Glad to at least have that slipup about the Pack out of the way, Trevor took another deep breath, trying to figure out how to tell her what she needed to know without revealing any more than he had to.
“Last night wasn’t the first time I’ve encountered a supernatural creature,” he said. “There are other things out there that go bump in the night, and because of that, there are people and groups—like my SWAT team—that have experience dealing with them.”
Jenna stared at him for a long moment. “You’re telling me you’ve not only seen other creatures like the thing that took my sister but fought them and won?”
He nodded. “Yeah. We’ve never seen anything quite like this creature, though. That’s why I asked Hale to get some of the other guys together and come out here. Because we’re going to find this creature and your sister.”
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “How?”
“I’m not sure yet,” he admitted. “But the firststep begins with gathering information on what this creature might be and what its weaknesses are. That’s where Davina comes in. She owns a nightclub in LA that caters to clientele of the supernatural variety. This gives her access to a lot of unique information, so I’m hoping she’ll know what that thing we fought tonight is and how to deal with it.”
Jenna gazed at him for a long time, the expression on her face changing from confusion to doubt to hope and then, finally, curiosity.
“There’s a nightclub in LA for supernatural creatures?” she said in amazement. “How has that never shown up onTMZ?”
Everything that had happened that evening seemed to catch up with Jenna all at once. One moment, she was brushing her teeth in front of the bathroom mirror, wondering how she was ever going to get to sleep after all the adrenaline being dumped into her system, and the next, she was yawning and trying not to drool toothpaste all over herself.
She’d spent the entire time in the bathroom rehashing everything Trevor had told her, especially about his—and SWAT’s—experiences with the supernatural world. While that by itself was a staggering revelation, the bigger takeaway had been the fact that her brother had known aboutthe existence of supernatural creatures for a while now. Yet that hadn’t kept him from continuing to reject everything she’d ever said about their sister’s kidnapping. Why would he do that if he knew that supernatural beings really existed? Why wouldn’t he at least consider the possibility that she was telling the truth? Not understanding that made her even more upset at Connor than she’d ever been. Pushing those painful thoughts aside and finishing up as fast as she could, Jenna walked out of the bathroom, expecting to find Trevor already in the guest room, assuming he’d be as exhausted as she was. But she was surprised when she poked her head in his room and found it empty—except for her sculptures, of course. She glanced down the hallway to see that the lights were off in the rest of the apartment, which meant he probably wasn’t in the kitchen getting another snack, which would have been her second guess.
With her bedroom as the only option left in the small apartment, Jenna slowly wandered in to find Trevor standing there studying the various posters and photos on the wall, looking damn good in a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, which were apparently his go-to sleeping gear. She took a moment to appreciate his muscular legs and biceps, wondering how a guy who ate like he did could be so built.
As she walked over to stand beside him, she realized that while he was certainly taking note of thephotos of her, he seemed more interested in the ones of her family.
“You probably think it’s bizarre to have so many pictures of my family, considering the crappy relationship I have with them,” she said softly.
He turned to her with a smile, and she couldn’t help but notice that he didn’t look tired at all. In fact, he looked ready to keep going for hours. It was probably all those cookies he’d eaten earlier. That much sugar would have anyone pinging off the walls.
“No, it isn’t bizarre,” he said gently. “I can understand wanting to have pictures of your family around you, even if you’re on the outs with them at the moment. It helps remind us that we’re really not alone, even if we think we are.”
She grimaced. “I’m pretty sure I’m a bit past beingon the outs.” She wasn’t sure why she’d admitted that, but for some reason, it felt like she could talk about anything with Trevor and not have to worry about it. Which was wild, considering she’d known him for barely a month, and most of that had been spent doing the long-distance thing. “My parents are almost completely out of the picture, and with the way Connor acted when I saw him last, I don’t see us spending much time together in the future, either. So as far as that goes, I guess I truly am alone.”
Trevor wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. Jenna rested her face against him, relaxinginto his embrace and feeling more at peace than she had in a very long time.
“You’re not alone,” he murmured, bending down so his mouth was right next to her ear, his warm breath tickling her skin. “You have Madeleine and all your other friends. And you have me. That means you’ll never be alone.”
Jenna didn’t have to look at the photos on the wall to know that Madeleine was in quite a few of them. But while the thought of always having her best friend around was nice, it was the idea of Trevor being there for her all the time that made her melt inside. Since she wasn’t quite sure how to put that into words, she simply squeezed him tight. He was so warm and comfortable she could stand there all night.
“How long have you and Madeleine known each other?” Trevor asked.
“We met on my very first movie set three years ago.” Smiling at the memory, Jenna pointed at the framed picture on the far right of the wall. She was standing beside a heavily blood-spattered Madeleine, who was smiling ear to ear regardless of the mess. “It was a low-budget apocalyptic thing—all action and no plot—but they needed tons of special effects, gore, and mangled bodies. That’s where both Madeleine and I came in. I must have painted her up as twenty different corpses for that movie. We bonded over fake blood and her latexallergies. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. I moved in here the day filming wrapped. She got me a discount on my deposit, so I’m legally required to be BFFs with her for life.”
Trevor chuckled, the sound making Jenna feel all kinds of goofy inside. Not wanting the moment to end, she told him about the other friends in the rest of the photos. Special effects and movies were a common theme among her closest friends, and she had stories to tell about all of them.
“Madeleine ended up getting a real job as a private chef for the rich and overpaid,” Jenna said, pointing at a picture of her best friend in a reptilian costume that everyone fondly referred to as the murder frog. “But she still lets me make her up every now and then, though I think she does it more for me than for the money.”
As she and Trevor stood there talking about Madeleine and Jenna’s other friends and all the fun times they’d had together, she realized this moment was one of the happiest of her life. She wasn’t sure if Trevor knew it or not, but he’d gotten her to realize how many people she still had in her corner. Another point in his favor.
As much as she wanted to hang out and talk, a ridiculous series of yawns gave away her exhaustion.
“I guess it’s time to get you to bed,” Trevor said softly, his body still pressed warmly to hers. “To say it’s been a long day would be an understatement.”
As he started to step back, she found herself holding on to him more tightly, not wanting to lose the sense of safety and comfort that came with being in his arms. Normally, she wouldn’t even consider being so clingy, but after the day she’d had, she decided she deserved to spoil herself a little.
“I know we’ve been taking our time with this thing going on between us, but after everything that happened tonight, I’d rather not sleep alone,” she said softly. “Do you think you could stay with me, just to sleep?”
He gazed down at her. “Not that I wouldn’t love to sleep with you, but are you sure?”
“I’m definitely sure.” She grinned. “As long as you’re okay with me putting my feet on you, no matter how cold they get.”
