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Watching Raven with Jax, I get the same vibe, and it’s creeping me the hell out.
Not that I find her creepy. I just feel like I’m living in a déjà vu moment.
And living in a house of drama.
Thank God I convinced Jax to get the phone. It took some real talking and even bribing. My offer? Go, and then you can spend the rest of the day with her.
He was so worked up that he didn’t even try to discuss the fact that I kind of agreed that I want us to both try to date her. And we need to talk about it before anything can happen. Then we need to talk to Raven, which is going to be weird as hell. I just hope we don’t scare the shit out of her and she takes off or something. The last thing we need is for her to leave, especially with the note thing, the raven thing, and her uncle thing …
And the fact that I want to be around her all the time thing …
As images of her wearing my shirt this morning flood my thoughts, I sink back into the chair and rake my fingers through my hair. Part of me wishes I’d done the line in my room, but part of me is relieved. I get crazy when I do coke, like wildly upbeat. I make mistakes. Well, more than I already do. And we don’t need that right now.
I bounce my knee up and down as I drag my fingers across my face, restlessly waiting for the cameras to sync to the program. Since the party is in the house, I will have to lock the equipment up in my bedroom where no one can stumble onto it. It’s a risk we’re taking, setting up in our house when the party will be full of Benton’s friends and colleagues of my father, Jax’s, and Zay’s. But the job pays a lot. Plus, I’m kind of curious to see what the cameras catch. Some of my father’s secrets? Wouldn’t that be nice? Because the more I know about what he’s been up to, the more I feel like I have some control over my life. Right now, I feel like I’m losing some of it for several different reasons; one being this game we’ve been forced to play.
We all know we need to retaliate for the bird incident, but we’re not sure what we want to do yet or who we even do it to. I also want to find out why my father is paying us to look into Raven’s family. At first, I thought it was because her uncle is the sheriff. Now, with the question of her being Willow floating in the air, I can’t help wondering if he has an ulterior motive.
He typically does.
And it’s usually bad.
My computer beeps, announcing that the cameras are all synced. I lean forward to finish the setup when my phone rings, Zay’s name flashing across the screen.
“What’s up?” I prop the phone between my ear and shoulder to finish working on the setup.
“I’m not going to be there until later to train Raven,” he replies. “Honestly, I think we should start training tomorrow morning because of everything going on today.”
“Why?” I wonder. “Where are you? And why the hell did you just take off when we have a ton of shit to do?”
“I needed some fresh air,” he replies in that annoying tone that implies he doesn’t owe me an explanation. “But then I stumbled across something I need to look into.”
I pause from typing, his tone catching my attention. “What is it? Because you sound slightly worried.”
“I’m not worried,” he insists. “I just … Can you just let this go for now? I want to be sure before I throw this news on everyone.”
Worry stirs inside me. “News that bad?”
“I don’t know.” He sounds genuine—genuinely confused—which is weird for him. “Shit, I have to go. I’ll be back before the party.” He hangs up the phone, leaving me wondering what’s going on.
Part of me wants to track him down, but the other part knows I need to take care of this shit for the party. And I can’t leave Raven alone in the house.
That doesn’t mean I don’t track his phone to see where he is. And when I do, I’m perplexed, because he’s at Raven’s uncle and aunt’s house.
I stare at the location. “What the fuck are you up to, Zay?”
Just then, the front door opens. I look through the doorway and into the foyer. The snow apparently has started up again, along with the wind, because a gust of cold air and snowflakes sweep into the house.
“Shit, it’s cold,” Jax mutters as he hurries inside the foyer and shoves the door closed.
He dusts snow off his hair and jacket and stomps snow off his boots, a plastic bag in his hand.
“That was fast,” I say as he slips his boots off and sets them on the shelf beside the door. “Especially with how bad the roads are.”
“That’s what four-wheel drive is for. Plus, Del had the phone all ready to go, so I was there for like one minute, tops.” He looks around the room as he walks into the living room. “Where’s Raven?”
“Upstairs going through clothes with Low.” I elevate a brow at him. “Why do I get the feeling you drove recklessly to get back to her?”
