Page 32 of Love Hate

Great.

I was going to church with the guy I couldn’t stop thinking about doing horribly filthy things with.

Super normal and not fucked up at all.

Way to go, Andy.

Chapter Seventeen

~Trevor~

“Trevor!”

I fought not to groan as Mark jogged over to meet us as we made our way across the quad toward the chapel.

“Hey,” I said, reaching out to shake Mark’s hand and relaxing slightly when Mark offered his hand to Andy as well. “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” Mark answered with a shrug. “What are you two up to?”

“We’re headed to evening mass,” Andy told him. “Would you like to join us?”

“Mass?” Mark turned to look at me again, his face showing what seemed to be a flash of anger, but it was gone before I could really be sure. “Thank you, Andy. It’s very nice of you to invite me. But I’m not Catholic.”

“Neither am I,” I reminded Mark. “But learning new things never hurt anyone.”

“Fair enough,” Mark agreed. “Well, have fun…or whatever.”

“See you around,” Andy said, waving as we started walking again. “That’s Mark Tafta, right? I think he has Trig with my sister.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “He’s my roommate, actually.”

“Oh.” Andy looked back toward Mark and I turned to do the same, but my friend had already disappeared somewhere. “If you’d rather hang out with him—”

“I wouldn’t,” I said firmly. “Come on, Princess. We don’t want to be late.”

When we entered the chapel I watched in confusion as Andy stuck his fingers into a wet sponge then knelt and made the sign of the cross over himself then stood again.

“What was that?”

“It’s a Catholic thing,” Andy said, his hand moving to the small of my back as he guided me toward the double doors that led inside.

The motion seemed completely unconscious and I was embarrassed at how much I liked that he was so comfortable doing it.

“I don’t have a rosary or anything,” I whispered as I slid into the booth next to him and sat down.

“You don’t need one,” he promised me. “Rosaries are special occasion things. Evening mass is pretty laid back.”

“Mr. Hix, Mr. Simpson,” Monsignor O’Shea said from the aisle next to me, surprise clear in his tone. “How nice to see you here together.”

Andy and I stood and each took turns shaking the monsignor’s hand.

“Will you be leading service tonight?” Andy asked.

“As a matter of fact,” O’Shea said. “I thought I’d give it a shot.” He smiled at both of us. “I think you’ll both appreciate the sermon. Peace be with you.”

“And also with you,” Andy answered as they nodded once to each other.

The monsignor made his way down the aisle again, stopping to shake hands with a few other people before he took his place on the dais and someone laid a white scarf over his shoulders.