All I Want

Backfire

Tristan parked his car in the lot of West Beach. It was his favorite place to go when he liked to think or be alone. He'd never shared this spot with anyone, but now here he was, Rory sitting next to him, and it just all felt so right. 

Minus the fact that he had brought her here to talk about his troubled past. He'd seen how she reacted when Anders mentioned his broken nose and arm. A**hole had made it seem worse than it had been, and that very thought had prompted Tristan to realize that it was time that Rory knew the full story of his past with Anders and Presley, or he knew Anders would try and turn it against him.

"It's really beautiful here," Rory said, trying to start a conversation with Tristan. He'd been pretty radio silent since they'd left the school, and she wanted to understand why. What this crazy hold was that Anders and Presley held over him. 

"It's my spot," Tristan replied. " I come here when I need to regroup, or I'm feeling frustrated," He added. 

"So, which is it today?" Rory asked. 

"Maybe a little of both," he laughed as he said it, which made Rory relax a little more. 

Rory took a scrunchie out of her pocket and was starting to put her hair into a ponytail when Tristan reached over. 

"Here, let me help you with that," He said as he took the scrunchie out of her hair and let it fall down around her shoulders. 

"I was trying to put it up," Rory said, her eyes wide in disbelief. 

"I know, but I like it down. I like the way it feels when I run it through my fingers," He said, doing just that now before pulling her close and beginning to kiss her. It was a slow burn because he knew she liked it that way, but it quickly got hungrier and more demanding as they sunk into it. When he finished the kiss, Rory was breathless, like she'd given him all her air. He'd never kissed her like that before, where she literally felt this internal fire from her head down to her toes. 

"What was that for?" she asked, still a little shaken by the way he made her feel.

"Courage," He said simply. And it had been. He'd needed to feel her connection to him to go forward with his truth. 

"You don't have to tell me anything you aren't ready to tell me," Rory prompted. She wanted to know, but she also wanted it to be because he wanted her to, not because he felt cornered by the presence of Anders. 

"I appreciate that, but I really think you need to know everything sooner rather than later." Tristan put Rory's hair behind her ear now and caressed her cheek. "I don't want to have any secrets from you," he finished. 

Rory felt her heart beat faster. Tristan was consistently checking off boxes for Rory in what she wanted in a partner. His willingness with wanting to be honest with her had just made him that much more attractive to her. 

"I'm listening," Rory told him. 

Which was what he wanted, but where the hell to start? 

How could he sum up the almost ten-year relationship that he'd had with Presley and Anders growing up together in Hartford, Connecticut, home of the private schools and rich elite parents who didn't give a crap about their kids, leaving them alone to figure out how to grow up on their own while giving them enough money to afford bad things and make the wrong choices. 

It was as convoluted as it sounded. The classic poor little rich kids story. 

Tristan remembered the first day he'd met Presley. They were both only five years old and already being left alone by their parents, being raised by maids and, in Presley's case, a nanny. But while Tristan loved Rosita, Presley had rebelled heavily against her nanny Evelyn. She'd been a spitfire, that was for sure, always running away, challenging her, trying to get her to quit.