Steam (Homecoming Hearts #4)(21)

Ashby reminded Trent a little of his buddy Joey. Not just because they were both obviously gay, but he felt like Ashby wore his heart on his sleeve just like Joey did. He was surprised to realize he was actually looking forward to meeting up again later.

Now, if only he could have a civil conversation with his dad, Trent could relax. But all the work he’d done forgetting his troubles on the mountain was undone as soon as he stepped inside the resort again.

Fuck, he didn’t want to have this conversation.

But he hadn’t wanted to have this conversation for two years and nothing was getting better. Maybe knowing he had a friendly face to see later would fortify him. It was certainly more appealing than going back to his cabin by himself. Besides, the whole point of him being here was to try and bury the hatchet with his dad. Barry would have Trent’s hide if he didn’t at least try.

When Trent went around to the shop, it was packed. Or, at least as packed as such a tiny place could get. The couple of aisles between all the tightly stacked souvenirs were filled with half a dozen geeky guys who looked like they were barely out of high school. Trent guessed this was maybe the first vacation they had taken by themselves from the way they were goofing around taking photos on their cameras wearing anything they could from his dad’s stock.

Trent didn’t want an audience for this little chat, so he lurked a little way down the corridor and took off some of his layers from where he’d been out in the snow. With his jacket unzipped, his gloves shoved in his pockets and his board propped up against the wall, he fished his phone out from where he’d secured it deep within one of the pockets.

When he saw the messages waiting for him, he almost put the phone right back.

Not because he didn’t want to talk to his friends. But because of what they wanted to talk about.

Trent had forgotten all about the wedding.

Jesus, he was a shitty friend. How could he forget that was this weekend? Groaning, he unlocked his phone to face the music.

Since Blake, Joey and Raiden had all got themselves boyfriends, they had started a new band group chat, this one including their other halves but leaving out the fifth and final member of Below Zero, Reyse Hickson. Hicks wasn’t really in the loop anymore, what with being one of the most famous pop stars on the planet. It made Trent sad that there were some inevitable hurt feelings that the label had dropped the rest of the band to pursue solo prospects with Reyse. Trent had never cared, but it had left a rift between them as their lives all moved on.

So now he mostly talked to the guys in this chat group. There wasn’t the time to ponder that, though, because Blake and his partner Elion had very specific questions on their mind. Questions for Trent.

Hey TJ! Blake had written an hour or so ago. How’s the vacation? Meet any hot girls? Maybe one you’d like to take to a wedding this Saturday??? He followed it with several winking emojis.

Dude, we’re not playing around here! came Elion’s message next. Trent sighed, imagining the happy couple sitting next to each other in their appartment in Cincinnati, tag-teaming their efforts to tie Trent down to an answer. I’m printing the place cards at home, but there’s still so much to do!

Elion had recently qualified as a Licensed Practical Nurse and had taken a position at one of the city’s ERs. The stress of that on top of wedding planning meant he had apparently been bursting into tears regularly over the past few weeks.

He was a charming guy. Trent was very happy for him and his buddy Blake. But damn if they weren’t making this huge fucking deal over Trent picking a girl to come to their big day with.

They kept saying that Trent could bring anyone. He never had a shortage of ladies in his life, after all. But Trent couldn’t help but feel like this wasn’t a ‘bring any old girl’ type of situation.

Blake had met Elion almost as soon as the band had broken up. Joey had met his guy Gabe a few months after that, and they’d gotten married last fall in a beautiful ceremony that Trent actually remembered most of, despite the free-flowing tequila. Then Raiden had surprised everyone last year by getting together with his beast of a bodyguard. Although Trent maintained he had felt there was something brewing between them when they’d met in Philadelphia.

However, now it meant the pressure was on him. Why did happy couples always want to see everyone else settled down as well? All that shit he’d been feeling in Barry’s office came crawling back, causing his throat to get tight. Trent knew his friends meant well, but their incessant pestering for him to find The One was just making him feel even crappier for all the incredible women he had let go over the years. Because when it came to commitment, apparently TJ Charles was a big fucking chicken.

How did you know when you met the person you wanted to spend the rest of your life with? Trent had fallen for so many girls over the years. Some he even thought he’d been in love with. But he’d never felt that ‘struck by lightning’ moment, where his heart ached so much it was physically painful to be apart from that special someone. Wasn’t that how love was supposed to feel?

This plus one situation with the wedding felt like the guys were trying to get him to commit, really commit. Like they’d all ganged up on him and decided he needed to find his soulmate, now, or he would never be happy. What if he wasn’t ready yet? He could bring a girl to the next wedding. Maybe she really would be The One.

He certainly wasn’t going to produce a girl in time for the flight out on Friday. Let alone someone truly special.