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As the others harassed Parker for his honesty, I turned away to start from the kitchen, only for Thane to call, “Hey. Where’re you going?”
I glanced back as the others paused to watch me in concern.
Lifting a shoulder, I admitted, “I just… I don’t know. I gotta go think about what I’m going to say.”
“Well, this is what you say,” Keene started, only for Parker to snicker in derision.
“He doesn’t want to hear your lame-ass suggestion that probably only involves trying to get into her pants, ya idiot.”
Keene whirled to scowl back. “How did you know it involved sex?”
I shook my head, amused by their byplay yet equally depressed by what I had to do.
This time, no one noticed as I slipped from the kitchen and headed toward my room. But as soon as I opened the door and stepped inside, Oaklynn’s scent—our scent—wafted over me, and my chest squeezed painfully.
How the fuck was I going to tell her?
Suddenly, all I could picture were her large, frightened, dark eyes as she peered up at me and said,There’s a blank space on your shelf.
With a wince of regret, I went to my bed and sat on the edge before leaning down and digging my hand between the two mattresses. When I pulled out the photo, it was still intact and in pristine condition.
Two faces grinned back at me. One was mine from back when I was ten. The other that was tipped lovingly against mine made my stomach clench. I ran a finger over her cheek and chin, memorizing the lines so I’d never forget them.
“I miss you,” I admitted in a choked voice.
Then I tucked us back between the two mattresses, out of sight, before I hunted up my phone.
But once I found it and opened Oaklynn’s contact, I didn’t admit to any big confessions. I merely texted,
I want to see you again.
Within seconds, three dots popped up, and I sucked in a breath, anticipating her response before, damn, there it was.
Okay.
Yes!
I bit my lip and demanded,
When?
Her answer was coy and teasing and left me antsy with yearning, yet it still made me smile affectionately and shake my head.
I’ll let you know.
* * *
So as Iwaited for Oaklynn to contact me and let me know when we could reconnect, the days passed in a blur of classes and homework. The only excitement came when I had to call a plumber for one of my rentals after a kid flushed a handful of Legos down the toilet.
I still had no idea how to tell her about Thalia—probably because I refused to think about all that—but I definitely didn’t seem to be under any kind of pressing timeline either because, by Saturday, I’d convinced myself that two nights had been her limit, and she didn’t want anything else to do with me.
I truly doubted I’d ever see her again.
Then, Alec made everything worse by asking if I had a problem with him meeting up with her so he could film her mock newscast. And that stung. She’d contacted him and agreed to meet withhim, butIstill hadn’t heard shit.
When it came time for them to have their session, I decided to distract myself with a paper I needed to write. I was so deep into the project I almost didn’t hear the timid tapping that came at my door until it turned into a full knock.
My laptop was perched on my bent knees, half a dozen opened books littered the mattress around me, and an uncapped highlighter was stuck between my teeth as I transcribed a book title into my bibliography.
