“I’m glad you came.”
T.J. slid his hand between my hair and my neck, and pulled me into him, kissing me with the lips that made me fall in love with him. His tongue found its way into my mouth. It was warm and soft and forceful at the same time. My thighs involuntarily tensed. T.J.’s hand slid down my arm, and then to my hip, to my thigh, where he squeezed just enough to show his desperation.
“Me, too,” he said, a bit breathless when he finally pulled away. “You don’t know how much I wish I could stay.”
I wanted him to, but I wouldn’t ask. That just made it harder on both of us, and might make me look pathetic.
T.J. got into his car and drove away, and I walked back into the Red, feeling emotionally drained. Raegan’s bottom lip was pushed out a bit, and Hank was frowning so severely that a deep line had formed between his brows.
“If you ask me,” Hank said, crossing his arms over his chest, “that little bastard rushed home to piss on you real quick.”
My face screwed into disgust. “Ick.”
Gruber nodded. “If Trent’s coming around, then that’s exactly what that was.”
I shook my head as I sat on the stool. “T.J.’s not threatened by Trent. He’s barely mentioned him.”
“So he knows,” Gruber said.
“Well, yeah. I’m not trying to hide it.”
“You think he’s here to talk to Trent?” Kody asked.
I shook my head again, picking at a hangnail. “No. He’s not big on announcing our relationship, so he definitely wouldn’t approach Trent about me.”
Hank grumbled and walked away, coming right back. “I don’t like that, either. He should be shouting to the world that he loves you, not hiding you like a dirty secret!”
“It’s hard to explain, Hank. T.J. is a very . . . private person. He’s a complicated individual,” I said.
Blia rested her cheek on her hand. “Holy shit balls, Cami. Your whole situation is complicated.”
“You’re telling me,” I said, lifting my buzzing cell phone. It was T.J., saying that he missed me already. I returned the sentiment, and set my phone on the bar.
For the first time in months, I didn’t have to return to the bar after the Sunday employee meeting, which wasn’t completely horrible, since it was thundering outside, and rain was pelting the windows. I had already caught up on my studying, all of my homework was complete, and the laundry was folded and put away. It felt weird having nothing to do.
Raegan was working the east bar with Jorie, and Kody was manning the entrance, so I was home alone and bored out of my mind. I watched a rather fascinating zombie show on television, and then pushed the power button on the remote, sitting in complete silence.
Thoughts about T.J. began to creep into my mind. I wondered whether continuing with something that seemed so futile was worth dragging my heart through the mud, and what it meant that he’d come all the way here to only see me for three minutes.
My cell phone buzzed. It was Trenton.
Hey.
Hey.
Open your door, loser. It’s raining.
What?
He knocked on the door, and I jumped, turning around on the couch. I scampered over to the door and leaned in closer. “Who is it?”
“I told you who it was. Open the freakin’ door!”
I unlocked the chain and bolt lock to see Trenton standing in the doorway, his jacket soaked, and the rain pouring off his scalp and down his face.
“Can I come in?” he said, shivering.
“Jesus, Trent!” I said, yanking him inside.
I jogged to the bathroom to get a freshly folded towel, and returned within a few seconds, tossing it to Trenton. He peeled off his jacket, and then his T-shirt, and then patted his face and head with the towel.
Trenton looked down at his jeans. They were soaked, too.
“Kody might have some sweatpants in Ray’s room, hold on,” I said, walking quickly down the hall to my roommate’s room.
I returned with a T-shirt and sweatpants. “The bathroom is right there,” I said, nodding toward the hallway.
“I’m good,” he said, unbuckling his belt, unbuttoning and unzipping his jeans, and then kicking off his boots before letting the denim fall to the floor. He stepped out of them, and then looked at me with his most charming smile. “Think Kody will mind if I go commando under his sweats?”
“Yes, and so will I,” I said.
Trenton feigned disappointment, and then slipped on the sweats. His chest and abs tightened and rolled under his skin, and I tried not to watch while he pulled the T-shirt over his head.
“Thanks,” he said. “I went by the Red and had a few drinks after work. Raegan said you’d be here alone and bored to death, so I thought I’d stop by.”
“It wasn’t because the rain gave you an excuse to get naked?”
“No. Disappointed?”
“Not at all.”
Trenton wasn’t fazed. Instead, he jumped over the back of my couch and bounced on the cushions. “Let’s watch a movie!” He reached for the remote.
“I was kind of enjoying my first night alone.”
Trenton turned to me. “You want me to leave?”
I thought about it for a minute. I should have said yes, but that would have been a lie. I walked around the couch and sat as close to the arm as I could. “Where’s Olive?”
“With her parents, I bet.”
“I like her. She’s cute.”
“She’s fucking adorable. I’m going to have to kill at least one teenage boy one of these days.”
“Oh, she’s going to be sorry she ever befriended a Maddox,” I said, chuckling.
Trenton pressed the power button, and punched in three numbers. The channel switched, and an NFL football game appeared. “Is this okay?”
I shrugged. “I love the Forty-Niners, but they suck balls this year.” I looked over to Trenton when I realized he was staring at me. “What?”
“I was just thinking now was as good a time as any to acknowledge that you’re perfect and it wouldn’t suck if you fell madly in love with me anytime soon.”
“I have a boyfriend,” I reminded him.
He waved me away. “Speed bump.”
“I don’t know,” I said. “He’s a pretty hot speed bump.”
Trent scoffed. “You’ve seen me nearly naked, baby doll. Your long-distance boy doesn’t look anything like this.”
I watched as he flexed his arm. It wasn’t as big as Kody’s but was still impressive. “You’re right. He doesn’t have that many tattoos. Or any.”
Trenton rolled his eyes. “You have a pretty boy for a boyfriend? Disappointing!”
“He’s not a pretty boy. He’s a badass. Just in a different way than you.”
A wide smile spread across Trenton’s face. “You think I’m a badass?”
I purposefully kept myself from smiling, but it was hard. His expression was contagious. “Everyone knows about the Maddox brothers.”
“Especially,” Trenton said, standing up on the cushions and putting one foot on one side of me, the other he wedged between me and the arm of the couch, “this Maddox brother!” He began bouncing and, at the same time, flexing his muscles in different poses.
I playfully smacked his calves, giggling. “Knock it off!” I said, bouncing.
Trenton leaned down and grabbed my hands, forcing me to smack myself in the face a few times. It didn’t hurt but, being the big sister of three brothers, this, of course, meant war.
I fought back, and then Trenton grabbed my T-shirt, rolling onto the floor and bringing me with him, and then he began to tickle.
“No! Stop it!” I squealed, laughing. I placed my thumbs under his armpits and dug in, and Trenton instantly jumped back. The same maneuver worked with T.J.
T.J. Oh, God. I was rolling around on the floor with Trenton. This was not okay . . . not even kind of okay.
“Okay!” I said, holding up my hands. “You win.”
Trenton froze. I was flat on my back, and he was on his knees, straddling me. “I win?”
“Yeah. And you have to get off of me. This is not appropriate.”