A phone is ringing with the same ringtone as mine. Jase pulls two phones from his pocket and frowns at the screen before he sets them on the table in front of me. He had my phone.
Lucinda Walsh is calling. I stare at the screen as it continues to ring. It stops.
“Sorry about your phone, Bailey,” he says. “And I’m sorry I left you there the other day. Can’t even tell you how sorry.”
Another phone rings. Erica is answering her phone, saying Lucinda’s name. But I can’t take my eyes off Jason’s face as he looks at me with questions in his eyes. With pain on his face. With all those words he said bouncing around in my mind, in my chest.
There’s almost a humming in my ears, a buzzing of sorts.
And again… that puppy!
“Do you hear that?” I ask him.
Jase frowns. “Hear what?”
“The puppy.”
His brows draw together. He probably thinks I’m just glazing over everything he’s just said.
I look around. “Do you guys hear that?”
Everyone is looking at me strangely, except Erica, who is walking out with the phone to her ear. I feel lightheaded right now with all these eyes on me, with all I’m feeling, and I’m overstimulated, I think. The pup sounds stop.
Jase asks, “Puppy?”
“Never mind,” I whisper, looking at Dani and Vivi who whisper to one another.
Dani speaks up. “It’s very likely a side effect of denying the mate bond. You’re flushed and shaky, Bailey. Drink some water.”
She passes me a bottle.
I take it. My hands are sweating. I can’t seem to get a grip on the lid to open it. I wipe my hand on my dress and see Jason’s open hand extended in front of me. I stare at his hand for a minute, then take it.
His other big, warm hand closes around mine. And he doesn’t get zapped.
Our gazes connect and his eyes are even warmer. He looks happy as his two big hands dwarf mine.
“Did you want me to open that water for you, Bay?” he asks in a soft, low voice.
I blink away a daze and pull my hand back.
His expression drops.
I pass him the water. He uncaps it and hands it back, not looking me in the eyes now.
I down over half the bottle, gulp after gulp, before setting it on the table. Now I’m shaking harder. Trembling all over.
What do I say? Jason has had his say and when Erica comes back she’s probably going to have me say my piece. And I don’t have a clue what to say. What to feel. What to think. What to do.
And Lucinda called me and is probably talking to Erica right now and it must be because of my effort to change the law. Will she say something that helps extend the spell?
I think I’m having a complete meltdown. I’m also grappling with my mind going over all the things he’s said today, all the things the girls in my book club group chat said after I requested their help. The things Jase said to me in my car the other day.
My eyes meet my brother’s. And he’s sitting still, but watching me, looking concerned. He’s on the edge of his chair, like he’s about to spring up into action.
He’s stopping himself from stepping in, I think. It looks like he knows exactly what I’m thinking.
Erica is coming back. Her eyes are on me as she moves toward me.