Page 14 of Enforce This
She is the president’s daughter, I reminded myself again.
I inhaled through my nose this time and slowly exhaled. I gathered every ounce of strength in me and made my way to my dresser. I jerked open a drawer and started to rummage through my clothes. I preferred to sleep nude, so I didn’t have a wide variety of pajamas to lend her. While I was far from scrawny, I wasn’t exactly strapped with muscles. Most of my undershirts were size large.
It wouldn’t have been a problem, except I didn’t have any shorts to pair with the shirt, so it needed to serve as a nightgown…
Unless I intended to give her a pair of my boxers.
I shook my head at such a thought, unwilling to risk any awkwardness of that nature. What if she got offended or creeped out, or told her dad some bullshit?
I ran a hand through my hair, my attempt at a nice gesture was suddenly becoming overwhelming and much more work than I’d intended.
That was when I noticed Oak’s tee shirt. Oakland and I had been best friends since childhood. His stepdad and my old man were drinking buddies and Steel Disciples brothers. He always stayed with me when he came home for visits. Big Vick was his biological brother, but Oak and I were closer. We enlisted together in a buddy program right after the attack on the twin towers. When I was dishonorably discharged almost four years later, he stayed. He was currently deployed, and for a moment, I was left holding his XXL tee in my hands and wondering who would deliver the news. And who in the hell would he even talk to about this shit? No one over there that's for sure, he was an officer and the last time we spoke, he’d recently been promoted. He couldn’t afford to risk any connection to the club.
Would he even be able to risk coming to his own brother’s funeral?
“Fuck,” I whispered, from the bottom of my heart.
The shower kicked off, ripping me from my thoughts and setting me back on task. I poured myself a stiff shot of whiskey, downed it and marched back toward the door. I didn’t give my brain time to overthink, I just knocked.
Much louder than necessary.
She shrieked from the other side, and I cursed under my breath.
“Trista, I have clean clothes.”
“You also have a dick and a patch, I’m not stupid. I’m not opening this door so you can…”
“Finish that sentence. Hurry up, so I can splinter this door,” I impulsively threatened, only to regret it the moment the words left my mouth. “Shit, Trista. Look, I'm offering an olive branch here.”
“Offer it to someone else.” She slapped the door, and I jerked back at the crisp, unexpected pop. “I don’t have any interest in your branches. I’ll never swing from your tree. Do you understand me, Eric Aviston?”
Her outburst shocked me, but so did her use of my full government name.
“How do you know my last name?” I quietly asked.
I slid the tee shirt under the door when I heard her suck in a startled breath and an answer was never extended.
After a few moments, the lock clicked, and I glanced down to see the knob slowly turn. She opened the door and hesitantly stared at me.
“It was on your military patch.” She flicked off the light.
Chapter Eight
Trista
“You trying to win me over with your military-emblem shirt?” I quipped.
His gaze shifted from my face to the emblem on the oversized shirt I was wearing as I stepped out of the bathroom.
“Something like that.” He sighed, and turned his back to me rather than exchanging wit.
My heart raced a little.
I hated not being able to read people. Eric was a wild card for sure. He said he was here to help me, but he was the same man who had pointed a gun at me. Even more, it was obvious from his words that he didn’t think much of me, even if I was Mark’s daughter.
The sofa had a crocheted blanket draped across one arm, so I gravitated toward it and spread the blanket over my legs once I was comfortable.
I was showered and, in my pajamas, and it wasn’t even three in the afternoon. I shouldn’t even be home yet. I had a two-hour advanced Anatomy and Physiology class scheduled after Med Surg. I’d have to miss another day to bury my mom. My mind took a detour from the current situation for a few moments, until I erupted in an emotionally-overwhelmed fit of giggles.