Chapter 21
Isaac
My mood is soured as Trevor and I return to our table with fresh waters.
The nerve of that guy.
“Do you want to dance again?” Trevor asks, probably trying to offer me a distraction.
“No,” I tell him, pushing him toward a chair and then claiming the spot on his lap.
His lips twitch. “Feeling a little protective, are we?”
“It’s just different, you know? Someone touching you when you allow it and…that.”
He soothes a hand down my back. “I know.”
I glance toward the dance floor, finding Lumi and Todd after a minute. Lumi is dancing with some random guy, but she’s angled such that she can keep an eye on Todd. Todd is waving his arms in the air like an upside-down jellyfish.
I snort, my eyes catching on Camden at the edge of the room. And is that…Bernie he’s pressing against the wall, kissing within an inch of his life? I blink, and they’re gone, lost to the crowd.
No…
They’re not…together, right? That had to have been a trick of the light.
I give my head a shake before reaching for my water and swallowing down half of it.
“All right?” Trevor asks.
“Yeah. Yep. You know, if Lumi had seen that guy at the bar trying to inappropriately latch on to you like a leech, he would have had a stiletto up his ass.”
Trevor snorts. “I don’t doubt it. You guys look out for each other, don’t you? All three of you.”
“Yeah,” I breathe. “They’re like the siblings I never had.
Lumi… She’s honest. Good or bad, she doesn’t lie to me.
And I need that in my life. Someone who’s going to give it to me straight, but who’s just as fierce when it comes to watching my back.
She’s always there for me. Pushing me out of my comfort zone when I need it and following on my heels to make sure I’m all right. ”
“And Todd?”
“He’s a stupidly good guy,” I answer around a laugh.
“Like, he can’t boil an egg, and his people skills are hit or miss, but he wants to cure cancer, and he sees more than most give him credit for.
He has a memory like a vault, and I think, sometimes, he needs to let it all go.
All the heaviness of the world. When that happens, he knows he has Lumi or me to keep an eye on him until he’s ready to come back to earth. ”
“Um,” Trevor says, just as Lumi comes to a skidding halt beside our table.
“I lost Todd,” she says frantically. “We were dancing, and I looked away for one second, just one, and he was gone.”
“He’s right there,” Trevor says, pointing toward the door where Todd is currently making his escape.
“Shit,” I mutter, jumping off Trevor’s lap. “He’s pulling a runner.”
Lumi and I both dash for the door. I don’t look back, but I’m more than certain Trevor is following us. The air is cool outside, the distinct dampening of sound a shock to my system after being in the loud club for so long. I look both ways down the sidewalk before spotting Todd.
“Todd!” I yell, tripping over my own foot as I take off after him. “You get your ass back here.”
“I want waffles,” he shouts, not even looking back.
“Is this his flighty drunk mode?” I hear Trevor ask Lumi.
“Unfortunately,” she answers, not remotely out of breath enough for someone running in four-inch stilettos.
“Todd,” I call again, a hint of growl in my voice. “We’ll get you some waffles. Just…stop running.”
“I need them, Isaac. I need them so bad.”
Lumi chokes on a laugh.
Todd turns a corner, and I worry about losing sight of him, but we catch up a few seconds later. He’s braced with his hands out, a dead end behind him.
“Don’t do it,” I say.
He zigs in one direction before zagging past me. I make a grab, missing him by an inch.
“Toddathon,” I growl properly this time.
“That’s not my name.”
“Well, your name is too short to convey the amount of ire I feel in this moment. You know I’m not made for running.”
“Is that a waffle?” Trevor interrupts loudly.
Todd comes to a skidding halt, and Lumi traps him in her arms.
“Babe,” she says soothingly, petting Todd’s hair like he’s a skittish horse. Which isn’t far off the mark. “We’re here to help you. Let us guide you toward waffles.”
“Really? You will?”
“Of course.”
Todd sniffles. “I feel like…if I don’t have waffles inside of me, I’m going to die. Is this how Isaac feels about dick?”
Trevor coughs as I sputter indignantly.
Lumi loops an arm around Todd’s shoulders, steering him in the direction of a twenty-four-hour diner. “Yeah, precious thing. That’s exactly it.”
“That’s not…” I toss my hands in the air, giving up. “I take it all back. You two are the worst.”
Trevor twines his fingers with mine, tugging me close and kissing my temple. “You don’t mean that.”
I groan loudly. “No. I don’t. But ugh.”
Trevor and I follow in Todd and Lumi’s wake.
A bell jingles when we enter the diner, the space fairly deserted apart from a few groups of people likely having come from a night out like us.
Lumi guides Todd into a booth before boxing him in, in case he gets the urge to bolt again.
Trevor hands me a menu once I slide in next to him.
“Crap,” I realize. “We forgot about Camden and, uh…”
I trail off, but luckily Todd follows my line of thought. “Text them?”
“I, um…”
Todd blinks an eye open to look at me, having been resting his head back on the booth. “You don’t have either of their numbers, do you?”
“Nope.”
He shakes his head, tugging out his phone. “You antisocial little butterfly. Here. Camden is saved under Big C.”
“I really hate that nickname,” I inform him, scrolling through Todd’s contacts until I find it. I send a quick text, letting Camden know it’s me talking and that we took off. I mention the diner, but my guess is they’ll head back to the house. “It doesn’t make sense. He’s not even that big.”
“Bigger than—”
“I dare you to finish that sentence,” I growl at Todd.
He stares at me with wide eyes before whispering, “You.”
Lumi blocks my hand when I make a lunge across the table. “My sweet, sweet children. If you cannot behave, we will be leaving this establishment without waffles.”
That has Todd sitting back in his seat. Lumi stares me down for another moment before releasing my wrist.
“Please don’t let this affect your view of me,” I tell Trevor without looking his way. “Running makes me irrational. People aren’t meant to move that fast, you know? We have bikes for that sort of thing.”
Warm fingers guide my face around. Trevor’s eyes hold nothing but a gentle sort of fondness as he fits our lips together in a quick, soft press. “Have you forgotten I like your fire, Red? Don’t apologize for who you are.”
Lumi makes an audible aww sound, her chin in her hand as she stares at us across the table.
“You can be a little less invested,” I tell her.
She shoots me a wink before sitting back as our server arrives. We all order waffles, Todd showing immeasurable restraint as he waits for them to arrive. It feels so…normal. And it takes me a second to realize why the thought isn’t letting go.
Because it’s not just me, Lumi, and Todd. It’s us plus Trevor. He’s sitting beside me, a warm hand resting on my thigh as he listens to Lumi talk about her improv class. It’s so easy, so effortless, the way he fits in my life.
Surely, we’ll hit roadblocks, right? It can’t be this easy forever.
Can it?
By the time my stomach is comfortably full, I’m having a hard time keeping my eyes open. Trevor is running his fingers along the back of my neck, which doesn’t help one bit.
“Taxi will be here in five,” Lumi says.
Todd looks fast asleep, but at least his face isn’t on his plate.
“You guys busy next weekend?” I ask.
Lumi considers for a moment before shaking her head. “Don’t think so. Why?”
“My mom mentioned having us over. Figured it might be a good time.” Glancing at Trevor, I add, “You’re invited, too.”
His lips twist into a smile. “If it’s early enough, I’d be happy to come.”
I nod. “We can definitely be back before your shift. Todd?”
“Mrmf,” he mumbles, shooting me a thumbs-up.
“She mentioned lasagna,” I add.
Todd’s head pops up, his eyes wide open. “The one with the sausage?”
“Uh. I think so?”
Todd bites his fist.
“There’s the taxi,” Lumi says, edging out of the booth. “Shotgun, bitches.”
None of us dare fight her on it. Lumi sits up front while the rest of us claim the back, far less cramped than we were on our way to the club. I watch the streetlights flicker over the side of Trevor’s face, lighting him up almost like diamonds.
“You’d look good with jewelry,” I tell him, tracing a finger along the side of his nose and then over to his earlobe.
“Think so?” Trevor asks, seeming amused.
“Mhm. You’re as pretty as art, Trevor. You deserve to shine.”
He catches my hand when it flops back to the space between us. “You feeling all right, Red?”
“He’s sleep drunk,” Lumi says from the front of the vehicle. “He has no filter when he’s this exhausted.”
“That’s not true,” I argue.
“No?” she says. “Okay, then look Trevor in the eyes and tell him you want him to go back to his own place tonight.”
“That’s a lie,” I say immediately. “Don’t listen to her, Trevor. You’re lovely, and I always want you around. Lumi, why are you lying?”
She cackles.
“I’m lovely?” Trevor asks, voice soft.
“Oh no,” I mutter. “Close your ears, boyfriend. Pretend I don’t exist.”
“I like the things you say,” he responds, his fingers running over the back of my hand as I try to melt into the seat.
My protest is weak at best.
“So crispy,” Todd mumbles in his sleep.
We pile out of the taxi minutes later, my feet dragging on the way to the door. I have no doubt Lumi will be crashing in Todd’s room tonight. Trevor uses the bathroom before slipping into my room.
I’m tugging my socks off when he closes the door, looking unfairly handsome standing there with his eyes and his face and all that ink. “I don’t think I have sleep pants that will fit you.”
“That’s fine,” Trevor rumbles, coming over to help get my jeans off when it’s clear I’ve resigned myself to wearing them for the rest of my life. He tosses them aside as I roll into the blankets. “You mind if I sleep in my briefs?”
“What? No. Whatever you want.”
I hear more fabric hit the floor before Trevor is easing onto the mattress, my lamp clicking off. He slides under the covers with me, his legs tangling with mine. I like the sensation more than I know what to do with.
“I don’t think I’m going to the library tomorrow morning,” I utter, eyes closing.
Trevor huffs a soft laugh. “Figured.”
“You’ll be here when I wake up?”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
I slip my arm under Trevor’s, and he wraps his around my back. It’s all too easy to wiggle my way closer, his body as warm as a furnace. “You really are a cuddle bug, you know.”
His chuckle shakes me. “I could say the same about you.”
“Pft. I’m not cuddly.”
“’Course not, Red.”
It’s quiet for a minute, the room dark, but my brain won’t shut off. “Trevor? I don’t want you to ever cross one of your boundaries for my sake.”
“You think I would?” he asks, his hand stroking the back of my hair.
My swallow is a bit rough. “I think…you seem to really like me. For some reason. And you want to…please me.”
I nearly wince saying that, but Trevor doesn’t refute it. He simply waits for me to go on.
“If I ever suggest something you don’t actually want…not in that moment or not at all…I need you to tell me.”
He kisses my forehead, the press of his lips so soft my heart squeezes tight. “I won’t ever put you in a position where you see yourself as that guy from the bar.”
My breath stutters at the simple fact that he got it.
Trevor tucks me closer, his cheek resting against the side of my head. “I know how to speak my mind, Isaac. I know what I’m comfortable with and what I’m not. And I’ll tell you if we ever get close to any of my limits, just as I hope you will do with me.”
I nod my head, my eyes stinging.
“So don’t worry about asking for what you want. If it’s not something I’m able to give, you’ll know, and we’ll find a solution. Trust me not to fail myself. Or you.”
I slip my hand under Trevor’s shirt, feeling his pulse beat against my palm. He makes it sound so simple. “Earlier. You said we could build a forest. Was that an allegory for life? Or…love?”
He exhales, the way his body is caught up in mine, curled around mine, making it feel as if his breath is my own.
His answer is exactly what I was scared to hope for. “Yes.”