Nothing she can do could ever compare to the family landmines I started navigating while still young enough to catch frogs and climb trees. Nothing.
She’s unmoving in the passenger seat, but I swear her mind’s working in overdrive. I imagine a brain like hers burns glucose in the megawatts.
Well, I’ve got an agenda too.
I can’t believe I woke up considering alternative options, like a world where I got to keep her. The details stayed foggy—a beach at dawn, a road trip to the mountains—but they spawned sometime between leaving the hospital in California and waking up after that incredible van sex.
I flex my hands on the wheel. I need to get my shit together. In what world can I ride off into the sunset with Trinity?
Declan would grill my heart and serve it up for Friday night family dinner before he’d let me have her. We both just pawns on his chess board.
Trinity and I were never going to work. As much as I might have wanted that.
I need to rid myself of the fantasy before it breaks me.
Trinity releases a sigh as she traces a finger along the window.
“You bored?” I turn down the radio. “We can talk if you want.”
She taps the window with her nail a few times. “The apartment leasing office closes at five. I don’t think we’ll make it.”
I scrub a hand over my chin and ignore the pinch beneath my sternum. “I’ll find us a hotel.”
Brody
We share a single queen bed, but the night is awkward as hell. We don’t even kiss.
By the time morning comes, I’m pushing us out the door by five after seven, desperate to get to the apartment as soon as we can. After fueling up both the Dodge and us with a couple of gas station lattes, I drive the minivan across town to a brand-new complex.
Starlight Town Center.Whimsical.
Four three-storied structures of gray siding and white trim circle a central Mediterranean-style pool, along with a couple tennis courts and a “doggy spa station,” whatever the hell that is. The leasing office sits right out front, big glass windows and a sign above the double doors advertising a first-month-free special. A few college-aged residents linger on the front sidewalk, a little fufu dog walking between them on a pink leash.
This place looks like Trinity, all right. As we rumble into the parking lot, I try not to roll my eyes.
The van does not handle like my BMW, and I’m reminded of that every time I round a corner too fast. The brakes screech as I pull into one of twoFuture Residentparking spaces right up front.
I hop out of the vehicle with a mission on my mind.
Trinity follows, slamming her door closed and making that little rat-dog bark up a storm. “Brody.”
I stop and raise a brow at her frown. “What?”
She crosses her arms. “I’m going to be living here. Can you power down the enforcer and just act, like, a boyfriend or something while we walk into the office?”
My jaw slides open. “Like awhat?” Does she really expect me to play the happy partner? After hours of stone-cold silence?
For a few fleeting minutes, I thought that maybe Icouldbe her boyfriend. Drive her to her graduate classes, take her out for dinner, and make her wild in bed every single night.
No Declan or Russians or Finn to get in the way.
Then I woke the fuck up, because dreams like that are for kids.
Now, after yesterday, she’s demandingIplay nice? I don’t think so. “Why the hell would I ever be your boyfriend?” I sneer.
She scowls while tossing a copper curl out of her eyes. “I’m just saying, first impressions are powerful. You could at least?—”
“You’ve barely said two words to me during our road trip. Don’t tell me how to act.”
