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Nathan nodded. He looked behind his shoulder and then entered the room, closing the door. He leaned against the frame. “He’ll be here in a little bit. You okay with that?”
“Of course,” I said. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
Nathan stared at me for a long moment, quiet. After a while, he sighed. “Sorry. I just...”
“What is it?”
He pursed his lips and waved me off. “I’m being paranoid. Keep wanting to take you with me or...nothing. It’s stupid.” He opened the closet and then shifted through clothes, selecting a shirt.
I watched as he pulled the red shirt down over his body. The sleeves stretched, the shoulders were tight against his body. I got up, and tugged at his sleeve. “I think you need a few new shirts.”
“Huh?”
“These are getting tighter,” I said. “Your shoulders are filling out.”
He laughed. He caught me by the waist and planted a delicate kiss on my mouth. “Kind of a surprise, actually. I haven’t had too much of a chance to work out lately. And you’re sounding more like Gabriel.”
“Should we go shopping with him?”
“Later,” he said. “Right now, I have to go.”
“Nathan!” North called from deeper in the house.
“See?” Nathan said. He headed for the door. He opened it, then paused and turned back to me. “You going to be okay here for a few minutes by yourself?”
“Yeah,” I said with a smile. I knew he was just looking out for me, but I used to spend a lot of time alone. I could handle a few minutes.
He smiled. “You know, you can play with anything you want. There’s the Xbox or movies. There’s an iPad somewhere in here.”
“I know.” I said, but still felt like most things were his. Unless he invited me to do something with him, I usually sat on the bed and maybe picked up a book to read.
He stared for a while at me. He was thinking, I could tell.
“Something wrong?” I asked. I wondered if it was the issue he had to discuss with Mr. Blackbourne.
“I...I want to talk to you,” he said. “I just don’t have time right now.”
“We talk all the time,” I said. “Can it wait?”
He smiled a little. “I guess,” he said. He winked and then headed out.
I wished I’d told him to tell me what it was about, but I didn’t want to stop him now since they had to get going. Now I was really curious.
Since Silas was going to show up soon, I changed my clothes into some cotton shorts and a tank shirt so I’d be more comfortable. I used the kitchen sink to wash my face. I checked the contents of the fridge for something to possibly make for dinner if he was hungry.
I didn’t have to wait too long before there was a quick knock at the door. Before I could answer it, there was a scraping at the lock and it opened.
Silas came in. His dark hair was combed back away from his face; it was getting a little longer in the front. He towered over me, with a broad white smile that contrasted with his olive complexion. He wore a baseball T-shirt and dark jeans.
He spotted me in the hall and then waved. “Aggele Mou, grab a night bag and let’s go.”
My heart leapt to my throat. Who was in trouble now? “Go? Go where?”
“You’re coming home with me.”
My lips parted as I stared at him, unsure if he was serious. I was waiting for another disaster. When he didn’t say anything, I realized this was different. No, he just wanted me to go to his house with him. “Really?”
Silas nodded and pointed into deeper in the house. “Come on, short stuff.”
I turned and walked back toward the bedroom. “What’s going on?”
“Looks like Nathan’s going to be gone overnight so you’ll go with me.”
I slowed a little. Nathan didn’t mention this. Had he known before he left that he’d be out late? Usually if he had to do Academy things, Kota or one of the others stayed with me at Nathan’s house. It felt a little strange to be going with Silas. “What about the people watching the house?”
“If they’re that nosey, they can come along, too,” he said. “But I checked. They weren’t there. Kota’s gone and so is Nathan so they probably followed them.”
I couldn’t think of another reason to question what was happening. I didn’t want to sound like I was complaining or anything, but it wasn’t like I got out a lot. The thought of going to Silas’s house for the night was exciting. Would I meet his parents? What would they think of me? What did it mean?
In Nathan’s bedroom, I went for the closet, and pulled out clothes to sleep in and for wearing the next day, a couple of pairs of underwear, a bra, and for good measure, an extra shirt and a pair of shorts, just in case. I found a second pair of sandals, too. Did I want anything else? I had my phone. That was it. I didn’t have anything else I owned that I could carry. Was I worried I’d need something? I was going with Silas!
I brought it all back with me out of the closet. Silas had my book bag which he emptied on the bed, and passed to me. Folded notes fluttered from the contents, falling to his feet. He scooped them up, looking at them. “They’re still doing this shit?” he asked.
“I think it’s a game now,” I said, stuffing my clothes into my book bag. “I don’t read them still, but it’s like a contest or something to see if I’ll actually get the notes or if North or Kota or someone else intercepts.”
“They don’t do it in our biology class,” he said, his dark eyes focused on the notes, my name scrawled on the fronts of them.
“Probably wouldn’t dare,” I suggested, smiling.
He flashed a grin at me. He unfolded one, reading it as I went to grab the bathroom kit on the dresser. I picked up a bottle of perfume, custom made by Gabriel, and dotted myself at the neck and wrists before corking it again. The sweet fruity musk scent wafted up to my nose, putting a thrill into my spine.
r /> When I turned, Silas was scanning another note, frowning, grumbling.
I dropped the bathroom items into the bag. I leaned over the bed, taking the edge of the note in Silas’s hand. He stopped reading, looking back up at me. I caught the anger bubbling on the surface.
I smiled, crumbling the edge of the note. “Doesn’t matter,” I said, confident that whatever it was, it was probably stupid.
His lips pursed, and he collected up the notes and stuffed them into his pocket. “Let’s get out of here,” he said. He moved to the window, hitting the lock and then tried to lift the bottom part, as if testing to make sure the lock worked.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
Silas squinted at me. “Sweetie, we’re about to leave. I’m locking up.”
“Oh.” Of course he was. There was usually someone always inside my old house, so locking up wasn’t an issue. I only ever did it at night.
Silas zipped up my bag for me, throwing it over his shoulder. “Need anything else?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so.”
“Have your phone?”
I patted at my chest, where the phone was tucked into my bra.
He grinned down at me, sweeping a fingertip across my cheek. “Check the back door, make sure it’s locked.”
I padded out of the bedroom, checking the lock on the sliding glass doors. Silas was waiting for me at the front. I rushed past him and he hit the lock, closing the door behind himself.
I raced out on my toes to the passenger side door of the blue car parked outside. Silas laughed. “It’s open.”
I clutched the door handle and got in. The seats were cloth. The inside smelled like sports equipment, Silas’s ocean scent, fresh cut wood and paint. Silas dropped my book bag in the back seat next to a tool belt and his football helmet. He got behind the wheel, fishing out his keys.
Suddenly I remembered I didn’t have everything. “Oh no, I forgot my keys.”
“I’ve got the keys, aggele,” he said, turning the car engine over.
“Oh yeah.” I blushed still, feeling awkward since I should have thought to grab them. First time I’m going out like this and I locked my own keys into the house. What if I needed to come back and Nathan wasn’t here? I needed to remember to start taking them with me.
