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“I need to get coats for Ivy and Tristan,” I mumbled.
Trent raised a brow.
“My siblings,” I muttered, casting my eyes to the ground.
“Yeah, I remember Ivy. But Tristan?” He questioned.
I kicked the toe of my worn shoe against the linoleum tile floors. “Yeah, he’s my brother. He’s only five. Apparently my mom has never heard of condoms or birth control,” my cheeks colored.
“Huh,” he clucked his tongue. “So, let me guess, you’re the one taking care of them?”
“Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner,” I said in a flat voice. I’d confessed years ago to Trent that my mom was an alcoholic. I wasn’t sure if he knew how bad she was though—that she had basically been comatose since Tristan was born and that when she was awake she was violent.
“God, Row, you’re not their mom. You have school, and a job…how do you do it?” He looked at me like he was really seeing me for the first time.
“You do what you have to do to survive. My mom doesn’t take care of them, so I do.”
His stare was penetrating and I found myself squirming from the scrutiny.
He shook his head and the muscle in his jaw ticked, but he chose not to say anything.
He pushed the cart into the kid’s clothing section and began scanning racks of coats. “How about this one?” He held up a blue coat with green dinosaurs on it.
I smiled at his effort. “Tristan likes dinosaurs, it’s perfect.”
Trent beamed at that. Trenton really did like helping people—particularly me it seemed.
I grabbed a coat in the right size and dropped it into the cart.
I found a pretty purple coat for Ivy and deemed this shopping trip complete.
“Alright, I’m done,” I forced a small smile for Trent. “Should you go grab that ferret food you need?”
“Who said anything about ferret food?” He winked, heading towards the checkout.
I groaned, tilting my head back to look up at the ceiling. “You little liar. Do you even have a ferret?”
“Yeah, he just doesn’t need any food right now,” Trent shrugged, looking for a line that wasn’t too long.
“Then why’d you tell me you were here for ferret food?” I continued to fire questions at him.
“It would be creepy if I said I came here because I saw your car. Ferret food seemed like a safe excuse,” he chuckled.
“You’re ridiculous,” I shook my head, letting my long hair hide my face.
“Hey, I got to spend time with you, and you got to spend time with me. So, I’d say it was a win-win situation, wouldn’t you?” He raised a brow as he reached into the cart to begin placing items on the conveyer belt.
“Who said I ever wanted to spend time with you?” I snapped.
His eyes flicked u
p to mine and hurt flashed briefly in the blue depths before being replaced by mischief. “You don’t have to say it, Row. Your body does all the talking, and your body is attracted to my body.”
“Keep dreaming,” I mumbled, wrapping my arms protectively across my torso.
“Oh, I don’t have to,” his lips quirked up in a smile, “it won’t be long till you see things my way. I’ve been told that I’m very persuasive.”
“I’m guessing that you were the kid that was never told ‘no’ as a child,” I quipped.
