Page 14 of The Tryst List

I hang up and set my phone to silent.

The weight of the conversation settles heavily on me. Although I know it's what's best for my own mental health, cutting them off for good means I won’t have a family. I wish the decision gave me some relief, but it makes me sad.

On the other hand, this constant cycle of drama has pushed me to my limits. It’s interfered with every major milestone of my life and I can’t let it continue.

I’m in a no-win situation.

Glancing inside the tattoo shop, I see Jordan chatting with Merc. She’s delectable in black leggings and a gray V-neck t-shirt hanging off her shoulder. She leans over the desk and—holy hell—I can nearly see her nipples through a tantalizingly plunging sheer pink-lace bra.

Goddammit. I was hoping to be a bit more respectable for this session and I’m hard as a fucking rock.

Again.

I wonder if she’ll acknowledge me today. Or, if I should be upfront about my intention of reconnecting. Thinking back to Vegas, the last thing on my mind was meeting the woman of my dreams. I was supposed to be there for a simple conference. I treated myself to the LTZ concert with my last hundred bucks.

Then a tiny blonde dynamo slinked up to the bar and rocked my entire world. Anything seemed possible when she looked at me. Our chemistry…fucking insane. Every time our bodies fused it felt like our souls followed. Maybe it was the other way around, all I knew is I wanted to be with her forever. What happened between us was sublime. Deep. Ethereal.

Watching Jordan sleep against my chest, I actually envisioned whisking her away to a chapel to get married by Elvis. Thought we'd live happily ever after, or some shit.

The next morning, my mother’s call burst my bubble and snapped me back to reality. My brothers were busted for dealing drugs a few weeks before their high school graduation. Not only were they expelled but faced serious felony charges.

Dad tried to take out a loan to pay for a lawyer and was rejected. The stress took a toll. He had a heart attack and nearly died.

It was a mess. Partially my fault. I had no choice but to leave her and fly home.

At first, I planned on getting Jordan's phone number. But I looked over at my blonde angel peacefully snoring in the bed and I couldn’t do it. She was beautiful, kind and perfect and the sex…Jesus.

How could a piece of shit like me drag this goddess down? Jordan Deveraux was too good for me. Too decent to bring into my family’s mess.

All thoughts of a future with her crashed down around me. She deserved more than being tied to me and my fucked-up situation.

I vowed to find her once I was worthy. However long it took.

Youthful immaturity took over. I tried to slip out undetected, but she caught me. I was a total dick to her because I was pissed and too emotionally stunted to have a conversation.

By the time I got my head out of my ass a few months later, I tracked Jordan down. It wasn’t too hard finding her, considering her brother is so famous, which led to me figuring out her dad is one of the biggest tech entrepreneurs in the Pacific Northwest.

Jordan was all over Instagram. Her tattoo work. Podcasts. Appearances.

I knew how incredible she was but finding out more about her day-to-day life…shit.

This woman was so completely out of my league it wasn't even funny.

A few hours of online stalking later, I was crushed, but not surprised, to learn Jordan was already taken. Her boyfriend was some executive-type asshole named Cameron.

Didn't keep me from being obsessed with the girl, even though it seemed like our night didn’t even matter to her.

My coping skills sucked. I couldn't exactly blame her for settling down with a guy she had more in common with. In many ways, losing her fueled my unrelenting drive and determination to build VA/VT into billion-dollar businesses.

I wanted to be worthy.

For a while, I tried to forget her by fucking my way through Seattle.

It was useless. No woman could ever compare to Jordan Deveraux.

As luck would have it, a couple years ago, LTZ’s guitar player, Zane, and his wife, Fiona, offered me the job to design their club and restaurant. The project itself was pretty small, but I took it anyway on the off-chance I’d overhear some news.

One day, Jordan's brother, Jace, was helping Fiona go over some paperwork and I overheard him talking about his sister. Without a second thought, I booked an appointment, even though it was over a year wait.