“Mind telling me what the hell happened in there?” Layla took her eyes off the road long enough to glare hard at Tommy.
He fiddled with the stereo. Finally settling on an old David Bowie song, he sat back and gazed out the window contentedly. A little too contentedly, which was why Layla demanded an answer.
“I’m referring to your pissing match with Mateo. And don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about. You were like a dog with a fire hydrant, and I was the one getting sprayed.”
Tommy shook his head and cringed. “Jeez, you really have a talent for visuals, you know that?” He tried to make light of it, but Layla wasn’t having it.
They’d had the whole talk. Hell, he was the one who’d insisted on it. All she’d wanted was to get between the sheets and have a little fun. And yet, despite coming to the joint conclusion that they were two more or less responsible adults acting on an undeniable attraction to each other with absolutely no expectations to follow, the second Mateo entered the scene, Tommy had started acting like a big, possessive weenie.
Considering how much effort he usually put toward maintaining his cool guy veneer, it was kind of cute to see him feeling so challenged. And yet, the last thing Layla wanted was to have to answer to someone. Especially when that particular someone had claimed less than twenty-four hours before that they weren’t looking to start a relationship.
At least when she’d said it, she’d meant it.
“So . . . what do you have to say for yourself?” She refused to let it go. “Because if you think you can avoid the subject and pretend it didn’t happen, then allow me to point out that according to the GPS, we have another hour and twenty minutes left on this journey, which may or may not provide an accurate read of unforeseen traffic patterns. Which means this may take even longer. Which also means I’ve got you captive. There’s no wriggling your way out of this one.”
“God, you’re impossible!” Tommy’s face reddened and he tossed a frustrated look her way. “You can’t let things go. You have to examine every little detail of every little thing.”
She rolled her eyes and gripped the wheel hard. “Don’t act like you didn’t know all that when you decided to sleep with me.”
Tommy groaned, knuckled his eyes, turned up the stereo, but Layla held firm.
“Okay, fine,” he finally said. “You’re right. I was a jerk. You think I don’t know that? And while I’m not exactly proud of my actions, I just—” He clenched his jaw, picked at the hole in the knee of his jeans. “I guess I was stupid enough to believe you when you said you guys were over. Seeing you together like that, sitting all snugged up and cozy, left me feeling like I’d been played.”
Before she could stop herself, Layla burst out laughing.
“Oh, so now this is funny? This is all a big joke to you? Because let me tell you, Layla, you are one sadistic—”
Before he could finish, she said, “No.” She shook her head. “Not a joke—not at all. It’s just—you gotta admit, the phrase snugged up and cozy is kinda hilarious. Not to mention that if anyone in this car is a player, I’m pretty sure it’s you. Let’s not forget how you arrived at the party with one girl, only to go home with another.”
Tommy shrugged and stared out the passenger-side window. After a few moments he said, “Whatever. Listen, can we just rewind?”
Without hesitation, Layla shook her head. There was no erasing the past. It was out there and done with and there was no going back.
“No,” she said. “There’s no rewind.”
Beside her, Tommy sighed.
“But what we can do is move forward from here.”
He turned to her with his best Tommy grin. Between the dimples, the irresistible lips, and the deep denim-blue eyes, Layla could only imagine how many broken hearts that smile was single-handedly responsible for. She hoped she wouldn’t someday count herself among them.
They drove in companionable silence for the next several miles, until Layla said, “Does it ever bother you to know that someone, somewhere, knows exactly what happened to Madison—maybe even someone we know—and they have no problem letting Aster take the fall?”
After a long, considering look, Tommy said, “Every moment of every day.” His words hung heavy between them until Layla turned up the stereo in hopes that Ziggy Stardust might chase them away.