Jade

Sunday flew by, and while I spent most of my time at the house, it felt like something shifted. Roderick didn’t let me help with dinner, instead urging me to do homework, go work out at the gym, or even take a nap. And while all of those things were fine, necessary even, it didn’t feel right to me. Something was off, but I let it go after everything that went down on Saturday. Maybe they just needed time to adjust.

Surprisingly, Spencer no longer looks at me like he wants to kill me. Instead, he hardly looks at me at all. Sunday morning, I took my coffee to the library to read. When he came in about an hour later, instead of leaving as he used to when I was anywhere he was, he sat at a table and worked on his laptop. He didn’t say a word to me, and the silence was almost worse than the shouting matches we used to have. A few times, I looked up from my book to find him glancing my way, but the moment I caught his eye, he’d look away. It was beyond frustrating, and after the fourth or fifth time I’d had enough, I wanted to yell at him and make him fight back. But something told me that wouldn’t work, so instead, I took my coffee back to my room to read alone.

Zander was the only one who didn’t seem any different, but I really couldn’t be sure, seeing as he was gone most of the day. Apparently, he and Trent spent the majority of the day at his garage working on Trent’s dad's motorcycle. I was a bit confused by that, but I liked Trent, and I wasn’t going to question it if they were going to find a way to get along.

Sunday night, Zander came home super excited they had gotten it running. He went on and on about a lot of things I didn’t understand, but I was more than happy to listen and nod along, not wanting to dampen his mood. After he showered off all the grime and grease from the shop, we sat in my bed as he gave me a play-by-play of the entire process they went through to get the bike running. He didn’t make it far before he passed out right there in my bed.

I didn’t have the heart to wake him. He looked so tired when he was telling me, and once he was asleep, he was just adorable. So instead, I just curled up next to him and let his even breaths lull me to sleep, hoping this would be okay with him. When I woke up this morning, he was gone. I found him ready and down in the kitchen after I got ready and went down for coffee. He was all smiles and his usual playful self, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something just wasn’t the same with any of them.

The ride to school wasn’t uncomfortable exactly, but it wasn’t the same as last week. The minute we parked and got out of the car, I headed to class. Zander caught up with me long enough to let me know I could text him if I needed anything before he dropped a kiss on the top of my head and headed off to his own class. He was there and gone so quickly I didn't even get the chance to talk to him before I stood alone again. Feeling silly for just standing around, I headed to class.

I’d hoped to find Hazel and walk with her, but after a few glances around, I still hadn’t seen her. So I walked to class alone and sat down while I let my thoughts run away from me since I had a moment to myself.

A movement to my right pulls me from my thoughts as I watch Trent drop into the chair next to me.

Trent smiles at me before he begins pulling things from his bag, and I can’t help the small smile that tugs at my lips. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous about the possibility of scaring him off, but it looks like I might have been worried about nothing.

“Morning,” he says while he turns on his laptop and stores his bag under his chair. “Hazel wasn’t sure if you were here this morning. She was looking to walk with you but said she didn’t see you, so I wasn’t sure if you would be here or not.” He says, turning to face me. “Not that I would blame you after the weekend you had. Shit.” He’s rambling now, and I feel the smile on my face grow as I watch him purse his lips in annoyance.

He takes a deep breath before he tries again. “I just meant it’s good to see you.”

“Wow, that was hard to watch.”

I lean back further in my chair to look around Trent and find Leo in the chair next to him, just like he was last week, and I give him a smile in greeting. He smiles back for a moment before he winces as Trent punches his shoulder.

“Shut it.” He tells him, but Leo laughs.

“Well, I thought it was adorable,” I tell them both. Turning on my own computer, which I still have about zero idea how to use, but at least I know how to turn it on now.

Trent turns away from Leo and back to me with a smile that could light a dark room. It’s so intense it catches me off guard, and I have to fight the urge to look away.

He opens his mouth to say something, but before he can, our professor walks in and calls for quiet in the room. I turn my attention to her, but I can still feel Trent’s eyes on me; he looks at me for so long that I have to fight the urge to squirm in my seat.

Finally, I can’t take it anymore. I turn to face him, expecting him to look away now that I’ve caught him looking, but he doesn’t.

Instead, he smirks at me, “What?” I whisper-shout at him, trying not to draw attention to us but feeling heat slowly creep up my cheeks under his gaze.

“You really can’t handle attention, huh?” He asks, and his question throws me off. He phrased it like a question, but his tone says he already knew this.

“Zander told me you don’t handle attention very well,” he explains, and fuck, is he getting closer? “But I would have to disagree. I think you handle it adorably.” He’s definitely closer now, almost entirely in my face, and when I open my mouth to respond, no words come out.

Did he just call me adorable?

Is this how he felt when I called him adorable?

“Oh god, her cheeks are so red!” Leo exclaims with a chuckle, and I swear I could kill him, but I can’t pull my eyes away from Trent. He’s right, though. My cheeks feel like they’re on fire.

Fuck, I wish there was a fire so that I could get away right now.

The sound of a throat clearing from the front of the room pulls Trent's gaze away, and he leans back into his seat. The moment he does, I feel like I’ve broken out of a trance, and my brain begins to slowly start functioning again.

I hear the professor ask Trent something, but can’t focus on the conversation as I turn my attention back to my laptop. He says something in response, and she goes back to her lecture.

I spend the rest of the class with my eyes forward, hoping I look like I’m paying attention. Of course, I don’t understand a damn thing she went over since I missed our study session on Saturday, but I’d rather stare at math than try to figure out what the hell that was or risk looking at Trent and having it happen again.

It feels like I’ve been in the classroom for days when the bell finally rings to dismiss us. I’d packed up my computer a while ago, opting to figure out today’s math in my notebook instead. I didn’t even finish one problem, and I refuse to ask Trent for help right now. Even the thought of asking him makes my cheeks heat again.

No. Nope, can’t do it.

I’ll message Hazel about it later.

I scoop up my notebook, not even bothering to put it in my bag, and bolt for the door. I’m one of the first ones up, but since we sit about halfway up the rows, I still get stopped by a few people in the front who are leaving at a much slower pace.

I choke down a growl of frustration.

“Where’s the fire?” Trent asks as he comes up behind me. I can hear the humor in his words even though I refuse to turn and see the smirk I’m sure is plastered on his face.

Why does the world hate me?

“No fire,” I tell him as I squeeze around a couple of girls that stopped to ogle and talk to Trent, hoping to get past them and leave him behind.

It doesn't work. He sidesteps them the same way I did and is back at my side in an instant as if the girls hadn’t even been there.

I steal a glance back at the girls and see both of their eyes locked on me as I walk away with Trent. Neither of them looks happy.

Great. Just what I need, more jealous girls who hate me.

Not that I can’t handle them, but man, does college have to be so cliche?

I’ve heard stories of mean girls, not many, honestly, but enough. My time as an escort showed me plenty of mean girls in everyday life, galas, dinners, and charity auctions. Nothing is safe from women who think they deserve something you have, and so far, I can’t say I disagree. But if all they do is throw mean looks and rumors around, they’re no concern of mine. These girls couldn’t hurt me if I handed them a knife to do it with.

“What’s with the wicked smile?” Trent asks me, startling me from my thoughts and reminding me I’m not alone.

Shit, that’s the second time today I let myself get distracted in a very public place.

“Oh, nothing,” I say too quickly for it to be believable as I school my features, hoping to look less murderous. “Where’s Leo?” I ask him to change the subject.

The smile on his face dims a bit but doesn’t fall away, “He said he left his gym bag in Jake’s car and had to go grab it before weight training.” He raises a brow at me when I glance in his direction. “But you would know that if you hadn’t run out of class so quickly.”

“I didn’t run.” I shoot back because I didn’t. I may have walked very quickly, but I didn’t run.

“I’m just excited to go to weight training.” It’s not a lie. I am excited, but it still feels lame when I say it out loud and I huff a sigh of frustration.

“I thought you had kickboxing today?”

“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 me in a hushed voice 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 started pulling me after him again. I look at the place where his hand grips 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. He 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, 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 and rests his hand on mine, where it rests on the table, still laughing. I go to pull back, but he shakes his head at me.

“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 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 and looks around 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 find me. 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, and he gives 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.”

He 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 make him upset, 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 for them.

“There's that wicked smile again. What's on your mind, beautiful?” Trent says, pulling me from my thoughts of murder and revenge as he drops 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 and offers 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 almost touch, 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 eyes 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?

My voice fails 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 the proximity to him, 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 but lets it fall.

“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, and while I might give him a hard time for teasing me, 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.