Page 43 of And the Best Man Ran Away With the Groom

“So, what do you want to do tomorrow?” Trent asks, brushing my ankle with his foot in that way that makes my whole-body tingle. “Notthat I’d complain about spending the day in bed, but it does seem like a bit of a waste not to do something if the sun’s shining.”

I shrug. “If you want. I don’t mind either way.” As long as we’re spending our time together tomorrow, I honestly don’t care whether we’re naked or not.

“We could go up to the mountains again,” Trent suggests. “I still haven’t seen that mummified monk.”

“I amnotgetting on the back of that bike again,” I growl. “I don’t care how good you are at sucking my dick.”

“Oh, my…” I hear from somewhere behind me and turn to see a couple hurrying a small child away from the area. The father looks amused, but the mother looks incredibly embarrassed. I turn back around, my face flaming guiltily. Trent, of course, looks thoroughly pleased with himself.

“What about the elephants?” he suggests. “Do you still want to see them?”

I shrug. “I don’t mind missing that. To be honest, I’d be happy with a lazy beach day. Why don’t we duck up to see your mummy in the morning—in acab,”I add, my tone firm. “And then we can spend the rest of the day at the beach?”

Trent smiles. “Sounds good to me.”

21

Trent

“Well, it’s nice of you to finally call your mother back,” Mum chides when I call to check in the day before Xavier and I are supposed to leave this incredible place. She sighs. “But I suppose you’ve been too busy with all your sightseeing and what have you…”

“Ahh…yeah.” If by ‘sight’ she means Xavier’s naked body, then yes, I’ve definitely been busy seeing it. And doing things to it…

Mum eyes me shrewdly. “What’s going on? You seem…different.”

Jesus. She can tell just by looking at me? Maybe there’s some actual truth to that whole aura BS Oliver was spinning last week.

“What do you mean?” I ask, attempting to sound casual.

She frowns. “I don’t know. You seem shifty and evasive. Not like you at all.” She pushes her head right up to the screen, no doubt to get a better look at me. “What’s that on your neck? Did you hurt yourself? It looks like a bruise. And your lip looks swollen…” She draws her face back, eyeing me with a look of concern. “Trent, if you’re in some kind of trouble over there…I mean, I know it’s supposedly safe, but you hear all the time about gangs and people going missing and showing up years later as sex slaves…”

“Mum, jeez, relax. It’s just a hickey.”

She lets out a heavy sigh. “Oh, well, that’s a relief. I really didn’t want to be on the news again after that thing with Granddad and the pigs.”

I roll my eyes. It had clearly been a slow local news day when Granddad and his girls got their day in the sun because Ruby is supposedly an expert at picking the winner of the AFL Grand Final. Two posters are laid out in front of her and whichever one she shits on is the winner—classy, right? Given the crappy Grand Final results in recent years, I’m more inclined to believe she’s shitting on the poster of the team she likes the least.

“Nice to know that’s the main reason you’re glad I’m okay,” I say with a chuckle.

“Will you just tell me what’s going on?” she asks pointedly. “Or is it one of those things I’m not supposed to know because I’m your mother and I’m old and out of touch?”

I hesitate for a long moment. “Jack’s not lurking in the background somewhere, is he?”

Mum glances behind her as though to check. “No, he’s still out helping Granddad with the south fence. Why? Did you want to speak to him?”

I shake my head sharply. “No. No, I’ll catch him later. I just…um…didn’t want him overhearing this.”

Mum narrows her eyes at me in obvious disapproval. “It’s not like you to have secrets from Jack.”

I sigh. “This is…unusual territory.”

“Trent, what’s going on?” Mum presses, her mouth formed into a frown. “You’re starting to worry me again.”

“It’s Xavier,” I blurt out. “He’s the one that gave me the hickey.”

Mum’s eyes blow so wide I’m sure they’re about to literally bug out of her head. “Jack’sXavier?”

“He’s notJack’sanything anymore,” I remind her, my tone a little harsher than I’d intended.

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