Page 78 of Full Tilt
“What?” I ask.
She just shrugs. “With the way you were talking about him on the phone, I figured you’d met up way more than that.”
I side-eye her. “We did a lot of talking, and that night when we won the shield…” I trail off, wanting to explain what happened and how Tommy stepped in, but I’m struggling to find the right words to essentially tell my friend that I was about to be assaulted—or that it was very likely.
“That night we won the shield …” Kendra picks up my sentence, encouragement in her voice.
I’m ready to tell her everything when there’s a knock at my front door, and Kendra springs from the couch, already heading to answer it.
“Ah, thank Christ. That’ll be the pizza!”
Still thinking over her question about Tommy, I pick up my wine again and knock the rest of it back.
“Umm … what are you doing here?” Kendra’s faint voice snags my attention.
If it was the pizza delivery guy standing at my door, I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t be questioning why.
“I need to speak with Jenna.” A deep voice I’ll never mistake has my heart rate kicking up, and I drag my feet off the table and stand, heading straight for my hallway.
Tommy’s tall figure looms over Kendra as he stares down at her with annoyed eyes, but as soon as I come into view, he pins all of his attention on me.
I feel like a shy schoolgirl as I lean against my white wall. Dressed in black sweatpants and a white cropped T-shirt with an old stain down the front, I feel anything but glamourous.
“Hey,” is all Tommy says, his eyes tracking to the messy bun atop my head.
At least this time, I guess I don’t have mascara smeared under my eye.
“Hey,” I reply.
Jesus, this is awkward.
When Kendra spins on her heel to face me, I can tell she has already made up her mind to leave. She’s barely been here twenty minutes.
“I was just leaving, wasn’t I, babe?” she confirms, floating past me and into my open plan living area. “And I’ll cancel the pizza, if you like?”
My eyes flick to Tommy’s and he smirks knowingly at me.
Caught red-handed.
“Sure, thanks,” I absentmindedly reply to Kendra.
Tommy and I remain fixed on each other. The only move he makes is to reach above his head and take a firm grip of the doorjamb.
He looks tense and stressed out and completely at war in his head.
I feel the same.
“What are you doing here?” I ask quietly.
Tommy only smiles, the kind of grin I haven’t seen before. It’s not cocky or clever. It’s more inviting than that. More genuine and warm. “That’s exactly what Kendra just asked me. Do you finish each other’s sentences too?”
I deadpan as I push off the wall, “I’m not in the mood to play games, Tommy.”
Tommy’s trademark smirk reemerges just as Kendra does too.
She kisses me once on the cheek. “I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”
I don’t know why I feel emotional when she smiles at me sweetly, but I do.
