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Chapter Twelve

"Hey," I said. I wiped my neck with my sports towel and stepped off the treadmill.

"You look good," he said earnestly. I smiled.

"It's only been a few weeks," I reminded him. He nodded.

"It's seems like it's been longer," he said absently.

I gestured towards a large yoga mat in the corner of the room. We sat down facing each other.

"Did you get my flowers?" he asked.

"I did. They're beautiful."

His blue eyes met mine. They reminded me of turbulent oceans.

"What's going on with you?" I asked. There was no ignoring my intuition.

"I want to explain the phone call," he pleaded.

"I'm not mad," I said. "If that's what you think."

I didn't want to talk about how much it had hurt me to be dumped like that. Just seeing him was causing those emotions to bubble uncomfortably close to the surface.

Trevor shook his head. "It's not that. It's...it was a lie."

My brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"I didn't mean any of the things I said. I didn't want to break up with you. My mom called me that night at the hotel screaming. Dad was going beserk. I took the first flight I could back home. Things were a mess. Mom ended up in the hospital; she lost the baby. And dad...well, dad suddenly wasn't happy that I left in the first place. He made me call you. It was either call you and be an asshole or watch him punch my nine-month old brother in the face."

It all poured out of him like he couldn't talk fast enough. He held his hands out, palms ut, as if providing an invisible peace offering.

I didn't know what to say. I couldn't wrap my mind around the kind of family violence he had experienced. I tugged at my ponytail.

"Trevor, he can't keep doing this," I said.

"I know," he said. His voice took on a hard edge. "I went to the police. Like I said in my note, these past few weeks have been a nightmare. My mom checked into alcohol rehab; grandma took my little sister and two younger brothers. Dad's sitting in jail. And my management team has been working tooth and nail to keep the paparazzi oblivious."

"They've been doing a good job. I haven't seen a thing," I said.

Trevor gave me a small smile.

"I want to keep it that way. Of course, the family drama isn't all that's been happening. The guys and I found out that Grenadine couldn't even sell out the venues we booked. But that turned out to be a good thing. It brought me back to you."

I blushed. I was so confused. He was being so open and honest with me. I could understand why he had to lie. But things were complicated.

There was a little someone called Nate in my life now too.

As I sat racking my brain for something to do, Trev reached over and took my hand.

"I hope you can forgive me. I swear I didn't mean to hurt you. I haven't been able to get you off my mind. The night I left was so crazy and there was so much we left unfinished..."

I thought about how I felt that night in the hotel room. I still harbored a lingering bit of rejection. But I also harbored love and gratitude for him. After all, I would never be able to forget how he had come to my aid when I had been at my most vulnerable.

"I'm...uh, this is a lot," I explained. Trevor nodded. He dropped my hand.

"I need time to think," I continued.

"I understand. I just hope that maybe we can talk and see if we can eventually pick up where we left off," he said.

"Maybe," I said thickly. He smiled.

"Enjoy your day," he said. "I'll see you tomorrow for rehearsals."

"Tomorrow," I repeated dumbly.

He stood up and headed out of the room. I wrapped my hands around my calves leaned forward, and exhaled deeply.

"Was that my competition?"

My head shot up. Nate had a towel slung over his neck; he was dressed to sweat.

"Uh, um, er," I totally felt like my mom as I made a circular motion in the air with my hands. Nate walked over and crouched down by me.

"I'm fluent in French and English but not in 'er,'" he teased.

I swallowed the ridiculous amount of saliva that flooded my mouth.

"That was Trevor," I finally said.

Nate nodded. "So did he earn your forgiveness?"

I licked my lips. "He had a pretty valid case," I said honestly.

It was hard to talk about Trevor to Nate. Whenever I was within Nate's 'zone' I was distracted. He took my hand and pulled me to my feet.

"So I don't stand a chance do I?" Nate asked.

"NO!" I said loudly. I clapped my free hand over my mouth. Landon wasn't the only one in the family who needed volume control.

"No," I said like a normal human being. "I told him I need time to think."

Nate smiled. "Well, y'know," he said lightly. "we are both teenagers. And teenagers date. People."

He squeezed my hand. It felt nice.

"Are you saying that maybe I can see both of you?" I asked.

Nate laughed. "I guess I am. I mean I don't want to be thirty and have you bouncing back and forth, but I also don't want to put a permanent wrinkle line in your forehead."

He dropped by hand and ran a thumb over the little crease that I knew appeared whenever I was stressed.

"I don't need until I'm thirty to figure this out," I said with a smile. At least I hoped I didn't need that long.

Nate's eyes sparkled. "See how easy that was? Are you done working out?"

I had only spent about five minutes on the treadmill. But truthfully, I was done.

"Yeah, Kay's probably up by now. We're going out for breakfast and a day of shopping with Aunt Angel."

"You can buy something sexy, but you have to wear it during my time," Nate teased. I pushed his shoulder.

"Shut up!"

He laughed. "Okay, I'll be serious. Have a good day."

He kissed me softly. A part of me ached for the way we had gone at it in the hallway, but Nate seemed to have other ideas. He pulled away and took the towel from his shoulder.

I watched him walk towards the weight machine. He slowly eased himself down. His legs spread out to balance the weight. I had a total 'Kay' moment in wanting to try to peek up his shorts (not that I didn't know what was up there). Between that thought and the sheer idea of his muscles rippling as he did reps was too much for me. I made a beeline for the door.

Nate had surprised me. I didn't know of many other guys who would be okay with me seeing Trevor again to figure things out. I appreciated that more than he knew. I hated leaving things unfinished. Things with Trevor were unfinished.

Of couse, the way Nate had phrased it made it seem like he might see someone else too. I bit the corner of my nail as the elevator made its way up to my floor. The thought of another woman in his arms made me queasy. I pushed the thought out of my mind.

I just wanted to enjoy a fun day with the girls. I would call Trevor tonight and tell him about Nate and the arrangement.

I just hoped he would be as accepting of the game plan. Mom always told me that jealousy brought out the worst in guys.

I didn't want to find that out firsthand.

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Author's Note: Updates will be sporadic this week. I have an insane amount of things going on and I don't want to just slop chapters together. Just watch your e-mail for chapter postings.