“That’s the last time you threaten Evie or me.” His voice rumbles with warning. “The last time you step foot on my property. And the last time you get away with any act of malice toward us.”
My sister, who I now understand doesn’t know what’s good for her and has probably never known, has the gaul to glare at him.
“You think you scare me?” she spits, crossing her arms over her chest.
I look back at Drew to see a muscle tick in his jaw.
“Yeah. I do. What you did was criminal, but you’re not hardened like me.” The words come out so soft and low they’re even scarier than if he’d shouted them. “I wouldn’t have to touch you myself. Got plenty of those that’d do it for me. Without a trace.”
His words send a chill down my spine. They are true, and it’s obvious all of us know it. I’m sure Tori knows it because of the way her eyes are fast blinking now. And then, without a word, she turns and runs from the room. I don’t move until I hear her speed up the stairs and slam her bedroom door.
I turn to Drew, but he’s already reaching for me.
His arms are around me, and my mouth opens under his. The kiss is quick, but deep. Urgent. A declaration, but also a promise.
Drew pulls back and releases me. “Pack a bag for tonight,” he tells me. “We’ll get the rest in the morning.”
I blink at him. “W-where are we going?”
The non-smile I love marks his mouth. “To my house.”
Our bodies are only inches apart, and I wonder if he can feel the question that must pulse from my being.
“For… now?”
His gray eyes glint. “For always.”
Happiness ripples through me as if every cell — bone, blood, beating heart — is bathed in it.
“We — I mean, um, my stuff won’t… won’t fit in your apart…” My words trail off as I watch his expression change to one I’ve never seen, the look in his eyes scoring into me. It’s somber… tender… lost and found.
Drew shakes his head, as if to clear it. “Pack a bag, Guppy. I’ll get Gem together and explain later.”
I point him in the direction of Gemini’s harness, leash, and food before dashing upstairs. I only spare Tori’s door a glance and see it’s shut. I hear nothing behind it, but I don’t care to listen either. I only hope she doesn’t come out before I have a chance to gather things for tonight.
I haven’t slept much the last three nights, but I also haven’t exactly unpacked since leaving Janine’s. I’ve been living out of a suitcase since Monday, returning to Janine’s to rifle through one of my plastic bins in search of the dress I wore to Mrs. Vivian’s funeral.
When I got back this afternoon, I’d been so emotionally raw, so stirred by seeing Drew again, I’d immediately changed into comfort clothes, so the dress joined the heap that spills out of the suitcase. I shake my head at the mess, grab a bag, and move to the bathroom for my toothbrush and face wash.
I look up at the mirror and meet my own gaze.
“Did Drew just ask me to move in with him?” I ask my reflection.
Seeing him today — touching him and watching him suffer — had left me a weeping mess. The signs are still there — my eyes bloodshot, my nose red. But right now? Honest to God, I’ve never looked happier.
I turn back to my room and rifle through the pile, pulling out clothes for class tomorrow. I’ll figure the rest out later. I’ll get a storage unit if I have to. And I’ll need to explain everything to my parents. At some point. That isn’t going to be an easy conversation, and I’m already guessing they’ll make excuses for Tori. Downplay what she’s done.
But that’s not happening right now.
Right now, I’m slinging a bag over my shoulder and bouncing down the stairs. And Drew is there waiting for me, holding Gem’s leash in one hand and his bag of dog food in the other.
And Gemini is leaping, spinning, dancing in midair as though he can sense my happiness. My eagerness not just to walk out of here and never look back, but to walk straight ahead with this man who just saved me by saving himself. And then saved me again by claiming me.
“Let’s get out of here.”
The corner of his mouth lifts. “You won’t get any arguments from me.”
As soon as we’re out the door and into the night, Drew shifts the dog food into the arm that holds Gem’s leash, and he clasps my hand with his free one.
