Endless Bonds Copyright © 2016-2018 xXMopelXx All Rights Reserved.

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Trenton needs a reality check.

As I walk out of the kitchen, I can feel him fast on my heels, breathing fire down my neck like a dragon and drilling holes in my back with his unyielding gaze.

Something is happening between us. I feel the dynamics shifting and, in all honesty, it scares the living daylights out of me.

He's acting like a fvcking caveman and I'm not here for it.

There's a soft look that enters his eyes sometimes when we're hanging out together, and I don't have the energy to figure out what that means. I mean, maybe I look at him like that, too? After all, he's my best friend and we're trying to find our way back to each other.

Maybe we already have.

His reaction was uncalled for...and so were some of the moments that occurred between us.

And moments like when he sleeps in my dorm room and nearly kisses me, when I'm over at his place and we nap, and when he gets annoyed and gives dirty looks to the other guys I'm friends with...Well, that puts us back a few blocks.

Everything else in between is perfect and platonic and us.

"Why do you care, Trent?"

"Because I do, dammit."

I shake that thought out of my head with great difficulty. I know that conversation will never leave me; it'll stay suppressed somewhere in the back of my head like the memory of a really shit dinner at a nice restaurant.

That thought leaves my stomach churning and my heart in a turmoil.

"Because I do, dammit."

A sixteen-year-old Cher would have dwelled over Trent's sentence. Picked apart every word and rearranged them in a way she'd like. A nineteen-year-old Cher can't afford to do so.

"Cheryl." I hear Trent's voice echoing behind me and I love how it calls out my name a little too much, all low and husky... But, I can't afford to look back at him either.

The look he pinned me with- all deep and burning - when I told him he couldn't say things like that is etched in my memory.

It's not going to leave me either.

I walk faster, but Trent's long strides tell me he's closing in rather quickly.

* * *

I find Tara with her tongue down Calvin's throat.

They're gathered around a group of people setting up a table for beer-pong. He's sitting on a dining chair and Tara's astride him, his arms around her and her fingers delved in his blond strands.

They're kissing passionately and slightly noisily when I get close to them.

Tara saw Calvin at one of his football games when she went to cheer for Trent, and they hit it off right away. They've had this arrangement for the last two weeks. He goes over to her sorority and, they fvck "all night long", as she calls it.

Normally I'd let them do their own thing, but right now I'm ready to leave and Tara is my ride.

When I get near them, Trent beats me to it, snapping them out of their daze as he calls out my name one more time. "Cher."

God, I really do like how my name rolls off his tongue.

Tara and Calvin snap away from each other - Tara gasping and Calvin sucking on her bottom lip - and both look at me sheepishly as if to say, 'why are you interrupting us?'

I grit my teeth. Not me.

Then they spot Trent behind me.

Now that they're done excessively searching for each other's tonsils, Tara says, "Oh. Hi, Cher." She peers over at Trent by angling her body away from Calvin. "Trent? Hey."

"Hi," Trent and I both awkwardly mumble in unison.

Calvin doesn't know if he should dart away or laugh. "Is there a problem..."

"No," Trent and I, once again, say in unison like we're in a fucking choir.

"Tara, I need to speak with you -" My words are cut short because I feel heat seeping into my skin from where Trent has pressed up behind me. He's so tall that I sometimes forget and feel dwarfed in comparison.

"Calvin," Trent says, and I feel the whisper like a dragging caress over my shoulder. I try not to shiver and fail. "Nice of you to mention you're fvcking one of my best friend."

I wheeze and Tara chokes on her saliva, her eyes bulging out of their sockets. Calvin simply looks amused as he gently hoists himself up and takes Tara with him.

"Trent," Tara warns with a shaky quality to her voice. "Play nice."

"Yeah, Reynolds," Calvin chimes with a smirking glint in his eyes. "Play nice. Also, nice of you to mention you slept with my cousin last year." Calvin bends down since he's so freakishly tall and brushes his mouth against Tara's cheek. She leans up into his touch. "I'll see you later, Simmons."

Trent is still bristling behind me, I'm too stunned by Calvin's admission, and Tara looks at us both with a pointed look, eyebrows arched. "What is it? Y'all look like you have something to say. And, please, don't answer together at the same fvcking time. It's weird."

"Are you ready to leave, Tar?" I ask impatiently.

"You're not leaving," Trent says through clenched teeth from behind me, putting a defensive hand on my waist.

Tara's eyes trek the movement suspiciously.

"You're not the boss of me, Trent." I push his hand away and avoid looking at Tara.

But Trent is insistent. "We're not done having this conversation."

Ugh, why must he do this in front of Tara? "Yes, we are. You said your part and I said mine."

"What is this about, guys?" Tara interjects. Then blinks as if she actually understands the depth of our fvckery of a situation. "Ohhhhh. Is this about the project? Don't be mad at her, Trey. I pushed her to ask you. I thought it would be a good idea."

Project? What is she talking about?

Trent steps out from behind my shadow until my shoulder touches his bicep. "What are you talking about?"

Tara's eyes bounce between Trent and I with a skeptical look. "You know...the one she shared her proposition with you... or am I assuming things right now?"

Ah. She's talking about how I mentioned wanting to interview Trent for my thesis surrounding athletes and alcohol consumption. "I asked Trent for an interview for my sports and nutrition class project and he said no in the kitchen, and I told him to forget I said anything. End of conversation," I lie.

I don't want Tara knowing what Trent and I were talking about in the kitchen. It seems private and just for us.

Trent catches on and he speaks sweetly through gritted teeth, "Yes, sweetheart. That project. The one for which we aren't done talking about. In the kitchen. Where you asked me if I even cared for the project and I said I do. Let's do this interview or whatever. I changed my mind."

I hiss back just as syrupy, "We ended the conversation in the kitchen, Trent. Maybe another fvcking time."

He runs a hand over his frustrated face and mussed hair. "You drive me crazy. Fine. We'll talk later. Interview later for this project. I'm confused enough as it is."

Tara's smirking crazily like she's the audience to mine and Trent's stand up comedy fvck-up.

"Good," I bare through another round of clenched teeth. "Can we get going, Tara?"

"Sureeee." She pulls her keys out of her wallet. "You promised me FroYo anyways, so we can stop by that new place in town."

Buy her frozen yogurt? I could kiss her right now for getting me the hell out of here!

Trent's body is vibrating with tension as he follows behind, and I ignore him as we walk towards the door. He really does have an amazing place. It's huge, painted white so it looks even more spacious, floor-to-ceiling windows, and gorgeous toffee-toned floor. Too bad I'll be avoiding it like the plague.

Tara giggles and sends Trent a wink. "You got some red lipstick on your mouth. Guess breaking up with Rose finally paid off."

True enough, he has red stained lips like he was busy fooling around with someone before. I didn't notice it when we were in the kitchen, but my eyes zero in on it and the sight has me narrowing my eyes and smirking bitterly.

"Hasn't it only been a few weeks, Trent?" I don't know this person who says these words with so much malice to her best friend. "Can't keep it in you pants, eh?"

An uncertain emotion has my gut swirling.

Trent's chin juts stubbornly and he crosses his bulging arms on his massive chest. It bows with a breath. There's a slight irritated look that's accompanied with a condescending prick-like smirk. "Why do you care, sweetheart?"

I take a staggering breath that knocks me off my axis.

Jesus, what game are we both playing at?

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