Conklin's Foundation (Conklin's Trilogy #2)

by Brooke Page

  He took the water and downed it, wiping sweat off his forehead with his forearm.

  “I don’t know about you guys, but I could sure use a beer,” Cooper said, taking a drink of his own water.

  “Vitale’s has a great deal on pitchers,” Gage chimed in. He shot me a grin. “They have some great Hawaiian pizza too, right Bs?” he damn near flirted.

  I crossed my arms and looked to Tyler. His jaw was clenched as he glared at Gage.

  “Sounds like a plan, beer at Vitales!” Cooper exclaimed, throwing his sweatshirt on. “You coming, Conk?”

  Tyler looked over at me. “I’m kind of tired,” I yawned.

  “Have you eaten dinner yet?” he asked sternly. Damn it.

  “No, let’s go,” I sighed.

  ~

  Tyler was all smiles until we started to walk towards the Lexus away from Cooper and the other guys. “Have a nice chat with Gage?” he asked through clenched teeth, giving my hand a squeeze.

  I blew out air, knowing he might become the jealous boyfriend.

  “I apologized for being such a bitch to him the other night at the Christmas party if that’s what you are asking.”

  He glanced at me and then sped up, dragging me along. Tyler opened my car door, not meeting my eyes. I stood for a second before getting in the car, head cocked at him. He finally looked at me once he realized I wasn’t getting in.

  “Don’t act like this,” I pleaded, hugging myself, rubbing my arms for warmth from the chilly December air.

  “Act like what?” he glowered, shrugging his shoulders with a full on scowl.

  I frowned at him then climbed in the car. He closed the door and walked to his side, quickly sitting and starting the car, blasting the heat and turning on our seat warmers along with the windshield wipers to rid the small dusting of snow.

  “Like a jealous boyfriend,” I huffed under my breath.

  “How am I acting like a jealous boyfriend?” he growled, raising his voice. “Just because his thigh was squished up against yours on the steps means I shouldn’t get annoyed? Because he was flirting with you while you gave him your innocent, bashful look back? Yeah, you’re right, Becca, I have no reason to act like a jealous boyfriend.” He revved his engine before pulling out of the parking space, shaking his head back and forth.

  I rolled my eyes. “Tyler, stop it. That’s how Gage is. It doesn’t mean anything.”

  “So I should be okay that you were flirting back with him?” he spat, taking his eyes off the road and glaring at me.

  “I wasn’t flirting with him!”

  “I saw the look on your face!”

  “Tyler, you were in the middle of a basketball game twenty-some feet away from us. How could you possibly tell?” I shouted, irritated that he automatically assumed I was flirting with Gage.

  He let out a huge sigh. “I could just feel it, okay? I was uneasy the entire time,” he whispered, keeping his eyes on the road.

  I slouched in my seat, leaning my head back on the head rest to look at him. “Tyler, we were talking about you half the time,” I whispered.

  He glanced back at me, hands gripping the steering wheel tight. “And the other half?”

  How was I supposed to tell Tyler that Gage practically told me he wanted to date exclusively? That he could only give me himself and that he had never felt about anyone the way he felt about me? That he was in love with me?

  “He was expressing how he was worried about me,” I murmured, focusing my eyes on the snow melting as it hit the windshield. It was half true.

  “Worried how?” He asked showing concern.

  I gulped, not wanting to have the serious conversation about what we both wanted as an outcome for our relationship to happen in between the short trip to Vitales. “He doesn’t want me to get hurt by you.”

  “How the hell could he possibly think I would hurt you? He doesn’t know anything about me. Besides, it’s none of his fucking business,” he growled.

  “Tyler, can we talk about this later tonight? I promise I will tell you every stupid little thing we talked about, okay? I don’t feel like having you be mad at me while eating with your friends,” I pleaded.

  Tyler sighed again, pulling into the parking lot of Vitale’s. He reached for my hand and pulled it to his cheek as he closed his eyes. His stubble scratched my skin, sending tingles throughout my body. “I’m not mad at you,” he murmured. “We will talk when we get home, but I want to flaunt you tonight, baby.” A fire was growing in his pupils.

  Talk about mood swings.

  I took in a shaky breath, knowing what the look in his eyes really meant.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to get takeout?” I whispered, moving my hand so my palm cradled his face.

  He smirked. “Delayed gratification will do. Let’s go eat.” His eyes hardened before his next words. “I’m ordering Hawaiian pizza.”

  Oh gosh! Jealous boyfriend round two!

  The other guys had arrived at the same time as us, Cooper leading the way. He was quite talkative and at ease in the friendly setting. It was fun to see Cooper all grins and smiles. He made Tyler lighten up, which was always a blessing to see.

  We sat down with Cooper and Gage across from us. Some of the other guys had girlfriends and wives with them. Unfortunately they were all on the opposite side, leaving me to converse with my darling boyfriend and the man that had the look of amusement spread across his face. Gage was going to ruffle Tyler’s feathers, and I was dreading what was going to come out of his mouth.

  “Conk, you need to play with us more,” Cooper said after ordering a few pitchers of beer. “Lord knows we need your help. Thank God Gage stuck around after his game and helped us out.”

  Tyler let his arm rest on the back of my chair. “You know I can’t commit to being on a team. I’m out of town too sporadically,” Tyler said, rubbing his hand on the back of my neck.

  My eyes darted to Gage. This is what he was talking about with Tyler not being around. Gage glanced at me as he readjusted his baseball cap so it was facing backwards.

  “Where do you travel to?” Gage asked Tyler, scratching his chin.

  “I bounce around. Mainly Chicago and Cleveland. I’m normally gone two or three days out of the week,” Tyler answered nonchalantly, glancing over at me. He gave me a small smile and moved his hand across my neck to my shoulder. I returned his smile then acted interested in the menu.

  “Two or three days? Seems like longer,” Cooper laughed. “I don’t know why you don’t stay in Chicago more. Sure seems like they need you there all time while I’m covering for your ass in Grand Rapids.”

  Tyler smirked and pulled me to his side, kissing my temple. “I have a good reason to come back to Grand Rapids.”

  Cooper laughed and leaned back in his chair, grabbing the freshly placed pitcher from the table and filling his empty glass. “Yeah, I get it. Maybe I won’t have to cover for your ass as much now that someone has a hold of your balls.”

  The guys laughed as Tyler shook his head, trying to hold in his grin. I tried not to blush as he peeked down at me.

  The waitress came to start taking orders. I frowned as I stared at the menu. When I was here with Gage I had gotten a salad, which sucked. I wasn’t in the mood for a crappy salad, but I didn’t want to indulge in pizza when tempting food would be all around me the next week during the holidays.

  “Can we get an extra-large supreme pizza, and you like Hawaiian pizza, right Becca?” Cooper said.

  “Get whatever, I’m not going to have any.” I stared at the menu, afraid to look at Gage or Tyler.

  “Order a Hawaiian too,” Tyler told the waitress. “Just in case you change your mind,” he added, looking over at me. I clenched my jaw then looked towards the waitress.

  “Can I get your house salad with chicken, please?”

  I saw Gage roll his eyes from across the table. Tyler didn’t give me any grief. After all, I was ordering food I had planned on eating, and as long as I was eating,
Tyler said he wouldn’t give me a hard time. He understood my quirks.

  “So Gage, I keep meaning to ask you about restoring my Dad’s old mustang. He is crazy attached, and you know he doesn’t want anyone but you and your boss to work on it,” Cooper said.

  “Bring it by and I’ll take a look at it. You know I’m a sucker for old muscle cars and your dad’s Louixs,” Gage smirked.

  “What’s a Louixs?” I asked.

  “Cigar,” Cooper informed me. “My dad is fascinated with cigars. He bribes knucklehead mechanics to move him up on their lists with them.” Cooper nudged Gage in the bicep.

  “Is that how you know each other? Through cars?” I asked.

  Gage turned his head and gave me both dimples. “We met playing basketball. We were on the same team a few leagues back.”

  “Yeah, then the asshole took a break. Then started playing on a different team,” Cooper snorted.

  Gage rolled his eyes and then brought them back to me. “I was sick of losing.”

  Tyler laughed as Cooper leaned back in his chair glaring at Gage, trying not to laugh as well.

  Our food arrived and my mood was turning optimistic. Conversation had been flowing freely and was not nearly as uncomfortable as I thought it might be. I stared down at my boring salad as I unfolded my silverware, attempting to ignore the massive Hawaiian pizza placed in the middle of the table. It smelled so freaking good.

  The boys dug in as I picked at my salad.

  “That looks delicious,” Gage teased as he watched me.

  Tyler turned his head to look at me. “We can order the spinach salad from Louis Benton that you like and pick it up on the way home.”

  Gage snorted from across the table. “Or she could eat some pizza. It wouldn’t kill her to have a few slices.”

  I glared at Gage. He didn’t understand. And he sure as hell better not try to tickle me this time.

  Oh please don’t bring that up!

  “Becca doesn’t eat pizza,” Tyler said, narrowing his eyes at Gage.

  Gage’s eyes went cold, then smoothed out, a smile playing at his lips. “She’ll eat pizza. You just have to tickle her.”

  I cringed internally as I felt Tyler’s body tense.

  “That’s what I did last time we were here, what? A week ago? She ate pizza then,” Gage smirked as he leaned forward, his eyes dancing.

  My jaw clenched as my eyes bore into Gage. Tyler sat silent. I was afraid to see the expression on his face. The anger that was radiating off of him was enough.

  “Wait? You two know each other?” Cooper asked looking between Gage and me.

  “We went to high school together,” I announced before Gage could say anything else mortifying. Instead he gave me a glare.

  “We were really good friends in high school,” Gage added.

  I bravely glanced at Tyler, who had his full blown scowl on his face, one hand clenched tight in his lap while the other rested on the table. Gage took a sip of his beer, never taking his smug expression off of Tyler.

  Cooper looked between Tyler and Gage. He must have felt the animosity.

  Could this be any more awkward?

  “Did you two date or something?” Cooper asked.

  Gage set his beer down, biting his lower lip, as though trying to hold in a smile. “Something like that,” he murmured.

  I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Cooper laughed and hit his hand on the table. “Let me pour you another beer, Tyler,” he laughed.

  If I could shoot lasers with my eyes at Gage, I would have. He could tell I was pissed, but instead of looking frightened, his smirk only grew bigger. Bastard. Needing to regain my composure, and wanting to give Tyler some reassurance I decided to turn the tables. I set my napkin on the table and stood up.

  “I’m going to use the restroom,” I mumbled. I turned to Tyler whose eyes were glued to Gage’s, anger radiating from his pores. I reached for his face with both hands so he would turn and look at me. Leaning down, I pressed my lips to his, letting them linger until I felt a quarter of the tension leave his body. “I will be right back,” I whispered, giving him another kiss. As I left I heard Gage sigh and Cooper laugh.

  “I think you are losing,” Cooper cackled to Gage.

  Once I was done using the restroom I stared at myself in the mirror. I hadn’t put any makeup on and had hastily thrown my hair up in a bun. I let it down and ran my hands through my hair in an attempt to smooth it out before I put it back up. I felt silly for wearing workout clothes while attempting to be Tyler’s arm candy. I sighed. What did he see in me? What did either of them see in me? And how the hell did I end up at dinner with another guy I had slept with accompanied by Tyler?

  Maybe you shouldn’t sleep with so many men.

  I wanted to give my conscious a big F YOU for that inner comment.

  Huffing at my appearance, I made my way back to the table to prove I was there for Tyler and no one else.

  I slide into my seat, giving it a good scoot so I was right next to Tyler. He turned his head towards me as I slithered my hand on his thigh. “Miss me?” I asked, batting my eyelashes.

  “Always,” he said, his eyes softening. He leaned over, meaning to give me a chaste kiss, but I kept my lips pouted, letting him know I wanted more. After the third quick kiss, a huge grin spread across his face. He gave me Eskimo kisses as I grinned back at him.

  I looked over at Gage who was shaking his head at me, a smile playing at his lips. I couldn’t help but smile back at him while resting my head on Tyler’s shoulder. He knew what I was doing, and he was conceding. If I knew anything about Gage, it was that he liked to play games, and this time I won.

  “God you two are damn near embarrassing,” Cooper groaned, eating another piece of pizza. Tyler shrugged his shoulders and grabbed another slice.

  “Where did my salad go?” I asked, staring down at the empty space in front of me.

  “I told them it looked awful and sent it back,” Gage said.

  Tyler looked over at me as though he actually agreed. “I called and ordered from Louis Benton. I’m almost done. We can leave as soon as I pay the bill and pick it up.”

  Gage glared at Tyler. “Or, she can eat some pizza. I know you like pizza better than sex, Becca.”

  My face went red. Holy shit, did he really just say that? And here I thought I beat him at his own game. He always threw a mean curve ball.

  Tyler stretched his jaw and shook his head as though preparing for battle.

  Oh no… here comes round three…

  Leaning over the table with amusement he looked Gage right in the eyes. “Maybe when it was with you. Now she is willing to skip pizza to go home with me.”

  My jaw nearly hit the table the second the words came out of Tyler’s mouth.

  A loud oh led by Cooper came from the whole table, who happened to turn their heads once they heard the word, “sex.”

  I gave Tyler a hard nudge to the side, causing him to bend and let out a grunt. “What?” He smirked. His eyes were dancing with humor now, his male ego taking the upper hand. He picked up on my discomfort with his statement and wrapped both arms around my shoulders, pulling me in so he could force a big wet kiss on my cheek.

  “I can’t believe you just said that,” I grumbled under my breath.

  Gage took a piece of pizza, putting it on a plate in front of me. “Just eat a fucking piece of pizza, Becca,” he grumbled, clearly embarrassed by Tyler’s statement.

  Tyler nuzzled my ear with his nose then brushed his lips against my ear with a whisper. “You know you will work it off tonight. Remember, we are going to have our own workout.”

  I blushed again, still sure the redness never left my face in the first place. I nudged him again and picked up the God damn piece of pizza and took a bite.

  Chapter 7

  I practically stormed out of the restaurant to Tyler’s black Lexus XL. I attempted to yank the door open but failed because Tyler hadn’t unlocked the car. Steam radiating from my
ears, I stomped my foot waiting to hear the click of the car unlock. Once Tyler reached my side, he hit the button and opened the door for me. I glared at him as I sat in the car. His expression wasn’t exactly pleasant either.

  “I’m not too happy right now either, Becca,” Tyler grumbled as he slammed his door shut, firing up the engine. “Your ex fuck buddy is a pompous asshole.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Don’t call him that.”

  “Call him your ex fuck buddy or call him a pompous asshole?” he asked, raising his voice in annoyance.

  “Ex fuck buddy,” I emphasized.

  “That’s what he was, right? Or did he mean more to you, Becca? Because it sure as hell looked like he meant more.”

  I jerked my head in his direction. How the hell did it look like I was anything but irritated with Gage throughout dinner? I’m surprised Gage didn’t have holes in his body from the death stares I was giving him half the time.

  “Did it look like it when I intentionally went to the bathroom so I could kiss you in front of him? Or when I came back and snuggled up to you?” I scoffed, raising my voice.

  Tyler pulled out of Vitale’s, his knuckles turning white against the steering wheel. His jaw was tense. “Do you still have feelings for him?”

  “No!” I shouted in desperation. How could he think that? “Tyler you need to learn to ignore him. He likes to push buttons.”

  “Why did you hang out with him when we weren’t together? Did you really eat pizza with him?”

  I sighed. “I ran into him at the gym, and yes, we went out to get food. It wasn’t a date or anything.”

  “Did he touch you?” he growled.

  I bit the inside of my cheek, wanting to go back to where we were before Cooper called and asked Tyler to come play basketball, where he had me pinned against the mirror on my bathroom counter, towel falling off my shoulders giving me sweet kisses.

  “Becca!”

  “He tickled me so I would eat a freaking piece of pizza, all right? If I wanted anything to do with him in a physical manner I would have let him keep touching me, but I didn’t, okay? I ate the stupid pizza and I felt like shit about it, just like I feel like shit about eating it just now.” I went from angry to the verge of tears in seconds. I hated cheating on my diet. It made me feel weak. It made me feel like I was going to gain weight again.