Broken, page 14
“Thank you,” she murmured before taking a deep breath. “Okay, first I say we—”
“Yes.”
“Ren, you shouldn’t just say yes without hearing what I have to say.”
“I trust you.” He blinked a couple of times, his smile falling. “I trust you.”
The words carried between them and landed on her heart, stirring up memories of the boy she’d been so enamored with that she’d missed every sign, every red flag telling her that something was wrong.
But now...now she could see.
***
“You ever just feel like taking off?” Lorenzo asked Katrina as they sat on the rock of their secret place smoking cigarettes after a short run. “I mean just...just going away, where no one knows you?”
She noted the faraway look in his eyes as he stared up at the sky, fluffy clouds floating seamlessly above them. “I haven’t thought about it. I kinda like my life. Don’t you?”
He was silent as he took another drag from his cigarette, blowing out perfect smoke rings between them.
“You lucked out this time, don’t you think? With your foster care placement, I mean. Emily aside, of course.”
“Of course, and...it’s...not the fairytale you’d think.”
“I wasn’t aware boys believed in fairytales.”
“I’d like one. Just one.”
“Anything you want to talk about?”
After a beat, he shook his head. “Nah. Nothing you need to worry about.”
When he grinned at her like that, it always sent butterflies in motion in the pit of her stomach. She wished he looked at her as more than a friend, but on days like this, when it was just the two of them, she could almost pretend that he did.
Just almost.
“Want another, or do you want to race back?”
“I don’t think I could run right now,” he replied, his voice sounding almost sad.
“Ren, what’s going on?”
He slid off the rock and tucked the cigarettes and lighter into the inside pocket of the leather jacket he was always wearing. “Don’t sweat it, kid.”
There was the almost.
He seemed to think of her like a little sister rather than someone he’d be interested in, even though they were the same age to the day.
“We’re not kids.”
“Yes, we are.” He closed his eyes for a moment, reeling in his emotions like he always seemed to do. “But we’re kids together.”
And there went her heart doing its stupid dance.
“Yeah,” she agreed. “Together.”
***
It took Katrina less than an hour to get through her presentation, one that she’d put painstaking detail into. Lorenzo hung on every word, and when she finally finished, he was grinning.
“It’s brilliant, Trina. Absolutely brilliant.”
“You think so?”
“I think it’s going to really build the customer base.” He stood before her, so close in the cramped office space that she could smell a hint of his cologne.
Damn, he smelled good.
He looked good.
He looked as if he were finally sleeping.
“You and Judith seemed very friendly.” Katrina cringed inwardly at the slight hint of jealousy she felt, the pang of wanting to be the one Lorenzo took into his arms.
Again.
It was happening to her all over again.
His eyes were on her, drinking her in from top to bottom and back up again before holding her gaze.
He wasn’t going to say a thing.
She knew that about him, just as she knew their friendliness was just that. She could only hope that Judith was helping him in the way Judith had been helping her, making her feel less lost, less alone.
“I owe you an apology,” he finally said. “A real one. I’d...I’d like to talk to you.”
“I’d like that, too.”
“I was thinking...” He reached for her hand and held it gently. “I owe you both an apology and my gratitude. You could have told me to fuck right off, but you didn’t.”
“I couldn’t.” She again could feel the heat brandishing her cheeks, showing him his affect on her.
“You could have, but you didn’t.” He stepped in a little closer, swallowing as he entwined his fingers with hers. “You held my hand when I had no one. When I was the new kid, when I damn near killed myself in that wreck, when...when I told you the truth.”
“Almost.”
“Almost?”
“You were planning to leave.” Her choked voice gave away her emotion, and she felt his thumb caress the back of her hand.
“I had to, Trina.”
The silence between them stretched as Katrina’s eyes dropped to his lips then back up at him.
“I understand,” she said, and exhaled as the weight dropped from her shoulders. “I understand.”
“Thank you.” His words were barely above a whisper and his eyes dropped to their joined hands. “Trina, I—”
“Dude!” Justin barged into the office, his smile overjoyed. “The floors, man! They’re awesome!”
Lorenzo dropped her hand as he turned to Justin, his easygoing grin back in place. “Just like I wanted. Just like...dude, I think I found a sound man.”
“No shit?”
“No shit.”
“I’ll just...clean my stuff up here,” Katrina said, and as she turned towards her presentation, Lorenzo touched her arm sending a shockwave straight through her.
“Wait...can you? For just a minute?”
“Look at what my sis cooked up for you,” Justin continued as he walked further in. “You outdid yourself, Trina.”
She smiled. “Thank you.”
“Did Judith see this?” Justin asked, and before she could tell him yes, he was calling out across the bar, “Jude! Come look at this! Yeah,” he turned back to Lorenzo, “I was thinking we could all hit up that diner down the road together. A little celebration over dinner because I’m starving and it’s close. Is it any good?”
Lorenzo nodded. “Yeah, it...it sounds good. Could you give us a minute?”
“What did you interrupt now?” Judith asked as she appeared in the doorway. “Out, you,” she said to her husband.
“What? I was just—”
“Out,” Judith said again, tugging on his shirtsleeve.
“Fine. But hurry! Like I said, I am starving.”
“You always are,” Lorenzo said before shutting the door and turning back to Trina.
“Ren, I—”
“Have dinner with me.”
“Yeah, that’s what we’re doing.”
“No, I’m not talking about tonight,” he continued, taking a step forward, into her space. “Tomorrow. You and me.”
“Are you...Ren, are you asking me out on a date?”
He let out a short laugh and messed up the back of his hair before answering. “Maybe? That depends.”
“On?”
“On if you see it that way.”
She swallowed as she felt those damn butterflies turn into a whirling tornado in the pit of her stomach.
“Trina?”
Finally, she smiled. “Yes.”
CHAPTER 24
“A toast.” Justin was holding up his glass, and Katrina, Judith, and Lorenzo followed suit. “To Cade’s getting one hell of a makeover.”
“Here, here,” Judith replied, and the four of them clinked their glasses together before taking a celebratory sip of their sodas. The diner didn’t serve alcohol, which didn’t bother any of them as they’d all driven.
“I still can’t believe it. About the floors, I mean,” Katrina added quickly.
Lorenzo’s mouth curled upwards in a lazy smile. “That’s pure magic right there. Couldn’t have asked for anything better.” He turned his gaze to Judith. “Any puppy prospects?”
“He’s not getting out of it, if that’s what you mean.”
“I’m just saying we should go down to the shelter, see the dogs there first.” Justin shrugged. “It may not be your designer puppy—”
“Never said I was getting a designer puppy, and don’t make me go there. We’ll end up with a house full of dogs.”
Justin shrugged. “If you can’t handle it, that’s fine.”
Judith shot him her infamous ‘are you kidding me’ look. “I can handle it just fine.”
“See? Puppy prospects,” Justin responded with a satisfied grin.
“You know,” Judith turned her attention to Lorenzo, “we all figured the two of you would be the bickering married couple.”
“We aren’t bickering,” Justin interjected, but Judith dismissed him with a wave of her hand.
“If there had been a ‘most likely to’ for that category, you two would have won it.”
“Life had other plans, I suppose,” Katrina said, uncomfortable with the exchange for Lorenzo’s benefit.
He’d had to leave.
She knew that now.
“Question.” Judith was still staring at Lorenzo. “Were you going to call her? If you hadn’t gotten into the accident and asked them to, I mean.”
Katrina’s eyes widened at Judith’s question, but then Lorenzo answered.
“Yes. I can’t tell you how long it would have taken, but...yes.”
“And what were you going to say to her?”
“I’m sure he would have started with hello,” Justin spoke up.
“Well, thanks, mister states the obvious,” Judith said back to him, her question forgotten as she and Justin continued their banter.
“I would have,” Lorenzo said to Katrina, his eyes locked with hers. “I would have called.”
She could only smile in return as the waitress brought them their food.
He would have called.
After a couple bites of her salad, she turned to Lorenzo. “What would you have said?”
“I would have asked you to have dinner with me.”
“Just like that?” Katrina asked with a laugh, one that deepened as he dramatically placed a hand over his heart.
“Ouch. And yes, just like that. I did tonight, didn’t I?”
“No, lover boy,” Justin said, “I suggested this.”
“Tomorrow,” Katrina explained. “We’re having dinner tomorrow.”
“Lover boy,” Lorenzo scoffed.
Justin shrugged. “Just sayin.”
“What is this dinner tomorrow you speak of?” Judith asked, her eyes gleaming. “Is this a date I hear?”
Katrina shifted in her chair, her cheeks heating, and Lorenzo was silently watching her.
“A ha! I knew it! I knew you two couldn’t be in the same vicinity and not be you two.” Judith sat back with a smile. “And don’t look at me all doe eyed and innocent, either.”
“I’m not innocent,” Lorenzo pointed out, though all Katrina could think about at that moment was how he had been.
And his innocence had been taken from him.
Could she get past the feeling that she was overstepping boundaries with him?
“I’m fine, you know,” Lorenzo said softly as he leaned in closer to her while Judith and Justin spoke amongst themselves about who noticed first. “I’ve been dealing with this for years, Trina.”
“And you deal with it well,” she replied, her voice just as soft. “Please, though, if I ever cross a line I shouldn’t, promise you’ll tell me.”
“I promise.”
“Hey, Lorenzo,” Justin said, getting his attention as well as Katrina’s. “I’m going to play big brother here. Yeah, yeah, I know I’m not, but just hear me out. If you ever pull your disappearing act again, if you ever hurt my sister the way you did before, I’m kicking your ass. MMA fighter or not,” he added. “Hurt Trina and it’s on. How did you get into that, by the way?”
“I just happened upon a fighting ring while I was looking for a place to crash for the night.” Lorenzo shrugged. “I had a lot of aggression to get out and it was a great outlet to do it in. I still fight sometimes.”
“When was your last fight?” Justin asked.
“Fighting ring?” Judith added. “Sounds illegal as hell to me.”
“I’m not saying it’s all above board, but yeah, um...last night was my last fight.” He held up his shirt to show a bruise on his side. “It was brutal, but I won.”
“Ren—”
“How do you think I came up with the money for the bar?” he cut Katrina off, again with his lazy smile.
Katrina pushed her salad around on her plate. “I don’t know, a job maybe.”
“Construction,” he said. “Turns out I’m good with my hands.”
Katrina’s blush deepened as she remembered exactly how good with his hands he was. How would she react tomorrow when it was just the two of them? Her heart began to race at the thought and she concentrated on her salad. “Sounds like you have everything together. Do you still work construction?”
“Some,” he said, then he turned in Justin’s direction as more questions about mixed martial arts were fired in his direction.
He worked construction, he was good with his hands.
He did MMA fighting on the side, he was good with his fists.
Had he found the time to be with someone else?
Her mouth turned down in a frown as she thought of Timothy, the years she’d spent waiting for it to feel right.
“I found our pictures from prom the other night,” Judith commented, peering through her eyelashes at Lorenzo. “You put on quite the happy show.”
“That was no show,” he said. “I was happy. It’s safe to say that was the best night of my life.”
***
“Wait, wait,” Lorenzo said with a laugh as he gathered Katrina close and motioned for Justin and Judith to follow. “We need another prom photo, the ones with that camera guy up there.” He motioned towards the space where couples lined up to have their prom photos taken. “Notice how he’s all formal and stuffy? We need a group photo of us just cutting up.”
“You’re serious,” Judith noted.
“As a heart attack.”
“Dude, that will be so epic!” Justin turned to Judith with a grin. “Tell me you’re in on this.”
“What about...no, never mind. If Cade says jump, Trina asks how high.”
“Hey!” Katrina spoke up. “Not true.”
“Totally true. Let me guess...you’re in?”
“I think it will be hilarious,” Katrina replied, her smile wide. “Let’s do it.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, fine,” Judith huffed. “Exactly what are we doing?”
“Well, we have two choices,” Lorenzo said as they stood huddled together. “We either go nuts and come up with the stupidest shit, or we all tilt our heads to the side like this.” He demonstrated, and Justin busted out in laughter.
“That one! That one, definitely.”
“I don’t get it.” Judith crossed her arms. “What’s that for?”
“Because every family photo we have, our mom has her head tilted like that,” Justin explained.
“It’s in homage of Mrs. Carter, definitely,” Lorenzo admitted. “I kinda like her.”
“Well, she kinda likes you.” Katrina kissed his cheek. “I can’t wait to give this one to her.”
***
“I’ve never seen this,” Lorenzo said as he reached out, taking the tilted-head photo from Judith’s hand.
“Have you seen any of the pictures from prom night?” Judith asked, and he shook his head. There was no way he could have; he’d left during that night, and Katrina’s photographs were all tucked in boxes still. “Well, we are going to remedy that. I’ll get them to Trina tomorrow, and you can look over our goofy childlike selves. There’s even a picture of you popping that balloon that scared the hell out of the principal.”
Lorenzo’s head fell back in laughter. “I’d forgotten about that! Do you have our pictures?” He turned to Katrina, whose smile was small.
“They’re still in the envelope,” she admitted. “I haven’t looked at them yet.”
Because they’d promised to wait and look at them together.
She couldn’t even bring herself to open the seal on the envelope they’d been placed in.
But now...
“Bring them tomorrow, please.” Lorenzo’s eyes were soft, his hand on her arm pushing her entire body to be fully alert, aware.
Alive.
“Of course,” she said, forcing her smile to look more genuine.
A night alone with Lorenzo, plus a walk down memory lane.
She could do this. She’d handled his confessions as bravely as she could, choosing to wait until she was alone to break down.
She could handle reliving that night.
Couldn’t she?
“Thank you,” he said, so softly she almost missed it. Her smile deepened as she placed her hand over his.
“You’re welcome.”
CHAPTER 25
Katrina was a bundle of nerves the following day, constantly watching the clock as it ticked by slowly.
Tonight, she would be on a date with Ren.
She wasn’t sure if she was ready for this. Hell, she wasn’t sure that he was ready for this. Still, as time ticked closer, she reassured herself.
This was Ren.
This was right.
“I can do this,” she said as she looked herself in the mirror. Her hair hung in soft waves around her face, her dress clung in all the right places as she mentally prepared. The physical was done—makeup soft, shoes ready by the door, packet of photos unopened beside the envelope that Judith had brought by earlier.
She glanced back at her bathroom, still seeing Ren lying on the floor, sobbing.
She didn’t know how to get past that image in her mind.
Judith had told her to take her time, to really think about what Lorenzo had said.
To believe him.
It made his words whispered against her all the more meaningful.
“This is how it’s supposed to be.”
She shivered at the memory that had wrapped her in its sweet embrace.
She knew tonight would be nothing like that. He’d told her he wanted to get to know her again, regain the friendship that they’d lost. He had been her best friend, her confidante, the one who knew her better than anyone else.
