Like my father.
Trent nodded. “Sounds good. Maybe we can tell them tomorrow? Pancake Sunday?”
His quick acceptance was a little surprising. I smiled. “You agreed to that fast.”
“I’m tired of sneaking out at five a.m. I miss sleeping in,” he cracked.
“You know I’d do it if you didn’t live in a house full of jock straps,” I said, feeling shitty he was the one making all the sacrifices.
“I know.” He gave my hand a squeeze. “It’s not that bad. You’re worth it.”
“What do you think they’re gonna say?” I asked, nervous.
Trent’s white teeth flashed in the dark interior of the car. “Braeden will probably make a bunch of inappropriate jokes. Your sister will yell at him, and Rimmel will hug us.”
The corner of my mouth lifted. That sounded pretty accurate.
“What about Romeo?” I asked. For some reason, he was the one I was most nervous about. Probably because he really was like the head of the family. He was the one everyone looked to first when shit went down.
Romeo just had a way about him. He was definitely an alpha. Even though we didn’t need his support, we both wanted it, especially Trent.
He blew out a breath and leaned his head back. “I don’t know. He’s been riding me kinda hard about family lately.”
“I noticed,” I murmured.
“Nova won’t give a shit, though,” T quipped.
I laughed.
“Whatever happens, we’ll deal with it,” Trent told me.
I nodded and gripped his hand a little tighter. “I’ll see you in a bit?”
“I’ll be there. Make sure you’re naked.”
“Perv.” I joked.
“You like it.”
Oh, I did. Trent moved to get out of the car, but I tugged him back.
“Hey, frat boy. You’re happy, right?”
It seemed important to know in that moment, as we got closer to tomorrow, to telling our family about us. It made being nervous worth it.
“Truth?” Trent leaned into the center of the car.
I nodded.
“I’ve never been happier in my life.”
“Me either.”
His smile was fast. “That’s what I like to hear.”
“It’s dark out. Dark in here,” I said.
“I noticed,” he murmured and leaned farther toward me.
I met him, and our lips brushed together. Once, then twice.
“I’ll see ya soon, Forrester.” He stood in the center of the parking lot and watched me drive away.
I watched him in my rearview until I turned out of sight. I turned up the music, but it was Trent that dominated my mind.
I was almost back to the house when my cell rang. I probably wouldn’t have heard, but the screen lit up in the dark. I picked it up and grinned. Trent’s name flashed across the screen.
“Miss me already, frat boy?” I answered.
It wasn’t Trent that replied.
I slammed on the brakes. The scent of burned rubber floated up into the air along with a white cloud of smoke. Cars laid on their horns and swerved out of the way when I made a sudden U-turn and laid on the gas.
Thank God my car was fast.
I didn’t know what the hell was going on, but I was damn sure gonna find out.
Trent
They materialized out of the dark.
Four men I knew well. My Omega brothers. One of them had even pledged with me.
One of them was Conner.
“Guys,” I said, feeling a note of warning creep up the back of my neck. What the hell were they doing out here in the dark, essentially lurking around the house?
“Told you,” Conner intoned. “He’s queer.”
My back teeth came together. “What the fuck is your problem, Con?” I snapped. “I’ve been listening to you sling hate at me for weeks. I thought you were better than that.”
“He didn’t deny it,” one of the other guys said. He was a close friend of Con’s.
“I bet they were making out in the car just now,” the guy I rushed with said.
I looked at him, incredulous. Was this for real? Were these guys really standing here harassing me because they thought I was gay? I knew they didn’t see me actually kiss Drew. It was too dark. “Were you sitting out here waiting for me to get home?”
“You’ve been sneaking in and out a lot lately,” Conner observed.
“I don’t sneak,” I snapped. “And I’ve been handling everything Omega. This house is still on point.”
“We don’t want a fag for a president,” Con said.
“The entire campus will think our house is full of them.” Another agreed.
“I gotta admit it looks bad, Trent,” my old “buddy” said. “You’re loyalty isn’t what it used to be.”
“Take it up with the dean,” I said hard and started to walk away. Goddamn, I couldn’t wait to be rid of this place. To think, up until a couple weeks ago, I’d been kinda bummed about moving on. Now I just wanted to wash my hands of it all.
Fucking unbelievable.
A hand grabbed my arm and jerked me around hard. The punch came immediately after, and I had no time to react. The blow landed on the side of my jaw and snapped my head back.
Adrenaline and disbelief assaulted me. I stumbled and righted myself, knocking away the hand that grabbed me.