| |
The last person Katrina expected to see as she walked up to the hospital entrance was Timothy, who waited for her, his arms crossed. She squared her shoulders and held her head high. She had every right to be there, despite Timothy’s claims that she shouldn’t be.
“When you weren’t at work again, I figured I’d find you here,” he said as she neared.
“Yes, well, I’m visiting a friend.”
“The same friend you were mourning when I first met you.”
It was Katrina’s turn to cross her arms. She had no reply; Timothy was right. She had been in mourning of a love lost for years, unable to date another man. But Timothy had been patient, and safe.
Still, he didn’t know everything.
Just as Katrina was questioning whether she did.
“Let’s go grab some breakfast,” Timothy suggested, but Katrina shook her head.
“I’ve already eaten.”
“Why are you here?”
She sighed in frustration. “I’m here to see Ren. Justin can’t be here and neither can Martin.”
“I’m sure he doesn’t need a babysitter.”
“That’s not what I’m doing.”
“Isn’t it?”
“Look...” Katrina sighed again and pushed her hair back out of her face. “Right now, this is where I need to be. And I need you to respect that.”
“I need you to respect that no girlfriend of mine would be spending this much time with her ex.”
“It’s complicated, okay?”
“Well, uncomplicate it. Spend the day with me.”
“I can’t.”
“You can’t, or you don’t want to?”
“Please don’t do this here,” she said, her voice lower, hoping that he would get the hint. “I will call you later.”
“Like you were going to last night?”
“I was tired, Timothy. Please understand, I need to be here.”
He huffed past her, muttering something unintelligible beneath his breath. She turned towards him, brows furrowed.
“What did you just say?”
“I said he can have you,” he bit back, leaving Katrina stunned.
Timothy was breaking up with her.
Timothy, who had been her rock, or at the very least someone to lean on.
Timothy, who suddenly had a jealous streak over something as simple as Katrina sitting in the hospital with an old friend.
But she knew she was lying to herself.
Lorenzo was more than an old friend.
And his pull had her turning from Timothy and walking through the hospital doors.
His pull took her straight to his room, her pulse increasing as she neared.
His pull had her stomach dipping as his eyes met hers and softened.
And she damned her heart, telling it all she needed was answers.
***
Katrina and Justin had secured their invitation to the Torrence’s New Year’s Bash through Lorenzo, who somehow had managed to override Emily’s objections. Emily was still angry that Katrina and Lorenzo were dating, something she’d forbade her once-best friend to do.
But Katrina couldn’t help herself.
She’d been under his spell from day one.
“This,” Justin said as he stepped between Katrina and Lorenzo, putting an arm around each of them, “is going to be our best year yet. It’s the year we become seniors.”
“Not until fall,” Katrina reminded him.
“It’s the year we finally rule the school. The year we are one step closer to getting the hell out of here.”
Katrina noticed the tic in Lorenzo’s jaw at the mention of leaving.
He had nowhere to go, no family to truly call his own.
What would happen to him?
Katrina had no recollection of ever seeing the other foster children who had come and gone after they’d left school.
“So...think we can get away with spiking the drinks around here tonight?” Justin smirked as he looked back and forth between them.
“I hope you’re not expecting me to kiss you at midnight,” Lorenzo said as he pulled out from Justin’s arm, an easy smile on his face.
Katrina could see through it, though.
She knew he was thinking about it, too.
“I’ve got prospects lined up.” Justin straightened as he stepped forward, then turned to them and smiled. “Later.”
“Later,” Katrina called after him with a laugh, one that didn’t quite reach her heart.
They still had over a year before they had to worry about separation, when one’s parents would send them to college, and the other, with no parents of his own, would be left to find his way.
“Let’s think of happier things,” she suggested as she stepped up to Lorenzo, whose own attention was averted. Katrina followed his line of vision and saw Mrs. Torrence in the corner, looking out at the partygoers.
Her eyes on Lorenzo.
“Everything okay?” Katrina asked, taking his hand in hers.
“Hmm? Oh, yeah...yeah.” He squeezed her hand as he squeezed his own eyes shut, then he looked down at her, one corner of his mouth lifted in a smile. “Let’s get out of here.”
That smile wasn’t reaching his eyes. “Ren, what is it?”
With his free hand, he brushed her hair back behind her ear. “I just want time with my girl without all the chaos.”
She wanted to question the faraway look in his eyes.
Instead, drawn in under his spell, she peered up at him through her lashes. “Yes,” she said.
She would always say yes to him.
***
Katrina lifted her chin as she peered over at Lorenzo. His bruises, still prominent, were already beginning to heal. The stitches above his left eye would leave a scar, but that would only add to his allure, his appeal.
Damn this man for drawing her in.
Always.
“I hear my brother suggested us working together,” she finally said, her first words to him since she’d arrived.
He let out one short laugh. “Yeah. Yeah, he did. Crazy, huh?”
She scowled, though unsure why his words had bothered her. “Why crazy?”
“Could we work together, Trina?”
The way her name fell from his lips passed a chill through her body.
“What makes you think we couldn’t?”
Lorenzo was silent for a moment, his eyes locked with hers. “I didn’t say we couldn’t. I asked if we could. There’s a difference.”
“It didn’t sound that way.”
“I apologize.”
Katrina swallowed over her question, wishing she could scream at him, ask him which of the wrongs he was apologizing for.
Instead, she nodded, her eyes dropping to her hands which were folded in her lap.
“Is that why you came today?”
His voice cut through her, made her heart constrict in her chest.
“Not entirely,” she admitted.
“Then why?”
“I told you I would be here.”
“Trina...”
“You don’t like hospitals. You don’t like being left alone in them. I feel bad enough when visiting hours are over and I have to leave, and—”
“Thank you.”
His hand was covering hers.
Oh, how his touch burned.
***
“Well look at us, being all stealthy.” Katrina smiled at Lorenzo, who was leading the way down an unlit path towards the stables.
“We have to be.”
“What, are you chained to the house?”
“Fuck, I hope not.”
“Ren...” She stopped and grasped his hand, causing him to falter slightly in the shallow snow. “What is going on?”
He stepped up to her, cupping her face in his hands before he left a feather-soft kiss on her lips. “I just want to be with my girl.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about. Here...” She reached up and smoothed her thumb over the crease between his eyebrows. “Something is wrong.”
Lorenzo was silent, his eyes sad as he looked down at her.
“They’re not sending you away, are they?”
He shook his head slightly.
“Ren, how bad is it there? I mean, I know Emily is obviously a pain.”
He looked away, back at the trail, then back into Katrina’s eyes. “You’re the reason I stay, Trina.”
She gasped at his admission.
“Please, I just...I just want to spend time with you. Without prying eyes or feeling like my every move is being scrutinized.”
“By whom?”
“By...” His voice trailed off. “It doesn’t matter, Trina. It doesn’t matter because I have you.” He rested his forehead against hers, his breath showing in the cold. “Please tell me I have you.”
***
“Why were you on Willow Creek Road, Ren?”
He removed his hand, his eyes closing.
“You said that you couldn’t talk about it yesterday. If you really want to work together, I need answers.”
His breathing shallowed and he swallowed slowly. “It’s...complicated.”
“Uncomplicate it.” Was it irony that she was using Timothy’s words? “Uncomplicate everything and just tell me why the hell you left me in the first place.”
His eyes met her, the sadness there tearing at her heart.
“I had to, Trina. I had to.”