Page 43 of Loving Trent (Love in the Bootheel #5)

Twenty-Six

TRENT

Pushing the door to Haste Auto open, I don’t waste time with “Hello”, “How are you doing?” or even “Hey, I need you to check out my new truck.” Nope. I walk straight up to Parker West and say, “So, I hear you have some concerns about me?”

Zak chuckles, but like a good best friend, he pushes out of his chair and walks over to stand beside Parker. Parker crosses his arms and tries to intimidate me with a glare, but it doesn’t work. “Yeah, I do. Shawn’s family and I don’t know a damn thing about you.”

Placing my hands on Parker’s desk, I lean over until I’m eye level with him. “Well, why don’t you man up and come to me instead of talking about me in a group chat?”

Parker rockets out of his chair and leans over his desk, forcing me to stand up. “I’d suggest you watch yourself.”

Zak touches Parker’s shoulder and says, “Park dude, chill. I’m telling you. You don’t want to do this.” Shawn told me that he told Zak and Sammy that I was hurt by someone, but that was it. So, his statement causes me to pause, but only briefly.

Parker doesn’t back down or drop the murderous look as he replies, “Someone has to do this. I’m not giving him a free pass.”

“No one has given me a free pass. I’ve proven myself to the only people who matter…

well, besides one other, and that's not you, but I’ll let this little…

” I wave my hand around. “Whatever this is, slide, but because I don’t think Shawn would appreciate it if I beat your ass, even though you deserve it. ”

“What is your problem?” Parker asks, shrugging Zak’s hand off and stepping around his desk.

“You are.” Usually, I wouldn’t be this worked up over someone questioning my motives or intentions. But Shawn’s message sounded as if he was upset over Parker’s inability to accept his choices.

“I don’t even know you, so what the hell did I do to piss you off?” Parker’s dark eyes narrow with his question. I’m pushing his buttons, but to be fair, he started this. He should have been a man and asked his questions to my face yesterday.

“Questioning someone’s choices without any evidence of them making a decision that will harm them is wrong.

For some reason, instead of asking Shawn anything about me or taking the time to get to know me, you judged me.

You,” I poke him in the chest, “are upsetting Shawn, and that isn’t something I will ever be okay with.

So, tell me, Parker, what do you need to know that will get you to leave my man alone and get off his ass? ”

“You two don’t know each other well enough to move in together. Shawn has been hurt before because he moves too fast with other guys. He tries to hide it, but we all know,” Parker once again crosses his arms. “We’ve all seen the bruises and watched the light die in his eyes after a while.”

Stepping closer to Parker, I absolutely love that I have an inch on him in height.

“Trust me when I say I know more about that than you do. Let me ask you a question. Did you ever stop to think that maybe this isn’t the first time Shawn and I met?

” I let the fact that Parker is hinting that I could be like the others who hurt Shawn go, but only because I really don’t want to upset my man by putting his friend in the hospital.

“What do you mean this isn’t the first time you have met?” Zak asks, stepping up behind Parker.

I lean my hip against Parker’s desk and unload my story on them.

Without going into too much detail, I tell him about going to the same school as them when I was younger, and continue until I pulled Shawn from the fire.

It would be my pleasure to watch Parker’s face pale when I tell him about how I protected Shawn from Steven, but that would be telling part of Shawn’s story.

Parker loses his anger halfway through and relaxes.

He takes his wavy black hair from the ponytail holder and runs his fingers through it. “Dude, I’m sorry. I just don’t?—”

I hold up my hand to stop him. “You don’t want your friend to be hurt, and I get that, but next time, come to me.

Shawn has enough on his plate and doesn’t need you to add more by questioning him.

I promise that I will never hurt Shawn and that my feelings toward him are real.

We might not know the adult or child versions of each other well, but that is what dating is.

Dating is getting to know each other. Yes, he is moving in, and yes, he is helping me raise Harley, but that’s his decision and mine. Not yours.”

Parker slaps me on the shoulder and says, “I think we will get along alright. I like that you aren’t afraid to stand up for what you are building with Shawn.”

“I figured you would, considering your history with your wife,” I say, slapping him on his shoulder.

That gets a smile out of Parker and a snort laugh from Zak.

I researched all the Hills and their partners because I didn’t want to be blindsided by anything.

Emilee Hill, or now Emilee West, was a victim of some awful bullying in her last year of high school.

When Parker moved and started school with her, he fell for her and was determined to help her.

Parker earned himself a suspension from school for attacking one of her bullies.

Their story is not for the faint of heart, but they eventually got their happily ever after.

“Now that we've got the pissing contest out of the way, let’s take a look at your new truck,” Zak says.

“Hey, Baby Boy, are you on your way home?” I ask while I watch the tracking app on my computer.

“Yeah, we are, but there is something I need to talk to you about before we get there,” Shawn says, sounding nervous.

I shut the computer and nod toward the front door to let Leon know I’m stepping outside. Shutting the door behind me, I take a seat on the top step and say, “What’s wrong?”

Shawn takes a deep breath before he replies, “I lied to you today. Dad and I didn’t go check on the progress of my building. Yesterday, I had an idea that might help us track down Tom and Sandy. I ran it past Dad, and he agreed it might work.”

“Okay.” I run my hands through my hair and grip my neck.

“We had Jackson look into Josiah and Eve. I thought that maybe we could try to find out how parents get in contact with the owners of the camp. I’m sorry, I should have told you?—”

“Stop, Shawn. It’s okay, Baby Boy. That was a brilliant idea that I should have thought of, but honestly, I try not to think about those two people.

So, what did you guys find?” Do I like the fact that he lied to me?

Absolutely not. Do I understand why? Possible.

I have a feeling that there is nothing Shawn Foster will do that will make me mad at him.

“A lot, but that’s not it. We went to Cape and had planned to confront them, but something changed.”

Unease turns my stomach into a violent storm.

Needing something to do, I stand up and start pacing in front of Leon and Jenna’s cabin.

“What happened?” I detest the idea of Shawn speaking to the people who birthed me, even with Sonny by his side.

There will never come a time when I want their darkness to touch something as good and pure as Shawn.

“We went to see your sister to learn more about what she was told and…”

Instantly, my body freezes, my foot hovers above the ground, at the mention of Betty. “What… Shawn, what happened?”

“Please don’t be mad, but just like I told her a little about what happened to you.

It’s not my story to tell. I just wanted to tell you what we were doing and to let you know that Betty is with us.

” His voice has dropped an octave, which makes my insides crawl.

He’s worried that he is upsetting me, and that isn’t the case.

“What do you mean with you?”

“She’s following us. She wanted to see you and well… Trent, she has been looking for you for the last five years and even before that,” Shawn’s voice drops even lower and thickens. “Please don’t be?—”

“If you beg me not to be mad at you one more time, I’m going to spank your ass. I’m not mad or even upset with you. I’m shocked that she still lives in that town and would want anything to do with me. That’s all. Do you hear me?” The ice thaws in my blood, and I resume my pacing.

“Yes,” Shawn whispers, and I wish I could see him. Are his cheeks red with embarrassment or maybe lust? Has his eyes darkened? Lord knows that the thought of turning his ass red with my hand has gotten my dick hard.

“I’ll see you when you get home,” I say, pushing aside the mental images of Shawn’s red ass.

There is a beat of heavy silence as if there is something he wants to say. I hear him clear his throat before saying, “I’ll see you soon.”

Sitting back down, I place my phone beside me and stare at the large spruce trees surrounding Leon and Jenna’s property.

Sadie is napping, and Harley will get off the bus in less than twenty minutes.

With Jenna at work and Leon inside running down leads, I’m alone and allow myself to feel my crazy emotions.

I’m so tired of having to tell people my story.

You would think that it would get easier, but it doesn’t.

Why has Betty been looking for me? Out of the two of us, she was the one who lived and died by Josiah’s rules.

When we were younger, she always judged me for trying to step outside the bubble Josiah wanted us in.

She would recite his stupid mantras to me and tell me what to do. It put a strain on our relationship.

I’m not sure what happened after Uncle Joey took me in, but two months after my release from the hospital, Uncle Joey wrote down his new cell number for me to have.

Since we never visited Uncle Joey when we were little, Betty would have no idea where we lived.

But surely if she wanted to find me, all she had to do was look up Uncle Joey, right?