Page 160 of Trust Me Always

I smile at her, reaching out to push stray strands of hair behind her ear. “I was hoping you’d be happy to see him.”

A small frown pulls at her brows, and she leans into my knuckles when they slide along her cheek. “Were you?”

“No,” I admit.

A surprised chuckle leaves her, and she sighs, her shoulders falling as she stares at me, the tense tenderness in her gaze almost too much.

“Honestly, I’m just enjoying the fact that you told Trey we were sharing a room too much to pick up what you’re putting down right now.”

She rolls her eyes, but her lips twitch. “That is not what I said.”

Wrapping my arms around her waist, I twist my hips and gently tackle her to the mattress. “In man talk, that is exactly what you said.”

She fights a smile, but it tugs at her lips regardless, and I reach out, pressing at the corner and lifting it a little higher. She laughs lightly, opening her mouth and snapping her teeth at me, but I pull back before she can catch me.

Not sure why.

I want her to catch me.

I want to tear up that metaphorical worm she spoke about.

We stare at each other for a few minutes and when the longing in my chest gets to be too much, I drop my head back on the pillow.

“He has no one,” I tell her. “We were talking about our plans for the weekend and what we’re all up to, and he mentioned he’d be staying back at the school. Chase told him he should go home if he could, rest up for the last stretch of the season and all that, and he said the only people back home were Allana’s family.” I look down, meeting her gaze. “I got the feeling he didn’t want to go there because he figured it could hurt or disappoint you. He doesn’t want to do that, Cammie Baby, and I couldn’t let him be alone when he didn’t have to be.”

Her expression softens, then it’s her turn to reach out and run her hands through my hair. “You are something else, Big Guy.”

I want to be yours.

I watch her closely, but then I remember this morning and sit back with a small frown. “Wait, why are you acting surprised he’s here?”

Her brows snap together. “Because I had no idea he would be. I nearly choked on Pacific Cooler when I saw him standing there.”

“But you said you already knew.” Her confusion prompts me to continue. “This morning. I told you it wasn’t just going to be us, and you said you knew.”

She goes to open her mouth but then her face softens, and it only grows more and more gentle the longer she stares. “I wasn’t referring to Alister…”

“Trey.”

She nods, watching me closely—too closely.

So I pull myself off the bed and turn away.

She knew he was coming.

Is that why she acted how she did when I said we’d room together? Did she not want to so he wouldn’t get the wrong idea?

“You didn’t know he was coming, did you?” she whispers.

A humorless laugh leaves me before I can stop it, and I shake my head. “No. I did not.”

“Brady,” she begins, but I hold my hand up and slowly slip from the room.

I can’t do this right now.

I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

---