Gilded Craving - Olivia Jaymes Page 0,42

a college kid again. When Ryan had made the appointment with him, he'd said it was the perfect day because he didn't have any outside meetings.

"I don't remember much," Trent admitted. "I was hammered that night. I'm not sure how much I can help you."

"Did you talk to Brad? What did he say?"

Trent shook his head. "I don't think that we had any sort of conversation beyond whose turn it was to go to the bar and get the drinks. He was hanging around with Theo and Caro, and I'd met some girl, too. Can't remember her name but we danced and had some drinks. That's pretty much it. I didn't see much of him that night, to be honest, and I didn't stay late. We all had to catch a plane the next day."

"Were you surprised that Brad didn't make the flight?"

Smiling, Trent rubbed at his chin. "Shit, you know how he was as well as I do. He sort of marched to his own drummer, if you know what I mean. He didn't like rules and he loved causing chaos. So...no, I wasn't surprised at all. I will say that I was surprised that he never showed up. I thought he'd fly in the next day and make a big entrance. He liked to be the center of attention."

That was the pot calling the kettle...

"So do you."

"Can't deny it," Trent said with a cocky grin. "I was born to make a splash. It was my destiny."

He doesn't have a self-esteem issue. But then he never did.

"You two argued a few days before. What was it about?"

Trent's grin vanished and his body language went from relaxed to tense in less than three seconds. He was now sitting straight up, his lips a thin line.

"Who told you that?"

"Everyone knew. What was it about?"

"It wasn't a big deal. We were a couple of idiots that argued about stupid shit, that's all."

"Since it was so stupid, you won't mind telling me what it was then."

Shoulders stiffening, Trent stood from the chair. "The fact is I don't really remember all the details. It was dumb stuff."

"Was it about Caroline?"

Trent turned his back on Ryan, staring out of the large windows. "Why would we argue about her?"

"Because you and Caroline were sleeping together. You don't have to pretend. I talked to Caroline this morning and she admitted it, plus she was seen going into your room in Hawaii."

Turning around, Trent shrugged carelessly. "It wasn't about Caroline. Frankly, she was never important enough to argue about. I wasn't in love with her or anything, and she sure as hell wasn't in love with me. She just wanted to get back at Brad and I was convenient."

"So Brad didn't know?"

"Not that I know of. Unless she told him, of course."

Ryan wasn't sure he was buying what Trent was selling.

"You're telling me that you were sleeping with Brad's girlfriend and you didn't tell him? I find that hard to believe. I think you would have loved to tell him."

"I would have," Trent smirked. "But I never got the chance. I was going to tell him when we were all in Hawaii."

"Why didn't you tell him that night?"

"Because he was drunk and so was I. I wanted him as close to sober as I could get when I told him."

Hell of a weird friendship.

"You hated him that much?"

"I didn't hate Brad at all," Trent laughed with a shake of his head. "Brad was just...Brad. We'd grown up together. Let's face it, Ryan, we never got a chance to decide if we liked or didn't like each other. From the time we could walk we were all shoved in a group and told to be friends because our parents liked to hang out together. Did I like Brad? Hell if I know. Did you? Do you even really know how you felt about him? He didn't make it easy to like him, now did he?"

Ryan didn't like to think - or speak - ill of the dead. His parents had drilled that into his head.

"Brad had some issues..."

Trent's brows shot up. "Issues? That's a fucking understatement. He was a mess, and I'll be honest here with you that I'm not surprised he ended up with his skull bashed in. He was a loudmouthed asshole who spent most of his time drunk and belligerent, but thought he was the coolest dude that ever lived. Yeah, he was cool when we were seventeen, but by the time we were twenty-one his