A SEAL's Courage (Military Match #1)(20)

Lauren watched until Trent disappeared into the party room, then collapsed against the wall. She closed her eyes, fighting tears that wouldn’t stop filling her eyes. Tonight had started out well and had gone straight to hell. The loneliness had settled deep inside the minute that handsy jackass finally walked away. Sadly, she couldn’t even remember his name. Not that it mattered. Once again, she’d failed to find a nice, respectful guy. To top it off, it was her birthday, but she was still going home alone. The knowledge was eating a hole in her chest.

With a heavy sigh, she opened her eyes, willing away the self-pity, and straightened off the wall. She pushed into the bathroom. Never in her life had she drank this much. After Mary’s death, she’d made a firm rule—she’d allow herself the luxury of a drink. After all, she was a normal, healthy adult. But her limit was one.

Tonight, though, she’d intended to get drunk. And she’d succeeded, which was why she’d switched to “iced tea” when that jerk had asked her what she wanted to drink. She’d just wanted to enjoy her birthday and not worry for once. Now she remembered why she’d made that one-drink rule in the first place. Too much alcohol clearly made her out of control, not to mention sick to her stomach.

Well, that was one item she could officially cross off her “things she’d never done” list.

After relieving herself and washing her hands, she exited the restroom. Trent leaned against the wall outside the door. He had one hand tucked in the left pocket of his jacket, her coat dangling over his forearm. The sight of him there tugged at all those lonely places. The scared little girl inside the supposedly independent woman, who’d kill to have someone to wrap around her at the end of the night.

And now the man taking her home thought of her as little more than another sister.

Before she could gather her wits, Trent straightened off the wall and held her coat open for her. “All set. I managed to convince Mandy and Steph you were sick and wanted to go home. Mandy was fit to be tied when I wouldn’t let her come see you. I have strict orders to tell you that you’re to call them both first thing tomorrow morning.”

They walked in silence through the lobby, to where Will’s car was parked in the center of the hotel’s parking lot. Neither said anything during the twenty-minute ride across town to her place, either. She couldn’t muster the energy to make chitchat, and he didn’t push her. Trent seemed to retreat into his head, and for once, she was grateful.

After pulling up to the curb in front of her house and turning off the engine, he pulled out the keys and exited the car. He jogged around to her side, opened her door, and held out his palm before she’d even mustered the energy to sit upright.

He kept hold of her hand as he walked her to the door. He waited silently behind her while she dug in her purse for her keys, too, and after unlocking the door, of course he insisted on seeing her inside.

Standing in the foyer, she turned to him, but words wouldn’t come. She had no idea what to say to him. His chivalry was doing her head in. He was the kind of man she’d envisioned when she’d signed up with Military Match in the first place. He was the complete opposite of that jerk he’d chased off earlier.

Trent reached out, thumbing her chin. “Will you be okay?”

The thoughtful, tender gesture shivered all the way down her spine and filled her chest with an ache she didn’t know what to do with.

“I’m fine. Go home and get some sleep. I imagine you have to work tomorrow.” She touched his arm in gratitude and turned, making her way toward the bedroom at the back of the house.

Okay, so it was rude to walk away and leave him standing there, but if she said anything else, she’d cry. The tears were too close to the surface. Of all the men she could have ended up with tonight, she’d ended up with the one she wanted the most. The good guy.

But he didn’t want her. Trent considered her just a friend.

The one guy who had wanted her…had been a selfish jerk. Ironic, really. It seemed good men really did have no interest in her. It seemed her only hope was to settle for the jerks.

She waited until she heard the front door close before yanking off the top and skirt Steph had insisted she wear tonight. She’d managed to pull on her pajamas when the whole night caught up with her. She was totally and utterly alone in the world. And nothing proved that more than coming home to her empty house. Hell, maybe it was the alcohol. Wasn’t it a depressant? But of all nights, tonight she needed someone. If only so she didn’t have to sleep alone.

She sank onto the edge of the bed, flopped back, and gave in to the tears. Maybe if she cried it out, she’d get the hell over it. From the corner of her eye, she could see a large shadow filling the doorway. She rolled her eyes, her cheeks blazing, but didn’t bother to wipe away the tears. Of course Trent had followed her. That was just like him. The Navy SEAL who’d risked his life for the freedom of others. Who held open doors for women and who carried the tags of the dog he’d lost in honor of his memory.

And here she was, bawling like a baby. What an impression she must be making on him.

She let out a shuddering sigh, a single tear escaping to roll down her temple. Christ, she had to be a mess by now. She ought to tell him to leave, but he’d been kind to her tonight, and she just didn’t have it in her to put up walls against him. Ironically enough, of all nights, tonight she couldn’t resist his friendship. She just needed him, even if only a friend, so that she wouldn’t be so alone. “What’s wrong with me, Trent?”