He twisted his mouth. “Yeah, I reckon you could cut me just the same. I can’t say I like it. But I’m not going to let it keep me away from you, and I’m not going to let you do it either.” The hand framing one side of her face slid down to cup her chin. “Let’s just explore and enjoy what we have while we have it.”
“We did that for four months. You don’t think it would be dumb to let this go on for longer, given that you’re determined for things to stay uncomplicated?”
Tate lowered his face to hers. “I’ve got to tell you, babe, there’ll be nothing uncomplicated about walking away from you.” He took her mouth, sinking his tongue inside to stroke her own, then just as swiftly pulled back. He slid his nose against hers. “Tomorrow.”
Watching him stalk out of her room, Havana rubbed at her forehead. By nature, she wasn’t an indecisive person. She didn’t second-guess herself. When she made a choice, she stuck to it. And if it turned out that the decision hadn’t been wise, well, she just plain dealt with the consequences.
Right then, she was mentally fumbling. Did she think that ending their fling had been the wrong thing to do? No. Sort of. If your emotions were involved, it was better to cut your losses when a relationship wasn’t going anywhere. But he was right; she wasn’t ready for them to part ways.
Tate Devereaux had gotten under her skin, and she didn’t see that she had any choice but to take the time to work him back out again. Which absolutely sucked balls.
Cursing, she slipped off the bed and grabbed a camisole and shorts from her dresser. It was time to do what she’d planned to do earlier—watch TV and pig out.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Having had a shit night’s sleep, Havana stepped out of her bedroom the next morning feeling like death warmed up. She trudged into the living room, and the sight she stumbled upon made her sigh. It no doubt wasn’t often that a person found a bearcat on the floor wrapped in a black mamba, especially when said bearcat was ramming the head of the hissing snake on the hardwood floor.
It wasn’t an uncommon sight for Havana, but it rarely happened during the morning for two reasons. One, Aspen didn’t usually come here so early. Two, Bailey was so focused on being ready on time that she didn’t let her mamba out. But as they were all off work today, they could afford to be lazy and fool around. This, though? No. It was too early for this shit.
Havana planted her hands on her hips. “Seriously?” she barked, making both animals freeze. “You know the rules, people—no brawling before I’ve had at least one cup of coffee. So do my addled brain a favor and release. Each other. Now.”
The animals parted, and then both females shifted.
Aspen threw Bailey a dirty look. “Your mamba is such a bitch. I’m surprised I don’t have any cracked ribs.”
Bailey sniffed, rubbing her head. “I’m equally surprised I don’t have a cracked skull. Your bearcat is so damn moody.”
“And yet, your snake constantly taunts her. Explain.”
“You want, like, a rational explanation?”
“That would be good. Am I going to get one?”
“Depends what your personal definition of ‘rational’ is.”
Aspen shook her head and pushed to her feet. “Forget it.”
Massaging her aching temple, Havana headed to the kitchen. There, she prepped the coffee machine before switching it on. Soon enough, she was sitting at the table with breakfast and a mug of steaming hot coffee.
Fully dressed, Aspen hummed to herself as she entered the room. Stumbling to a halt, she said, “Uh-oh.”
Bailey materialized behind her, also now dressed. Her eyes lit up when they locked on the table. “Ooh trifle—” She cut off, her face freezing. “You’re eating trifle for breakfast. That is never good.”
Aspen took the seat opposite Havana. “Okay, what’s wrong?”
Havana shoveled another spoon of the chocolate dessert into her mouth. “I took Bailey’s advice.”
Aspen scrunched her face up. “You … you took advice from Miss Logic is For Losers?”
Bailey frowned at the bearcat. “Not liking your tone.”
“But you can’t argue that your advice might not necessarily be good to heed, can you?” challenged Aspen.
Huffing, Bailey took a seat at the table. “Well, maybe not. But logic gets in the way sometimes. I don’t like obstacles.”
Aspen turned back to Havana. “What advice did she give you?”
Havana licked at her spoon. “To have one last round of sex with Tate so I could find some closure. I hoped it would work, so yesterday after dinner …”
“You did the dirty.” Aspen bit her lower lip. “I take it your hopes didn’t come to fruition.”
“No, they did not.”
“Well that’s a bummer.” Bailey puffed out a breath. “But this doesn’t sound like something that would send you into the trifle-for-breakfast-zone.”
Havana sighed. “Tate wants to drag out the fling a little longer. And while I can’t deny that he’s right in claiming neither of us are truly ready to part ways, I can’t give him what he wants. I just can’t. I’ll only get more and more attached. And, honestly, it hurts that the only thing he sees when he looks at me is someone worthy of a fling. If I keep sleeping with him, I’ll end up hating us both. But getting rid of him hasn’t been as simple as I thought.”
Aspen twisted her mouth. “There is one sure-fire way to make him leave you alone.”
Havana paused in bringing another spoonful of dessert to her mouth. “What?”
“Tell him the truth,” replied Aspen. “Tell him you want more. If he’s so against the concept, there’s no way he’ll stick around. In fact, he might even freak out.”
Bailey nodded and pointed a finger at the bearcat. “That would definitely work, because he won’t be able to argue that continuing with the fling would be harmless. He’ll have to either step up to the plate or back the hell off.”
“He’s not going to offer me more,” said Havana.
“Maybe not,” said Aspen, her tone soft. “And I know it’ll suck to hear him tell you he can’t give you what you need, but the present situation also sucks. If you really want him to leave you alone and give you the space to move on, this is probably the only way to do it.”
Bailey’s shoulders slumped. “You know, Vana, I really do hate that the two guys you grew to care for don’t want what you want.”
“Same here.” Havana sipped her coffee. “On the subject of said two guys, Dieter called yesterday. He heard about the attempted kidnapping. He insisted I call him if I have any further problems.”
Bailey snorted. “He can’t honestly think you’d turn to him for help after he chose another woman over you.”
“To be fair, he has no idea that it hurt me.”
Aspen rested her arms on the table. “I think Dieter cares about you in his way, Havana. But he doesn’t want the lone shifter lifestyle, and he’s had no luck getting a flock to accept him. He knows his best bet is to mate into one. I think Tate cares about you, too. I think he just isn’t prepared to face it yet.”