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So the teen hoped to move back to the city. That didn’t surprise Trent.
“Well, maybe try again,” he said.
The boy just shrugged.
After getting the injured teen settled with a bag of ice, leaving him with his group of friends, Trent approached Eddie. His angry expression was focused on the group across the arcade. Trent sat next to him. “Care to tell me what that was really about?”
Eddie didn’t look at him. “No.”
“You sure?”
“Look, I know you’re my mom’s boss, so go ahead and rat me out.”
Trent sighed. “I don’t want to get you in trouble with your mom. But I also can’t allow violence in this place. And that kid and his friends are not likely to let this go.”
He shrugged. “I don’t care. Let him come at me again.”
“By the sounds of things, you started this,” Trent said.
The boy’s jaw clenched as he stood. “I don’t have to take a lecture from you.”
Trent stood, and the boy cowered slightly, only reaching Trent’s chest. “No, you don’t and I’m not giving one.” He sighed. “Look, I know it’s tough moving to a new place, starting a new school and all that, but you’d have an easier time if you made an effort.”
His expression changed slightly from anger to sadness, but then it was gone again in a flash. “Whatever, man,” he said, turning and leaving the arcade.
Trent watched him go and waited to make sure the others didn’t follow him out. They’d gone back to having fun, the incident forgotten except for the shiner already appearing on the boy’s face.
He couldn’t quite explain the protective instinct he felt, but he wished there were a better way he could help the kid.
Chapter Five
Now…
You are missed…
The video text messages from Jess were killing her.
Sitting on the edge of her bed that Saturday evening, Whitney watched Trent on the dance floor at a friend’s wedding with a dozen kids ranging from toddler to teenagers. An up-tempo hip-hop song played, and her fiancé was busting out all his best moves. The kids were laughing as he attempted a break-dance maneuver and fell on his butt.
He was amazing with kids. He loved children. Being from a big family, with three siblings, he wanted lots of kids of his own. Two of his siblings were married already, with big families, and Trent visited them all in San Diego every chance he got. He was by far the cool, favorite uncle. On their first date, he’d mentioned wanting six children, a big, noisy house like the one he’d grown up in, and Whitney had since talked him down to three, secretly hoping once the babies started arriving, he’d settle for two.
You have to stop letting him go stag. Lots of single women here are ready to pounce,the caption from Jess read.
She knew her friend was kidding, but Whitney didn’t doubt it. If things ended between them, Trent wouldn’t be lonely long. The thought made her chest tighten, and she forced several deep breaths.
Grabbing a stack of marketing brochures for the town, needing artwork approval, she sat back against the pillows, refocusing her thoughts on work, and Trent entered only moments later.
“Hey, what are you doing still awake?” he asked, kicking off his shoes.
“Just waiting up for you.” The last few weeks had been tense, and she longed to feel close to him again. It was selfish, but the headaches and blurry vision, spontaneous pains in her chest and legs, were happening more and more frequently, and he was the only thing that made it all better. Even if only temporarily.
He removed the shirt and tossed it in the general vicinity of the hamper. It missed and dangled from the edge.
It was hard to care about Trent’s messy ways when he was built like The Rock. Muscles as far as the eyes could see dipped below the waistband of his jeans. Until Trent, she hadn’t known an eight-pack was possible, and the layers of muscle in his forearms made every steroid popper at the gym envious.
He removed his dress pants and socks and climbed into the bed next to her. Immediately, his big arms were around her, pulling her on top of him. “I assume this is why you waited up?” he said, his hands sliding up her exposed thighs beneath his college T-shirt. She always wore his shirts to bed.
Her body ached with longing as she leaned lower to kiss him. “You assumed right.” She needed to talk to him. She needed to tell him everything. But right now, she just neededhim.
