What else could she do?
She took off running toward the trees, screaming the whole way.
It didn’t help.
Trev came up behind her and grabbed her around the waist. She tried to wriggle free from his wet grasp, but he was too big, too strong. In one quick motion, he pulled her back against his chest and swung her in a circle, her feet kicking out as she spun. She could feel the moisture from his body soak through her back.
Somehow, he managed to sling her writhing body over his shoulder. She pounded on his back with clenched fists as he strode across the grass and back onto the dock.
“You know what? You’re not normal.” It wasn’t normal to go from strangers to throwing a girl over your shoulder. And it definitely wasn’t normal how much she secretly loved it. She hit his back again. “Put me down!”
He kept walking closer to the edge of the dock.
“No!” she screamed, but he was already moving to throw her in the water. She probably deserved it as payback for yesterday, but still, Renna tried to reason with him. “Okay! Okay! I’ll get in, but on my terms.”
“On your terms?”
“Yes.”
“If I put you down, are you going to run?”
“No!” she groaned.
He slid her to her feet and let go, taking a few steps back. “All right.” He gestured to the water. “Get in then.”
She let out a breath. “Fine. Turn around so I can change.”
“I promise I won’t look.” As he turned, the beginnings of a grin formed on his lips. “At least not more than once.” He was joking, but that didn’t stop the red flames from creeping up her face.
Renna pulled her dress over her head and dropped it on the dock beside her. She stood in nothing but her undergarments, feeling exposed and uncomfortable. Even if she thought the modesty rules were stupid, it was still too much to bear. She leaned over and grabbed his shirt, still resting in a clump on the dock beside them. She slipped her arms into the sleeves. It was far too big for her, with the sleeves dangling to her elbows and the hem ending mid-thigh, but it was exactly what she needed to feel comfortable. How could her mother be mad about this?
“You are so slow,” Trev complained, his back still turned.
“Calm down,” Renna said. Then, she took off running down the dock, leaving Trev behind her.
“Is that my shirt?” She faintly heard him yell. Then she leaped from the dock, the rush of water overhead swallowing the sound of his protests.
When she came up, he was beside her, his shoulders glistening with water. He reached out and pinched the fabric of his shirt. “Very funny,” he said sarcastically.
“I wasn’t trying to be funny. I was trying to be modest.”
“Well, you didn’t think that through very well, did you?”
“What do you mean?”
“The shirt is see-through.” His eyes sparkled.
Renna looked down and grimaced. The white shirt clung to her skin, showing the exact outline of her undergarments. Luckily, if she stayed under the water, Trev still wouldn’t see anything.
“Back to the modesty rules. Did you know that, before Desolation, women wore whatever they wanted, even pants?” he said, breaking into her thoughts. “They could wear any color and show as much of their skin as they wanted.” His arms waved back and forth through the water, keeping his body afloat.
“Yeah, I guess they didn’t care much about modesty.”
“Maybe you should’ve been born in that era,” he teased.
“Maybe I should have,” she said with a sly smile.
“Okay, just Renna, what do I need to know about you? You know, so you stop referring to us as strangers.”
“Well,” her smile grew, “I like to swim. Preferably in boy clothes.”
“And steal boy clothes,” he cut in.
“Yes, I do that too.” Her eyes glimmered as she continued. “I really love food. Like really love it. I would lick my plate clean at every meal if it was acceptable.”
“What else?” he asked, treading water.
“Ummm.” Her head tilted back and forth as she thought. “I speak before thinking. My mom hates it. In fact, she hates a lot of the things I do. I think I embarrass her.” She shrugged her shoulders as if admitting guilt. “I don’t do anything with weapons even though my father tried tirelessly to teach me skills. I’m not the type of girl who is going to save somebody or save the day.”
“Do you find yourself in a lot of situations where you need to save the day?” he asked.
She smiled. “Not really, but you never know.”
“I see.”
“What do I need to know about you, just Trev?” she asked.
His answers came easily. “I love the color blue because of my blue eyes. I hate carrots. My best friend is named Drake. He lets me win whenever we fight, and it drives me crazy. For once, I want it to be real. I like being a leader in the army. It’s what I’m good at. At least I hope I’m good at it.”
“Are you one of King Carver’s soldiers?”
“Yes.” He hesitated. “I’m an officer in the king’s guard.”
“The king must really trust you,” Renna said, kicking her feet against the water below.
Trev laughed at this. “Actually, the king doesn’t trust me at all.”
“How are you an officer in the king’s guard if he doesn’t trust you?”
“The prince trusts me explicitly.” Trev grinned like he found something humorous about their conversation.
“What’s so funny?” she asked, eyeing him.
“Nothing.” Then he dove under the water and out of sight.
Renna let out a squeal as his hands tugged at her calves, nearly pulling her under the surface.
He came up for air, water droplets rolling down his forehead and eyes. “Did you think I was a shark?” he asked sarcastically.
“You are worse than a shark. You’re like a little boy in a man’s body.”
He splashed her with water, confirming what she had just said.
Renna dipped her chin into the water, scooping up a mouthful of the cold liquid. As her head came up, she spat it into Trev’s face. He immediately turned his head and squeezed his eyes shut, dodging the spray.
“Thank you for that,” he said dryly, turning to face her again.
“You’re welcome.”
Trev suddenly sprang into motion, sending a froth of water into her face as he spun and swam away. “Race you back to the dock!”
Renna barked one surprised laugh, then dove after him. With his generous head start, Trev beat her handily and reached the dock before her, climbing up the ladder to sit on the edge. She followed suit and sat beside him, their feet dangling over the side like they had yesterday. She pulled his wet shirt away from her chest, hoping to retain some shred of modesty, and tugged the hem, so it covered her thighs. But there was nothing she could do about his bare chest.
It was just bare and so very . . . there.
“Okay,” he said, pushing his wet hair back from his face. It was amazing how his curls dangled perfectly, even when wet. “Ask me any question.”
“All right.” She thought for a moment, wanting to challenge him. “What’s your biggest fear?”
His expression changed, and she wondered if he thought her question was dumb. Then, he responded simply. “Disappointing everyone.”
Renna was taken aback. She hadn’t expected such an honest answer. She thought he’d say something silly, like spiders or vampires. “What do you mean?”
“There’s this job that my father wants me to have—actually, a lot of people want me to have it—and I guess my biggest fear is that I’ll fail them all. I might be terrible and mess everything up.”
“It sounds like a pretty important job.”
“It is,” he said, his voice weighted with worry.
“Do you even want this job, or are you just doing it to please everyone else?”
Trev hesitated like he was
really thinking about her question. “I want it. I’ve wanted it ever since I was a little boy, and I think I could make a difference. It’s just a lot of pressure.”
Despite feeling a little jealousy, Renna admired him. It was clear he had a plan for his life. Her own life was in constant limbo. She spent her days escorting Seran to events, attending social lunches or political meetings, and entertaining wealthy women at the Government Center with her mother. But things were already changing. Soon, Seran would be gone, married to the prince of Albion, and her mother would expect Renna to marry some prestigious man so that she could have a prestigious life as if that mattered to Renna. Her life was not her own. Everyone just told her who to be and how to act.
Trev spoke again, scattering her thoughts. “What about you? What’s your biggest fear?”
Renna bit her bottom lip. “Ending up like my mom.”
“Is your mother so bad?” He raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“No. She’s a good person, but she has a hard time with life.” Renna tried to find the right words. Her mother had been depressed for years, well before her father had died. Since marrying King Bryant and moving to the Government Center, she seemed happier, so Renna wouldn’t describe her as depressed anymore. “She spins everything negatively, and that leads to a lot of worry in her life. She always worries about what other people think about her. About us. I don’t want to be like that.”
“I don’t think you’re like that,” Trev said, his blue eyes sincere.
She rolled her eyes. “You don’t even know me.”
“I’ve seen enough of you to know that you radiate happiness. It’s one of the things that makes you so attractive.”
“You think I’m attractive?” She raised a questioning brow.
“What?” His face colored. “No, I just meant that . . .” He scrunched his nose as he bumped his shoulder into hers. “You’re all right, I guess.”
She thought the same thing about him, but she didn’t dare say it out loud. Since her father’s death, Renna had watched her life become an endless procession of people she didn’t care about and appointments that didn’t matter. She was stuck in a gray, dull life, despite all the colors surrounding her. But Trev had opened her eyes again. Nothing seemed muted anymore. Everything was bright and colorful, just the way it should be.
A summer breeze floated around them, and Renna’s entire body shivered.
“We better get you dressed.” Trev hopped to his feet, offering his hand to help pull her up. Her fingers touched his and her body shivered with chills. But this time, they didn’t have anything to do with the breeze.
Trev
Trev didn’t think that Renna could have gotten any more interesting than the girl he’d met yesterday, but as he fastened the belt to his pants, he realized how wrong he was. Today she was adorable. At first, she’d been a nervous, self-conscious wreck. It was a completely new side of her, and he’d liked watching her squirm. Then in the pond, he found himself liking the realness of their conversation and the honest way they were able to talk to each other. She was fun and witty, bringing out the best in him.
She stepped from behind the tree, fully dressed again in her muddy clothes. Her blonde hair hung down wet and just as unruly as it had been yesterday. Water dampened her dress where her undergarments were, and a brown bag dangled from her shoulder.
“All dressed,” she said, throwing him his wet shirt.
“Thanks.” He wrung it out and pulled it over his head. “What’s in your bag?”
She patted the satchel’s soft leather and listed the contents. “Bread, granola, cheeses, and a blanket.”
“Really? I’m starving!” He reached for the bag.
Renna instinctively turned away, pulling it out of his reach. “What if I don’t want to share?” She smirked.
Trev reached even farther, trying to grab the handle of the bag. He missed. He raised his eyebrows, matching her playfulness. “I think you owe me. Since we met, you’ve pretended to drown and stolen my clothes.”
“Well, you threw me in the water today,” she challenged.
“You jumped in of your own free will.”
She puckered her lips together. “True. I guess I have to share then.” She reached into her bag, revealing a tattered brown blanket. They both took a corner of the fabric and pulled, spreading it out across the dirt and grass. She knelt down, laying out the food.
Trev lowered to the ground, ripping off a chunk of bread and throwing it into his mouth. “Tell me more about yourself,” he said between bites. He didn’t know why, but he wanted to know everything about this girl.
“More?” Renna put a slice of cheese in her mouth. “I can’t think of anything else to tell.”
“Do you sing?” he asked.
Her mouth stretched into a frown as she chewed. “Terribly.”
“Do you dance?”
“Flawlessly.” She sat up a little taller, an edge of pride coming through her voice.
“I’m going to need to see.” He added in his most official voice, “We can’t have people throughout the countryside claiming to be excellent dancers when they’re not.”
She brushed the crumbs off her skirt and stood up, reaching for his hand. “All right, but I need a partner. Do you think you can keep up?”
A smirk formed on his lips. “I’ve danced a time or two.” Trev grabbed her outstretched hand, electricity sizzling between them. It had been a long time since he’d felt this way and man, it felt good. She smiled too and then pulled him to a spot away from the blanket, placing him across from her.
“We need a beat to get us started,” Renna said. She stomped her foot wildly on the ground over and over, dust flying into the air. She nodded at him to see if he caught the pattern of the beat. “Recognize this?”
It was a popular folk song rhythm he’d danced to many times at parties. “Of course.” He reached for her hand again, and they started to chassé to the left in rhythmic moves.
Typically, Trev was an excellent dancer, but Renna made him nervous. He had to think about every move, what step came next, and where his hands were supposed to go. As he worried about trying to impress her, she tripped on his foot, almost falling. They both laughed, neither of them sure of whose fault it was. With each step or direction change, their laughter grew louder. They no longer followed the pattern of the dance, but instead spun around faster and faster.
“I think I’m going to be sick!” Renna broke free of the circle and spun to a stop. She focused on the ground with her hands on her hips, trying to will the dizziness away. It didn’t work. Losing her balance, she toppled over and landed on her back in the grass.
Trev burst into laughter. “You’re right,” he said, fighting his own dizziness until he made it to the ground next to her. “You are the best dancer I’ve ever seen!”
By this time, Renna laughed so hard that she couldn’t speak, or at least Trev couldn’t make any sense out of the words she said.
“I definitely think you should teach lessons. People would come for miles to witness your graceful movements.”
She hit him on the arm. “You’re making fun of me!”
“Your dancing deserves it!”
“I want another chance!” She stretched out, holding her stomach where the pains of laughter still lingered. “With real music and beautiful dresses so I can prove how good I am.”
“Maybe you aren’t excellent after all, but no one has dared to tell you.”
Renna tugged at a handful of grass and threw it at him. His eyes flickered with amusement, but he didn’t move. She grabbed another handful of grass and threw it at him again. He ignored her, so naturally, she pulled out more grass and knelt in front of him, piling it on top of his head like a bird’s nest.
He grabbed her arms and pushed her to her back again, the bird’s nest on his head scattering down over her. She squealed as his legs straddled her torso, restraining both her wrists with his one hand while the other plucked fresh grass.<
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“You don’t stand a chance!” He pulled at the grass around them, throwing it onto her in big mounds. Renna shook her head and her body trying to break free, laughing the entire time.
“Do you give up?” he asked.
“Yes! Yes!” she screamed, still trying to wiggle free.
Trev held a pile in his hand, ready to attack. “I’m not sure I can trust you.”
“I think you got it in my mouth,” she said as she spat into the air.
“You started it,” he said innocently. “You’re like a twelve-year-old.”
She laughed and squirmed again, trying to free herself.
“How old are you anyway?” he asked, still holding her firmly to the ground.
“Eighteen.” She gave one last struggle for freedom, but to no avail. “How old are you?”
“Twenty four,” Trev answered. He could feel the heaviness of her breathing beneath him, and for a moment, it was like everything in his life paused. This strange girl made him feel differently than he ever had. He studied her, her flushed cheeks, her soft lips, her green eyes that always seemed alight with passion about something. She was intoxicating. There was something about Renna that connected with him—a pull toward her he couldn’t deny.
But he needed to deny it. He was engaged.
The thought stung, and he quickly rolled his body off of hers. Trev gestured behind him to his PT. “I should probably get going.” He needed to put some space between them, even if he didn’t want to.
Renna
Renna let out a long breath, regret flaring inside her. She shouldn’t have been with a man on the ground like that. It had been innocent fun at first. Then something had changed in Trev’s expression, and suddenly their playful moment had turned intimate.
But then he’d scrambled away so quickly. Maybe she’d just imagined it?
Either way, she couldn’t help but like him—at least what she knew of him.
And his looks. They couldn’t be ignored. The combination of his athletic build, dark curls, severe blue eyes, and that boyish smile were proof enough that God was feeling generous the day he had created him. She twisted her hair between her fingers, willing herself to play it cool.
The Promised Prince: A YA Dystopian Romance Page 5