Secret Rooms and Stolen Kisses: A Romance

by Brooke St. James

  "Come in here," he said. "Please, just for a minute. Come meet everyone. Lee and Tyler are two of my oldest friends from school. I thought you'd want to come in here and meet them."

  "Okay," I said nodding and beginning to walk toward him. I thought about going into my apartment to put my things away, but I opted to go straight over to him since he seemed to be waiting for me. I tried to act happy and confident as I came into the room.

  "Everyone, this is Tara Castro. Tara, these are some of my good friends from Tennessee. This is Tyler and his girlfriend Cassie. That's Lee, and these two are Emily and Elizabeth."

  Elizabeth. Beth from Mexico was the first thing that popped into my mind when Trey introduced her. I felt sick to my stomach, but I just smiled and greeted all of them. Vaguely, in the midst of the haze of jealousy and insecurity, I heard Trey saying something about my dance uniform.

  "Yes, I'm just coming from the dance studio," I said, explaining my clothing. "I should be going so I can change and everything." I waved at them. "It was so nice meeting you all. I hope you have fun in Galveston."

  There were five of them, and they all answered me with the various responses. They told me goodbye like it was no big deal at all, but I could see that Trey was looking at me closely and wondering why I was leaving so soon.

  I smiled and reached out to hug him goodbye, kissing him briefly on the cheek.

  "Don't leave," he said, whispering near my ear.

  I pulled back, smiling at him. "I'm going to let you hang out with your friends," I said. I started to walk out with as little awkwardness as possible.

  "Hey, I'm coming. I'll be back in just a minute," he announced to the others. He followed me into the hall, and I looked back at him once we were out there and couldn’t be overheard. "Come hang out with us," he said. "I didn't know so many people were coming. Tyler brought Cassie, and she wanted to bring her friends. They're only staying a couple of nights here before going to Austin. Cassie's grandparents own a ranch over there. They're making a whole trip of it. I had no idea."

  "That's fine," I said. "I'm not mad or anything."

  "They're going to stay downstairs, in the studio space," he added. "It's too many people for my apartment."

  "Oh, yeah, of course."

  "I figured it wouldn't matter to you since you weren't moving in yet."

  "No, no it doesn’t bother me at all," I said. "It's your building."

  "Are you coming to hang out with us tonight?"

  "No, I'm kind of tired after work. I'm going to let you catch up with your friends."

  "I thought we had already said you were going to go out with us."

  "We did, but I didn't know you had so many people, and I didn't know I'd be so tired. I had a long day."

  "Are you sure?" he asked, looking disappointed.

  "I’m sure," I said.

  In the seconds of silence that followed I was extremely tempted to mention Beth. I wanted to ask him if it was the same person from Mexico. But I didn't. I was too scared he'd say it was.

  "I've got the closet closed and locked downstairs," he said. "They won't go in there and even if they did they wouldn't find the trigger."

  "I'm not worried about it," I said. "Please don't feel like you owe me an explanation."

  There was definitely awkwardness between us.

  "Okay," he said, not knowing how to take my last statement.

  "My dad said you were going to the 10am workout tomorrow, so I guess I'll see you in the morning if you come to that."

  "Okay," he said again.

  It felt like Trey was confused, and honestly, I was confused, too. I went into my apartment feeling jealous and disappointed. I had plans to go out with Trey and his friends tonight, and now suddenly I wasn't doing that.

  I had no idea why I said I wasn't going.

  He wanted me to go.

  If I didn't want him to be seduced by those women, I should have gone with him. I was frustrated with myself for staying home. I tried to tell myself I was relieved to get out of meeting five new people and making all that nervous conversation, but the truth of the matter was that I wished I had gone, and I beat myself up about it. I listened for noise all evening, but I didn't hear them come back.

  I figured there was a chance they had come in quietly, but I wasn't sure. I went to bed at 11pm, and fell asleep at midnight reading a book I had read twice before.

  I woke up to a strange sound.

  It was a pinging sound, but it stopped as soon as I gained consciousness.

  I looked at the clock.

  It was 12:38am, and I blinked at the digital numbers, trying to make sense of my surroundings.

  Ping.

  It sounded like something hit my window.

  Ping, ding, ding.

  It had happened again, only this time something ricocheted. I listened closely, sleepily feeling like a logical assumption was hail. It happened again, ping, right on my window. I got out of bed and went over there, opening the curtains looking downward.

  There was a group of people. Trey and all five of his friends were standing on the edge of the street, looking up at my window. Someone saw me open the curtain, and they cheered, and pointed at me. I blinked, feeling like I was in a dream.

  Trey saw me and he waved. I was out-of-it, but I unlocked and opened the window by instinct.

  "Come down here and come with us!" Trey called. "We're going over to the beach."

  "Tonight?"

  "Yes! Right now."

  "I was sleeping," I said, blinking.

  "You're not sleeping now!" another guy replied, causing a few people to laugh.

  "Please," Trey said, raising his arms like he thought I might just jump out of the window.

  "Okay, give me three minutes."

  It was really more like five or six minutes, but I went from a dead sleep to dressed and leaving my apartment quicker than I had ever done in my life.

  I instinctually put on an old faithful outfit—jeans and a t-shirt layered with a plaid button-down shirt and black Converse. I pulled my hair half-up and tried to adjust it some. I contemplated putting on a little makeup, but my face was still sensitive from sleeping, so I went without it.

  Trey was waiting at my door when I walked out. He was standing there, smiling at me. I hadn't expected to see him there. I thought they were all waiting on me outside, and I was talking to myself when I walked out of my door.

  "What did you say?" Trey asked.

  "Oh, my gosh, I did not even see you there," I said, laughing a little as I turned to close the door.

  "What were you saying?" he asked.

  "I was just talking to myself," I said. "Thinking of how late it was and what time I had to be up in the morning."

  "I'm sorry for waking you up," he said quietly. "But I wanted you with me."

  I was about to turn to him with a smile when he said that, but just then, a girl walked out of his apartment, and my smile faded somewhat.

  "Emily had to use the restroom and the working one downstairs was occupied."

  "Elizabeth is still in there," she said gesturing to Trey's apartment. "I’m going outside with Tyler and them.

  "We'll meet you out there," Trey said.

  "I'm jealous," I whispered once Emily went down the steps.

  "Of her using the restroom?" Trey asked.

  "Shhh, no, but of them in general. I'm sure the Beth who's here is the same one from Mexico, and I'm telling myself that it's no big deal, but—"

  "What? No, what are you even saying?"

  "I thought this was the Beth who tried to kiss you in Mexico," I said.

  He grinned. "Elizabeth? I guess that technically is the same name, but no. This is Elizabeth, that was Beth. They're two different women."

  Elizabeth chose that moment to come out of Trey's apartment, and I could feel myself blush.

  Chapter 16

  I walked with Trey to his apartment door and waited next to him while he locked it. Elizabeth waited with us.
/>   "Hi," I said to her, smiling and being nice as we both stood there.

  "Hi," she said. "Galveston's awesome. I've never been here, so I didn't know what to expect."

  I smiled at her as we started down the stairs. We went ahead of Trey.

  "Thank you," I said. "I love my home."

  "Trey said your dad is Easy Billy Castro," she said, as we walked. "My dad and grandpa are fans of his. I can remember them watching him fight on television when I was a kid."

  "Yeah, thank you. My dad loves the sport. He still runs a gym right over there." By this time, we had opened the door from the apartments, and I gestured across the street to Bank Street Boxing.

  "Oh, believe me, Trey already told us all about it," Elizabeth said.

  "Told us about what?" Cassie asked. They were all standing on the sidewalk, close enough to the door so they were instantly a part of our conversation.

  "About Tara, and her dad, and the boxing gym," Elizabeth said.

  "Pfft, that's all he's talked about," Lee said. "I never dreamed he'd inherit a building in Texas and pick up boxing. This dude never ceases to amaze me."

  A lot of people talked at once, commenting on Trey and his spontaneity.

  "Are we driving or walking?" Tyler asked through the noise of the other comments.

  "Let's drive," Trey said.

  All seven of us got into Lee's van on our way to the beach. Trey and I ended up on a bench seat in the middle row with Emily. We had to squeeze-in tight to each other, which was absolutely no problem. The clock on the dash confirmed that it was nearly 1am, and I grinned feeling out-of-it and delirious in the best way possible. Trey put his arm around me and I leaned into him as we drove. I gave the driver, Lee, directions to a great parking spot on the seawall. We took our shoes off and left them in the van before we set off on our trek down the beach.

  Trey reached out and took my hand the minute we started walking, and he didn't let go of me the whole time. I stayed close to him, feeling thankful for the constant contact. His friends were outgoing, and they were the type of people who had a lot going for them. They were young professionals who had ideas, and were smart, and made me feel challenged. Trey was proud of the business I would be opening soon, and he told them all about my plans. They were all friendly and easy to be around, and I was sad that I had wasted an evening being all worked up about it.

  We walked for thirty minutes one way before Trey made the call to turn around. We talked on our way back but we took breaks in our conversation and listened to the sounds of the gulf.

  "How was it growing up with Billy Castro as your dad?" Emily asked after a few seconds of silence. She had been the one to ask, but the whole group looked at me like they were all curious to hear my answer.

  I sighed, trying to figure out how I should respond. "Well, the simple answer is that it was normal. I didn't know anything else. But I know what you're trying to ask. I mean, some kids' dads wear a suit and tie. Mine came home with bruises and sprains and battle scars. He's a physical guy, and he feels like he was created to be a warrior. He loves what he does. He's up at that gym almost every day, coaching and teaching the ones coming up through the ranks now."

  "Is that you?" Tyler asked. "Are you moving up the ranks?"

  "Me? No. I do box. I love it. I'm at the gym five days a week. I spar and everything, but I'm not trying to take a match. I have fun doing it, and it's great for self-defense, obviously."

  "Trey better watch out," Lee said, teasing Trey.

  "Trey doesn't get much of a struggle from me," I said.

  Everyone whooped and reacted when I said that. It got way more of a reaction then I expected it to. All I meant was that Trey gave me no reason to use self-defense on him, but they took it like I was being flirty. I smiled along with them, but I was glad it was dark to hide the fact that I was blushing.

  Trey pulled me closer as we walked. I was grateful for the contact, and I leaned into him.

  "You said you had a little brother," Emily said. "What's the story with him? Is he a fighter like your dad?"

  "Will? Yeah, definitely. Both of us have been at the gym learning how to box since we were barely big enough to fit into those little toddler boxing gloves. Will plays every sport, though. He tries to fit it all in. I don't know if he'll try to box professionally. I don't think he will. But he'll probably take a few amateur matches just to get the… life lessons, or whatever… that's what my dad says. He'll probably compete for a year in the golden gloves, just for the experience. My mom's not so sure. She hates seeing Will box or play football or any of that rough stuff."

  "And then there's ballet?" Lee said. "What a combination."

  "I can see how the two could go together," Emily said. "It seems like you need some grace to be a good boxer."

  "Definitely," I agreed. "So many times, my father has used me and my ballet training as an example during class when he talks about form and footwork."

  "I could be a boxing ballerina," Lee said.

  "Is it still called a ballerina for a guy?" Trey asked.

  "Yeah, do you call dudes ballerinas?" Lee asked. "Or is it ballerinos?" He said the word in a silly way.

  Everyone laughed at him for making a funny joke, but I said, "It seriously is that."

  "What? No. Balleri-nos? Are you serious?"

  "Yes," I said. "Different companies refer to guys as different things. The French have a totally different name. Ballerina and ballerino are Italian, I think, but yes, a ballerino is a male dancer."

  "That is hilarious!" Emily said, laughing at Lee.

  "Did you have no idea?" I asked. "Surely, you must've heard it before and it was in the back of your mind."

  "I promise, I have not heard of that. I just made it up. I can't believe that's really a thing. That is the funniest thing I've ever heard. Ballerino. I think I might be a genius."

  "I think it's the ballerinos who are genius," Tyler said. "Think about it. They put themselves in this occupation where a bunch of beautiful ladies are climbing all over them and dancing around them all the time."

  Trey looked at me with a scowl. "You're not climbing all over dudes, are you?"

  "No," I said, laughing, but secretly loving that he would be jealous.

  We made it back to the van and took a minute to dust off our feet and organize some shells we had found. Emily had never been to the beach and she was the most excited about her shells. She had a box in the back of the van which she brought to the front so that she could set out her treasures. I turned to the side, facing Trey to give her room to put her box between us. I was the one who offered to scoot over and make room. She could have found a different solution for her shells, but I was glad to have the excuse to face Trey and get closer to him on the way home.

  I was facing him and holding his hand, and my blood ran warm as a result of our contact. Everyone talked, and we chimed in, but I could hardly concentrate on anything other than the place where my skin touched Trey's.

  Because of how we were positioned, Trey had full access to my arm. He took my hand and placed it, palm down on his stomach, holding it there. He was wearing a thin shirt, and I could easily feel the warmth of his skin and the taut ridges of his abs.

  He acted like tucking my hand there was an absentminded move on his part. But it was more than that. You don't just let someone touch your stomach. I knew that from boxing. It was a vulnerable place. He was leaving himself fully exposed, letting me touch the soft spot. Maybe I was making too much of it, but goodness.

  His hand holding my hand and trapping it on his stomach—it gave me all sorts of ooey gooey feelings. Lee was driving, and he basically knew how to get back to the apartment on Bank Street. He asked me about one turn, but otherwise he knew.

  They had already mentioned that the guys were going to sleep upstairs in Trey's apartment while the girls slept downstairs. They were prepared and were traveling with some cot mattresses, but I thought about offering them my apartment since I had two couches and a chair.


  I almost invited the girls to stay with me, but I thought I might regret getting swept away in the moment. I had fun with them tonight, but I wasn't sure if I was up for getting myself into two days of company in my apartment. I went with my gut and kept my mouth shut about it, but I told myself that I would ask Trey about it when we were alone and make sure he knew I didn't mind having his friends stay with me.

  For now, it was late, and everyone needed to get to bed. They had it worked out. I figured I could maybe mention it to Trey later, and they could stay with me tomorrow night.

  Chapter 17

  We left the girls downstairs, and I walked upstairs with the guys. I told Trey goodnight with the rest of them. We didn't make a big deal about it since Lee and Tyler were there. I kissed his cheek quickly and told him that I'd still be going to the gym in the morning.

  He said he would be there, and I took off down the hall, quietly saying goodnight to the other two. I looked over my shoulder as I was about to unlock my door. Trey had just opened his door.

  "Hey Trey."

  He looked over his shoulder at me.

  "Don't let me forget to ask you something about downstairs."

  I saw him tell his friends that he would be back. They went into his apartment, and he turned and came my way. He walked toward me, smiling and looking straight at me. I had to stop myself from wiggling with excitement.

  "Hey, I wanted to tell you… your friends are welcome to stay in my apartment if they'd be more comfortable. The girls, I mean."

  Trey smiled and pulled me right inside the door to my apartment. He closed the door most of the way and took me into his arms. He just held me tightly like he was never going to let me go.

  "What happened?" I asked. "What changed?"

  "What do you mean?" he asked.

  "You. Tonight. Something's different with you. Something changed. All week, we weren't holding hands in front of people or anything, and tonight, we were glued together."

  I spoke quietly even though we were alone. I was being vulnerable and saying things that made me feel shy. I stared at his shirt—at the top of his chest near his collar.