This Trust of Mine (12 page)

"Okay."
I whispered.

I walked
over to the sink emptying my cup out and gave a quick kiss to my gran's cheek.
"I'll see ya after school Gran."

"Sounds
good love. Have a great day." I caught her wink in Madison's direction
just as I turned to grab my book bag. That devilish old woman was in on
something with him, and I was goin' to find out what it was, if it was the last
thing I did.

Madison held
the screen door open to allow me to walk through first and I swung my hips just
enough, as I walked to catch his attention. I could feel his eyes boring into
my ass the second I crossed over the threshold. If he didn't want to partake in
what I was offering, then I was damn sure goin' to make him regret it every
chance I got.

Of course,
like the gentleman he was, Madison held open the passenger door for me and made
sure I was all settled in before heading around the front over to his side.

"I like
your new ride by the way." His voice was like sunshine on a winter's day.
It melted me to the core, along with other areas of interest.

"Thanks.
My granddad bought it for me and restored the entire thing. Speaking of which,
how am I supposed to get to work today now that you have all but commandeered
me?" I let out a small giggle loving that our friendly flirtatious banter
had finally returned.

"That's
just it, you're not workin' today." He winked in my direction, but my
smile quickly faded into a frown.

"Madison,
you can't just do that. My boss is already a stick in the mud, I
really
don't need her hating me more
than she already does."

"That's
where you're wrong darlin'. That lady worships the ground you walk on. She told
me herself that she would have been outta business months ago had you not
started workin' there."

Now I was
utterly confused. That woman practically went out of her way to make me feel
like the most useless person in town. I was even beginning to think she got a
kick out of kicking me while I was down.

"Hmmm."

"This
surprises you?"

"A
little, yeah. So if I'm not goin' to work, what am I doin'?" I turned in
my seat, arms folded across my chest, waiting for an answer. The minute Madison
took in the view in front of him he let out a low chuckle.

"Are
you tryin' to look tough?"

"Maybe.
Is it workin?"

"Not in
the least, but it is a nice view." I felt his heated gaze trailing down my
body and coming to rest on my leg that was kicked up on the bench seat between
us.

I quickly
brought it down and turned to sit normally on my side.

"Sorry."
I whispered ashamed at my behavior. He just wanted to be friends and I was all
but inviting him to touch me.

"Don't
be." He smirked.

The next ten
minutes to Joey's house was uneventful and completely silent. I think both of
us were just tryin' to gauge how to be just friends, when clearly all either of
us wanted to do, was pull over on the side of the road and rip each other's
clothes to shreds. Well at least those were my thoughts.

"It's
your next left."

"I
know." He laughed.

"Oh
yeah, sorry."

"I'd
ask how you and Joey started hangin' out, but I'm pretty sure I can guess on
that one."

"It's
actually a funny story." I chided back.

"I bet.
Does it have anything to do with why you changed your hair color?"

And just
when I thought he was just another typical guy and wouldn't notice, he did. Of
course he did. He was Madison after all, and that right there meant more to me
than he would ever know.

"It
does actually. Well not why, but we met after I bought the stuff."

I could feel
his eyes on me again and it took everything in me not to turn and look directly
into that sea of green. I knew if I did, this whole "friends" thing
would go right out the damn window. Stupid friends. I didn't need any more
friends.

Joey was
waiting on his front porch, just as he was every other mornin' when his smile
quickly turned into a frown as he approached Madison's truck.

"Well,
well if it isn't Mr. All American. What the hell are you doin' back in
town?" Joey quickly shooed me over in Madison's direction so he could get
into the truck. My leg brushed against Madison's jean clad leg and the
electricity I had always known to be there, sent a shiver down my spine. Apparently
he was having the same reaction, because he suddenly seemed nervous and outta
sorts.

"Sorry."
I whispered in his direction without actually looking at him.

"For
what? You never have to apologize to me, pretty girl."

Oh, if he
only knew what it did to me when he said those things.

"I'm
back for good. Transferred to Texas A&M, quit baseball and now I just need
to get your hard headed brother to come back out here so the band can get back
together."

"Nice
dude."

"What?
You quit baseball? But I thought-?"

His hand
gently touched my thigh, giving it a squeeze and it took everything in me not
to have an orgasm with Joey sitting on the other side of me. I hadn't wanted to
be touched in two months and now all I wanted was for Madison to rip off my
shorts and have his way with me. Where the hell did that come from?

"I'll
fill ya in later. As for now, you have school." My leg suddenly went cold
as his scorching touch left my thigh. I could feel my face fall in
disappointment, but I quickly recovered and made my way out of the cab.

"Thanks
for the ride cowboy. I'll see ya after school."

"You
sure will."

And with
that, I went skipping over to catch up with Joey and walk to my first period
class with thoughts of Madison to fill my day.

"What
was that all about? I didn't know you knew Madi."

I couldn't
help but almost fall over hysterically laughing. "You call him Madi?"

"Well,
yeah. Always have. But that didn't answer my question."

I linked my
arm through Joey's as we walked up the path to the main entrance of the school.
"Joey, if I didn't know any better, I would say you were jealous."

I continued
giggling all the way to my seat. When I glanced over at Joey to make sure he
was okay, I saw something on his face I had never seen before and I was afraid
of what it might mean. I was just about to ask what was up with him, but the
teacher came walking in and demanded all of us to open our books to page
forty-five. I made a mental note to talk to Joey about this at lunch. Could he
really be jealous?

Madison

I was two
seconds away from jumping out of the truck and breaking every limb on Joey's
body. The minute her arm slipped through his, my chest tightened and every
emotion I had ever felt towards that girl washed over me, crashing down like an
massive wave.

This feeling
of jealousy was something new to me. I had never really had a long-term
relationship and when I did, I was more of a love 'em and leave 'em kind of
guy. Even though Joey was my best friend's little brother, I was finding it
hard to believe that friendship was all that he was interested in with Kayla.

I watched
them both closely as they disappeared through the doors to the school. I threw
my truck in drive and sped out of there, almost hitting two kids crossing the
road. I quickly slammed on the brakes and tried to patiently wait for them to
cross, but my patience was running a bit thin right now. The whole situation
was getting to be too much for me. I know I said I wanted to just be friends,
but I was almost positive that Kayla and I both knew better than to think
that's all we could be.

Instead of
goin' home, I decided the last minute to go to the local gym. As I pulled up in
front of the dilapidated building, I only had one thing on my mind. I needed to
get all of this pent up frustration out of me, and if picturing Joey's face
helped with that, then I was goin' to use it to my advantage.

****

I spent most
of my day holed up in that gym, lifting weights, boxing and kickin' the shit
out of the punching bag. By the time I made it back to my grandparent's house,
I was utterly exhausted. I glanced at the clock in the kitchen and realized
that I only had a few more hours until I needed to pick up Kayla from school. I
was definitely hopin' that Joey had practice today, so I could have some time
alone with her. Not to say that time alone with her wasn't goin' to make me
yearn for somethin' more, but I was willing to take what I could get at the
moment.

"Is
that you son?"

My
grandfather's voice echoed off of every wall throughout the house causing my heart
rate to spike. "Yeah, it's me!" I shouted back as I deposited my bag
of gear at the bottom of the stairs.

"I need
a hand with a few things out at the barn, ya think you'd be willin' to
help?"

Ugh, workin'
outside was the last thing I wanted to do at the moment, but whatever.

"Yeah,
let's go."

I followed
my grandfather out the back door and in the direction of the barn. He wasn't
sayn' much, but it was pretty clear that he had somethin' on his mind.
"Everything okay?"

He removed
his hat from his head long enough to wipe the sweat from his brow. "Just a
little tired today. This old man needs a break."

If that
wasn't the understatement of the year. He needed more than a break, he needed
to retire and let someone else take over all together.

"I hear
ya." I walked into the stalls and straight over to Rocket, giving him a
nice big pat to his side. "Hey buddy, how's the old man been treatin'
ya?"

"Like
gold and you know that Madison."

"I know
sir." Some days I swear I felt like I was constantly bein' scrutinized.

"Alright
boy, just muck the stalls and replace the hay and we should be good. I forgot I
got a doctor's appointment today, so I'll catch up with ya later." He
turned to head back towards the house, when he stopped without turning around
and began to say something I couldn't quite hear.

"What's
that, Sir?"

"Make
sure you're home for dinner. We need to have a chat." And with that, he
was gone.

I looked
over at Rocket with a confused look. "Wonder what that is all about."
I shook my head and went to grab the shovel and wheelbarrow to start cleaning
out the stalls. About two hours later, I realized it was almost time to pick up
Kayla and I hadn't even showered. I quickly latched all of the stalls and ran
back to the house. The grandparents were still out, so I jumped in and out
without interruption. Once I was dressed, I pulled my cap onto my head and ran
for the door. Just as I reached for the front knob, the door came swinging open
with the force of a hurricane wind.

"What
the fu-" I caught myself just before unleashing a slew of curse words in
case the person on the other side, happened to be one of my grandparents.

"Glenn?"

"Hey
hey bro, looks like I'm back too. And, I brought a little surprise with
me."

His surprise
was little alright. Five foot nothin' little.

"What
the hell are you guys doin' here?"

Cami rushed
over, bringing me into a deep hug and Glenn just patted my shoulder. "It's
the weekend, and Glenn had some big news to share with you." A smile broke
out across my face, knowing that Kayla was goin' to be elated when she caught
sight of her best friend.

"Alright,
well you can tell me on the way to pick Kayla up from school. Oh and by the
way, your little brother is tryin' to move in on my girl."

As we were
all squeezing into the cab of my truck, I couldn't help but notice the devilish
grin Glenn was now sporting. "What's with the look, Green?" Five
minutes in and I was already beginning to get extremely irritated by him.

"Did
you honestly think that my brother wouldn't take notice of Kayla? You must not
know him too well."

"Dude,
number one I totally don't think it's funny. And number two, they both swear
they're just friends."

He just kept
laughing. "Well of course they do. Hey, I don't doubt that that's all it
is for Kayla, but I'm willing to bet ya a million bucks, that's not Joey's only
intention."

My knuckles
began turning white as I tightened my death grip on my steering wheel. I knew
this whole being friends thing was gonna backfire. I just didn't know that
little Joey Green was goin' to be the cause of it.

"So
what's your big news?" I honestly didn't care at the moment, but I knew it
was better to get it out of the way now.

"Well,
I'm comin' home too. I know shocker, but dude now that you're back here, I
think we should get the band goin' and kick it into high gear. It also helped
make my decision that much easier, when one of my buddies got a hold of me and said
they have a opening at the music festival in Dallas this winter. There's a
chance to get a signed deal with Stealy Records. How fuckin' cool is
that?"