#Rev (GearShark #2)(68)

Like for real?

I was getting good at being gay.

No, strike that. I was getting good at being who I really was.

I wasn’t interested in Arrow, not like that, but it felt pretty good to give him a little boost of confidence. I didn’t think he got those very often.

Maybe this good deed would help counteract the bad one I put into play at the frat this morning.

Not that I cared. Con deserved exactly what he got.

And it would be good for Arrow to see the bigots of the world didn’t always win out.





Trent

The scent of brewing coffee and the sounds of a lively baby greeted me when I walked into the house.

Ivy’s blond head poked out of the kitchen when Prada came rushing toward me, her nails clicking a ruckus as she came.

“Hey!” she called.

“Hey.”

“Where’s Drew?” I called out. She’d already disappeared back in the kitchen.

“I thought he was with you!”

That stopped me in my tracks. What the hell? He wasn’t here? A sick, panicked feeling wrapped its icy-cold fingers around my heart and squeezed. I wasn’t a paranoid person, but now I knew how one felt. The irrational but totally authentic thoughts running rampant through my mind literally made my palms break out in a cold sweat.

Flashes of the night I was jumped played behind my eyes like a B-rated horror movie. Had someone seen him leave the frat this morning? Had someone jumped him? Was he lying somewhere unable to call for help?

I yanked out my phone and dialed him.

It rang and rang. Just when I was about to throw my phone, he answered.

“Hey,” he said like he didn’t know I was having a mini heart attack.

“I thought you were dead in a ditch, *,” I yelled.

There was pause on the line. “You at home?”

“And you aren’t.”

His muffled curse didn’t make me feel any better. And then the sound of a muffled voice that was not Drew’s grabbed my attention.

“Forrester!” I demanded. “Where the f*ck are you?”

“I’m on my way home. I’m fine.” He sounded a little guilty.

I blew out a breath. “You okay?”

“Yeah, frat boy. I’m fine. I should have texted you.”

“Ya think?” I snapped.

“I am a big boy,” he muttered.

I made a rude sound. “Yeah, so am I, but I still got f*cked up.”

Silence.

“Yeah… I’m sorry, T.”

My anger deflated, and the panic I felt was draining away. “It’s fine. I shouldn’t have freaked.”

“I get it.”

“I’ll see you in a few?”

“Definitely.”

I cut off the line and walked into the kitchen. Ivy was standing at the island with some coffee and a bagel in front of her. Nova was in her little seat with dry Cheerios all over the place.

She grinned when she saw me and held out her arms.

“Hey, midge.” I unhooked the little buckle around her waist and pulled her up. There were Cheerios all over her, too, and some of them fell onto my chest and decorated the black T-shirt I wore.

Nova reached down and picked one off my chest and held it out to me between her two tiny fingers.

“For me?” I asked and then snatched it out of her fingers (gently, of course) like I was starved.

She laughed like it was the greatest thing she’d ever seen.

“Mushy,” I commented as I chewed. “Just how I like my Cheerios.”

Ivy laughed.

I snuggled the baby close and kissed the top of her head. She decided she liked feeding me, so she started picking all the Cheerios off us to shove them in my mouth.

It was gross. I ate them anyway.

She liked it.

“Where’s my brother?” Ivy asked.

I glanced away from the baby. She was looking good as always in a pair of skinny jeans, a long floaty-looking white top, and a colorful scarf draped around her neck. Her blond hair was wavy and pulled into a high ponytail that bounced when she moved around.

“On his way home.”

“He okay?”

I grimaced. Obviously, she heard me reading him the riot act. I wasn’t exactly quiet. “He’s fine. I just overreacted.”

“You’re very protective,” she said. “I like that.”

“He’s been through a lot,” I muttered and ate another Cheerio.

“So have you.”

“He told you what happened in North Carolina, right?” I asked. This was the first time I’d been alone with Ivy since we got back. Since Drew’s parents were also hers, I wanted to know what she was feeling about the way they treated him.

“I had to drag it out of him.”

I nodded. “Probably didn’t want to upset you.”

Ivy set down her coffee and looked straight at me. “How bad was it?”

Braeden walked in the room, but it was as if he knew we were talking. He said nothing and just went right to the coffee. On his way, he did stop to kiss Nova on the cheek. When he tried to lift her out of my arms, she clung to me and shook her head.

She loved me.

And she loved that I ate her nasty used cereal.