Trust: The Hero Chronicles (Volume 2)

I was right. Elle had Bryce over to her house a lot, helping with the different projects and plans for the dance, which made guarding them so much easier. I spent many evenings dozing off on her couch while she and Bryce worked on the different decorations.

  “Nicholas, wake up.”

  “What? I’m not asleep,” I said, opening my eyes.

  “We need to go over to Genevieve and Coach Moore’s house.” Sitting up, I noticed they both had on their jackets. Why did they have to go there?

  “Bryce is going to take me to their house. I will come over to your house as soon as we’re finished,” said Elle. I sat up quickly and slipped my shoes on.

  “No, don’t be ridiculous. I’ll come.”

  “Nicholas, I can take Elle. You don’t have to worry about it,” said Bryce.

  I didn’t like Bryce insisting on driving Elle.

  “Bryce, where’s Erin?” He looked upset at the mention of her name.

  “Nicholas, how dare you! Bryce and Erin broke up today.” She took his arm and marched him up the stairs and out of the house. When did that happen? I got my jacket on and hurried after them.

  I followed them over to Riley and Genevieve’s. Elle still went with Bryce because she wanted to make sure that he was okay. Once in Riley’s driveway, Elle and Bryce got out of the car and were let in by Genevieve. She looked like she was expecting them. I went home and sat down on the couch, waiting for Elle. Two hours later, there was a knock on the door. To my surprise, Bryce was with her.

  “Nicholas, Bryce has never been over to your house so I invited him. Is that okay?” What, was I supposed to say no? I had to say yes.

  “Of course, come on in.” They walked into the family room.

  Little did she know that soon Bryce would be here a lot more often.

  “Bryce, I am sorry about before. I didn’t know about Erin.”

  “No reason to apologize. I’m fine, Nicholas.” He smiled. Elle looked sympathetically at him. I didn’t like how close Bryce was standing to Elle. She was kind to everyone. I didn’t want him to get the wrong idea. Friend or not, my relationship with Elle was far more important than anything else. It would make things awkward between us if he tried to make a move on her. I heard Cora in the kitchen. She must have heard the voices and was now cooking something up for us. This was my chance to get Bryce alone to set him straight.

  “Elle, Cora wanted to talk to you about an idea for the dance.” She looked excited and promptly walked toward the kitchen. I felt bad about lying to get her out of the room, but Cora was quick on her feet. We had been lying for a long time.

  I turned to face Bryce, making sure he knew I meant business. “Bryce, do you like Elle?”

  “Of course, she’s great,” he responded cheerfully.

  “I mean, do you like her as a girlfriend.”

  “No way, she’s just a friend. I would never try to steal your girl. You are my best friend.” He smiled. Best friend, really? We were friends, but best friend? Did he really think of me that way?

  “Oh, okay then. I was just making sure.” I didn’t know what else to say because I was shocked by the whole best friend comment.

  “Can I use your bathroom?”

  “Of course, it’s back here.” He followed me down the hall and I showed him where it was. I walked into the kitchen and, sure enough, Cora was cooking and talking to Elle about the dance, going along with my lie. Ten minutes had gone by and I hadn’t heard Bryce. I left Elle and Cora still in a conversation about the dance. I walked into the hallway and saw Bryce walking down the last step of the staircase.

  “Sorry, Nicholas, I washed my hands in the bathroom upstairs because I couldn’t find any soap in the other one.”

  “No problem. You should get in there. They are talking about some more Valentine’s Dance stuff.”