Page 38 of False Start

The breezy answer took me off guard. I didn’tknowTrent, but somehow in the brief time we’d been around each other, I’d built a story around him, using snippets of conversation to build a history, a life. And in that process, I’d guessed that Trent was neglected, either of time or attention. But apparently, that wasn’t the case at all.

“Both of them?”

“I call every Sunday after they’re home from church.”

“You go to church?” I arched an eyebrow.

He laughed. “Only on Christmas and Easter.”

My brain struggled to reformulate the backstory I’d created, taking away the dingy apartment and placing him in a fancy gated community with absent but loving parents.

“But my brother is a preacher,” he continued.

“You have a brother?”

“Two, and three sisters.”

I barked out a laugh, shocked. “And you’re the baby of the family?”

“Oldest, actually, and clearly the most handsome.” His green eyes lit up. “Why? Is that surprising?”

“I figured you were an only child. And if not that, the baby of the family.”

He shook his head. “Wow. Not even close. What else did you think?”

I winced as he shifted in his seat to face me, eyes drawing down my face, clocking the blush on my cheek, no doubt. “I don’t want to say it now.”

“Now I definitely want to hear it.”

“I don’t know, that maybe you didn’t grow up with a close family and that’s why you party so much.”

He cocked his head, working his jaw. “Yeah, I guess that would make sense. But nope. My dad is in medical sales, and my mom is a teacher. Mom drinks socially, and dad enjoys a beer while watching football, but my problems are my own.”

“And what do they think about those problems?”

“I try not to bring it up. Thankfully, they follow college football, and the Norwalk rumor mill stays pretty local.” His face paled. “They probably have an inkling, though. Mom asked me to spend the summer at home.”

“And you turned her down?”

He peered out the window with a shrug. “I didn’t go with Frankie, either, my best friend. I don’t know. Maybe I’m sick of having everyone else help me out of the problems I created. Maybe, this once, I wanted to figure it out for myself.”

I had to give it to Trent. That surprised me. “And you’re solving your problems by going on a five-day road trip with someone you hate?”

“You’re the one who hates me. I don’t hate you, Kitten. I just like getting under your skin. You make it too easy.”

“First of all, I’m not your Kitten,” I huffed, ignoring the playful glint in his eyes. “Second, it’s going to be a long trip if you keep teasing me.”

“I’ll do my best to not annoy you.” He settled into his seat, flipping the page of the guidebook. “Too much, anyway.”

THIRTEEN

KIT

“Did you get us lost?”I hunched over the steering wheel, eyes squinted.

The Cougar’s windshield wipers weren’t exactly fast, and coupled with the torrential downpour outside, I couldn’t see more than a car length in front of us. I inched along the highway, the car rattling each time I wandered into the rumble strips. “I’m getting off at this exit.”

“There’s no one coming up behind us,” Trent yelled over fat drops of rain pelting the roof. He sat twisted backwards, watching for headlights coming up behind us.

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