Fucking Trent.
“Great, I found you two together,” he said, jogging toward us as if some festival emergency needed our attention.
I shifted on my feet, the urge to tell Trent that Jack and I weren’t together rising in my throat, but the denial never made it to my mouth.
“Mrs. Montgomery wants to thank you both for all the hard work you put in this week.” Trent bumped his elbow with mine as if we were good buds. “She heads the booster club, you know.”
No, I didn’t. Or maybe I did and couldn’t think, couldn’t care.
“Come on.” Trent waved his hand for us to follow. “It’ll only take a moment.”
Jack glanced at Ty, who jerked his head toward Trent before spinning around and heading the other way. My friends had slunk off into the crowds as well. Only he and I were left, standing heretogether, almost deliberately, as if one of us wanted it that way, but neither of us wanted to admit it.
With a dramatic fall of his shoulder and a sigh loud enough to be heard against the backdrop of screaming kids, Jack marched after Trent.
What a good little princess. I snickered before I could stop myself, earning a glare from Jack.
Trent kept on with purposeful strides, no doubt assuming I’d follow as well.
I did, of course. Not because of Trent, though. Right now, I’d follow Jack anywhere. The problem was why. For another kiss? To piss him off again? More? Both?
Mrs. Montgomery stood behind a long table half filled with caramel apples, and when her flushed cheeks lifted with a broad smile, I did remember her. Her kids were younger than me, but this woman spearheaded a lot of things to raise money for each of the sports programs.
“Oh, Trent, sweetie, you didn’t have to bring them over here.”
“Hello, Mrs. Montgomery,” I said with a nod. “Nice to see you again.”
“Ooo, Calvin Winters.” She grabbed my shoulder and shook me. The woman was tall and stocky, and I didn’t have to pretend to move with her jostling. “You’re just so sweet, sugar.”
Jack furrowed his brows and glanced at me as if I’d never been nice before. When Mrs. Montgomery turned to him, he shook off the half grimace and tried to smile. Tried. It failed.
Mrs. Montgomery huffed a laugh but wasn’t fazed. “Well, you boys did a great job. Thank you so much for all the help.” She patted Trent’s shoulder but winked at me. “I think we better make this a tradition come next year.”
“It was no trouble at all, ma’am,” I said quickly as Trent stumbled over his words. Tradition or not, I wouldn’t be involved next year. And just to fuck with him, I patted Jack’s shoulder as she had Trent’s and winked at her. “We get things done.”
Jack rotated his shoulder, probably trying to knock me off, but I dug my fingertips in nice and hard before I let go.
Thankfully, Mrs. Montgomery didn’t seem to notice a thing.
“You boys want an apple?” She gestured at the trays.
“Oh, no, thank you, ma’am.”
“No, thank you,” Jack said softly.
“That was all,” Trent said and shooed us like kids on a porch. “Y’all go play.”
That earned him a glare from both of us, but we left. As soon as they were out of earshot, as soon as it was only Jack and me walking side by side as we made our way through the crowds, the short distraction evaporated, and Jack bloomed in my mind again, which was nothing I could make sense of.
His solid presence beside me kept on like a wall, like a guide keeping me steady as my mind spun. Now that the lust had abated, shame took its place among the many things I didn’t understand. But why should I? He started the kiss. Jack had pushed me against that shelf and kissed the hell out of me. Should I be ashamed for getting excited? For wanting another go?
I stopped suddenly, and so did Jack. As if he was in my head, listening, he turned to face me, expression as surprised as my own. We’d really just walked all this way together. Like kept pace and brushed shoulders and neither of us had punched the other or screamed or hurled shit.
Unease leaked into my shoulders, and I blinked several times. The fuck? What was this? What were we doing?
Jack licked his lip, right over the bruise I gave him. “We should—”
“Cal!” Cara appeared beside us out of nowhere, halting Jack’s words. “Hi, Jack,” she added, all bright and cheerful.
