Tenley was probably sick of being holed up in the condo with me. As difficult as the therapy session had been, it had been revelatory in many ways. I was a fuckwit when I was under too much stress. It was okay to act like a broody douche when I was eighteen, not so much at twenty-five.

I shut down the laptop and headed for the bedroom. The bathroom door was still closed. I knocked. “Tenley?”

“Just a minute.”

I paced around the room and went through the session again. I’d talked about my parents’ murder and Tenley. We focused on how I experienced those events, and how my not dealing with them was affecting my relationship with her. Now that I had perspective, I could see the hell I’d put her through over the past few days.

The bathroom door opened and I turned around, ready to issue a full apology. What came out of my mouth was, “Oh. My. Fuck.”

Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail, her cheeks flushed, and she wore only nipple shields and heels. Both cupcake themed. My instant erection almost ripped through my jeans.

She looked down at her chest. “I got new jewelry.”

I cleared my throat. Twice. “I can see that.”

“And new shoes.”

“I see that, too.”

Her eyes lifted to peek up at me. She was ever the contradiction between sweetness and sexuality.

I must have stared for quite a while because her eyes dropped to the floor and she wrung her hands together. “I’m sorry. The past few days have been so tense, and earlier it seemed like you might want me—never mind.” She turned around, her art and her ass on display, and took a step toward the bathroom.

“Whoa. Where are you going?”

She glanced over her shoulder. “To get changed.”

“I don’t think so.” I grabbed her wrist and pulled her against me.

Cupping the back of her head in my palm, I kissed her—gently. There’d been too much aggression coming from me lately, and I didn’t want to bring it into the bedroom. I wanted slow and easy and close because I’d been pushing her away, too caught up in my own turmoil to see what it was doing to her.

“I missed you,” Tenley whispered, her hands going under my shirt, tugging it up over my head.

“Me, too.” I wrapped an arm around her waist and carried her to the bed.

She sat on the edge of the mattress and unfastened the button on my pants with hands that shook. The zipper went down and my pants dropped to the floor. I stepped out of them as she brushed my cock with her fingertips.

“I wasn’t sure—” When she looked up at me, such vulnerability was in her eyes. “I would do almost anything for you.”

“I know.” It had only been four days, yet it felt like an eternity. “I just want to love you.”

So I did.

Things were better. I wasn’t under any delusion that my problems were solved. The compulsive crap wasn’t going to go away, but at least I recognized it as an issue. I didn’t take it as personal sabotage if Tenley didn’t put something exactly where I wanted it.

At three in the afternoon on New Year’s Eve, we were getting ready to go to Cassie’s. The entire Inked Armor crew had been invited. So had Sarah, but she had to work. Chris had sounded pissed when we talked on the phone. Sarah hadn’t been scheduled all week, except for tonight. He was catching a ride with Tenley and me.

“You need to get dressed.” I zipped up the duffel bag I’d packed in case we stayed over. It had both of our stuff in it. I liked having our things mixed together, neatly. In ordered piles.

She’d been prancing around in frilly underwear and nothing else, pretending to decide what she wanted to wear to Cassie’s. Only two dresses were hanging in the section of closet I’d cleared for her a while ago, so it shouldn’t have been such an issue to make a choice.

“Which one?” She turned around, holding up the dresses, one black, the other a pale blue. She was still wearing the cupcake nipple shields. They were driving me fucking insane.

“You should probably stop teasing me if you don’t want to keep Chris waiting. He’s going to be here in ten minutes.”

She ignored me. “If you pick the black one, I can wear the cup-cake shoes again.”

“I like the blue one.” I couldn’t be held responsible for my actions if she wore those shoes again.

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

She disappeared inside the closet and came out five minutes later in the black dress and the cupcake shoes. Her attempt at seduction would have worked if Chris hadn’t buzzed a minute later. We took the elevator down, me carrying the duffel and her carrying a box of cupcakes she’d whipped up this morning.

Chris was waiting for us in the lobby, looking as if someone had pissed in his shoes. His eyes went wide when he saw me, his bad mood forgotten. “Holy hell, H!”

I shrugged. “Tenley cut my hair.”

“I noticed. It’s this I’m referring to, though.” He gestured to his face. He didn’t have a lot of metal above the neck, just an eyebrow ring and some spacers.

“It’s no big deal.”

“If you say so.”

I could see him looking at me as we headed for the parking garage, but he didn’t say anything else. Tenley’s car was now parked in a spot across from mine. Chris called shotgun and started toward the Camaro, stopping short when he got an eyeful of the hood.

“What the fuck happened to your car?”

“It’s just a couple of scratches. I’m getting it fixed.” I discovered the appointment marked on the calendar this morning. Tenley had made the call earlier in the week because I hadn’t been in any frame of mind to do it myself.

Chris put his hands on the hood and leaned in. “These are deep. It looks like someone tried to gouge out the paint, and there’s a dent—”

When it was obvious I wasn’t offering an explanation, he looked to Tenley. Her face was beet red and she was fussing with the box of cupcakes. Chris’s eyes came back to me, and his eyebrow lifted in question. I shook my head, but he didn’t heed the warning.

“Tee?”

“Hm?” She looked at Chris.

“What happened to H’s car?”

She glanced at me, waiting for some direction. When she didn’t get any, she rolled her eyes. “The scratches are from the buckle on the back of my jacket. The dent is from Hayden’s knee.”

It took him a couple of seconds. “Why would you—oh! No, shit! You’re a little wild, aren’t you, Tee?”

“We’re taking my car.” She spun on her heel and strode over to the Prius, flipping him the bird over her shoulder. Or maybe it was meant for me.

“Are you sure you want to do that? I mean, the Camaro’s already messed-up,” Chris goaded. “I can always get a ride back with Jamie and Lisa.”

I punched him in the side.

“Fuck! Ow! Sorry!”

She got into the driver’s seat and slammed her door. The engine turned over with a wussy little whine.

“Thanks, asshole.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t say anything about it. When did that happen?”

“I’m not telling you anything.”

“I can always ask Tee.”

“Do it and I’ll punch you in the balls,” I threatened.

He followed me to the car. Chris grunted as I shoved him out of the way when he went for the front seat. “No shotgun for you.” I slipped in beside Tenley and locked the door before he dragged me back out. He reluctantly got in the backseat, taking up most of it. Tenley didn’t say a word as she put the car in gear.

“What’s your car doing down here? Can’t you get a ticket for that?” Chris asked.

“I get two spots. I registered her car,” I said.

“Huh. Next thing you know you’ll be moving in with this anal-retentive fucker, hey, Tee?”

She choked back a cough.

Sometimes Chris didn’t know when to shut his damn mouth.

The trip to Cassie’s took twice as long as normal because Tenley was a cautious driver.

Lisa answered the door, and once we were inside, her hands went to my face and then my hair. “Cassie said you looked different, but, wow! Nice work, Tenley.”