Fire

Connection

Trent leaned forward, closing the distance between us. I froze as he reached up and brushed his finger tips along the edge of my jaw, “Jess, can I…can I kiss you?”

My mouth fell open a little, heart constricting in my chest. Did I want to kiss him? Part of me was undeniably attracted to him, but another part, the part of me that felt overwhelmed by everything that had happened today, just wanted to roll over and go to sleep.

Trent blinked at me, and his hand fell away, “don’t answer yet, it’s okay. I don’t want to pressure you into anything. I’m not...I don’t ever want to be that guy.”

Something about him, his eyes as he looked into mine, made me want to take my hesitation back, to lean forward and press my lips to his. Instead I just smiled at him, “I don’t think you could be. You’re…sweet.”

He ducked his head, looking embarrassed, “I know some guys are jerks. I just try not to be.”

“Well, you’re doing a good job,” I shifted on the bed, feeling a little awkward. It was a relief when he stood up, “I think I’ll let you get some sleep. In the morning, the bathroom is at the end of the hall, take as long as you need to get ready, Kari…I mean, your mom, she put some clothes in the closet for you, a couple different choices of outfits. After you’re all cleaned up you can come downstairs, we always have a big breakfast with everyone in the morning.”

“Thank you,” I stood up, giving him another hesitant smile, “listen, Trent. Thank you for everything, I mean, this has all been shocking, but you’ve been…you’ve been great.” I was hyper aware of how close we were standing now, he was a head or so taller than me, and suddenly I wanted to tilt my head back and have him kiss me, like they did in the movies. What a ridiculous thought.

“Trent…” I fumbled for words, and he reached out and brushed his fingers across my wrist. This time, instead of tingles, his physical touch was like a blow. His fingers felt hot, and a warming sensation hit me in the chest and spread outwards, down both arm. The sensation hit me head on, it felt like the room was revolving slowly around me. The only steady thing was Trent, and when I looked into his dark eyes the sensation hit me even harder, making me gasp, fingers curling helplessly around his. It was connection, I could feel the breath moving through his body, his heart beat matched mine. I could feel his thoughts, the path they took. He was thinking about me.

What the hell? I jerked my hand back so fast I nearly pitched backwards. Trent and I broke apart. He stared at me, brown eyes wide, chest heaving.

My voice came out in a stutter, “what…what was that? What just happened?”

To my surprise, Trent groaned, rubbing his hand over his eyes. A pang hit me. Had I hurt him in some way? Had that thing…whatever it was, come from me?

“Are you alright?” My voice was trembling.

“I’m okay, it’s okay…” he drew his hand away, still breathing heavily, “she was going to warn you….I didn’t think. Oh god, she’s going to be so mad…”

“What? Who?” I stumbled back another step, sitting down hard on the bed. It felt like I’d just run a mile, all my energy had been drained by whatever that was, “what was that? What happened?”

“Oh geeze,” Trent was pushing his fingers through his long hair, pacing back and forth across the floor, “crap, I’m in so much trouble…”

“With who?” I cried, frustration making my voice sharp, “who’ll be mad and why?”

“Your mother,” Trent stopped, eyes searching my face. His expression was serious, “she wanted to tell you herself. She was going to wait until later, so you weren’t overloading on information. This was really bad timing,” again he yanked at this hair, stress creasing his face, “oh man, I don’t know how I’m going to explain this to her.”