Page 67 of Full Tilt
“Just let him go, Tommy.” I look at Ethan then, narrowing my eyes in warning. “Ethan isn’t going to speak a word about this or ever return to my apartment. Are you?”
Without any hesitation, he shakes his head quickly while still pinching the bridge of his bloody nose. “Nothing. You have my word on that.”
I still can’t be sure of what Ethan planned to do once we got to the other side of my apartment door; all I know is that, for once, I’ve never been so relieved to see Tommy’s face.
And as that realization sinks in, another feeling hits me immediately after.
Safety.
The kind of security only my brother has ever brought me. When Holt was around, I knew everything would be okay. And right now, I can’t deny that same reassurance as it radiates from Tommy and wraps around me in the kind of hug Archer, Sawyer, and Jack always give their girls.
“Go home, take a cold shower, and think about how you can continue your sorry life with more dignity and respect.” Tommy releases Ethan, who instantly slips out from underneath his arm and heads straight for the stairs, not bothering to wait for the elevator.
It must be ten seconds before we hear the main building door slam shut behind Ethan and another couple of beats before Tommy finally turns to look at me, red staining his left knuckles.
I keep my eyes down on his hands, wrapping my arms around my middle to comfort myself. Tears bleed from my eyes as I squeeze them shut and fight my emotions down with everything I have.
“Look at me, Jenna.”
I shake my head, embarrassment and shame curling inside my stomach. I feel sick, and it has nothing to do with the alcohol. “Just go, Tommy. Thank you for tonight, but please, just go.”
When he turns his back on me and makes for the stairs, I realize he isn’t going to fight me tonight. He’s practicing what he just preached to Ethan a few minutes earlier and respecting my boundaries.
But instead of the relief that washed through me when Ethan disappeared, panic is all I can feel as the distance between us increases.
When his foot hits the third step, I’m powerless to prevent my plea. “Wait.”
Tommy stops in his tracks but keeps his back to me, both hands shoved into the pockets of his black jeans.
“What do you want from me, Jenna?”
If I didn’t know it was Tommy speaking, I wouldn’t recognize his voice. It sounds broken and weak. A little like my resolve to keep away from him.
Wrapping my arms tighter around my middle, I rock back on my heels. Another tear hits my cheek, sliding down to my chin.
“I-I … I don’t know what to say to you.” And it’s the truth; I don’t. All I know is, I don’t want him to take another step away.
Tommy releases long, slow breaths, turning his face slightly so I can see the tension in his jaw.
“If you want me to stay with you tonight, then I’m going to need you to tell me that. You’re drunk, and ordinarily, you hate my guts. Plus, the last time I was here, you threatened to call the police on me.”
The tension between us is so thick. Regardless, I’m tempted to laugh at the memory of him bursting into my apartment and volleying back and forth with me.
Tommy might be brutal in the way that he goes after what he wants, but he has never made me feel like Ethan just did. There’s good in the boy standing in front of me.
“Okay, well, I can’t stay here all night, waiting on your response. I have to head for an away series tomorrow, and I need to get some sleep.” He huffs out a laugh. “I’ll need all the energy I can get to warm the bench.”
As he takes another step away, unease kicks up my heart rate.
“Stay.”
Tommy immediately turns around to face me, deep brown eyes falling to my protective and vulnerable stance. “And what do you want from me if I do?”
I swallow thickly, arms dropping to my sides as I ball my hands into fists. My nails cut into fleshy palms while I battle to push out words I never thought I’d say to the boy standing in front of me, “I … I just want you next to me.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
TOMMY
