Page 62 of Saving Tracey
"What did she say?" Trevor asked, his hand grabbing mine and squeezing gently, instantly settling my nerves a little bit.
He rubbed soothing circles on the back of my hand with his thumb. "She wants to have dinner with all of us—just you, me, Tracey, Glenda, and herself. She wants to be absolutely sure that this has nothing to do with Kaleb's behavior lately. I told her we agreed to dinner tonight. We're meeting at the French restaurant on the other side of town at six, so be ready."
"Wait.” I put my hand up. My head was spinning from the sudden bit of information. "What's going on?" I looked up at Trevor so that my eyes met his.
Trevor ran his fingers through his hair. "While your dad is still out on the loose, I want you to move in with me here."
I gaped at him. I hadn't actually thought he meant what he said yesterday! I hated that I was always twisting Trevor's life around. First, I ruined his friendship with Kaleb, and now, I was going to be moving in with him?
I would be fine at Miss Brinson's. I didn't want Trevor doing more for me than he already had.
Besides, I didn't want my dad coming around here. He was insane, and he would hurt anyone in his path to get to me. I knew that. I couldn't let Trevor or any of his family get hurt—especially not Lucas.
I shook my head at him. "Trevor, I can't let you do this," I told him quietly, my eyes pleading with him to understand. "You've already changed so much in your life because of me, and now you're going to be putting yourself and your family in danger."
He put a finger over my lips, shaking his head at me. "This isn't up for discussion, baby." I narrowed my eyes at him. "I love you, and I will do anything in my power to protect you. I need you to understand that. You’re everything to me. Dale and Glenda understand my need to have you as close to me as possible, and that's why they've agreed with me about you moving in."
Tears filled my eyes. For seventeen years of my life, I had wanted nothing more than for someone to love me unconditionally and to protect me from all of the bad shit in my life. Now that Trevor was in front of me, loving me and protecting me, I didn't know what to do about it all.
I just knew that I didn’t want him or his family to suffer because of my own fucked up life.
Trevor pulled me into his arms. "Baby girl, I will protect you to the end of our days, I promise. I love you,” he stressed. “Please, just go to this dinner and talk to Kaleb's mom about this. I need you here with me, baby girl. I need to be able to wake up in the middle of the night and see you beside me, knowing that you're okay."
I nodded, swiping at my cheeks to rid my face of the tears. He leaned forward and kissed me, not giving a shit about Dale and Glenda still being in the room. My cheeks heated crimson. He looked up at them when he pulled back from me. "We'll be ready to go by five-thirty."
Dale nodded, and he and Glenda stepped back out of the living room. I leaned back into Trevor's side, and he immediately wrapped an arm around my shoulders, holding me against him.
It always blew my mind how amazing Trevor was to me. He had been through so much shit in his life; he had a past that he hadn't even told me about yet, but he was still so strong.
I could only hope to be half as strong as he was one day.
After everything he had been through in life, he still came out on top. He didn't have suicidal thoughts, and he didn't have nightmares. He could think about his parents without having a panic attack.
Trevor loved so freely. He gave and gave, and he never asked for anything in return. He loved me with all of his heart, always ready to make me happy, and to take care of me. When he methis brother for the first time, he instantly grew attached to him and wanted to do nothing more than protect him.
Trevor was messed up in his own ways, but he was the greatest guy I had ever known, and I knew I would never meet anyone greater than him.
"What are you thinking about, baby?" Trevor asked me softly, kissing the top of my head.
And he knew me so fucking well. He knew when I was thinking, and he knew when I was depressed. He knew when I needed a hug, and when I needed to be alone.
I looked up at him, giving him a small smile. "I'm thinking about how great of a guy you are, and how lucky I am to have you.”
He grinned, leaning down to kiss me, his hand cupping my cheek. I wrapped my hand around his wrist until he pulled back, placing a chaste kiss on the tip of my nose, making me blush. "While we're talking about luckiness," he murmured, brushing his thumb over my cheekbone, "you’ve made me the luckiest guy on the planet. I never thought that I would have a chance with you, yet you let me close to you. You make me feel okay again. I haven't felt depressed since the first moment I held you in my arms on that bathroom floor after making you throw up those pills. You're so caring, Tracey, and I love that about you. You're terrified of so much, yet you don't hesitate to comfort me or Lucas when we need it."
I gave him a small smile, not knowing what to say. Trevor had a habit of leaving me speechless.
I twisted my fingers in my lap as I sat between Trevor and Dale at the table, Miss Brinson and Glenda on the other side of the table, Miss Brinson situated right across from me.
I was nervous, to say the least. I was being selfish. Kaleb's mom had bent over backward to provide for me and make me welcome into her home, and yet I was just running away from all that she had offered me.
"Tracey," Angelina said gently, making my eyes snap up to meet hers, “is this what you really want?"
I wanted to be by Trevor's side. He made me feel safe and protected, and I felt like nothing would happen to me with him constantly there by my side. It didn’t mean that I didn’t feel safe at her home, because I did, but there was just a kind of security I got being around Trevor that I couldn’t find anywhere else.
I nodded, swallowing nervously. Hurt flickered across her expression for a quick second, but she quickly smothered it. I hated seeing that hurt look cross her eyes. I knew she loved me as one of her own children, and I hated doing this to her.
"Did Kaleb scare you that much, sweetie?"
