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He took in a long, deep breath, and then blew it out. “Challenge accepted.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
IT FELT STRANGE TO RETURN TO CAMPUS MONDAY MORNING. Trees were tied with black ribbons, and Keaton Hall was quartered off with yellow police tape. Murmuring could be heard in every hallway, elevator, and stairwell. People were discussing the fire, who died, who lived, and who was to blame. They were also gossiping about the rings on Travis and Abby, and speculation about a pregnancy began to circulate.
I just let them talk. It was nice to hear something other than theories and conspiracies surrounding the fire. The police had already been by Jim’s and spoken to Trenton, so I wasn’t letting on that I knew a damn thing.
After classes, I trudged through the muddy lawn to the Smurf and froze when I saw T.J. leaning against the side of the bed of the Jeep, tapping on his phone. He stood up straight when he noticed me standing twenty feet away. I continued to walk, albeit slowly.
“I wondered if you would come back,” I said.
“Took the first flight out.”
“Checking on everyone?”
He nodded. “Damage control.”
“What can you do?”
He shook his head. “It’s both of them.”
“You leave Trent out of it,” I snapped.
He laughed once without humor, clearly surprised at my anger. “It’s not me, Camille.”
“If you’re not here for work, then why are you here?”
“I can’t tell you the specifics, Camille, you know that. But I’m here, now, to see you.”
I shook my head. “T.J., we’ve talked about this. Your random drop-ins are making things a lot harder than they have to be. So unless you’re ready to come clean . . .”
He shook his head. “I can’t do that right now.”
“Then you should go.”
“I just wanted to say hi.”
“Hi,” I said, offering him a small smile.
He leaned in to kiss my cheek, and I backed away. As much as he wanted to pretend that it was all innocent and friendly, we both knew it wasn’t.
“I was just saying good-bye.”
“Good-bye.”
T.J. nodded, and then turned around and walked away.
I drove home to grab a snack before leaving for the shop, feeling sad. I made a couple of ham-and-cheese sandwiches, and then ate one on the way, thinking about the stuffed animals and flowers that had begun to pile up in front of Keaton.
When I pulled up to Skin Deep, the Intrepid and Hazel’s Talon were already there. I walked in, but no one was at the desk or in the vestibule. I walked a few steps down the hallway, immediately seeing Trenton’s yellow boots, one of his feet bouncing up and down.
“Just f**king do it, Hazel! Are you waiting for Christ to come back? Fuck!”
“No,” she said sweetly, glancing at me. “I was waiting for her.”
She impaled his ear, and he stifled a growl, followed by a string of expletives—some I’d never heard before.
“Beautiful!” she said.
“Really? I’m getting f**king gauges for you, and you call me beautiful? How about manly? Studly? Badass?”
“Pretty!” Hazel said, planting a kiss on his forehead.
Trenton groaned.
“I brought you a ham and cheese,” I said, picking off tiny bites of ham in the remainder of mine. “It’s in the bottom cubby up front.”
Trenton winked at me. “Love ya, baby.”
“Next!” Hazel said.
Trenton’s smile vanished.
Hazel stabbed him again, and both of Trenton’s feet came off the floor, but he didn’t make a sound. “And that is why I waited for your girl. So you wouldn’t cry. Damn, Cami takes your dick every night, and it’s way bigger than a sixteen gauge.”
I frowned. “Uncalled for. You need to get laid. You’ve been super in-apropos lately.”
Hazel jutted out her lip. “Tell me about it!”
Trenton wore a wry smile. “But she’s right, baby doll. I’m way bigger than a sixteen gauge.”
I choked. “I’m outta here.” I walked back to my desk, threw away the rest of my sandwich, and organized forms, counting to see which ones needed more copies. Then I walked back to the copy machine. I didn’t have to do busywork for long, though. Our afternoon was soon filled with students getting tattoos for their deceased classmates, frat brothers, sorority sisters; and in one case, a father came in to get a tattoo in memory of his daughter.
I wondered if any of the people walking through our door knew the girl with the pretty toes. I closed my eyes tight, trying to fill my mind with something more pleasant. By close, we were all exhausted, but Trenton and Bishop wouldn’t leave until everyone who came in for commemorative ink got what they came for.
When the last customer left the building, I rocked my hips from side to side as I logged off of the computer, trying to provide some relief to my sore back. The shop floor’s carpet was placed over concrete, and standing on it all day was torture.
Hazel had already left for the night, and Calvin tore out of the parking lot five minutes after the final customer. Bishop and Trenton cleaned up, then came to the front to wait for me.
Bishop was glaring at me, and it didn’t take long for me to notice. “What?” I asked, a little snippy. I was tired and not in the mood for his weirdness.
“I saw you today.”
“Oh?”
“I saw you today.”
I looked at him like he was crazy, and so did Trenton.
“I heard you,” I said, disgusted.
“I saw T.J., too. That was T.J., right?” He put emphasis on the letters. He knew.
Oh, God.
Trenton’s face immediately jerked in my direction. “T.J.? He’s in town?”
I shrugged, trying like my life depended on it to keep my face emotionless. “He came to check on family.”
Trenton narrowed his eyes and clenched his teeth.
“I’ll get the lights,” I said, walking down the hallway and opening the main breaker. I flipped the switches, and then returned to the vestibule. Bishop and Trenton were still standing there, except now Trenton was staring at Bishop.
“What did you see?” Trenton asked.
“I’ll tell you. But promise me you’ll think before you act. Promise me you’ll let me explain.” I knew I couldn’t explain everything. I just needed to buy some time.
