Backdraft - The Secret Life of Trystan Scott #2 (5 page)

It felt like Trystan wrapped his fingers
around my heart and squeezed. I couldn’t stand it. I didn’t know
what I wanted to do, but suddenly sitting in the booth felt
uncomfortable. I wiggled in my seat, trying to slink out of sight
when some girls who knew Brie walked by. Katie shot daggers at them
and they passed without comment, which was good because I couldn’t
take anything else today.

A waiter came by again and asked for our
order. When I first sat down, he tried to get my order, but I said
I was waiting for someone. He huffed and walked off, like I screwed
up his night. It’s not like I was rude. I didn’t understand people
sometimes.

Katie ordered for both of us. “Two sides of
fries and two chocolate milkshakes—tall with extra whipped cream.
And she wants a cherry on top.” Katie winked at me and the
strangle-hold on my heart lessened. She always knew how to make me
feel better. She dug through her purse and pulled out a ponytail
holder. She pulled back her hair as she spoke, “I’m sorry this
happened, that you found out this way, but at least now you know.
Before you couldn’t tell what he was doing. Now you know he’s a
goddamn liar.”

“An actor—”

“Same thing,” Katie said. When she finished
tugging the ponytail tight, she leaned forward saying, “Listen, if
anything, that thespian genius makes it harder to see through his
little flirtations. There’s no way to know if things are real with
a guy like that. He’s always acting.” Her head tilted to the side
and her eyebrows crept up her face. It was her
uh-durrr
face, she was just too kind to actually say it to me.

Some of what she said seemed true, but my
mind rebelled against it. My voice was flat. I wasn’t defending
him, but I had to point it out, “We’re
all
always acting.
What the hell do you think high school is? You really think I strut
around being myself all day? Come on, Katie. You have to do better
than that.”

She cocked her head at me like I was
retarded. Leaning forward she said, “You don’t get it. Actors don’t
just hide who they are, they manipulate people. They carefully
construct a false facade and use emotions to do it.”

“Nice alliteration,” I interrupted.

She smirked. Katie was always a poet and
totally bent on making her point. "People like that
make
you
love them. They
make
you laugh. He’s an expert at pulling
emotional strings and he pulled all of yours. He did it knowing
that a kiss meant something to you, and he stole one. He’s an
asshole.”

I didn’t know what to think of that. It was
true. Trystan could make anyone love him. He had that ability,
which was why he was such a good actor. It was throwing me off,
because the time I spent with him felt real. They weren’t
conflicting versions of Trystan, and I’d seen how he acted around
other guys and love-struck girls. He didn’t change over the years.
Actually, scratch that—the first major change I’d seen was that
Trystan was in love. Descending the staircase and hearing him tell
Seth that some girl had turned him inside out was the first change.
The second was the revelation that he was Day Jones, and that he
wrote a song that said he was in love.

Something changed Trystan, no, someone
changed him—that girl he loves—she altered him.

The waiter put the plates of fries and
milkshakes down in front of us. Sighing, I looked up at Katie.
Sitting up straighter in the booth, I pushed my hair out of my
face. I felt less fragile and more like I could handle this, and
whatever else was thrown in my face tonight. “Thanks for meeting me
here so fast.”

She plucked a fry from the plate, swiped it
through the whipped cream, and popped it in her mouth. “Sure, what
are friends for?” she grinned at me.

“That’s so gross.” My lip pulled up a little
bit, as she swiped another fry through ketchup and then dipped it
into her shake.

She laughed, “Creative cuisine was never your
thing.”

“That’s not cuisine. It’s seeing how many
things you can put on a fry before shoving it in your mouth.” I
reached for the pepper shaker and said, “Try this and maybe some
jelly next time.”

“Twit,” she laughed, and then added a heaping
amount of pepper to her fry that was already covered in milkshake.
This was why guys loved to watch her. She stuck anything in her
mouth. I cringed, watching.

Before I had a chance to unwrap my straw, the
diner door swung open, and Seth walked in with a girl on his arm.
My face must have shown my distain, because Katie turned and
looked. She started to open her mouth to say something, but she was
half-choking on pepper. Turning fast, she sloshed half a cup of
water down her throat, before turning around and seeing Trystan and
another girl follow Seth inside. The four of them stood, waiting to
be seated, just inside the door.

Trystan had on his leather jacket. It looked
so soft. It was the same one he wore every year once there was a
chill in the air. There were tiny white lines in the leather,
showing its age. It must have belonged to someone before him. The
jacket didn’t look new, but it sure made him look good. When he
wore black, his gaze always seemed more intense, more vivid. More
blue.

They didn’t see us. Trystan had his hand on
the small of the girl’s back. She was pretty, all curves and hair,
with big eyelashes with lots of make-up. She was the kind of girl
who dated for fun.

I was her polar opposite. I was looking for
love, which apparently was not fun.

Katie swung around before they saw her, “Holy
shit. Is he frickin’ serious?” She blinked at me like she couldn’t
believe it, and then glanced back at Trystan and Seth.

“Let’s just go,” I said softly, feeling the
rest of my heart shatter and fall into my shoes. “I can’t watch
this.”

Katie shook her head, “No. We’re staying.
Something’s up with him.” A waitress led them to a booth on the
other side of the door. There was a long counter with silver stools
with thick padded red seats between us, along with a scattering of
booths. I was in their line of sight. As soon as they sat down,
Trystan would see me.

When their backs were turned, Katie jumped
up, “Quick, switch sides with me.” I did as she said, my heart
racing way too fast. I clung to the table, slipping silently into
the booth while she passed behind me. “I’ll watch them for a while
and let you know what’s up.”

I nodded slowly, wishing I were somewhere
else. I didn’t really feel like eating, but I picked at the fries
and sipped the shake. I couldn’t tell Katie about the other side of
him, the Day Jones side that was hiding from fame. If that part
didn’t exist, I would have thrown him out of my life. But I
couldn’t. It didn’t make sense. Katie thought he was a glory-hog,
but that wasn’t it. I didn’t know what the truth was, but it hurt
to watch, trying to figure it out.

Katie told me about Mathboy. They shared a
phone call earlier and some texts. “He’s so hot, Mari. Look what he
said.”

I took her phone and read the texts, as she
beamed back at me. It appeared that he had quite the crush. “So,” I
said, “it was a good thing Brie pegged me in the head. Just think,
if she hadn’t done that, and you hadn’t tried to protect me, you
and Mathboy would have never connected.”

The corners of her mouth curved up. She
cradled the phone in her hand, looking down at the messages. “He
has a name you know.”

“Sorry. I figured we’d be calling him Mathboy
until you guys got married. Then we’d call him, Mathman. That’d
make you, Mrs. Mathman.” I smiled at her, but was distracted. Her
eyes kept flicking over my head, back to Trystan’s table. After a
little bit, I said, “Can we leave now? He’s on a date. You don’t
have to protect me. I know what’s going to happen. He’ll leave with
her, they’ll screw around, and I’ll cry. I really don’t want to
know all the details, Katie.”

Katie ignored me, her gaze still over the top
of my head. “Trystan isn’t acting like himself. He’s sitting next
to her, but they aren’t touching at all. Weird, right?”

I nodded. Okay, that was weird for him. Every
time I was around him, it was like he found some excuse to touch
me. I’d seen him do it to other girls, too. Not touching was
weird.

Katie continued, “Sexbot, on the other hand,
has got some heavy hands for a public place.” Her face scrunched
up, “Gross. He’s feeling her up and sucking her face off. Where
does he find these girls?”

“Hoes-R-Us, aisle 4.” I said deadpan, not
really thinking about my words. There was no explaining, Seth.
Katie snorted. I continued, “How someone could find him appealing,
with that mouth, is beyond me.”

“Maybe that’s why she hasn’t stopped sucking
his face—to shut him up.”

I laughed a little too loud. I smacked my
hands over my mouth and grinned.

Katie’s eyes went wide. “Holy friggin’ frack.
Just sit there. Smile and laugh again.” When I started to turn
around she hissed at me, “Just do it!”

I had no idea what was going on, so I smiled
uncertainly and laughed again. It was a weak
haha
that
sounded totally fake. Katie stomped my foot and I made a strangled
sound, as a grin spreads across my face. Then, I kicked her back,
laughing louder, not realizing that someone was approaching behind
me.

“I thought I heard you,” Trystan said, as he
stopped in front of our table. His leather jacket was gone. The
shirt he wore clung to his body and his scent filled my head.
Trystan slipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans and looked
from Katie to me.

Katie had a plastic smile on her face. She
raised her eyebrows at me, but made no other indication that she
thought this was unusual.

Every hair on the back of my neck stood on
end when he spoke. My heart stopped
. Don’t turn, don’t turn. If
I look at him, I’m toast
, I thought to myself. I continued to
smile at Katie, tilting my head back like I looked up at him, but I
didn’t. My glance grazed his shoulder, not his face.

“Hey,” I replied, sounding as normal as
possible. When I glanced up, I didn’t catch his expression until
the memory of his face registered in my mind. The look in his eyes
was soft, like he was fragile. God, I wanted to die. I couldn’t
take this.

As if Katie could read my mind, she blurted
out, addressing Trystan, “So, double date with the boobie
twins?”

Trystan glanced back at his table. Running
his hands through his hair, he sighed, “Yeah. Seth needed a
wingman. Personally, I’d rather be over here.”

Katie had her foot on the bench next to me,
keeping him from sitting down. She pulled her foot down, and said,
“Then sit, actor-boy, but don’t steal Mari’s cherry. It’s kind of
important to her,” Katie smirked evilly at her innuendo, as she
glanced at my bright red Marciano cherry, still sitting on top of
my spoon. “She saves the best for last.”

Instantly, I flushed head to toe and promptly
kicked her in the shin.

Trystan grinned deeply, showing off a set of
dimples that made me die. He slipped into the booth next to me, his
shoulder brushing mine. God, he smelled good. “I’m aware of that.”
He glanced at the cherry, and then looked at me. “Plan on
demonstrating any cool party tricks? Tying the stem in a knot?”

I started to answer, but Katie cut me off,
“I’m afraid that’s privileged information.”

Trystan smirked at her. “Really?” He folded
his arms across his chest and stared Katie down.

“Mmm. ‘Fraid so.”

Trystan turned to me, “You’re a bottomless
box of surprises.”

“I’m not a bottomless anything. Not around
you,” I said dryly. Katie had her straw in her mouth, sucking up
some milkshake and promptly choked.

Trystan raised a single brow at me and
smiled. Leaning in closer, he breathed, “I wouldn’t bet on it.”

A tingle shot through my stomach. The way he
looked at me, the way he said it, made my heart slap into the sides
of my ribs so hard that I thought they’d crack. I did everything
humanly possible to not react to his words, to his charm—because
that’s what it was, charm. Flirtation. There was nothing else
there.

Holding my gaze for a moment, he smiled
softly. Heat spread through my body and I couldn’t look away.
Trystan might as well have been holding my face in his hands. I
couldn’t move. I couldn’t think. The power he had over me scared me
to death, especially, because he didn’t seem to care. Every part of
me reacted to him, was drawn to him. Trystan was beautiful—like a
wisp of flame—and I knew trying to hold him would only get me
burned, but I was mesmerized.

Trystan slipped out of the booth and stood,
leaving me there with my jaw hanging open like an idiot. “See you
around, Jennings.”

CHAPTER 7

~TRYSTAN~

“Where’d you go? The food’s getting cold.”
Seth glanced around after Trystan excused himself, but he didn’t
see who he was talking to. The diner was full of the dinner crowd
and he could barely make out the top of Trystan’s head across the
room.

“Nowhere,” he said. “Just thought I saw
someone.”

Seth groaned, “Oh, God. Seriously? You’re on
a fucking date.” Exasperated, Seth dug his fingers into his scalp
before letting out a huff of air.

The blonde next to Seth recoiled a little,
“What’s the matter? What’d he do?” She glanced around as she said
it, and then looked back at Seth.

“I didn’t do anything,” Trystan said,
ignoring his own date, who didn’t seem to care one way or the
other.

“You didn’t tell her?” Seth scolded, his gaze
narrowing on Trystan.

“No,” Trystan hissed. “Drop it.” He slouched
back into the booth and put his arm along the top of the seat, not
touching his date.

“I will when you stop acting like a lovesick
dick. You can’t live like that, man. She’ll rip your goddamn heart
out of your chest.”