Rush (16 page)

“I’m not going to force her to do
anything, Fred. She’s a free agent. If she wants to be with me, who am I to say
no?”

He shook his head. “You’re better than
this, Max.”

“Apparently I’m not.”

We fell into silence as we left the quad
and headed toward downtown Avery’s Crossing. The mist had turned into bona fide
rain, yet Fred didn’t seem to be getting wet. I guess the dead need their
little perks, since they can’t eat or dream or have sex anymore. That must
really suck.

“How did you die, Fred?”

He jerked his head around. “What?”

“I was just wondering. Were you as young
as you look when it happened?”

“How young do I look?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Twenty-five,
thirty maybe.”

“I was thirty-five and I was shot.”

“Damn. I’m sorry.”

He waved that off. “It was a long time
ago. I’m over it.”

“Really?” It seemed hard to believe. How
did you get over being murdered?

“Yes, really. And don’t change the
subject. You shouldn’t be toying with Caroline. It isn’t right. It’s dishonest
and dishonorable.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Max, you could really hurt her. You
could hurt yourself.”

I gave a short laugh. “Myself? I’m the
last person you should be worrying about in this situation.”

“Actually, I think it’s Trent who has
the least to lose.”

“Now why would you say that?”

“Figure it out for yourself,” he said,
gazing off into the dark distance.

“What, you’re going to lecture me about
honesty and then pick that one thing to go all mysterious about? That isn’t
right.”

He spread his hands. “You don’t want to
listen to me. So I’m not going to talk about it anymore.”

He vanished. I stalked down the
sidewalk, my head bent against the rain as I fumed. He’d done that just to
tease me. To make me think about what a fool I was to choose this method of
getting back at my stepbrother.

Of course, Frederick the Wise would
probably tell me I shouldn’t be seeking revenge at all. Well, fuck that.
Someone had to take my prick of a stepbrother down a few notches, and that
someone was going to be me.

Chapter 13

Caroline

Max’s kiss left me shaking. I ached and
tingled all over, especially between my legs. It had taken all my self-control
to make him stop, because what I’d really wanted was to bring him up to my room
and ravish him.

I had to lean on the wall the whole way
down the hall to my room, because even with the brace my ankle wouldn’t hold
me. All the while I was wishing I’d asked Max to come with me; instead I’d sent
him away. I’d done the right thing and I knew it, so why was I feeling so
regretful?

His kiss had turned me on in a way I
didn’t even know was possible. I ached for him, for pity’s sake. My panties
were wet. I’d never ached for Trent, not even a little. And that made me feel
like shit.

What kind of girlfriend was I? All this
time I’d thought of myself as the loyal, supportive, good girlfriend who would
never cheat or even look at another guy. And here I was, head over heels in
lust with someone else. Clearly I was not the person I’d always thought.

Max and I were going to have to stay far
away from each other.

What about Tiffani, though? Didn’t Trent
deserve what I’d done, considering he’d been all over another woman that very
night?

Maybe he did. Maybe my actions hadn’t
been quite as wrong as I’d first thought, in the context of Trent cheating.
However, I could have broken up with him first and then thrown myself at
another man. I paused in my snail-like progress down the hall.

Break up with Trent? Was that what I
really wanted?

I should at least give him an
opportunity to explain himself...although what believable explanation he could
give me totally escaped me at the moment.

***

He knocked on my door at ten o’clock the
next morning. I’d just gotten back from breakfast and was putting my hair in a
French braid to keep it out of my way. I sighed, abandoning the braid, and
opened the door.

Trent looked like hell. He had big, dark
circles beneath his eyes and his hair stood out in a dozen different directions.
Brown stubble covered his cheeks and he still wore the same clothes he’d had on
last night. Stubble wasn’t a good look for him.

Standing there with him in the hallway,
staring down at me, I didn’t know what to feel. Last night, I’d been furious. Now
I was numb.

“What do you want, Trent?”

He hung his head. “To apologize.”

“Oh? For what?” I wasn’t going to make
it easy for him.

“I know you saw me with Tiffani.”

“You do? How would you know that?”

He turned his head to look both ways
down the hall. “Can I come in?”

“Be my guest.” Not that the cardboard
dorm walls would give us much more privacy than the hall did. I shut the door
behind him.

“She threw herself at me,” he said. “She’d
been drinking. So had I. I wasn’t thinking, that’s all.”

“Uh huh. You do that a lot?”

He frowned at me. “No. Of course not.”

“You had your hands all over her. On her
ass, Trent. You had your face in her tits.”

He flushed. “It was just a stupid,
drunken mistake. I’m really sorry, baby. It won’t happen again.”

“How do I know? Why should I believe
you?”

He took my hands. “I swear to you I won’t
touch her again. I won’t even look at her. I love you.”

Whoa. I felt like the breath had just
been knocked out of my lungs. He was looking at me with a little smile, and
there was something almost smug in his face, as if he thought he had me all
wrapped up with those three little words. He hadn’t even asked how I’d gotten
home last night or asked me why I had a brace on my ankle. How could he claim
to love me?

The smug expression drained from his
eyes. “Caroline? Don’t you love me too?”

“Right now I don’t know how I feel about
you.”

His mouth opened. “I thought—but you—we
have something really good here. I know you’re angry, but...”

“Trent, you haven’t asked me how I got
home.”

“Um...did you take a cab?” he said in a
hopeful tone.

“No, I did not. My phone’s battery was
dead. I tried to walk.”

“Tried?”

“It’s hard to walk in five-inch heels.
Some guys in a car harassed me.”

His brows came down. “Who? Are you all
right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, but only because Max
came along.”

“What?”

“Your stepbrother happened along just in
time to keep those creeps from—from doing whatever it was they were planning to
do. He saved me. And you weren’t even there.” Until I spoke, I hadn’t realized
how angry I still was.

Trent’s lips tightened and his eyes
narrowed. “So you were with Max last night?”

“He helped me get home.”

“Great. That’s just great.” He flung up
his hand in obvious frustration. “I told you to stay away from him.”

“Oh, so I should have let myself be raped
so I wouldn’t have to talk to Max?”

“That’s not what I meant and you know
it.”

I put my fists on my hips. “What did you
mean then?”

“I don’t know! Fuck.” He rubbed his
forehead. “I’m glad you’re safe. But Max—”

“He protected me because you weren’t there.
And he called a cab and got me to the urgent care clinic and wouldn’t let me
pay for any of it. He was really nice, Trent. I think you’re being totally
unfair to him.”

“The urgent care clinic? I thought you
didn’t get hurt.”

“I sprained my ankle trying to get away
from your terrible, evil stepbrother.”

Trent’s jaw worked as he tried to digest
this piece of news. He pressed his fingers against his temples. “I can’t
believe this.”

“Believe it.”

“Has it occurred to you that he might
have been waiting around for you to come out of the house?” he said, glaring. “He
could have even hired those guys to bother you.”

“Do you know how paranoid that makes you
sound? How could he have known that I would go home early and by myself?”

“I don’t know. He’s strange. Sometimes
he knows things nobody else could know.”

“Oh, please.”

“No, really. He’s weird and he’s
involved in some spooky stuff. He’s a magician, remember?”

I wasn’t going to give Trent any wiggle
room.

“You know what? I don’t care right now
how weird Max is. I don’t care if he can turn me into a newt. What I care about
is the fact you were so busy feeling up Tiffani that you didn’t notice I’d left
the party. And just now you didn’t ask me how I’d gotten home or even notice I
have this brace on my leg. You love me, Trent? Really?”

At least he had the decency to look
ashamed of himself. “You’re right. I should have done a lot better and I’m
really, really sorry. Please forgive me.”

He sounded contrite. He looked contrite.
I let out a heavy sigh. The truth was I didn’t want to break up with him. The
thought of being on my own again...God, I was a coward. And he was right. We
did have a good thing. If I dumped him, I’d lose what we’d built, and over
nothing more than a single slip-up.

But it wasn’t really him I wanted. It
was Max, whispered a little voice in my mind.

“Okay,” I said, shoving my misgivings
out of my mind. “I forgive you.”

Trent broke out in a huge grin and threw
his arms around him. “Thank you.”

“Just make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“It won’t.” He kissed me and somehow we
ended up on the bed and half undressed before I knew it.

They always say make-up sex is the best,
but for me it wasn’t any different than any other time I’d been with him,
except for being even more awkward due to the ankle brace. I found myself
staring at the ceiling and waiting for him to finish. This wasn’t how it ought
to be. Why couldn’t we have the same kind of fire I felt with Max? Why couldn’t
I stop thinking about Max?

I was more than disappointed with
myself.

***

On Monday, Max came into the essay class
we had together, his black leather jacket glistening with rain, and sat down
next to me with a casual smile, as if we hadn’t shared the most passionate kiss
I’d ever experienced just a couple of days before. Was he going to pretend
nothing had happened? I’d spent the whole weekend thinking about him, about how
he’d tasted, how he’d felt, and yet trying not think about him. Now we were
together and I was so embarrassed and shy I could hardly look at him, and here
he was acting totally normal.

“How’s your ankle?” he said.

“It’s better. Thanks for asking.” I
buried my nose in my laptop.

“Are you icing it and keeping it
elevated?”

Raising my head, I rolled my eyes. “Yes,
Mom. I promise I’m being a good girl.”

He grinned. “Now that’s what I like to
hear.”

My whole body turned hot. I ducked my
head again. “Don’t worry about me.”

“Did you tell Trent I helped you?”

“Yes, I did.”

“How did he take it?”

I made myself look at him. “How do you
think he took it? He didn’t like it, of course.”

“What I meant was did he get nasty with
you?”

“No. You two sure have a low opinion of
each other.”

His mouth twisted wryly. “It’s
warranted.”

“Oh both sides?”

“Yes.”

I shook my head. “You are a complete
mystery to me.”

“I worried about you after I got home. I
thought he might get mean. Because of me.” He regarded me with an unwavering
stare. “You didn’t tell him we kissed.”

It sounded almost like an accusation.

“No. Why should I?”

Max blinked. His heavy black lashes
lowered, obscuring his eyes. “Okay, I guess I deserved that.”

“I didn’t mean it like that. I’m not
going to ruin what I have with Trent just because you and I had a two-minute
make-out session.”

His beautifully curved lips twisted
again. “Okay. Fair enough.”

All my words seemed to come out wrong.
The truth was, I was rethinking my whole relationship with Trent, but I couldn’t
admit that to Max. I was being too hard on him. But I didn’t know how to behave
with him anymore. Let’s face it, I’d never known how to behave with him. He
completely threw me.

“I don’t know what you want from me,
Max.”

His gaze flicked up to meet mine again. “Yes,
you do.”

My face began to burn. “I can’t talk
about this right now. I need to get ready for class.”

He wisely left me alone after that.