Chapter 6 #2
“I did, but Roderick said I would probably be better off with weight training today and doing kickboxing with the more advanced class on Wednesdays,” I explain, feeling less excited by the minute.
Trent grabs my arm and steers us off the pathway as other people continue walking. We stop under a tree, and I take a moment to look up at it. The leaves are beautiful and pink, and I can smell a hint of a floral scent coming from them.
“Hey, are you okay?” Trent asks, his voice low so that the people passing by don’t overhear him.
I’m nodding even before he’s finished asking, and when I look from the tree to him, he’s giving me a look that says he doesn’t believe me.
I take a deep breath and let it out of my nose.
“I don’t know, okay?” I admit.
Fuck, why was that so difficult?
I didn’t even realize his hand was still wrapped around my arm until he starts pulling me after him again.
I look at the place where his fingers wrap around my arm and can’t help but wonder what makes him different.
Even with my sweater firmly in place separating our actual skin, I would, at the very least, notice someone's touch even if I didn’t feel the need to shrink away, but not with him.
Now that I think about it, he’s not the only one.
Before I can get too deep into my thoughts, we come to a sudden halt, and I have to pull back a bit to stop myself from running into him.
He lets his hand drop, stepping up on the bench of a picnic table, before sitting down on the top table area. Trent looks back at me with a smile, patting the space next to him in an invitation for me to sit with him.
I know we have time to kill between class and when we have to be at weight training, but a part of me would rather be super early than sit down and talk like I know he wants to.
I look around and see people milling about all over the place.
I could probably make a break for it and just slip away into the crowd and disappear, but I don’t think that will be enough to make him let this go.
Instead, I step up on the bench and have a seat next to him, turning slightly to face him.
“Sooo,” he says after we’ve sat for a minute, and I’ve still said nothing. I used to find it annoying when people would over-exaggerate words like that, but I find I’ve gotten used to it being around Zander.
“I don’t know, honestly. Things just feel weird.” I explain, choosing to look around instead of at him. Somehow, it’s always easier to talk to someone when I’m not looking at them.
“Well, you’ve only been here a few weeks, and this is only your second week of classes. You seem to be adjusting pretty well. Give it time and before you know it, this will be your new normal.”
I don’t need to look at him to know he believes what he’s saying. While I appreciate his support, that’s not what I meant. I think about letting it go for a moment, letting him believe he comforted me, but when I steal a glance at him, I can’t do it.
“I don’t mean with school. I know this will get easier, eventually.” Shaking my head, I take a moment to figure out how to explain the feeling I’ve had over the weekend.
Trent leans back, propping his hands on the table behind him, and waits.
“Ever since Saturday, something's been off.” I tell him, and while it doesn’t explain much, it’ll have to do because I don’t know how else to explain it.
To my surprise, Trent laughs.
I’m not sure what I expected him to say, but I didn’t expect him to laugh at me, that’s for sure.
He leans forward, dropping his hand on top of mine, where it rests on the table, still laughing. I go to pull back, but he shakes his head, and I pause.
“I’m sorry.” He squeezes my hand just slightly before he takes a breath and pulls himself together.
“I’m not laughing at you, I swear. It’s just funny how innocent you are, especially after Saturday.
I thought for sure the Jade I knew was an act.
How can you be like this?” he gestures to me, where I sit.
“And also be you know who...” he whispers, and though he doesn’t say Froggie, I know that’s what he means.
I can’t think of anything else that would have him concerned about others overhearing.
“It’s refreshing to know that it wasn’t an act, is all,” he says with a shrug, as if that explains it.
It doesn’t. If anything, I’m even more confused than I was before.
“What do you mean I’m this?” I gesture to myself much like he just did, and his lip quirks up in a smile once again, though this time, he keeps himself from laughing.
Which is good for him because I’m not sure I could handle him laughing at me again without hitting him.
“I mean, you're innocent. When you guys first dropped the information on us, I was kinda pissed, honestly.” The humor drops from his face, but he keeps going. “I thought to be in that position, you must’ve been playing us all for fools. I would’ve understood the logic had that been the case.
Even so, it was like a kick in the gut to think it’d all been fake. ”
He leans back again, eyes roaming over the courtyard without really taking anything in. “Ever since I saw you come out of that building, I’ve felt terrible. We were ready to leave that night, Jade.” He turns to look at me, and I can see the anger in his eyes before he looks away again.
“I fucking hate to admit it, but if it hadn’t been for Rick and the guys, we would’ve.
I was so sure that my guys did a good job that I didn’t even think of asking the other girls.
Ever since then, all I’ve wanted to do was help you in any way I can.
At first, it was just because I wanted to right the wrong.
” The anger in his voice has quickly drained away, and now he sounds almost sad.
I’m not sure what makes me do it, but before I can think better of it, I lean over and rest my hand on top of his, mirroring what he did to me earlier.
His eyes snap back to mine, and I can see the questions swimming in his eyes.
“It wasn’t your fault, Trent. You couldn’t have known I was there.
Honestly, you weren't supposed to. You heard Kratos, I did that on purpose. It’s how I stayed in the rings to shut them down,” I tell him with a smile that I hope is reassuring.
A lot of people are at fault for my shitty past, but Trent isn’t one of them, and he has no reason to be carrying this guilt around with him.
He scoffs at me and shakes his head, but doesn’t pull away.
“That’s bullshit, Jade. You shouldn’t have been doing that.
Kratos and the guys have been in a position to help you for a few years now.
You didn't have to stay.” Some of his earlier anger returns, but in a blink, it’s gone, making me wonder if it was ever really there to begin with.
“Regardless of all that, I wanted to help you because I felt I owed it to you. But it didn't take long before that changed, and I just wanted to be around you.” He flips his hand over in mine so our palms rest together, giving my hand a light squeeze. “Hell, I even let Zander get his hands on the Beast, and I’ve been avoiding that for years now.” He shakes his head as if in disbelief with himself, and I feel a smile pull to my lips.
“He’s so excited about that.”
Trent laughs again, this time not just a chuckle.
“Yeah, I bet. I won’t lie, I’m excited too, and I knew he’d be able to do it, but some part of me didn’t want to let him. I kept it from him because I knew it would hurt him, and I was so upset with the guys for so long that it was just a way to get even.”
“Trent–”
“I know it was wrong. I knew it then, too. I just couldn’t let it go.” His smile is sad now as he looks at me.
“I wasn’t going to say it was wrong. I’m probably the last person who should tell anyone what's right or wrong.” I shrug because it’s true. My moral compass has been broken for a long time.
“I was going to say I’m sorry about your dad, and for what it’s worth, I know Zander misses him.” I’m not good at comforting people. I’ve always let the girls cry on my shoulders and promised revenge, which I can do.
This isn’t the same, and while it makes me uncomfortable, I know he needs to hear it.
He nods but says nothing as he continues to grip my hand, no longer meeting my eyes.
I don’t push him to talk. Instead, I just sit with him.
The courtyard eventually starts to clear out, and while I know we should get going, I ignore it in favor of letting him work through whatever he’s dealing with.
I’m not sure who killed his father, but as I watch him, I realize it doesn’t matter.
Trent has been here for me as much as he can be, going so far as to deal with Vengeance, even though I know he hates gangs.
Whoever killed him better hope they already got what's coming to them because if they haven’t, they will, and I won’t make it quick or easy.
“There's that wicked smile again. What's on your mind, beautiful?” Trent asks, pulling me from my thoughts of murder and revenge, dropping my hand to tug at a strand of my hair lightly.
“What?” The question falls out of my mouth before I can stop it, but I can’t help it. There's no way he just said what I thought he did.
My shock must show on my face because he chuckles at me as he hops down off the table, offering me his hand to help me up.
I take it on instinct and let him pull me to my feet.
Expecting him to take a step back, but he doesn’t, instead pulling me up right in front of him.
We’re so close that the tips of our shoes are touching, and there is a little more than an inch or two of space between us.
I let my eyes continue to wander up his form from his shoes to his chest, then further up to his face, tilting my head up to meet his gazes with how close we are.
Why are all these guys so damn tall?
He smiles down at me, and the emotions on his face seem different than they were a few minutes ago. He’s not angry or sad anymore, but I can’t put my finger on what exactly this new emotion is.
He reaches his hand out and tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear.
“So what was it that had you so down earlier? You never did tell me, beautiful,” he says, and his voice is low and thick, the same way Zander’s is when he messes with me, and I’ll be damned if it doesn’t have the same effect.
Being so close to him isn’t helping. I’m not sure how I never noticed it before, but Trent smells fantastic.
It’s not a scent I can name, but it reminds me of the woods around the guy's house, fresh and woodsy and intoxicating with just the slightest hint of citrus, maybe?
Words fail me as I open my mouth, only to close it again before prying my eyes away from his.
I don’t know if it’s his proximity, the nickname, or just the smell of him, but something has my brain short-circuiting, and I’m not sure how to stop it, but I feel like not staring into his ridiculously blue eyes has to be a good start.
“Oh yeah, that one’s gonna stick,” he says, placing a finger under my chin to tilt my head back up so our eyes can meet again.
I see the mirth in his eyes, and it helps me to pull myself together a little, even as I feel a blush working its way up my face.
“Stop teasing me.” I bat his hand away with no real force, and he barks a laugh, letting it fall to his side.
“Okay, okay.” I glare at him for a moment before he raises his hands in surrender. “How about we head to class, and you can tell me on the way?” he asks as he inclines his head toward the weight training building, and I realize that we're alone out here.
Shit.
I don’t get time to panic before he grabs my hand, lacing our fingers together and pulling me along with him toward our class.
He looks back at me, and I see that the smile has yet to drop from his face.
I might give him a hard time for teasing me, but I’m not really upset.
It beats him being upset or sad. I smile back at him as I follow him down the path and through the gym doors into a building I have yet to use, and even when we break apart to change, the smile doesn’t leave my face.
Fuck.