Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Trina
“I think you need to slow down on the beers,” I say to Scott.
“Why? I’ve only had two.” He lets me go. “Come on. I want you to meet my friends.”
“I already met Grant. He opened the door for me.”
“Then I’ll introduce you to Hudson,” he says, leading me through the crowded room to a dark-haired guy wearing glasses with thick black frames. “Hudson, this is Trina. The new girl.”
He smiles at me. “Hey, New Girl.”
I laugh. “He needs a better description of me.”
“Hudson’s our nerdy scientist friend,” Scott jokes. “If he’s not here or at the gym, you’ll find him at the lab. He practically lives there.”
“You’re a scientist?”
“Molecular biologist.”
“He’s going to save us all from some deadly disease,” Scott says, patting Hudson on the shoulder.
“Not quite,” Hudson says with a smile.
“There’s Marc,” Scott says, looking at the guy coming toward us. He’s about the same height as Scott but more muscular, with jet black hair, dark eyes, and olive skin. He’s very good- looking, like an exotic male model. How does Scott have such hot friends?
“Marc,” Scott says. “I want you to meet Trina, my new neighbor. Trina, this is Marco, but we all call him Marc.”
“Trina.” He grips my shoulders, leans in, and gives me a kiss on each cheek. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too,” I say, noticing his slight accent. “Where are you from?”
“Argentina. I moved here when I was a kid.”
“He uses the Argentina thing to explain why he kisses people hello,” Hudson says. “But we all know it’s just to get girls. He doesn’t greet guys that way.”
“I’ll kiss you if you really want,” Marc jokes.
I doubt Marc needs any help getting girls. He could skip the kiss hello and just look at a girl and she’d fall for him.
“Marc used to model underwear,” Scott says with a laugh. “That’s what brought him to New York.”
“I’ve never met an underwear model,” I say to Marc. “Did you like it?”
He shrugs. “I didn’t mind. It got me other jobs.”
“Modeling jobs?”
He nods. “I was a fitness model, but I’m getting too old for that. I had to switch to a real job. I work in advertising now.”
Too old? I’d guess he’s around Scott’s age, but that’s probably old in the world of fitness models.
“I’m gonna get a drink,” Marc says, going past me.
“I need another beer,” Hudson says, following behind Marc.
“You have good-looking friends,” I say to Scott.
He smiles. “You were checking out my friends?”
“I’m just making an observation.” I take a drink of my beer. “Are they single?”
“Yeah. Why are you asking?”
“Looking like that, I thought they’d have girlfriends. Or are they like you and refuse to be in a relationship?”
“They’d be in a relationship. They just haven’t found the right girl.” He glances at his watch. “You’ve been here longer than five minutes. You leaving, or sticking around?”
“I might as well stay. It’s too loud for me to get any sleep.”
“Scott,” a guy says, coming up to him. “It’s been a while.”
“Kurt.” Scott smiles at him. “Glad you could make it. How’s business?”
“I doubled my income last month. Those online ads you helped me with are really working.”
“Kurt was a client of mine,” Scott says to me. “Kurt, this is Trina. She lives next door.”
“Nice to meet you.” He smiles, his gaze lingering on me. “I feel like we’ve met before.”
“I don’t think so,” I say, although he does look kind of familiar.
“I know who I’m thinking of. You look like this girl who was dating a guy I knew back in college.”
Now I remember him. He went to college with Asher. They weren’t really friends, but they lived in the same dorm.
“I think you’re right,” I say. “You went to school with Asher.”
“Yeah.” He smiles at me. “You’re the girlfriend. You were always hanging out at the dorm. So are you two still together?”
“No, we broke up.”
“I’ll let you two talk,” Scott says. “I need to go check on something.”
He leaves and Kurt moves in front of me. “So what are you doing now? I remember you were in fashion school when we met. Are you working for a designer?”
“I was, but they replaced me with an intern willing to work for free. I’m looking for something else, but I haven’t found anything yet.”
That’s because I haven’t applied for anything. I know I should, but I keep putting it off because I don’t know what kind of job I want.
“What’s Asher doing? Or did you guys not stay in touch?”
I almost tell him Asher and I were engaged just a few weeks ago, but then decide not to. I’d rather not get into the whole broken engagement story.
“He works for an investment firm.”
“I could see him doing that. He was always so serious.” Kurt takes a drink of his beer. “So you’re friends with Scott?”
I’m not sure how to answer that. After what happened last night, I don’t know how I’d describe my relationship with Scott.
“We’re just neighbors,” I say, deciding to go with that.
“Are you seeing anyone?” he asks.
“Not at the moment,” I say, looking around for Scott. Why didn’t he come back? Now I’m stuck here with this guy, who I think is about to ask me out.
“What do you think about having dinner with me sometime?” Kurt asks.
Just as he says that, I spot Scott across the room. With Bridget. She’s talking to him and smiling, her hand on his chest. Is that why he left? To go be with Bridget?
“Or we could go for coffee,” Kurt says, since I haven’t given him an answer. “No pressure. I’m open to suggestions.”
“Sure.” I look back at him. “Let’s have dinner.”
“Great! Let me get your number.” He takes out his phone and we exchange numbers.
I shouldn’t be agreeing to go out with him. I’m not ready to date, although I would be if Scott asked me out. But he won’t. He has no interest in me. Instead, he’s with Bridget. He said it was over with her, but it’s clearly not because she’s got her arms wrapped around his neck, looking like she’s about to kiss him.
“I need to go,” I say, my chest aching, my eyes tearing up.
“Yeah, okay,” Kurt says. “I’ll call you.”
The room is crowded and I have to push my way past people to get to the door. I’m taking deep breaths, telling myself to calm down. I shouldn’t be upset about seeing Scott with Bridget. I’m not dating him. He can be with her, or anyone else. Our date last night was fake. It didn’t mean anything.
I finally make it out of the apartment and into the hall. I’m unlocking my door when I hear Scott.
“Hey, where are you going?”
Ignoring him, I open the door and go inside.
“Trina, wait!” He catches the door before I’m able to close it. “Why’d you leave? Did something happen?”
“I’m tired. I’m going to sleep.” I try to close the door, but he holds it open.
“Was it Kurt? Did he say something to upset you?”
“No. He was nice.” I pause. “He asked me out.”
“Like on a date?”
“Yeah. Why do you sound so surprised?”
“I thought you weren’t dating for two years.”
I shrug. “I didn’t mean it. I was angry when I said that. Angry at Asher and men in general.”
“So you’re going out with him,” Scott says, folding his arms over his chest. “You told him yes?”
“We’re going to dinner. Now could you leave? I really want to get some sleep. It’s been a long day.”
He backs away from the door. I close it and lock it and hear him walking back to the party. I’m sure Bridget is there, waiting for him, wondering why he left.
I’m wondering about that too. Why did he leave his party to come find me? Why does he care that I went home? He has Bridget, who he’s probably taking to his bedroom right now.
I change out of my clothes, wash off my makeup, and get into bed. Hours pass before the party quiets down and I’m finally able to sleep.
The next morning, I wake up at nine and see a text from Scott on my phone, sent a half hour ago.
Want to work this morning? I need help with the party cleanup.
Knowing he was with Bridget last night, I don’t want to be around him right now. But he pays well and I could really use the money.
Be there in a few minutes , I text back.
I brush my teeth, put my hair in a ponytail, throw on yoga pants and a t-shirt, and head over there.
Scott answers the door wearing jeans with no shirt, his hair wet, like he just got out of the shower. Did he do this on purpose? Did he purposely answer the door looking like that so I couldn’t resist him?
No, he wouldn’t do that. He doesn’t want to be with me. He wants to be with Bridget. Maybe she’s still here. In his bed.
“Thanks for coming over,” he says.
“I need the money.” I go past him into the apartment. It looks like a tornado went through the place. The inflatable chairs are tipped over. Plastic cups are scattered all over the floor. There’s empty liquor bottles on the tables. “What happened?”
“I had a party,” he says, like that’s the only explanation needed.
“Is it always like this after a party?”
“It’s usually worse.” He hands me a fifty-dollar bill. “If that’s not enough, let me know. I wasn’t sure how long it’d take to clean up.”
I stuff the bill in my pocket. “What do you want me to do?”
“Deflate the chairs. Haul everything back to the storage room. Toss the cups and bottles.”
“You got a garbage bag?”
“In the kitchen.”
I follow him in there, trying to forget what he did to me on the counter. But it’s all I can think about, especially when he looks so damn hot without a shirt and with his hair all wet and tousled.
“You want some breakfast?” he asks. “I was just about to make some eggs.”
“I’ll pass. I should get started.”
“You can’t work on an empty stomach.” He smiles a little. “Come on. You can take a few minutes for breakfast.”
“Okay, fine, but let me help. We’ll be done faster.” I open his fridge and take out the eggs.
“What’s the rush?” he asks, getting a skillet. “You have to work soon?”
“No, I just want to get this over with.”
He steps in front of me. “What’s going on with you? Are you angry about something?”
“No. I just want to eat and get to work.”
He takes the carton of eggs from me and sets it on the counter. “Something happened. You were fine at the party last night and then you left and everything changed.”
“Nothing changed. I was just tired.”
“Trina, I know you’re lying. Just tell me the truth.”
I glance behind him at the hall that goes to his room. “Is she here?”
“Who?”
“Bridget.”
His brows draw together. “Why would Bridget be here?”
Instead of answering him, I open a cupboard and take out a bowl.
“Hey.” Scott grabs the bowl from me and sets it next to the eggs. “What does Bridget have to do with anything?”
I look to the side, not wanting to talk about last night. It’s over, and I shouldn’t be angry. Scott has every right to be with Bridget.
“Wait, did you think something happened?” he asks.
“We don’t need to talk about this. It’s none of my business.” I open the carton of eggs. “How many do you want?”
“Forget the eggs.” He turns me toward him. “Is that why you left? Because you saw me with Bridget?”
I don’t answer him.
“Nothing happened. I told you, I’m not with her that way anymore.”
“Okay.” I force out a smile. “Can we make breakfast now?”
He sighs. “Would you stop pretending nothing’s wrong and just tell me what’s bothering you?”
Why did I come over here? I should’ve stayed in bed. Or gone for a walk. Got a coffee. Anything to avoid having this conversation.
“If it’s not Bridget,” he says, “what is it? Why are you acting like you hate me again?”
“I don’t hate you. I just don’t know why you can be with all these other girls, but not me.”
“What other girls? I haven’t been with anyone since I met you.”
“Really?” I huff. “Did you forget about the girl I saw coming out of your room last night?”
“That was Anna. She’s an interior designer. She was in my bedroom because she’s going to pick out new blinds for my windows. I hired her. I’m not sleeping with her.”
“Oh,” I say, feeling embarrassed. “Well, how would I know she’s your interior designer?”
“Maybe try asking instead assuming you know what’s going on?”
“Yeah, fine. Forget I said anything. Can we make breakfast now?”
“Not until we talk about what you said.”
“We don’t need to,” I say, looking away.
“We do.” He cups my chin and turns my face back to his. “I like you, Trina. I really do. I had a great time with you Friday night. But I can’t be what you want. I’m not that guy. I’m happy being single. I’m not looking for a relationship.”
“What if I don’t want that? What if I’ve decided to just have fun? You keep saying I need to have more fun.”
“I didn’t mean you should sleep around. That’s not you. You’ve been with the same guy for four years.”
“Exactly, which is why I don’t want that again. I will someday, but not right now.”
“So what’s your plan?” He folds his arms over his chest. “Go out with Kurt? Sleep with him? Then move on to the next guy?”
“Why do you care what I do?”
“Because I don’t think it’s what you really want.”
“You have no idea what I want,” I say, throwing my hands up. “If you did, you would’ve been with me Friday night instead of kicking me out!”
His head drops and he runs his hand through his hair. “So that’s what this is about. You’re mad because I didn’t sleep with you.”
“I was mad, but I’m over it. I get it now. You don’t see me that way. I’m just the girl next door. Your tenant. Your employee. Speaking of that, I’m going to get to work.” I hurry past him.
He remains in the kitchen as I gather up the empty coolers and stack them by the door. He goes back to making breakfast as I deflate the chairs. The silence between us is awkward, but it’s better than continuing our talk.
I’m so embarrassed. Once again, I admitted I wanted to sleep with him and he turned me down. That was the last time. I’m not doing it again. I’m done thinking of Scott as anything more than my landlord and employer.
It takes nearly two hours for me to get everything back to the storage room, but only a few minutes to pick up the cups and bottles in Scott’s apartment. He was in his office when I was cleaning up, and when I called out that I was leaving, he didn’t come out and say goodbye.