Who Breaks First (Clearwater University)

“Hey. How’s your day so far?” Trent asks, and I turn to him like he’s a freak or something.

How’s your day so far? Who are you, Mr. Rogers?

“Pretty good. Just been busy. I feel like I’m behind on homework.”

“I know the feeling,” Trent says with a huffed laugh, and I see a serious red flag yet again. He does not sound like himself at all.

“So, I think that we left off with the primatology.” Emma leans over her binder to look at a page, and her breasts shift against the neckline of her sundress, showing off her perfect cleavage. Fucking hell. Is she doing this on purpose or something? She’s definitely more calm and relaxed than she was last week, which makes me think she’s taking the bait Trent is feeding her.

But, is he even feeding her bait anymore?

“I liked what you did with that sec

ond paragraph,” Trent says, gazing down at the papers in front of him.

“Thanks, I worked really hard on it,” Emma replies. A slight blush tinges her cheeks, and she seems honestly surprised that Trent is acting this way too. And I would think it’s just that she’s as gullible as he said she was, falling for his lie, but when she smiles at him, he smiles right back at her.

And I don’t see a lie anywhere.

“Maybe we should expand it a little,” he suggests.

“You know, I was thinking the same thing.” Emma bites her lip with a bashful laugh. Reese seems oblivious to what’s going on, but I’m watching Emma and Trent like a hawk. They seem to be very… aware of one another, noticing each other’s every move, and they’re stealing glances here and there as Reese talks about his part of the project.

And then it hits me. I should’ve realized it earlier, but it hadn’t even occurred to me because I know how much Trent hates her.

Holy shit.

Motherfucker.

You two are fucking, I want to say. Because I know that’s exactly what’s going on.

Simmering rage starts to build up inside me. Maybe it doesn’t make any fucking sense. After all, I had sex with her too, and I never told either of my friends about it. I took her virginity, for fuck’s sake.

But I don’t like this. In fact, I hate it.

Trent can be a pain in the ass, but he’s my blood brother. I love him, and I’d do just about anything for him.

So why do I want to pin him down and fucking pummel him right now?

“I think this project is going to be really good. It’s coming along well.” Emma beams, adjusting the hem of her sundress as she rises up to sit on her knees. “I mean, we’ve worked hard on it, and I think that we’ve found our stride.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty important that we nail it,” Trent says.

My jaw clenches. Oh, I know what you’ve nailed, my friend.

“I’m just looking forward to it being over,” Reese groans. “As it turns out, Anthropology isn’t really my thing.”

“I was worried at first too,” Emma adds, tossing him a grin before shifting her attention back to Trent. “But now we’re in a good place.”

“Yeah. We’re in a good place.” There’s a strange, almost soft, undertone to Trent’s voice, and when he catches Emma’s gaze once more, he holds it for a few seconds.

Yeah, you are in a good place, aren’t you?

I’m seriously pissed right now. I feel like punching my fist through a wall, which I’m pretty sure that I could do. The tone of the meeting abruptly changes as Reese sits up, knitting his brow in confusion as he looks at Trent. Yep, he’s figured it out too. All of a sudden, Emma is blushing, Trent is clenching his jaw because he must know what we know, and from the looks of it, both Reese and I are seeing red.

“Okay,” Emma says awkwardly, fiddling with her hair. “Anything else to go over before we wrap this up?”

She looks like she’s about ready to sprint out of here, and Trent looks like he can’t decide whether he wants her to stay or go.