Do you love me? (Trinity Series Book 1)

by Regina Bartley

  “I can’t.” She looked down at her book again. “My brother will be here to pick me up soon.” Bummer. She looked at the time on her phone, and started gathering her things. “He’s probably already outside.”

  “I understand. Can I at least get your number?”

  She licked her bottom lip before raking her teeth across it. “Yeah.” She smiled.

  To my surprise, she reached for my hand. She took her pen and wrote her number on the palm of it. Geez, she was hot. I could only stare at her while she was scribbling on my hand.

  “See ya later, Josh,” she waved before walking away from the table.

  My eyes were glued to her ass in those light colored jeans. I couldn’t stop watching her. I even craned my neck around the corner so that I could see her better as she was growing further from my sight.

  It must’ve been my lucky day.

  I looked down at my hand where her number was sprawled on it, and under the phone number was her name.

  Gwen Taylor.

  FUCK ME!

  I retract that lucky statement. I’d bet my life savings that she was Fox Taylor’s sister.

  “Shit,” I said as I banged my forehead onto the hard table in front of me. Thank you, Karma! I was sure I deserved that for something I’d done in this lifetime.

  ***

  I took a shit, showered, and shaved and I was ready to go. There was no need for me to be in any kind of hurry because Lee would probably be late. The girl had no sense of time when she was getting ready for a night out. It was unnecessary. I mean when you looked like her, there should’ve been nothing left to do. I hated when she piled all that makeup on. She didn’t need it.

  She was supposed to meet me at the car at seven, but I wasn’t holding my breath. I’d probably have the car started, and heated up before she showed up.

  After tucking my wallet into my back pocket, I slid my watch back on. Then I sprayed on a little cologne, and I was out the door.

  Low and behold, she was there. She was perched up against the passenger side of the car with her phone in her hand.

  She looked up at me when my footsteps grew closer.

  “Hey,” I hesitated. That looked like the same outfit she had on earlier. “Did you shower?”

  She rolled her eyes at me. “I showered this morning. You want to smell my pits?”

  “No thank you,” I replied quickly. I hit the unlock button to the Camaro and we both climbed inside.

  I noticed that she wasn’t wearing makeup. Her hair was still in the same messy knot that she had it in earlier, and that was definitely the same shirt she had on when I saw her at lunch.

  “What’s up with you?” I asked her.

  “Nothing, I’m fine.”

  Yeah right. “You’ve been saying that over and over. Where’s your master, Puppet?”

  “Would you give me a break? It’s not like I have to dress up every time we go out. I know that’s what you’re referring to. You haven’t taken your eyes off my bun.” She grumbled.

  “Just tell me if this has something to do with Tex,” I urged. If he said anything out of the way to her, it was going to be ugly. Screw waiting a week. I’d make a trip to his house if I had to.

  “No,” she shook her head. “Nothing’s wrong, okay.” She smiled, showing full teeth, which I knew was for show, but she looked funny as hell. If it were something serious then she would’ve told me.

  I put the key in the ignition and let it roar to life. “You do look pretty.” I winked at her. “Even though I saw you looking the exact same a few hours ago.”

  “Put it in reverse, Casanova. I’m starving.

  I treated Lee to Italian food at this restaurant that Garrett told me about. The food was awesome. I swear the two of us ate enough food that we could barely move afterward. We loved it so much that we agreed to go back soon, and Lee said she would name her firstborn after the chef. That was until the waitress told us his name was Gaylord, like from that movie with Ben Stiller. So the name was a no-go, but we still couldn’t wait to go back.

  We pulled into the parking lot of this new place that everyone on campus had been talking about. It was supposed to be a fun place to go where you could listen to music and hang out.

  But after seeing the line outside the door, we decided against it. It was too damn cold to be waiting in a line that wrapped all the way around the place.

  “Let’s just go back to the barbecue place. I’m sure there’s karaoke.”

  “You going to sing?” I asked her, just joking around. I knew that girl wasn’t going anywhere near a microphone. She valued her life too much.

  She smirked. “I just want to go someplace where I can work off that fifteen pounds of pasta I just ate. You better twirl me around the dance floor, Buddy.”

  She’d finally lightened up. It was about time. I was about to start calling her sour puss.

  The parking lot was half empty when we pulled up, and we had the new place to thank for that.

  We picked a high bar table in the back by the dance floor. There were surprisingly more people inside than we thought. The music had already started, and as soon as we ordered our drinks, Lee pulled me to the floor.

  The song was way too country for me. I mean I like my country as much as the next guy, but this was some two-stepping old school music. But, it put a smile on Lee’s face when I spun her around, so I didn’t care.

  When the music stopped, the karaoke man called out the next singer.

  “Let’s give it up for Jude.” He said.

  Lee stopped dead in her tracks, as a slow song came through the speakers. Looking over at the stage, I saw the cowboy hat.

  That was him.

  She looked up at me and I nodded, so she turned around.

  “You want to dance?” I asked, and she said yes. I led her out to the dance floor and felt the deja vu hit me. The last time she left here in a rush. I remember every second of it sense it was the night she told me that she loved me. This time it was different, though. She wasn’t even looking in my direction. Her eyes were only on Tex.

  We didn’t even move around. The two of us just rocked back and forth in the same spot. I knew she was waiting for the song to end. I knew she needed to talk to him.

  “Go,” I told her when the song came to an end. “I’ll have a drink over at our table. That’s where I’ll be when you’re done.”

  She nodded.

  Nineteen

  Paislee

  I don’t know why, but my stomach was in knots. The moment I heard them call out his name it started to spin. With only a few short steps separating us, I thought I might hurl.

  “Can we talk?” I asked him.

  He didn’t respond with words, only shook his head.

  I followed him through the crowd of people and out the back entrance.

  “I tried texting you on Monday. You weren’t in class.”

  He propped his foot up against the brick siding of the building and leaned back. His demeanor was different than normal. It made him seem rigid.

  “I had some stuff to take care of at home,” he said. His tone was clipped and it made me feel like he didn’t want to be near me, like I was somehow wasting my breath.

  I stepped a little closer to him, and I could finally see where Josh had punched him. There was a small cut on the bottom corner of his lip. “I just wanted to tell you that I was sorry about what Josh did. He was out of line, and I wanted to tell you…”

  “Don’t,” he shook his head. “It’s not that big of a deal. I know how you feel about him, and it’s not like the two of us were dating.” He shrugged his shoulders.

  That stung a little, even though it was the truth. He wasn’t even going to give me a chance to explain myself. I wanted to tell him the truth about everything.

  “But…” I started to speak again.

  “I really got to go.” He pushed himself away from the wall and grazed my shoulder with his as he walked by.

  “Jude, wait. Dammit!” I
pulled on his jacket so that he would turn and face me. Then I yanked him down so that my lips slammed against his. If he wasn’t going to listen to reason, then I was going to show him.

  In the heat of the moment, I stood on my tiptoes taking in every breath of his that I could claim. His warm, thick lips covered mine and sent chills up my body. That was it. That was the kiss I’d been longing for. I tightened my grip on his shirt, pleading with him. I never wanted him to let go of me. His hands lowered down my back, and he pushed my body tightly against his making me moan into his mouth. I needed him. I slipped my tongue into his mouth, and pressed it hard against his. Every sensation in my body was heightened by a thousand percent. It was sweet death, and I wished for it to take me.

  As quick as the kiss began, is just how quick it stopped. He pulled away from me so fast it made my head spin.

  “I said don’t.” He spewed. His eyes were filled with hurt. I don’t know what I did.

  But as I stood there and watched him walk away, I felt my heart break. It shattered into pieces inside my chest, and cut away all the feelings that had built a wall around my heart. Every single piece of me was shaken.

  It hurt.

  It was so painful that it hurt me to breathe.

  He walked away from that kiss like it meant nothing to him. Yet, it meant everything to me.

  It was surreal. I’d never let anyone in like that. I’d never taken the initiative to put myself out there before. I did on a whim because my mind had all sorts of crazy things going on inside. I wanted to see if what I was feeling was real, and it was.

  But I guess for him, it wasn’t.

  Taking the deepest breath I could, I straightened myself up. Feeling like a fool made you feel like you were three inches tall. I used my hands to wipe away the tears that I didn’t even realize had fallen. I was such an idiot.

  So stupid.

  I should’ve known better.

  I stood outside for a few more minutes composing myself before I went back inside to Josh. If he’d seen me having a meltdown then Jude would be toast. Josh wouldn’t even ask questions. He’d just pound his face in, and I didn’t want that. It was best for me to just pretend like everything was cool. There was no sense in worrying Josh about the whole situation.

  Opening the back door, I made a beeline for the restroom. After splashing some cool water on my face, and smiling like an idiot in front of the mirror, I was ready.

  “So how did it go?” Josh asked loudly over the music.

  “Good,” I lied, and plastered on the fakest smile ever. I never wanted to talk about this night to anyone. I just wanted to forget the whole thing happened, but I knew that it would be easier said than done.

  “Let’s dance,” I told him as I grabbed his hand.

  He smiled. I needed more dancing, and less talking.

  And…

  I needed a drink.

  ***

  The rest of the week seemed to fly by. Jude never showed back up again for class. I looked for that cowboy hat every time, thought I sat all the way on the other side of the room. I was worried that if he did show up, things would be weird. There was no way I was going to find myself in another crazy situation with him. That was why I chose to be as far away from our usual seats as possible.

  It was hard dealing with the charade of being okay around Josh. I spent a whole night talking it over with Letty, and she let me cry on her shoulder. It hurt when Josh told me that he didn’t love me back the way that I loved him, but it didn’t compare to the way I was feeling about Jude. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Jude and I barely knew each other, but we just had this instant connection. I’d gotten the complete wrong impression from him, because I thought he was into me. It was almost like my heart knew that he was, but it was gone in a flash. Just like that, I was left standing alone in a dark parking lot with my pride stomped on. It was the first time in nineteen years that I’d ever felt that embarrassed and foolish.

  Letty said my pride would heal, and that I shouldn’t let any guy get the best of me. She was sadly right, but I wanted to take the time to heal. I wanted to wallow in my hurt pride, and have a pity party. I deserved it.

  With all my butt hurt, I knew that all I really wanted to do was go home for a while. I couldn’t wait for spring break. I never thought I’d ever say that. The next best thing was calling home to talk to Mom. We spent over an hour talking, and I was surprised to learn that she was missing me. I couldn’t remember the last time we talked for over an hour. Granted it was mostly about how things were going at home, and how busy Dad had been, but I didn’t mind. It was a nice change of pace for me after college classes and parties. We got to talk a little about Josh, and I mentioned Jude. Not in full detail, because she wouldn’t understand. You could only imagine just how fun it was bringing another guys name up in the conversation.

  When it came to guys who weren’t named Josh, Mom didn’t want to hear of it. She skated right over the subject, like I hadn’t even mentioned it.

  We also talked a little about Letty. I confided in my Mom about the things I knew about her, and about how worried I was about her all the time. The girl had a dresser with nothing on it, and a closet with nothing in it. Mom wasn’t sympathetic at all. She’d never “waste her time,” as she’d say it, on someone of limited means. In other words, she was a really snobby bitch sometimes, but she was still my Mom. Like it or not, I was stuck with her.

  It was nice just hearing her voice and having that little piece of home. I told her that I’d see her over spring break and I’d try to call her again before then. That satisfied her. But, she couldn’t hang up the phone without telling me to go shopping. There was a new bag that I just had to have.

  I didn’t need a new bag, but I could think of someone who did, and maybe getting out for some girl time would do me some good.

  Well, at least it was a good thought. I couldn’t get Letty on board. She said she’d rather stick a hot poker on her right butt cheek. A hot poker over shopping, the girl was nuts. Next time, I’d bribe her with food.

  Twenty

  Josh

  So, I’d been debating calling Gwen for the past week.

  Yes, it’d been a week.

  She was Fox’s sister. I knew that for sure after asking Garrett. He also told me that Fox was very protective of her for some reason, which I figured. Fox was the type of guy who didn’t talk a lot, but everyone steered clear of him. I couldn’t tell you why exactly. It was just something you knew from the moment you stepped foot onto the campus.

  Of course, she was a big girl and plenty old enough to see me if she wanted. It wasn’t like Fox and I were bros or anything. I wasn’t breaking any sort of code, by asking her out. She was free to make her own decision. At least I would think so.

  What the hell?

  I grabbed my cell phone out of my jacket pocket and called her. It was Sunday, and since I knew nothing about her, I wasn’t sure if she’d answer or not.

  “Hello,” her sweet voice came through the speaker of the phone.

  “Hey. Gwen?” I questioned, even though I knew for a fact it was her. I just wanted to say her name.

  “This is her.”

  “It’s Josh.”

  “Oh,” she hesitated, and I could picture her cheeks reddening. “Hey.”

  “I thought maybe you might want to get that coffee we talked about.”

  “Uh, I’m sorry. I can’t.” Her voice was barely audible.

  There was no explanation, just a no.

  “Okay, well,” I paused. “You have my number now. So how about you call me when you can,” I suggested.

  “Okay. I’ve got to go. Bye.” She quickly hung up the phone.

  Wow.

  All right then.

  Shot down twice in a row by the same girl. You got to love how that feels.

  Damn. I needed to get laid.

  ***

  Somewhere between kind of drunk, and slobbering I remember telling some red headed chick that she
was the prettiest thing I’d ever laid eyes on. Then I remembered very quickly that I’d told her a bold-faced lie. Those were the effects of too much Vodka. Call it what you will, but getting laid was a high priority, and lying was a price I was willing to pay. She was pretty enough.

  Too bad I was picturing a petite little blonde when I looked at her.

  Sex wasn’t good for the uncoordinated or the heavily intoxicated. It made me limp in more ways then one. Thankfully, because of the vodka, we didn’t make it past first base before I was too nauseous to move. The redhead griped but I didn’t care. I was ready to go back to my dorm.

  Garrett and I had been at this party for hours, and I’d only seen him once since we’d gotten there. He was probably off getting laid himself, and hopefully having a little more luck than me.

  Reaching for my phone, I squeezed it tight in my fist.

  “Call Lee,” I told it. Then laughed, because I was commanding my phone to make a call, like I was damn magician.

  Thank goodness I had the girl on speed dial because I couldn’t search her number if I wanted to.

  I pressed the number two key on the phone keypad and held it down.

  “This better be good Joshua. It’s fucking three in the morning.” She griped. She hated being woken up from her sleep, but I thought it was funny. That’s why I couldn’t stop laughing. “Seriously, Josh. I’m hanging up.”

  “No, wait. I need you.”

  “What do you want?” She yelled into the phone.

  “I need you to come and get me.”

  There was a long pause. “Where are you?” She asked.

  I laughed again, but I couldn’t help it.

  “You don’t have any idea where you are, do you?”

  “Nope.”

  I heard her say something under her breath, and then there was a loud commotion from her side of the phone. She was cussing me like there was no tomorrow.

  “You owe me big time,” she told me, and I knew she’d make good on that threat. “Is there anyone around there who can tell you where you are? I can’t go tramping around the whole town asking if anyone has seen you.”