Page 17 of Seducing Jenny
I went back upstairs to my room to finish my breakfast, pondering my quick escape when in the past I would have welcomed the advance, and the distraction. No matter how cute Trunk was, he was not Tiger, and he certainly couldn’t compete with Jenny. More than that, I did not want him, or any of the others.
It was a strange feeling—notwanting people. Certainly I had platonic friends, but they were people I had known for a long time. We were too deep into our friendship by the time we were old enough for it to be anything other than that.
When I met new people, it was the first thought on my mind—to fuck or not to fuck, that was the question. Often, the answer waswhy not? And downstairs, there were four attractive people who I had no intention of ever fucking.
Am I broken? What the hell did Tiger and Jenny do to me?
I frowned at myself and went downstairs in spite of what was waiting for me.
Trunk lit up when he saw me. “All set?”
I gave him a nod. “I’ll follow you.”
“Mm, I usually prefer when someone else takes the lead,” he said with a wink, “but I suppose for a tour, I’ll make do.”
This boy has got to stop flirting with me.
He led me outside, and the fresh air cleared the funk of rannat from my nose. Waves lapped at the nearby shoreline not ten meters to our right, with seablooms dancing in them. The house was on stilts and halfway underneath, the waves encroached from the other side. It was four stories high and narrow, compared to how it felt inside. The wood was painted black, but the roof gleamed silver.
“Isn’t that a solar catch?” I asked, pointing to the roof.
Trunk shrugged his muscled shoulders. “What’s a solar catch?”
“They generate electricity from the suns. If that’s a solar catch, the house should have electricity, but—”
He shook his head. “There’s no electricity in the house at all.”
“Then why the solar catch?”
“I have no idea.” And he didn’t seem to care.
I frowned. “For that matter, how do you get supplies here, if there’s no transportation?”
“Once a month, a supply ship makes a delivery.”
“So, you could speak to them, right?”
Trunk clapped me on the back, his hand remaining longer than necessary. “I know it’s a lot to adjust to, Malice, but you will. I’m sure of it. Let’s take the path through the halo ceiba.” He gestured toward a copse of salt trees on the other side of the island. The trees ran the length of island, from the looks of things.
I gave up my line of questioning, since I wasn’t getting any answers, anyway. “Sure.”
Ivory stone was nestled into ivory sand to make a path into the trees. Once there, the path was wood plank. Along the coastline were fragments of small boats, all broken. The halo ceiba grove lined the curved coast to give the island a foundation, but inside the grove was a twisty path, carefully designed to leave most of the halo ceiba undisturbed. The sidesof the trail had a railing to prevent wandering into them. The bushy trees were lush with dark green leaves and the occasional bright white flower that smelled sweet, reminding me of Jenny.
“Tell me, Trunk, what made you take this post?” I asked him, trying to divert my thoughts. “Six months is not a career.”
He looked over at me and smiled handsomely. “Someone who’s unclassed and needs a way out. The payout from this job sets me up for life. That’s all that matters to me.”
“Your parents haven’t given you grief for choosing money over ambition?"
"My parents were great people. I don’t think they would have cared, as long as I was happy.”
Thewerein his sentence hit me like a slug to the gut. I leaned on the railing, watching the water through the trees. Much to my disappointment, there truly were no visible land masses around the island.
I glanced at Trunk. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
He nodded once. “Thanks. It happened a long time ago. I’m okay now. Mostly.”
“I know what it’s like—sort of.” I hesitated, then offered, “I was a war orphan.”
