“Seriously?” I asked a little too enthusiastically.
Laughing, he nodded. “Seriously. You’re right. We haven’t really spent much time together lately, and I miss having you all to myself.” He trailed the back of his hand down my face in a familiar and comforting gesture. “I’ll make sure Colt and Jax know I’ll be busy this weekend.”
I smiled. “Thank you.”
He nipped at my bottom lip before giving me a quick kiss. Then he reached around me to open the door. “You’d better go before I do something that will keep you here,” he said, his voice dark and seductive.
Stepping out of his room, I glanced over my shoulder. “Love you,” I said.
His eyes darkened, and his gaze lingered like a heated caress. “Love you more,” he said with a teasing grin.
I forced myself to walk away, knowing if I responded, we’d end up right back in his room with the door locked. As much as I wanted to do that, I needed to get home so Aunt Beth and Uncle Dean wouldn’t get upset. I also needed to make sure Abby was okay.
“Hey, ready to go?” I asked Abby.
She was sitting in the living room with Whitney, the two of them huddled on the couch, whispering. “Yeah,” Abby said and stood. “Thanks, Whitney.”
We walked out to the car. “What did Whitney want to talk to you about?” I asked as I climbed in and started the engine.
“She just wanted to make sure I was okay. She told me not to give up on Isach.” Abby hooked her seat belt. “What did Trent want? To sneak in a quick make out session?”
“No.” I laughed. “Well, not really. I mean, we did kind of make out, but he wanted to talk to me about Colt.” I backed out of the driveway and headed toward home.
Abby scrunched up her face. “I don’t know what it is about him, but he kinda weirds me out. It’s like he doesn’t like anyone but Jax and Trent. It’s bizarre.”
“Right? Trent basically confirmed that Colt doesn’t like me, which is whatever. But I’m worried it’s going to cause problems between me and Trent.”
“No way.” Abby shook her head. “Nothing will ever come between you and Trent. You guys are too solid.”
I only hoped she was right. Maybe this weekend away was exactly what we needed to reconnect and solidify whatever crack was in our relationship, because I was not giving up on Trent. I didn’t care what Colt said or did. Nothing and no one would stand in my way of an eternity with Trent.
CHAPTER TWENTY:
Cryptic
“HOW WAS SCHOOL?” AUNT BETH ASKED over dinner later that night.
Momentary fear whipped through me. Did she know we’d ditched school today? I sliced a look at Abby, but she had her head down, pushing food around on her plate.
“It was fine. We’ve started reviewing for finals. That’s kinda boring,” I said.
“I can’t believe you two are almost finished with high school.” Aunt Beth shook her head.
I half expected her to start crying, but she didn’t. I wasn’t sure I could handle anymore tears today.
“It’s going fast,” Uncle Dean said. He narrowed his eyes. “Something wrong with the food, Abby?”
She jerked her head up as if just realizing she wasn’t alone. “No. I’m just tired and stressed and kinda have a headache.” She forced a smile.
“Did you take some aspirin?” Aunt Beth asked.
At the mention of medication, I froze. I was supposed to have broken ribs, and yet I’d been acting perfectly fine around them. Had they noticed? If so, they hadn’t said anything. I reached for my glass of water, slowly, making it a point to pretend the effort hurt a little.
“I think I have the bottle of aspirin in my room,” I said, clearing my throat. I’d brought it in there last night when I’d gotten home from Whitney’s. I hadn’t needed to take any of it, but I needed to keep up the charade.
“How are you feeling?” Uncle Dean asked, eyes narrowed once again.
“Better. If I move wrong, it hurts, but I’m trying to be careful,” I said.
“Good.” Uncle Dean nodded.
The rest of dinner was eaten in relative silence. Abby and I helped carry dirty dishes to the sink, but then Aunt Beth shooed us away, told us to rest up. Once I got to the top of the stairs, I clutched Abby’s elbow and dragged her into my room. I closed the door, found the bottle of aspirin, and tossed it to her.
“Thanks.” She turned as if she were going to leave.
“I figured it out,” I said.
“What?” She squinted, confusion playing across her face.
“Isach. I know why he broke up with you, and it’s not because he doesn’t love you.” I wasn’t happy he’d hurt her, but now that I understood why, I was nearly bouncing with excitement to tell Abby.
“Okay…?” she said slowly.
“He said Felicity’s mission is to watch him, which means she’s reporting back to Rector.” I widened my eyes, waiting for her to connect the dots. When she didn’t, I sighed. “He broke up with you to protect you. He doesn’t want Felicity to tell Rector about you, so Isach is distancing himself.”
Abby stared at me with a blank expression. “Then why didn’t he just tell me that?”
I shrugged. “Who knows? But think about it, Abby. It makes sense.”
“Yeah, I guess.” The lack of enthusiasm in her voice tore at my heart, deflating me. “So, what happens when Felicity is gone? Will he want to get back together?”
“I think he will.” I nodded. “Honestly, I don’t think he wanted to break up with you at all. I’m sure this is just as hard on him as it is on you.”
I stopped short of saying the sooner Felicity was disposed of, the sooner she and Isach could get back together. That was rather heartless, even if Felicity was a witch working with the most
