“You are lavishing us with presents, aren’t you?” she belatedly checks with Trent who smiles in agreement. “Then it’s settled.”
“It’s not settled. I’m not going to a practical stranger’s house in the middle of the night—”
“Why do I have glitter on my jeans?” Trent asks suddenly, cutting me off, unaware I was even talking. Another black mark.
Except it’s not his sudden appearance that’s upsetting me. I should be grateful for his interference. How would it feel if instead of Trent on my doorstep, I’d found another card? Worse still if it was delivered to my room while I was fast asleep. The jolt of fear is like falling.
When I’m in panic mode, I need things to be tight, in their place, under my control. This big blond boy isn’t any of those things even if he’s on my side.
He wants something from you, just like all the rest.
“Where’s this glitter?” Finley asks, leaning over until her head is practically in his crotch. If I weren’t clear on her sexual preferences, I could mistake the interaction as flirting.
I steal another glance and decide even taking her preferences into account, it still looks that way. An observation that upsets me even more and for even less reason than all the other things that upset me.
“Get a room,” I mutter.
“Glad to,” Finley shoots back. “In a rich boy’s mansion if you get your head out of your arse long enough to accept.”
“You can go. I’m staying here.”
“Not alone, you’re not,” Trent says as though he has any vote in the matter.
And why is Finley nodding in agreement when I’ve known her for months and she only met this boy today?
“Rosa, you had glitter in something the other day, didn’t you?”
My stomach pulls tighter still, and I rub against it with the heel of my palm, catching Finley’s face too late. She’s frowning. She understands I’m upset.
“I had a card in the mail,” I murmur. “It was nothing.”
“I can get someone around to instal a security system—”
“Sure,” I say through clenched teeth. “Cameras in every room. Is that about right?”
“That sounds good,” Finley declares, her frown increasing. “Even if Rosa is being weird, you can put them in my room so at least if I get raped and murdered in my bed, you can catch the guy.”
“If you get raped and murdered in your bed, it’ll probably be a disgruntled ex.”
“Says the ho.”
I ignore her because knowing how unreasonable I’m being doesn’t stop me wanting to put my foot down. The longer I argue, the more entrenched my position becomes. “It’s very nice of you to—”
“Oh. I brought a cake.”
“You…?” I send a victorious glance Finley’s way. “Right. So you just happened to be passing at the time you saw an intruder but you bought cake?”
“It’s for Lily. For getting custody of her sister.”
Now Finley and I are both confused. “Sorry?”
“She didn’t tell you, either?”
The news lights up Trent’s face. “She must be really busy, I guess. But it’s sitting on the front seat—”
Finley claps her hands and dashes for the door before I can stop her. While she’s gone, my head reworks the context. Trent with his innocent mission, coming to Lily’s rescue, tackling the would-be intruderfor her.
Once I frame it in the new light, I relax. My body stops its weird alchemy of turning fear into aggression. I can smile atLily’s friend,appreciate the bleeding blond behemoth who came toher rescue.
