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I dropped to my knees, my hands shaking as I wrenched off my shirt and tossed it somewhere in the snow covered yard. I didn’t care if one of the neighbors looked out and saw me in the yard in only my bra. I had to be rid of that shirt. I opened my suitcase and pulled out a sweatshirt, yanking it on.
I had just zipped my suitcase closed when I looked up to see Trent’s black car coming down the street. Thank God.
I wheeled my suitcase down to the end of the driveway. Trent was quick to hop out and take it from me, putting it in the trunk.
“Are you okay?” He asked, as he got in the car and looked over at me.
My knee was bouncing restlessly and I couldn’t stop my hands from wringing together. I knew I couldn’t play this off like it was nothing. This wasn’t my normal behavior and Trent wasn’t stupid.
“Just drive. I want to get away from here.”
“Row—”
“Please, Trenton,” I begged, my lower lip trembling with the threat of tears—tears I was determined to never let spill over.
He nodded and didn’t say anything as he put the car in drive.
I let out a sigh of relief, relaxing against the seat as we left my house and the horrendous people inhabiting it, behind.
A few minutes had passed before Trent spoke. “Now that we’re a safe distance from your house, can you tell me what happened?”
I scrubbed the palms of my hands on the fabric of my ripped jeans. I knew I had to tell him something, but I didn’t know what. If I opened up and told him what Jim had done, I knew Trent would turn around and go back to my house, most likely killing the man. Trent ending up in jail because of me, wasn’t something I was willing to let happen.
“It was nothing,” I waved my hand dismissively. “I got in a fight with my step-dad.”
He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye before turning onto the interstate. The muscle in his jaw ticked and I knew he was contemplating what to say next.
“Did he…hurt you?”
“It was nothing I can’t handle,” I mumbled, propping my head on my hand and looking out the window.
“Rowan,” his hands landed on my knee, “you can tell me.”
“It was nothing,” I repeated yet again. Maybe if I said the words enough I’d start to believe them.
He sighed, scratching his jaw. “I know you’re not telling me something. I’m not dumb, Row, but I’m not going to push you for information either. I want you to open up to me because you trust me, not because I’m pressing you.” He sighed, turning down the music in the car.
I closed my eyes, leaning my head against the cold glass.
I couldn’t love.
I couldn’t trust.
And without those two very important factors, how could I ever live?
“Rowan?”
I opened my eyes and lifted my head to look at him. “Yeah?”
“I want us to have fun on this trip, okay?” He waited for me to nod before continuing. “I understand that there’s things you don’t want to tell me, and I’ll respect that…for now,” he eyed me. “Whatever happened with your step-dad, let’s just put that behind us.”
I wanted to kiss him. That was how thankful I was to know he was dropping this. I knew Trent had to be itching to ask me more, but for the sake of not pushing me too far, he was going to let it go.
“Thank you,” I smiled at him gratefully, reaching for his hand.
His eyes flickered down to where I had entwined our fingers together. I knew he was a bit shocked by the gesture since I wasn’t the biggest fan of handholding.
He gave my hand a slight squeeze, his eyes watching the road ahead of us.
