Secret Rooms and Stolen Kisses: A Romance Read online

  Trey smiled at that. "It's cool, huh?"

  "The coolest."

  "You're the coolest," he said. "And your dad partnered us up today," he added. "What's up with that?"

  "I don't know. It surprised me, too. I thought maybe he just wanted Miguel to work with someone else. You were good, though. You did great." I smiled and bit my lip shyly, absentmindedly gazing at the curves of the side of his face.

  "Do you know it's incredibly… attractive… that you know how to do that."

  "That I know how to box?" I asked, letting out a little disbelieving laugh.

  "Yes," he said, looking at me like he couldn't believe that I couldn't believe it.

  "Well, thank you," I said. "That's one skill I never thought would come in handy when I'm trying to impress a man."

  "You didn't?" he asked, his voice comically disbelieving.

  I laughed. "No, I actually didn't," I said.

  I touched the side of his jaw where he had some short, soft facial hair. I appreciated this moment for what it was—pure bliss. Those few minutes in his arms in our secret room were special and surreal. Maybe it was my rebellious side coming out, but there was something fun about sneaking around and being unseen—being somewhere you're not supposed to be.

  We went onto the rooftop on our way back to our respective apartments. We saw some pigeons up there, and Trey told me they were rock pigeons. "The ancestral kind," he said. I had no idea what that meant, so I asked him.

  "They got brought to North America when it was colonized," he said. "The ones with bright feathers like this, the purple and green, they're from the line of those first brought over. Rock pigeons are feral now, and they come in a ton of dull colors, but these bright ones are from the ancestral line."

  I nodded thoughtfully, thinking about pigeons. "Are pigeons and doves the same thing?" I asked. "I always thought they looked alike."

  "Basically," he said. "Same family. Pigeons are bigger."

  We were speaking quietly as we descended the staircase from the roof. I honestly had no idea how I was hopelessly smitten by the oddest things, like his ability to tell me facts about pigeons.

  "Thank you, Professor," I said as we got to the bottom of the stairs.

  I stood there and waited for him. Neither of us reached for the door handle. It was locked from the other side, and we were technically still in our secret space.

  He grinned at me. "Are you making fun of me for knowing about rock pigeons?"

  "No," I said. "On the contrary. I was thinking about how happy I am that you're so smart."

  He leaned against the wall, pulling me in, holding me for one last minute.

  "Tell me something else about birds," I said.

  "They fly."

  "Very funny," I said.

  "No, I will, I'll tell you something. Let me think. Okay, male cardinals are so aggressive and territorial that they've been known to fight their own reflections in mirrors."

  "Really?"

  "Yes," he said, giving me an irresistible smile.

  "How is it that being a big science nerd is unbelievably handsome?" I said. "It's like you being attracted to me with me boxing."

  He laughed. "This is not at all the same as you boxing. That actually really is hot. You physically look beautiful doing it."

  "Well, you look beautiful being smart," I said. "I feel like I could learn about rock pigeons all day."

  He laughed. "I'm afraid I don't have a day of information on them," he said. "I pretty much gave you all I had already."

  I smiled at him. "You're handsome, anyway, science or no science. I almost had to judo toss my friend Jesse today because she remembered you from the diner and couldn’t stop talking about how fine you were."

  "You and your friend talked about me?"

  "Yes."

  "What'd you say?"

  "That you were mine," I said.

  "No, you didn't," he said, smiling and teasing me.

  "Yes, I did. Basically. I hope I did. I meant to."

  He stared into my eyes. Both of us knew he had to get back to his friends.

  "I'll see you at dinner," I said.

  We broke apart, and I reached for the door handle, but he leaned in and kissed me. I kissed him back, but I was smiling because I was already in motion, opening the door.

  And to my utter surprise, there was Tyler, standing in the hallway. He hadn't seen us kissing, but boy, was it close.

  "Oh, hey," I said as soon as I saw him. My heart pounded. I didn't know what to say next. Trey was behind me, but he didn't hesitate.

  "So that's where the circuit breaker is," he said to me as he came into the hallway. He closed the door, casually checking the lock. "This closet stays locked, but I'll get you a key in case that ever happens again."

  I already had a key to this door, but I knew Trey was just trying to maintain the secrecy of the room, so I just smiled and nodded and thanked him.

  "I'll see you at dinner," he said.

  Chapter 19

  Trey

  Later that evening

  Trey was a goal-setter, a real go-getter. He was accustomed to making moves and going after the things he wanted. It was an attitude that had served him well thus far. There was a certain compelling feeling he got when there was something he really wanted, and he felt that way about Tara. It was just unacceptable to think about moving forward without her as a fixture in his life. She added energy and vitality to the actual atmosphere, and Trey was basically addicted to it. Now that he had gotten used to having Tara around, he felt like he might not be able to breathe without her.

  They ate dinner with his friends from Nashville. Tara introduced them to an Italian place that had a wood burning pizza oven. They talked about all sorts of things at dinner. Trey's friends told a few stories about old times, but Tyler and Lee were excited about their experience surfing, and they ended up talking a lot about their day at the beach and their trip to Galveston in general. They all agreed that they'd be sad to leave tomorrow.

  The whole group went to rent a movie. Tara was the only one who had a membership at the store, so they just put the movie on her account. They rented an action movie with Keanu Reeves, mainly because it had surfing in it and the boys were officially obsessed with surfing now. Tara and Trey had both seen the movie before, most or all of them had, but they didn't care.

  Cassie and Tyler set up the projector and got the movie ready. Elizabeth went with Trey and Tara to retrieve more blankets and cushions from upstairs so that they could make a comfortable viewing surface. Emily and Lee were in charge of opening and preparing the snacks, and within ten minutes, the studio had been transformed to a movie theater—something even better than a movie theater.

  They piled up pillows, and sprawled out, making themselves comfortable and making sure everyone else could see. Trey was sprawled out, propped on a pillow, and Tara was sitting cross-legged next to him. She sat close enough that their legs brushed against each other.

  "What's Harper going to do once he gets back to Nashville and can't go to his boxing class anymore?" Tyler asked.

  "I'm wondering what he's going to do without surfing," Lee said.

  Cassie nodded. "It's going to be hard to leave his second home in paradise."

  Tara looked at Trey when they said that about him, and he stared back at her.

  "I'm thinking I'll just hang on to that apartment upstairs instead of renting it out," he said. "That way, I can come anytime I want."

  "I think you totally should," Emily said. "This building is so cool. Galveston's so cool. If I had this set up, and I could afford it, I'd definitely keep an apartment."

  Trey kept his eyes on Tara. "I probably will," he said, staring at her. She regarded him with a challenging expression, and he regarded her right back.

  "Did you see that fight with your dad and Mick Neilson?" Tyler said.

  Tara broke eye contact with Trey to look at Tyler. They had talked to Tara a little about boxing, but they had been low-key abou
t asking her about it.

  "Were you at that fight?" he asked. "I mean, I just remember that so vividly. Your dad was just hit like so many times, and then, like all of a sudden…" (Tyler started shadow boxing.) "He was like bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. Just going at it. That was a championship match."

  "I remember that match," Lee said.

  "I know what you're talking about," Tara said. "But the only reason I remember that match is because so many people have brought it up and talked about it since it happened. Every match seemed the same to me at the time. We traveled with Dad, but Will and I stayed in a hotel with Mom and didn't even go to the venues. This was during my early childhood, before we could make the choice that we wanted to start going. Until then, Mom stayed back with us and we waited for Dad at the hotel. We would usually be asleep by the time he came in. I remember being aware of him winning sometimes and losing some, too. But my parents just got through all of them, win or lose, with a steady sort of reaction that made me feel like my dad's job was the most normal life ever."

  "Well, coming from a guy whose parents are actually normal, no, I'd say having Easy Billy Castro for a dad is not normal at all. I was eating TV dinners while this girl was at Madison Square garden watching her dad fight in front of a million people."

  Everyone laughed at Tyler, even Tara.

  "It's funny how you see your life so differently than other people see it," she said, shaking her head.

  "I'm pressing play!" Cassie announced from the back of the room.

  "Who's hungry?" Emily asked.

  "I'm still full from dinner," Elizabeth said.

  Tara used all this distraction to move. She got onto her back, settling into a comfortable spot propped on a pillow next to Trey. He moved her, repositioning her pillow so that his arm was tucked beneath it. This meant she was now lying right beside him where their bodies were making contact at several places. It was the closest they had been all night, and Trey felt a current of warm electricity in his body as a result of being so close to her.

  She was a catch. Trey had never thought of a person as a catch, but there was no other way to describe Tara. He felt like she was such a catch that if he didn't reel her in and keep her for himself, someone else would. He just couldn't stand by and let that happen.

  He reached over and took her hand at the thought, and she held onto him, turning toward him a little and stretching up to speak to him quietly.

  "I had fun tonight," she said. Her mouth was close to his ear, and she was speaking so quietly that there was no way anyone else heard her. Her voice tickled Trey's ear, and he closed his eyes, shutting out the movie and everything around him so that he could hear her, feel her. He lifted his chin to speak to her when she finished.

  "What?" he asked, even though he had heard her the first time.

  "I said I had so much fun with you tonight," she said, still whispering.

  Her whisper caused a physical reaction in him. He moved to speak to her again. "Why are you saying that already?" he asked. "The night's not over."

  She leaned up to speak next to his ear. This conversation was all happening slowly and quietly because they didn't want to disturb anyone.

  "I know, but we might be rushed saying goodnight, and I just wanted you to know that I had fun. I like being your date."

  Her voice in his ear.

  It made Trey's heart race so fast his chest felt like it might explode. He caught himself holding her hand tightly, and he loosened his grip.

  Tara knew he was affected by her mouth next to his ear, so she continued, "Also, you're great at boxing. I'm glad we partnered-up today. That was fun. You did so good."

  Maybe it was her voice or her breath on his ear but she was driving him wild. Trey could see the images on the wall and hear the action, but was not even aware that there was a movie going on.

  After a minute, he leaned down to speak to her. "Thank you," he whispered. "Billy Castro's daughter is my girlfriend, so I'm pretty much a natural."

  Tara has been stoic during all of this whispering, but her chest shook with a few silent giggles when he said that.

  She stretched up put her mouth next to his ear again. "You are seriously a natural," she said. "Unless you're just that anxious to try to impress me."

  "That's probably the case, actually," Trey said.

  She stretched to speak to him again. "Your breath tickles my ear when you talk."

  He leaned in to whisper back to her. "What do you think I'm dealing with over here? I'm about ready to ditch these people and watch a movie upstairs."

  "Just pretend you're interested," she said, whispering to him and looking at the side of his face as he pretended to watch the movie. "It'll be our little secret that we're talking. They'll all think we're paying attention."

  Tara's voice traveled into Trey's ear in tones that must have been intentional because Trey had never been affected by a woman's voice like this before. The whispering. Gosh. He could feel the gentle puffs of air on his ear. Tara was an expert whisperer. And she was sweet. She said kind words to him that made him feel like he wanted her to always be his and only his.

  Chapter 20

  Tara

  I had to go to work at the gym the following morning, so I missed Cassie, Tyler, and the rest of the crew from Nashville when they took off. I saw them getting into the van, but I was in the middle of mopping and couldn't get away. I had told them goodbye last night, anyway.

  "Are you doing the class at noon?" Dad asked.

  "I doubt it," I said. "I'm gonna take off in a minute. Trey's leaving for Nashville in the morning, so we'll probably hang out as much as possible today."

  "Oh, Trey? Really? Because he was coming here for that class."

  My head snapped up and I stared at my father, who laughed at my surprise.

  "He just did class yesterday," I said.

  "Well, I've done class every day for about twenty-five years."

  "No, I'm just saying. I didn't think Trey had plans to come here today. I told him I was coming in for a couple of hours this morning, but after that we were going to—"

  "I called him," Dad said, cutting me off.

  "You called him?" I asked, wavering on being happy and mortified.

  My dad grinned at me. "Yes."

  "What did he say? What did you say?"

  My dad was getting a kick out of my curiosity, I could tell. "I told him that he should come up here to do the workout at noon. Your mom will be here, so I thought he might want to come by and meet her."

  I smiled and squinted at him. "Are you joking with me right now?"

  "No. I'm one hundred percent serious. Why?"

  "Because. How did you call him? How did you even get his number?"

  "He filled out all kinds of stuff when he joined the gym. I have his phone number, his address, probably even his social security number."

  "Do you?"

  "No, but I do have a telephone number and I seriously did call him. Your mom's coming by. She and I were talking, and she said she hadn't met your friend, so I—"

  "I was going to see if he wanted to go by the house this afternoon," I said. "Or maybe even eat dinner with y'all tonight."

  Dad shrugged. "Well, I guess she'll get to meet him twice, because they'll both be here at noon."

  Of course, I stuck around. I was obviously going to be there when Trey came. My mom got to the gym first, and within minutes, Trey walked in.

  I went toward the door to meet him. He was looking handsome in athletic shorts and a t-shirt with a duffle bag draped over his shoulder.

  "Hey," I said, when I got close enough for him to hear me.

  "Hey," he said.

  "My mom's here," I added, looking slightly apologetic since I didn't want him to feel bombarded.

  "Good. I hope so. That's why your dad told me to come."

  "I hope it wasn't weird that he called you," I said quietly.

  "Not at all," he answered, smiling.

  But we weren't alone anymore. My mom
crossed over to us. I could tell Trey had made eye contact with her by the way his face changed. He grinned at her as she walked up.

  "Hello," she said, moving past me for the hug.

  "Hello," Trey said, pushing his bag behind him and reaching out to hug her back.

  "I'm Tess Castro, Tara's mom."

  "Tara's told me a lot about you," Trey said. "And I really like your paintings. I saw the ones in Tara's place, and I've seen a few others around town. There's one in the hardware store. I was staring at it just the other day. Really great stuff. I'd love to buy a piece sometime."

  "Oh, of course," Mom said. "And thank you."

  I watched them interact, feeling more nervous than ever. My heart was pounding, and I constantly wanted to cut in, but I just stood there and watched.

  "Tara's excited about renting that jewelry store," Mom said.

  "I'm excited to see what she'll do with it. She's going to make it beautiful. She already has."

  "Oh, wow," my mom said, stunned by his sweetness. She blinked rapidly the way she does when she's about to tear up. "What do you think about God, Trey?"

  "Mom!"

  "No, it's okay," Trey said, laughing a little as he shook his head. "What do you mean?" he asked my mom.

  "I mean do you know Him?"

  "Yes ma'am, and Mister Castro asked me the same thing. That was basically the first thing he ever asked me."

  "Seriously?" Mom asked, glancing proudly at Dad who was standing across the room.

  "But Tara had already talked to me about it before either of you did. She and I talked about that, and, yes, I do. And I like that it's important to all of you. I respect that about you guys—that you just came out and asked me. Yes, I do know God. I think He had a hand in leading me here."

  My mom was steady blinking, holding her eyes wide to dry them out so that she wouldn't cry. She went in and hugged Trey again. "Tara's so talented, and she's got great things ahead of her, but honestly, nothing makes me prouder of her than what you just said. If she remembers one thing we taught her…" Mom paused and took a deep breath, but then continued. "So, thank you. And thank you for all your doing with that building. It's so nice to see it getting all fixed-up over there. And Tara can't wait to move in. Thank you for making that possible."