Oh my god. How could I have been so dumb?
How could I do the one thing I swore I never would?
How could I fall for Trent Brewer?
Chapter six
Trent
“Ifuckedup,Jones,”I confess while spotting Hudson on the bench press in the team gym the next day.
“What’s new?” Hudson grunts, lifting nearly twice my weight onto the rack before sitting up on the end of the bench.
I toss him his water bottle and towel and sit on the rowing machine next to him.
Practice last night was a joke. Half of Peyton’s passes to me fell incomplete because I couldn’t stop thinking about Meghan. Barely slept last night for the same reason. Wore my arm out thinking about her. Her soft skin on mine. Her thick thigh pressed against mine while we went over my notes.
Careful, Brewer. Last thing you need is to pop a boner in front of a gym full of half-naked men. Peyton will never let you live that down.
“I’m serious, man. I never should have made that bet with Peyton.”
“Whoa. Is this regret? You’ve never felt bad about anything before.”
“I’ve never been in love before.”
“Love? Wait… Are you telling me you’re in love with the Ice Queen?” Hudson laughs and punches me in the arm hard enough I almost fall off my seat. “Now you’re fucking with me, aren’t you?”
“Wish I was.” There’s not a hint of levity in my voice.
Hudson’s laughter fades. His brow wrinkles and his mouth thins into a sympathetic line. “You really are serious.”
“The second I saw her in the student union, I was done for. She’s not just the most beautiful woman in the world, she’s sweet and smart and…”
“Way too good for the likes of you,” Hudson says, wounding me with that painful reminder.
“You see my problem.”
Hudson lifts his water bottle and squirts a stream into his mouth, then covers his head with the towel and wipes the sweat off his face, around his neck, and down his chest. “What are you going to do?”
“I was hoping you had some advice.” Hudson probably isn’t the best person to ask for relationship advice, considering he’s never been in one. The guy takes girl-shy to a new level. He’s big, sweet, and not the brightest crayon in the box. He hasfix mewritten all over him. Girls eat that shit up. His gut makes up for what his brain can’t do for him. He doesn’t want a girl looking for a pet project. That’s why this nice guy the size of a bull with a horse cock is still a virgin and might not have a solution to my particular problem.
“Peyton’s never going to let you off the hook. Not to mention, the ration of shit he’ll give you, forever, if you chicken out and call off the bet.”
“So, what? I just forget my feelings for her? Take the loss?” I could weather losing the bet but losing Meghan will kill me.
“Or you could come clean.”
“You mean, tell her about the bet?”
Hudson nods.
“She’ll hate me.”
“She probably already does.” Hudson shrugs like he doesn’t know but he’s right.
Meghan didn’t want to be alone with me. She pulled away from me when it was pretty obvious I wanted to kiss her. If she already hates me… “What have I got to lose, right?”
“That’s the spirit.” Hudson affectionately punches my shoulder. With the pain of his previous punch lingering, I wince.