyfriend? He couldn’t help but be curious about what kind of man a woman as beautiful as she was attracted to.
But when he arrived at the lobby, he was shocked to find Reagan taking her place at the end of the long line. The carry-on suitcase she was pulling along beside her was his first clue that she was in line to checkout. As he watched from a distance, he caught her dabbing at her eyes with a tissue just before shepulled a pair of oversized sunglasses from her bag and shoved them on her face.
His gut clenched with anger as he suspected she was wearing them to cover her tear-filled eyes—those light blue orbs he’d loved looking into the day before.
Elijah may have never met the guy named Tristan Goodrich, but he sure wished he could just long enough so he could punch the asshole in the face for treating such a beautiful creature poorly. Anger at the faceless boyfriend was an emotion he understood, but as he hesitated, Elijah realized the other emotion he was feeling was nervousness, which was ridiculous. As Dungeon Master, he ran the hottest BDSM club on the West Coast. He shouldn’t be nervous just to talk to a woman.
Moving closer, he timed his arrival at the weaving line to be alongside Reagan at the bend.
“Good morning. Please tell me you aren’t leaving town.”
Reagan flinched before glancing his way. He couldn’t see her eyes behind the tinted lenses, but it made him happy to see a tiny smile come to her lips as she recognized him.
