Just Friends Read Free

He doesn’t work in my
department. I noticed him, that’s all. And I think he already has a
girlfriend, anyway.” She bit into a basil roll, the crispy
vegetables crunching between her teeth.
    “Do I know him?” He’d been to her job plenty
of times and knew a lot of her coworkers.
    “No,” she said shortly.
    “Hold up, what’s going on?” Trenton set his
plate on the glass coffee table. “If your mystery man is with
someone, why are you going through all these changes?”
    She sighed. “Can we watch the movie,
please?”
    “No.” Trenton picked up the remote and paused
the movie.
    She shot him an annoyed look.
    “Talk to me.”
    Alannah gave him the silent treatment and
stared at the TV screen.
    “What happened in Arizona?” Trenton
asked.
    She tilted her face away from him, again
keeping her expression hidden.
    “Hey.” Trenton grasped her chin and forced
her head back around to him. “What’s going on, Lana? What happened?
Did somebody hurt you?” The thought of anyone hurting her filled
him with rage. One hand clenched into a fist, and he leaned in,
paying close attention to her body language.
    She shook her head. “Nobody hurt me, and
nothing happened in Arizona. It’s…everything, Trent. I’m tired of
being me. I want to be noticed.” Watery eyes looked up at him.
    “What’s this?” Trenton took her plate and
placed it beside his. Then he pulled her into his arms and she
pressed her face into his chest. “There’s nothing wrong with you,
knucklehead.”
    She sniffled and swiped a tear from her
cheek. “I know there’s nothing wrong with me—not anything major,
but I want to stand out.”
    “Well, auburn hair will do it,” he said. She
lightly punched him in the stomach and he laughed, giving her an
affectionate squeeze. “It’s a compliment, dipshit.”
    “Promise?”
    “Promise. I like the color.”
    “Terri suggested it,” Alannah said, referring
to one of her close girlfriends.
    He had reservations about her friend’s
influence but kept the comment to himself. He kissed the top of her
head. A new scent. Liking it, he smiled a little and took a bigger
whiff.
    “Your hair smells different.”
    “I’m trying a new shampoo. It’s honeysuckle
scented.”
    Trenton took another whiff. He really liked
that scent. Stroking her hair, he asked, “Nobody messed with you,
though, right?”
    “No, Trent.” She sat up and away from him,
breathing heavily, an annoyed sound. “I’m not eight years old
anymore. You don’t have to keep protecting me.”
    His throat closed up, and the discomfort he’d
experienced earlier reappeared and filled all the corners of his
stomach. He’d always been there. For twenty-two years, they’d
always been there for each other . He didn’t know any other
way to behave.
    “That’s bullshit. We have each other’s
back.”
    Her shoulders slumped. “I know,” she said
quietly.
    He took her hand, rubbing a thumb over the
slenderness of her wrist and the delicate, narrow fingers. “We look
out for each other. That’s what we do.”
    “Yeah.” Her upper lip trembled but she forced
a smile. “Best friends forever,” she said, repeating the mantra
they’d said for years.
    “Forever,” he confirmed. He squeezed her
hand.
    Instead of happiness, Trenton thought he saw
sadness in the depths of her eyes. But before he could properly
analyze the emotion, she averted her gaze, picked up her plate, and
restarted the movie.
    “Yay, I’m really looking forward to reading
this movie,” he grumbled.
    Alannah rolled her eyes. “Give it a chance,”
she said, past a mouthful of seafood.
    He picked up his own plate, set his feet on
the coffee table, and reclined against the back of the sofa.
    But Alannah’s minor meltdown stayed with him
for a long time after the movie started. Every now and again he
watched her from the corner of his eye. She appeared normal enough,
back to her old self, yet he suspected she hadn’t told him
everything. The makeover