I sighed, equal parts frustration and contentment, and tilted my head slightly. “You have to tell me everything as soon as you get back,” I said.
“Chloe, baby, relax. Everything’s going to be fine.” His deep, husky voice sent a shiver down my back.
“I really like it when you call me that,” I whispered.
“Yeah?” He eased back and met my gaze.
When he looked at me like that—like I was the only girl in the world, like it was just me and him and we weren’t in a crowded restaurant surrounded by family—it was easy to get lost in the shimmering depths of his cobalt eyes.
“Well, isn’t this quite the surprise.”
My entire body stiffened at the sound of Ivy’s voice. Trent straightened, and Isach’s eyes narrowed. What on earth was Ivy doing here?
“Madisons, Halsteads, and a Zoya sharing a meal. I never thought I’d see the day,” Ivy said.
My father’s head jerked toward Ivy, then slowly toward me. He had no idea Isach was a Zoya. I hadn’t had any reason to tell him, and I honestly didn’t think it mattered. But based on the scowl spreading across my father’s face, it did matter. A lot.
I pushed my chair back and stood. “Ivy, may I have a moment?” I asked, my tone curt.
“Of course,” she said sweetly.
I followed her out of the dining room and into the hallway near the restrooms. “What are you doing here?” I asked. “It’s creepy how you just keep showing up wherever I am.” I crossed my arms.
“What else would you have me do, Chloe? I have a vested interest in you and your well-being. I’m simply making sure everything is still going according to plan,” she said.
Trent rounded the corner, my father right behind him. I groaned. Great. That’s all we needed right now, for those two to gang up on Ivy and cause a scene. Didn’t they realize I could handle this?
“Trenton,” Ivy said, nodding in his direction. “Frank. Good to see you again.”
“What’s going on here, Chloe?” Dad asked, totally ignoring Ivy.
“It’s nothing, Dad. I promise. Everything’s fine,” I said.
“What did she mean about us sharing a meal with a Zoya?” Dad asked, his tone angry.
“She was talking about me,” Isach said. He thrust his hand out toward my father. “Isach Zoya.”
Dad stared at Isach’s hand with utter disgust and refused to shake it. After a moment, Isach let his hand fall back to his side.
“You’re associating with Zoya now, too?” Dad asked me. His words dripped with disdain and disappointment.
“Oh, yeah, we’re like this.” Isach crossed his fingers. “Regular ole besties.” There was a twinge of bitterness in his tone, which I was positive was directed at my father and not at me.
“Oh, my God.” I blew out a breath and rubbed my hands over my face.
This was ridiculous. Things were getting out of control, and they were only going to get worse if I didn’t do something fast.
“Isach, you’re really not helping. Please go back to the table,” I said, hoping he heard the pleading in my voice.
His posture softened. “Sorry.” He frowned. “You’re okay? Ivy didn’t do anything to you, right?”
“No, she didn’t. I’m fine,” I assured him.
With a nod, he walked away. My father watched him, his expression shifting from hatred to something else, something softer. Gratitude, maybe?
“Now that you can see with your own eyes that I’m fine, we’re going back to the table.” I took Trent’s hand. “It was good seeing you again, Ivy, but next time you want to check up on me, call or text. It’s much more effective.” I turned to walk away, Trent by my side.
Soon, my father fell into step next to me. “You both have a lot of explaining to do,” he said sternly.
“I know, Dad.” Exhaustion hung heavy on my shoulders.
“I’ll explain everything tonight when we talk,” Trent said to my dad. “But Isach is a friend. He’s a good guy despite his last name.”
Dad grunted. “I’ll decide that later, after I have the whole story.”
When we arrived back at the table, our food had already been delivered, which meant conversation had been paused. Even though my appetite had all but vanished, I dug into my pasta, needing the distraction.
I had no idea why I was so surprised Ivy showed up here—I knew she’d been following me. Even though I hadn’t caught her in the act, I wasn’t stupid. As she said, she has a vested interest in me. She needed to know I was okay, that the Zoya hadn’t killed me. Maybe I should start sending her daily updates so she’d stop randomly showing up and ruining my life.
The remainder of dinner was relatively quiet. Once back in the parking lot, Aunt Beth gave me a hug. She’d been really quiet during dinner, and I worried it was either because she was uncomfortable or she was still upset about my impending wedding. Maybe it was a little bit of both.
“You and Abby have fun tonight, but be safe. And call me later,” Aunt Beth said, pointing at me.
I smiled. “We will. Promise.”
Uncle Dean hugged me next. “I’m proud of you, kiddo.”
“Thanks,” I said, hugging him back.
They left, followed by Abby and Isach. Larissa said a tearful goodbye, then took Little Frank to the car, which left me, Trent, and my dad. Trent and my father made arrangements to meet up in town so that Trent could give Dad a tour of our house, and so they could talk. Then Dad left.
Some of the tension that had been sitting on my shoulders since Ivy’s arrival slipped away. Thank God a fight hadn’t erupted, and I took comfort in knowing Trent would be able to explain things to my father later. In fact, I was confident Trent would smooth everything over.
Taking my hand, Trent walked me to his truck, but he didn’t open the door for me. Instead, he pinned me against it, his body hard and warm against mine. His eyes searched mine as he trailed his fingers down the side of my face.
Goose bumps spread up my arms, and my heartbeat steadily increased.
He lowered his head, nipped at my bottom lip, and then captured my mouth in a kiss that started out sweet and quickly turned to anything but. Passion poured from him, his need for me raging with each flick of his tongue.
He broke away with a tortured groan. “I’ve been wanting to do that since I saw you at graduation earlier.”
All I could do was nod, because I hadn’t yet caught my breath, and I couldn’t form anything that even remotely resembled words. Reaching behind me, he opened the passenger door, but my legs were still too shaky to climb inside. He raised a brow, smirked, then kissed me again.
“You better not take too long tonight,” I muttered against his lips.
He smiled. “I won’t,” he said. “I’ll drop you off at my house, go meet your dad, and be back before you have time to miss me.”
“I doubt that,” I said, finally finding the strength to climb into his truck.
His laughter swirled around me as he closed the door.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO:
Graduation Party
I SAT IN FRONT OF THE bonfire, Jax beside me. My face felt like an inferno, and my cheeks hurt from laughing so much. Tears of laughter beaded in the corners of my eyes.
Listening to Jax tell the story of what we’d done for our final Life Skills project was hilarious. He had everyone laughing so hard no one could talk. Even Colt was laughing, which was an unusual but rather pleasant sound.
Gasping for breath, I said, “Tell them about the camper.”
Jax rolled his eyes and nudged my knee, but then he dove into the story of how I bankrupted us, filed for divorce, and made us homeless in one fell swoop.
I clutched my stomach and doubled over. I had no idea why all of this was so funny. Maybe it was the way Jax exaggerated everything, or the way he talked about it like it all really happened. At one point, he’d sounded genuinely offended that I’d cheated on him.
“And you two seriously passed his class?” Elli
e asked.
“Yeah. I have no idea how,” I said.
“I’m convinced Mr. Gordon just wanted to get rid of us,” Jax said. “He probably didn’t want to have to deal with us for summer school.”
“That’s hysterical,” Abby said, still laughing. “At least you two had fun in that class. It sucked so bad.”
Words of agreement rippled around the bonfire.
“Oh, you forgot to tell them I’m serving prison time for tax fraud. This one”—I hooked my thumb in Jax’s direction—”lied his way out of it, and I took the fall.”
Whitney spit out her drink and laughed.
“I don’t know why you’re complaining. I told you New York allows conjugal visits.” He winked.
My eyes widened. I could not believe he’d just said that in front of everyone. Wait… yes I could. This was Jax. He had no filter.
“Too bad you’re drunk every time you visit me. You do know alcohol can affect a guy’s… um, performance, right?”
Simultaneously, all the guys groaned and booed, while the girls giggled.
Jax, however, caught my gaze. His eyes sparked in that way they did every time he said something to get under my skin. This wasn’t going to be good. I should’ve just kept my mouth shut.
“Wanna put that theory to the test?” he asked low enough so only I could hear him.
The tips of my ears burned with embarrassment and disbelief. I struggled to find something to say that wouldn’t encourage him, but I came up blank.
“Red.” He smirked. “I haven’t seen that color in a long time.”
Huffing, I rolled my eyes. God, I hated when he did that. Okay, so maybe I didn’t hate it, but it was extremely inconvenient.
“If I had tried something like that in Gordon’s class, I would’ve flunked so hard,” Nick said. “That guy did not like me.”
“Well, you know, Jax was operating on liquid courage,” I said.
He let out a surprised laugh. “I think she was cheating on me with the teacher. That’s why we passed.”
My jaw dropped. “Oh, you’re going to pay for that.”
I shoved him, hard, but he caught himself before he toppled over. Loud laughter cut through the night air, and I was positive everyone in town must be able to hear us.
“Ah, there he is,” Jax said, all humor gone from his voice. “The guy who actually stole my one true love.”
I glanced up to find Trent walking toward us, and I knew this time, Jax wasn’t joking. From the corner of my eye, I saw Colt shake his head with disappointment. Taking a deep breath, I stood and approached Trent, wrapping my arms around his neck.
He hugged me and buried his face in my neck. “Sounds like you guys are having fun,” he said, not making any effort to release me.
I nodded, though I wasn’t going to rehash what we’d been talking about. I was sure he didn’t want to hear about my and Jax’s fake marriage. Besides, I’d already told him all about our project and what we’d done.
“How’d it go with my dad?” I asked, reluctantly taking a small step back.
“He loved the house.” Trent laughed. “He said he was impressed, and then he told me I was doing a good job taking care of you.”
He cupped the side of my face, and I leaned into his palm, momentarily closing my eyes and savoring the feel of his touch.
“How did he handle it when you told him about Ivy and Isach?” I asked.
“I think he was overwhelmed at first, and then he got angry that we’d trusted Ivy for anything. Eventually, though, he understood,” Trent said.
“Thank you.”
“Anything for you,” he said softly.
Loud whoops, shouts, and more laughter rang out from the bonfire, and I glanced over my shoulder to see what was going on, but I was too far away, and it was too dark to see much of anything.
“So, why did he want to talk to you alone anyway?” I asked, slipping my arms around his waist and resting my head on his chest.
“He gave me this.” Trent reached into his back pocket and produced a folded piece of paper.
I took it and unfolded it only to realize it wasn’t a sheet of paper at all. It was a check for $100,000.00. My eyes bulged, and I blinked, positive I wasn’t reading that correctly.
“He gave you a check?” I asked, dumbfounded.
“He gave us a check. Said he wanted to pay for our wedding and give us a little extra to help us get our lives started,” Trent said.
“Wow. Why did he have to give this to you alone, though? I mean, if it’s for us…”
“He had to give me the talk,” Trent said with a grin. “He warned me again that if I ever hurt you, he’d kill me, that if I let anyone else hurt you, he’d kill me. You know, the usual.”
Smiling, I rose up on my tiptoes and planted my lips on his. He grabbed my hips and yanked me closer, his throaty groans of pleasure rumbling through me as he deepened the kiss.
“Oh, c’mon,” Whitney shouted. “Cool it with the making out, would ya? Get your butts over here.”
“She really needs her own house,” Trent complained.
“We both know you’re moving out before she does.”
He laughed, took my hand, and we made our way over to our friends. Trent sat on the ground and tugged me down to sit between his legs, wrapping his arms protectively around me.
“Okay, so we know those two”—Whitney nodded at me and Trent—”are getting married, going on some over-the-top, ridiculously romantic honeymoon, and then will spend the rest of their lives rubbing it in all our faces just how in love they are.”
“Hey,” I said with a laugh, but I couldn’t really argue with her.
“But what’s everyone else doing now that we’re not in high school anymore?” Whitney asked.
“Nick and I got into Syracuse University, so that’s where we’re headed in the fall,” Ellie said, smiling at Nick.
“That’s great,” I said. I was happy they were going to college together and not breaking up or attempting a long distance relationship.
“Yeah, congrats,” Luke said.
“What about you?” I asked Luke.
He and Nick were close, so I couldn’t imagine it was easy for them to be separated by college like this.
“I’m going to the local trade school,” Luke said with zero enthusiasm. “Gonna take over the family business one day, so I guess I should probably know a thing or two about electrical work so I don’t accidently set people’s houses on fire.” He laughed.
Whitney gave him a smile and draped her arm around his shoulder. “Someday, you’ll be CEO of the company. Just remember that,” she said.
“What are you two doing?” Ellie asked, her gaze lingering on Abby and Isach.
“I’m training to become a magician,” Isach said, his tone serious. “You know… illusions, sleight of hand tricks, sawing people in half… figured I can make a killing at birthday parties.”
Abby stared at him, eyes wide, slacked jaw. “You did not seriously just say that.”
I laughed, and Abby shot me a dirty look. Okay, apparently she didn’t think that was funny.
“Yeah, we talked about this, remember?” Isach said to Abby. “You’re going to be my assistant.”
Trent nuzzled his nose against my neck, his breath breezing across the bite mark. Heat spread through me, yet I couldn’t suppress the shiver that wracked my body. He had to know what happened every time he touched that mark, didn’t he?
“She’s gonna kill him,” he whispered in my ear with a soft chuckle.
After a moment, Abby playfully smacked him, and he laughed. Soon, everyone else did, too. “You’re such a jerk,” Abby said, rolling her eyes and turning her attention back to the fire. “I got into a couple of local community colleges.”
“You did?” I said, stunned. “You didn’t tell me that.”
She shrugged. “I’m not sure I’m going to go.” She picked up a twig and tossed it on the fire. “Honestly, I have no idea what I want to d
o now that high school is over.”
“Neither do I,” Jax said.
The sound of his voice startled me, though I didn’t know why. He now sat on the opposite side of the clearing next to Wyatt and Colt. His tone was sad and lost, and a pang of sympathy hit me in the chest.
Both Trent and Jax had lived a very long time, but through it all, they’d been together. Now, Trent was marrying me, and we were starting our life together. Where did that leave Jax? Granted, he’d always be Trent’s brother, but things were changing.
Guilt replaced sympathy, and now my heart just hurt. Not only had I broken Jax’s heart, I was now taking his brother from him. I was turning his life upside down in so many ways.
“Excuse me,” I mumbled and scrambled to my feet.
I’d barely made it a few steps before Trent was in front of me. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing.” I shook my head. “I just need a minute, okay?”
He tilted his head, eyes full of concern. But then he stepped out of my way.
I swallowed around the lump in my throat and headed for the house, my steps slow. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Trent standing in the same spot, hands tucked into his pockets, watching me. I turned back and flung myself into his arms.
He caught me easily and buried his face in my hair, inhaling deeply. “What’s wrong, baby?” he whispered.
“Everything’s changing. Again,” I said, emotion making my words strangled. “I guess it just hit me harder than I expected.”
Releasing me, he cradled my face in his hands and peered into my eyes. “Are you having second thoughts about—”
“No, of course not.” I shook my head adamantly. “With as much as my life has been disrupted and I’ve had to start over, you’d think I’d be used to it by now. But it never gets easier.”
Trent kissed my forehead. “Well, this time, there won’t be any more starting over, okay? It’s you and me. Together. Forever.”
“For eternity,” I corrected him with a small smile. “But isn’t that exactly what we’ll be doing all the time? Starting over?”
“No,” he said. “Traveling doesn’t mean starting over. It means living life on our terms. Going where we want when we want. But no matter where we are, we will always be together.”
Eternal Promise: (The Cursed Series, Book 5) Page 25