“Oh, I was told no plenty of times. Everyone knows my brother is the favorite. Personally, I don’t get it. The guy dresses like he’s going into the woods to cut down some trees, he says the weirdest things, and he’s a pain in the ass.” Shrugging, he added, “Don’t worry though, the lack of attention didn’t ruin my childhood. I’m perfectly okay,” he spread his arms wide. “There’s no need to feel sorry for me, but if you’d like to kiss me and make it all better, I won’t complain.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not kissing you.”
“You’ve kissed me before,” he smirked. Leaning in, so his lips brushed my ear, he whispered, “In fact, we’ve done a lot more than kiss.”
My cheeks flamed and I put both of my hands against his muscular chest, giving him a shove.
He chuckled. “You can’t deny the facts, Row.”
I chose to ignore him, shoving the cart forward so I could start loading the plastic bags.
The cashier announced the total, and I reached for my wallet, but Trent was already pulling out a credit card.
“Nope, no way, put that thing away,” I warned. I was not letting Trent buy my groceries. I didn’t need his charity.
“Row, don’t be difficult,” he went to swipe his card.
“Don’t even think about swiping that card, Trenton.” My voice was icy cold. I was pissed.
“You mean like this?” He blinked his eyes innocently and swiped the card.
“Cancel that!” I pointed at the cashier. She looked at me like I had lost my mind…maybe I had.
“Uh…” She looked from me to Trent and back again.
“Don’t listen to her,” Trent waved a hand dismissively. “My girlfriend likes to assert her independence by buying the groceries. But I’m a man, and that’s my job. She really needs to stop getting her panties in such a bunch.”
My mouth fell open as the cashier handed him the receipt.
“I’m not your girlfriend.” I don’t know why those were the first words to leave my mouth.
“Oh honey, you always say such hurtful things when you’re on your period. I should’ve gotten you a brownie,” he smirked, throwing a smile over his shoulder at the cashier. We sure were giving her an entertaining evening.
Trent pushed me aside and rolled the cart out into the night. He headed straight to where my car was parked and I wasn’t surprised to see his shiny black car beside it.
“Open the trunk,” he demanded, already grabbing up bags.
“I don’t need your help.”
He looked at me peculiarly. “I never said you did need my help, but I want to help you, and there’s a big difference. Besides, Row, accepting help doesn’t make you any less of an independent person. I know you’re all for girl power and doing things by yourself, but it’s okay to let someone else step in and take care of you.”
I swallowed thickly, looking down at the ground so he couldn’t see the tears in my eyes. I opened the trunk and stepped back, hoping he didn’t see how upset I was.
No one had ever taken care of me. I was raising Ivy, Tristan, and myself. Nobody cared about me, and if I let Trent in I’d get spoiled to having him, then he’d leave and I’d be even more shattered than I was now.
He got all the groceries in the trunk and reached up to close it.
My breath fogged the chilly air as I forced myself to thank him. “Thank you,” I finally squeaked after an awkward silence.
He laughed—and oh my God how I loved his laugh, it was husky and masculine, and perfect like him. “It really killed you to say that, didn’t it?”
I shrugged. “No one ever helps me, so I’m not used to thanking people.”
“That’s really sad,” he frowned.
“It’s the truth,” I pushed my hair out of my eyes, heading for the driver’s door. “I’ll see you…sometime.”
“Row?”