He was staring at me so intently I snapped my mouth shut, refusing to say anything else. My heart was in my throat as I waited for him to say something—anything.
Finally, he said, “May I?” and nodded at my hand.
The déjà vu was instant and made my knees weak. My stomach roiled. What was going on? Every single time I was near him this happened. I needed to know why.
Reluctantly, I held out my hand to him, hoping he didn’t notice how bad I was trembling, which was stupid, because of course he noticed. He took my hand into his, lacing our fingers, his thumb brushing back and forth across my knuckles. I held my breath and closed my eyes.
I’m in pain, my hand throbbing. There’s warmth and compassion. A caress against my elbow. A jolt of energy up my arm.
“Chloe?” His voice cut through whatever was happening.
I forced my eyes open and yanked my hand from his.
“Did it happen again?” he asked.
“No,” I lied. “Nothing happened, and quite frankly, this whole thing is starting to freak me out.” I hitched my backpack higher on my shoulder. Declan’s car came down the road, saving me. “Seriously, Trent. You just need to back off, okay?”
The moment Declan stopped the car, I was inside and slamming the door.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
Missing Pieces
“AFTERNOON, CHLOE.” DECLAN CAUGHT MY GAZE in the rearview mirror. “Bad day?”
“You have no idea.” I cradled my head in my hands, trying to make sense of Trent and my emotions. But they were nonsensical, and dwelling on it would only give me a headache. There was only one thing I could do—stay far away from Trent. And Jaxon.
When I arrived at my father’s house, I thanked Declan and headed inside. Larissa was sitting at the kitchen table doing something on her phone.
“Hey,” I said.
She looked up and smiled. “How was school?”
I shrugged. “Same as every other day.” I grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator. “Dad home?”
“He’s working late. Again.” She frowned. “Do you have any plans tonight?”
“No, but I’ve been wanting to ask you… Can I hang out with Simon Saturday night? He’s going to pick me up at six.”
She smiled again, this time wider and brighter. “Two weekends in a row. Back in my day, we called that dating.”
I rolled my eyes. “Trust me, we are not dating.” Although, I now knew that’s what Simon wanted.
“Well, I think he’s a great boy. Very polite, and he comes from a good family.” She stood, slipping her phone into her pocket. “I don’t care if you go, but please be home by eleven, okay?”
“Okay. Thanks, Larissa.”
I went upstairs, dropped my stuff in my room, then headed to the office. Scanning pictures was a boring, mindless activity, and that made it a fantastic distraction from my thoughts.
Two hours later, my eyes burned, and my back was stiff. I stood and stretched. My stomach rumbled, reminding me I hadn’t eaten much today. And I didn’t smell any food, either, which meant Larissa probably wasn’t cooking anything. Snatching my phone, I checked my messages.
Simon: SOMETHING CAME UP. CAN’T GO SATURDAY. SORRY.
My shoulders slumped, and I stared at his message. Was he really that mad about what happened today when he’d kissed me? I’d been as gentle as possible when I told him we were only friends. Why couldn’t he accept that?
I had a message from Abby, too. I opened it to find her, Gina, and Ellie standing in front of a mirror, the three of them in prom dresses. More pictures of them at prom arrived.
Abby: SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG TO SEND THESE.
Enlarging the photo, I studied it, a wistful smile pulling at my lips. They looked amazing, and I was happy for them. But I was jealous, too. I should’ve been there with them.
“How’s it going?” Larissa stood in the doorway, arms crossed.
“Good. Just taking a quick break.”
She nodded. “The nanny is staying with Little Frank tonight while I go meet an old college friend for dinner. Want to tag along?”
Hanging out with Larissa and her friend didn’t sound like fun, but spending another moment in this room with all these old pictures sounded like even less fun.
“Yeah, sure,” I said.
After using the restroom and putting my hair in a braid, Larissa and I were in the car and headed down the highway. “So, I should warn you. Belinda is a little… eccentric. She believes in a lot of things I don’t.”
“What kinds of things?”
“Otherworldly things. Ghosts, spirits, tarot, past lives. That kind of stuff.” Larissa got off the highway and headed toward the only restaurant on this street—a quaint Italian eatery. “She’s harmless, but I wanted to give you a heads up.”
“Thanks.”
It didn’t take long to find a parking spot, and once we were inside, Larissa waved to a woman seated at a table in the corner of the dimly lit restaurant. I followed her through the restaurant, noting the deep red tablecloths and flickering lanterns on each table.
“Larissa, darling.” The woman stood and embraced her. “You’re looking as wonderful as ever.”
“Hello, Belinda.” Larissa stepped out of her arms. “This is my stepdaughter, Chloe.”
Belinda clutched my hands, hers were warm and friendly. “Chloe. I’ve heard so much about you.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said.
Belinda tilted her head and tsked. I looked to Larissa for some sort of context. But she wasn’t any help.
“Oh, my dear child. Why so sad and confused?” Belinda asked.
“Uh…what?” I said.
Larissa rolled her eyes. “Honestly, Belinda. Can’t we just have a normal, quiet dinner?”
Belinda finally released my hands, and I took a seat. Larissa had warned me about her friend, but I hadn’t expected her to blurt out—accurately—my current emotional state. Who did that?
Once we ordered, Larissa and Belinda chatted about life and family and work while I nibbled on breadsticks and tuned them out, my thoughts wandering to Trent. I couldn’t seem to not think about him, no matter how hard I tried.
The image of his beautiful blue eyes and sexy
