Page 108 of The Bad Girl List

I want to say yes. I want to throw caution to the wind and let Trevor Moretti take me on a real date.

But I think of the last five years of Oliver, of how I always settled for being third in his life. It bothered me when he ditched me in bars to network or spent the entire weekend playing tennis, but I never complained. I let him treat me like a third-class citizen.

I deserve a guy who will put me first in his life. As much as I want that person to be Trevor, I know it’s not. He’s shown me that over and over in the past few days.

This is just a repeat of what happened in the vineyard the night of the family dinner, when he practically stripped me naked on the terrace. Trevor is in pain, and he’s using me for comfort. I know he doesn’t mean to, but that doesn’t make what’s happening any less messed up. I deserve to be more than a shoulder to cry on when he’s missing Elle. He might really like me, but he misses Elle more than he likes me.

“I can’t,” I whisper. “You’re in a relationship with someone else. I’m not discounting what you’re going through, but it’s not fair to me.”

This time, when I push away, he lets me go. The look he gives me makes me feel like I’m breaking in half. Somewhere in the barn, Tequila whines.

“Which car are we taking?” I ask.

“What?” He’s staring at me in a way that makes me hurt.

“Which car should I get in for the ride home?”

“Oh.” His gaze shifts to the cars, but he doesn’t say anything else.

I pick the one that’s closest to me, the BMW. I open the passenger door and get in. The leather inside still smells new. When Tequila hops over, I wait for her to jump in with me. She scrambles into my lap and licks my face, her ears and eyebrows drooping.

Trevor opens the driver’s side door and gets inside. When he sees his dog with me, he sighs sadly.

“She knows we have a connection,” he says, watching Tequila as she turns in a circle and gets comfortable in my lap.

I don’t know how to respond to that, so I say, “I didn’t sleep with Kevin.”

His head jerks up. “You didn’t?”

“I kept hoping you’d show up and get between us,” I say, looking away. “So I could take a body shot off you instead of him. He kept trying to get me to go home with him. I thought about him for number ten, but …” I shrug. “I wasn’t feeling it. He ended up getting sick from the tequila and went home alone.”

His eyes widen. Then he surprises me by chuckling. It dissolves some of the tension. “Serves the asshole right. He never could hold his tequila. You should have seen him on our trip to Tijuana.”

If I had any doubt about Thomas running interference for his brother last night, Trevor’s words erase them. Apparently, he has multiple family members who want us to be together.

For some reason, this only compounds the ache inside me.

CHAPTER 34

Truth

DOMINIQUE

It’s after four o’clock by the time Trevor pulls up in front of the VRBO. The family van is parked in front. Crap. I’d been hoping to beat them back. Hopefully Annika was able to cover for me.

“Can you stop a little further up the street?” I ask. “My mom thinks I went home with period cramps. She doesn’t know your dad picked me up.”

“Your mom thinks you’re home with period cramps? How are you planning to get inside?”

“I haven’t figured that out yet. I need to text my cousin.” I open the door and step out, wondering if I’m going to have to crawl in through the bedroom window.

“Dominique?”

I jerk in surprise as my mother walks out of the house. She stands on the walkway, arms crossed as she looks at me and Trevor. There is no doubt in my mind that she recognizes him, even from this distance.

“I gotta go. Thanks for the ride.” I shut the door and turn away from him and Tequila, my mind racing as I try to come up with a plausible excuse.

The BMW glides out of the cul-de-sac. I see Trevor glance at me one last time before he turns the corner, but I keep my gaze on my mom and do my best to look nonchalant.

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