AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We get a few feet from the car before a door pops open, and someone gets out. I’m not paying attention until I hear the door close and someone calls my name.
My head pops up out of habit, and I find myself even more confused before the pieces all fall together.
Zander’s snark and agreeance make a lot more sense now that I see who Hazel’s brother is.
Trent steps away from his car and up onto the sidewalk. In just a few hurried steps, he’s in front of us, causing us to stop as he looks down at me, not even acknowledging Zander or Hazel.
“Hey, I didn’t know Hazel was showing you around. I would have come and helped out if I did.” He says with a huge smile that catches me off guard.
I’ve seen Trent a few times now. Mostly he’s been in his police uniform, but I also saw him at the party. He wore more relaxed clothes there, but he was still more put together than the average college kid, with the exception of Roderick, who seems to be dressed for a board meeting more often than not.
Now he stands before me, looking much more his age and less put together, and for a moment, he almost doesn’t even look like the same person. He has on a fitted tee that looks like it could’ve been painted on with how well it fits. His uniform made him appear bulky, but I assumed it was from his gear. Clearly, I was mistaken. He might not be built like Roderick or Kratos, but he’s easily the same size as Spencer, with a larger frame than Zander. His jeans are just simple blue jeans, but it gives him a real boy-next-door look that he didn’t have before.
He has grease smeared not only on his shirt but also on his hands and a few smudges on his face, as if he was in the middle of something when he was pulled away to get Hazel. His hair, which has been neat every other time I’ve seen him, is a little unruly, as if it started combed nicely but has since been messed up with whatever he’s been doing.
His eyes are also really blue, which I noticed before, but now that he’s looking at me so intensely, I can’t help but feel like they are trying to suck me in. I can’t seem to pull myself back.
A squeeze of my hand refocuses me, and I realize I have been staring at him like a freaking weirdo. I quickly look over to see Zander giving me an odd look. He doesn’t seem upset but a bit confused, and it has heat working its way up my face. I’m not sure if it’s because I was caught staring or because of Zander’s reaction. Either way, I wish I could stop it because the warmer my cheeks get, the more embarrassed I feel, which only makes it worse.
Ugh, if the world could open up a hole to swallow me up, that would be fantastic.
I’m saved from my spiral by Hazel, of all people, as she laughs behind us. It comes out of nowhere, and I’m just barely able to stop myself from jumping out of my skin. I had almost forgotten she was there while my brain short-circuited.
“Yeah, okay, Trent, I can’t remember the last time you helped with anything to do with the committee. You only do enough to keep your spot so you can put it on your resume.” She says before walking around us and heading to his car. Trent throws her a heated look, but she ignores it completely.
“It was nice to meet you, Jade, don’t let my dumbass brother fool you into thinking he’s worth your time, spoiler alert, he’s not.” She says as she falls into the passenger seat, closing the door before he can respond.
A laugh bursts out of me before I can stop it, and I slap a hand to my mouth, hoping to cover it up. Zander looks over at me with a smile that lets me know I didn’t hide it well, but Trent either doesn’t notice or decides not to comment on it.
“Hey, do you have your schedule on you?” Trent asks me, and I pull it from my pocket without really thinking about it. Before I can ask him why he grabs it from my hand with a smirk on his face. My first instinct is to snatch it back because I need that. I’m so far from having it memorized that I probably couldn’t get to one class without it right now. But I watch as he simply unfolds it and looks it over. He doesn’t look at it long before his smirk changes back into his earlier full smile. I take a moment to look over at Zander as Trent still looks at my schedule because I’m not sure I can take him looking at me with that smile again right now.
Zander is watching Trent with a frown on his face, he still doesn’t look mad, but he definitely looks like he has about five hundred other places he would rather be than right here, right now.
The sound of my schedule shifting pulls my attention back to Trent as he folds it back up before holding it back out for me to take. “We only have one class together, but we also have kickboxing together on Wednesday, so that should be great.” He tells me while I tuck it back into my pocket. I hear Zander let out a huff from my side, and I know they don’t get along, so I doubt he’s excited about that, but I don’t have any reason to dislike or distrust Trent yet. He was good to the girls and even nice enough to me at the party, so while I won’t say I trust him, I don’t feel the need to be rude to him.
“That’s great. I’m really excited about the kickboxing class.” I tell him with a smile because it’s the truth. I think I might be more excited about the kickboxing class than I am for anything else to do with college so far.
“I have been taking them since I started last year so if you have any questions or issues, just let me know, and I would be happy…” Zander lets out a sharp laugh that holds zero humor, effectively cutting Trent off mid-sentence.
Trent doesn’t react other than to look at him, but Zander just shakes his head. “I’m sure you would be happy to help her, but I assure you she will be fine, and if she needs help, I’m sure Roderick would be more than willing.” He says in a snarky tone that I’m more used to him having when around Trent. I guess he could only stand him for so long.
“I wasn’t saying she couldn’t ask anyone else or that she would even need the help. I was simply letting her know that she had choices.” Trent tells him.
“Right, I’m sure that’s all it was.” Zander says with a roll of his eyes.
I look from each of them and back again as they stare daggers at each other before I realize this is going nowhere good.
“Okay, well, I appreciate the offer, and I’ll keep that in mind, but I would really rather not be a part of whatever this is.” I gesture my hands at both of them as if their argument is a physical thing, and it seems to pull them both back to the fact that I’m even standing there.
“Yeah, sorry, Doll, I didn’t mean to get into shit here. We need to get going anyways so we can get ready and make it to Charlotte on time.” Zander says before giving me a boyish smile as if he’s just been caught stealing cookies before dinner and hopes being cute will save him.
It totally will, but I don’t need him to know that, so I just roll my eyes at his attempt before interlocking our fingers again and giving him a squeeze.
“Yeah, I have to get Hazel home anyways and finish some shit up.” Trent tells us but doesn’t make any move to walk away, and I wait to see if he has something else to say.
“I really was just trying to help out, I know college can be a lot, and I know you’ve been through a lot Jade. I know we don’t exactly get along anymore, Zander, but I swear that’s what it was.” He finally says, the look on his face makes me think it’s genuine, but Zander knows him better than I do, so I default to him.
He looks at Trent for a long minute, and for a moment, I worry he might lunge at him, but finally, he gives Trent a nod, and I can see him visibly relax at knowing Zander believed him.
