11. Eleven
Eleven
Trent
I pull into the food truck lot, gravel crunching under the tires of my BMW Z4 as I park and shut the car off. The familiar sight of the brightly colored taco truck Jasmine loves hits me like a sucker punch.
I grip the steering wheel tighter. What am I doing here?
My finger hovers over the ignition button. One push and I could be out of here before Jasmine shows up. Before I have to face her again. The memory of our last encounter in my bedroom flashes through my mind—the tension, the awkwardness, the sight of her wrapped in nothing but a sheet… until she was wrapped in nothing but her feminine beauty.
I shake my head, trying to clear the image. The hushed conversations from when my roommates returned home after a helicopter ride with her take its place. They’re no more immune to her charm than I was.
They won’t be any more able to deal with the heartbreak than I was. Despite them trying to keep quiet, I heard their desires to have a future with her—which is bound to be why she texted me.
I pull out my phone, rereading our text thread to remind myself why I’m here.
Jasmine: I need to ask you something. Can we meet?
Me: Ask your new toys.
In retrospect, that was a little rude. I consider apologizing, but it won’t matter when she dumps them, which is what I presumes she wants to ask me about. I continue reading.
Jasmine: It’s about them.
As I figured.
Jasmine: Please. I don’t want to get in the middle of your relationship with them.
That’s when I caved. If there’s any way to mitigate the heartbreak, I’ll try. At least that’s what I told myself. Maybe I just agreed to meet because I want to hear it first.
Me: When and where?
My thumbs hover over the screen, tempted to send a quick cancellation message. Sorry, something came up. Can’t make it.
Instead, I toss my phone aside, pressing the ignition, and putting the car in reverse, ready to bolt. But as I back out, a flash of red entering the parking lot catches my eye—a Volkswagen Beetle, painted fire-engine red with black polka dots and giant eyelashes on the headlights.
Jasmine.
She waves. Dammit. With a sigh of resignation, I pull back into the parking space. Irritation boils inside of me as I turn off the engine and step out of the car. My feet refuse to carry me further. She detours from her path to the food truck to where I’m leaning against my car.
If she plans on having me tell my friends that she’s done with them, she’s in for a rude surprise.
Stilted pleasantries appropriate for our incredibly tangled situation are all I can muster.
I say, “Let me make this easy. I tried to warn them that you don’t do commitments. It’s not my fault they didn’t listen, or that you still freak out over talk of relationships. You’re going to have to tell them yourself.”
Jasmine’s brow furrows. “What? I’m not ending things with them.”
Now I’m confused. “If you’re not breaking up with them, what do you need me for?”
She fidgets with the cuffs on her jacket, avoiding my gaze. “I want you to be a part of...”
She worries her lower lip, finally meeting my eyes. There’s a vulnerability there that I haven’t seen in a long time. Not since the night I proposed and she broke up with me.
“Part of what?” The harshness of my tone betrays my inability to move on from her.
“Trent… I’m sorry about—”
“Relationship, Jasmine.” I scoff, shaking my head. “The word you still can’t say is relationship.”
Her lips press into a thin line. “It’s not a relationship. Not yet, anyway. It’s just a contract.”
“Right, the contract,” I repeat flatly. “For what, exactly?”
She takes a deep breath. “For spending time together. Getting to know each other. Seeing where things go.”
Normal people call that a relationship.
I stare at her, trying not to let my broken heart make me say something I’ll regret. I still love her. Although, I’m fully aware that the contract stipulates no commitment, I prod. Has she let her guard down at all? “So you’re considering a relationship?”
She shrugs, but there’s a hopefulness in her eyes that I can’t ignore. “Maybe. I don’t know. But it feels different this time, Trent. I want to see where it goes. And I want you to be a part of it.”