I had a moment’s thought outside my bedroom door to just say fuck it and drive back over there. But I couldn’t. Not tonight. I had to be here.
As I was reaching for my keys in my back pocket (my door is always locked), I saw some movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned quickly to see Con hovering nearby.
I pinned him with a hard, cold stare. “You’ll get yours,” I vowed. “Can you guess when?”
He turned tail and ran like the little bitch he was. Fucking yanked my chain the guys actually thought I’d run out of this house and never come back.
I slid my key in the door and frowned. It was unlocked.
That peckerhead better not have been messing around in my room. I’d call him out here and now.
The door swung open, and all my attention went to the bed.
To who was sitting in the center.
Drew
Surprise stopped him cold. The dark lashes that framed his hazel eyes pulled wide, and the expression of relief written on his face made the back of my neck tingle.
I smiled, holding a finger up to my lips, reminding him to be quiet.
He recovered quickly, moving into the room, hastily shutting and locking the door behind him.
I wasn’t sure how Trent would react to me sneaking into his room, especially after he told me he didn’t want me to come in the house.
When the door first opened, before he saw me waiting, I recognized definite exhaustion clinging to him. For all the convincing he’d done that this was where he needed to be right now, it was painfully clear he didn’t want to be.
It was pretty fucking heady when everything instantly changed the second his eyes found me. A complete three-sixty. The exhaustion evaporated and his hazel eyes lit up.
That crooked front tooth of his even came out to play.
I was so glad I snuck in.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, talking in hushed tones. “How the hell did you get in?”
I held up the spare key to his reinforced lock and smiled.
He laughed. “No shit! I forgot you had that!”
I made a show of slipping it back into the pocket of my jeans. “I snuck right in. No one noticed ‘cause you were too busy getting them all riled up.”
“You heard that, huh?”
I chuckled. “Most of it.”
Hearing him talk made me more impressed. He was a good public speaker. People hung on every word he said. I couldn’t even blame them; I did, too.
“I wanted to beat his ass,” Trent growled and dropped on the edge of the mattress. “When I walked in, he was trying to convince everyone how great he was.”
“Judging from the stuff I overheard, no one really bought the bullshit he was selling.”
T made a sound and glanced over his shoulder. “I thought you went home.”
“Have you seen the way you fill out my shirt?” I teased. “I’d follow you anywhere.”
Trent’s white teeth flashed. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me, too.” I rubbed my hand over this head and trailed my fingers down the back of his neck. Of course I’d be here. There wasn’t anywhere else I wanted to be. The second he disappeared into the house and out of sight, there was this spot in the center of my gut that began to ache.
The idea of him in that house, basically full of vultures, left me feeling cold. Yeah, I knew T could handle himself. But not knowing… anticipating… lying in bed all night alone, just waiting for the next time I’d hear from him to be sure—I couldn’t handle that.
I parked down the street in an overflow lot most of the houses around here used when they had parties and needed extra parking. I put the Fastback in the back of the lot, in the dark—something I didn’t like to do because I was afraid someone would mess with it, or worse, try to steal it.
But it was a risk I was willing to take tonight.
I walked right in the house and moved swiftly up the stairs and let myself into his room. It took maybe thirty seconds.
I was gonna have to get up hella early, something I hated, but at least when I woke, he’d be beside me.
Damn. I was turning emo. I needed to drive. Fast.
“You’re right,” I said, trying to keep things light. Trent would never say it or even allude to it, but he was in pain.
He frowned. “Right about what?”
“This bed is too small for you.”
The sound of his low chuckle vibrated beneath my skin. “Sorry you snuck in now?”
I’d sleep in a cardboard box in the pouring rain if it were beside him. “Nope. We’ll just have to sleep extra close.”
“Best idea I’ve heard all day.”
“Take off your shirt,” I ordered.
“I feel used, Forrester. You’re just here for my body.”
I gave him the finger, then reached for the hem of the shirt to slowly peel it over his head. I did it extra slow—you know, because of his ribs. And because the way his abs rippled when he lifted his arms was something I needed to stare at longer than two seconds.
“I want to look at your ribs, jackass.”
“They look the same as when you saw them an hour ago.” He grunted.