I tiptoe past Dad who is asleep on the couch in front of the much smaller TV from our rec room.
As I drive through the intersection at the four corners of our village, I accidentally catch up with Jase who sees me and is immediately shifting to his human form, looking at my car as I pass him. I catch his expression and first it’s confusion, then in the rearview mirror, I see his mouth moving. I’m not a professional lip reader, but it doesn’t take an expert to know he’s cussing. Maybe he thought I was looking for him.
I speed up and instead of stopping in Drowsy Hollow, I keep driving and wind up almost ninety minutes away in a twenty-four-hour department store, where I wander every aisle and leave with two-hundred-and-eighty dollars’ worth of randomstuff. I guess we’ll call it retail therapy, though maybe I need someactualtherapy because I don’t feel remotely better.
When I return to my room, it’s three in the morning. And Jase is awake, waiting for me.
He looks like he’s wound as tight as a bow, watching me from the trundle bed with irritation, but saying nothing. I drop my bags on my dresser and move into the bathroom, turning on the shower to get one more minute to myself more than anything. After a quick wash, I slip into my walk-in closet to get into pajamas.
He’s got his back to me when I tiptoe over him to get into bed.
And we both lie here for a while before my eyes finally drift shut.
***
After maybe two and a half hours of sleep, I’m coming out of the bathroom as Jase is coming into my room. I suspect he’s returning from a run, though it looks like he ran on two feet judging by the muddy running shoes on his feet. His upper body is naked; he’s in just a pair of black basketball shorts. I’m about to comment about the muddy shoes and how my Mom will feel about them, but the look of irritation on his face has my eyes pivoting away as I pass him, making sure not to appreciate his muscled body, those defined hip bones, or how the black tribal ink winds up his arms and to his neck on one side.
Nope, not affected by any of that.
I’m such a liar.
He moves directly to the bathroom and I hear the shower turn on while I’m telling my brain to ignore how incredibly delicious he smelled.
After digging through the kitchen cupboard for a to-go coffee mug, my Dad sits down and gives me an assessing look.
Great.Not.
“What’s happenin’, Bailey?” Dad asks. And it’s not a rhetorical greeting.
“I’ve got to get to the library,” I tell him, jerking my thumb toward the door.
He clenches his jaw before replying. “See you after that then. Here for that council and coven meeting?”
“Uh huh. Later,” I say, stirring in the sugar and cream before capping my cup.
“Hey?” Dad calls.
Drats! I was almost out of here.
I wait, looking at him expectantly.
“Worried about you,” Dad says softly.
“I’m worried about you, too,” I fire back, a little too aggressively. “Mom, too. She’s sleeping still? This isn’t like her. She’s always been an early bird. Until lately. Because she’s probably not sleeping well without you beside her.”
As soon as that’s out of my mouth, I wish I could snatch it back.
Dad doesn’t throw anything across the room this time. Instead, he tiredly sighs. “Mimi Young will be here in a couple days and she’ll sort me out. She’ll sort me out and then your mother will be okay, too.”
“Surprised you’re allowing it,” I say. “I know you don’t trust the coven.”
“I’ve had a chance to rewind all that old shit in my head and… it was my relationship with Soleil that strained things with the coven. It was her addiction to dark magic that hurt me and your brother. It didn’t help my relationship with Soleil’s family. I’m gonna try and be more open, since they’re in Greyson’s life. Andclearly… yours, too. Don’t fully agree with what’s happenin’ with you and Jase here, but I do like that those girls are protective over you.”
“Well… I’m glad. For Grey’s sake and for you. They’re good people,” I say.
“You’re showing signs of being more like me than your mother with that stubborn streak you’ve got. That’s not one of the qualities I wanted to pass onto you, sweetheart. Try not to be as stubborn as your old man. At least give Jase a chance.”
“I can’t do this right now, Dad.”