Page 17 of Before You
“Looking for you? Where have you been? I got my water, and when I came back, you were gone.”
Trent smiles softly at me, pressing a short kiss to my forehead. I’m irritated, but it’s overpowered by the relief I feel from finding him. “I was looking for you too. I had to take a leak, but if you’re ready to go now, we can leave. You were right, I had too much to drink. Here’s my keys,” he says, pulling them out of his pocket to hand them to me.
My jaw nearly hits the damn floor.At least I don’t have to ask for the keys and whether we can leave.
“Thank you,” I say, smiling at him, doing my best to push everything else from my head.
CHAPTER FIVE
JJ
I CALLED IT quits early today, despite everything in my head screaming at me to continue running. I’ve been pushing myself harder than I should, yet somehow, I still have endless amounts of energy to burn.
It’s a little after six, and with the way Trent was drinking at the party last night, I’m not expecting him to be awake for a while. Asher takes full advantage of our days off by sleeping in, and Luka didn’t come home last night, so I should have the house to myself for a couple of hours before everyone’s up. With all of us being upperclassmen, none of us have particularly early classes in our schedules.
Coach gave us the day off, which is probably why Trent went so hard last night, but we have a camp this weekend with high schoolers. That alone is enough to make me wish for practice instead. On the bright side, I should hear from Mirabelle any minute since Henry texted me yesterday to tell me he was proposing today.
The front door shuts softly behind me as I slip out of my running shoes and move toward the kitchen to mix a protein shake together while I make my breakfast.
We’re technically on a meal plan, but my cooking abilities don’t go past scrambled eggs and sandwiches.
I set my phone on the counter, whisking eggs in a bowl as the pan heats up on the stovetop. I take a drink of my shake when I hear someone coming down the stairs. I’m taken aback when Marley’s head pops around the corner. Her mouth falls open when she sees me, immediately tugging down what I’m assuming is Trent’s shirt. “Shit. I’m sorry, I didn’t think anyone would be awake. I came down for a glass of water,” she explains, a red flush climbing up her neck to her face.
I didn’t know she stayed here last night. I can’t decide if that’s better or worse than Trent bringing another girl home, but after what he pulled at the party, I think I’d prefer if it weren’t Marley.
“Glasses are in the upper cabinet next to the fridge,” I say, tilting my head before turning away to give Marley privacy to get her water without leering at her like a creep. As much as I’d love to take a longer look, it’d be wrong.
Just like it was wrong of Trent to hook up with a freshman on the cheer squad in the bathroom as Marley looked for him.
I knew exactly where he was when she found us, and I didn’t agree with Ash choosing to say he hadn’t seen Trent around when we both saw him go into the bathroom with a cheerleader. By staying silent, it’s technically a lie of omission, but I think a part of me hoped she’d catch him cheating on her. It’d selfishly save me the agony of deciding what to do.
She almost did when she saw him coming out of the bathroom, but he steered Marley in the opposite direction before she could see the girl come out after him.
Fucking asshole.
“Do you want breakfast?” I offer, pouring the eggs in the pan after Marley turns off the faucet.
“Sure, um . . . let me go put pants on. I’ll be back down in a minute,” she squeaks out, hurried footsteps telling me she’s left the room.
Maybe Asher is right. Maybe it’s time I move on.However, the argument could also be made that it seems like Marley’s attracted to me, despite her status with Trent. I saw the way her face changed when I offered her a water, and I’m more than a little curious who Marley saw me talking to last night and why she thought I’d be missed. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was jealous, and if that’s the case, then Marley has no idea I spent the entire night keeping tabs on her to make sure she was okay.
Marley was playing the part of the perfect girlfriend, but she looked like she wanted to be anywhere else. It’s why I followed her outside to check on her before she ran away to go find Trent.
Fuck moving on. I’ll wait forever for her to fall for me a second time.
“Earth to JJ?” Marley waves her hand in front of my face, and I snap out of my thoughts, causing her to giggle. “You’re going to burn the eggs if you don’t turn them.”
I look down at the pan to find she’s right. “I’m not going to burn them,” I say, flashing her a quick smile as I grab the spatula to move them around in the pan.
“Do you always get up this early to make breakfast?” Marley asks, sitting on a barstool.
“Kind of. I’m from a family of insomniacs,” I say, pulling two plates out of the cupboard. I leave out how I haven’t slept for more than three hours consecutively since Bailey called me sixteen months ago. “Are you a morning person?” I ask, turning the heat on the stove down.
“I usually sleep in if I don’t have somewhere to be, but I couldn’t fall back asleep this morning. I didn’t want to wake Trent up with all my tossing and turning so I thought a glass of water would help,” she explains.
I steal a glance at Marley to find her already staring at me, and I feel my breath catch as our eyes meet. It still feels unrealshe’s in front of me after all this time. Marley’s spinning the ring on her thumb, and her long brown hair is falling in tangled waves over her shoulders and down the length of her back with mascara smudged under her eyes, but she looks beautiful.
“If you want to go back to bed, it won’t hurt my feelings,” I say, despite every word feeling like I’m walking barefoot across glass.
