Tristan’s shoulders relax. “It’s just a local kid.”
I let out a sigh in relief.
Thank goodness.
Tristan opens up the door, pasting a smile on his face. One that I know to be a fake smile.
“Tristan, hey. What up, man?” The guy asks. The phrase sounds a little weird with his slight southern accent.
“Hey. Not much. Just got some friends from out of town over,” Tristan answers.
The guy, I can’t remember his name, looks around Tristan and spots me. “Hey, Zara. I was hoping you were still here.”
He was hoping I was still here?
I look between Tristan and him, wondering what I’m supposed to say.
I hear footsteps on the stairs behind me, so I turn around and see Austin and Stefan walking down the stairs. Neither of them looks very happy to be awake. I’m guessing the voices woke them up, since the doorbell didn’t.
The guy clears his throat, so I turn back around and face him.
“We met last night,” the guy says.
I grin, shrugging my shoulders. “Ah, I met a lot of people last night. I’m sorry, I don’t remember your name.”
Tristan smiles.
The guy frowns. Well, he doesn’t just frown. His entire face falls, and I almost feel bad that I don’t remember his name.
Poor guy.
“Jessie,” he reminds me.
“Is there a reason you came by, Jessie?” Tristan asks, taking a step closer to me.
The door is still open. Jessie has taken a step inside, but he still has one foot out the door. He looks a little uncomfortable, and I can’t blame him. I’d probably be intimidated if I were him, too. I mean, my guys are pretty scary if you don’t know them, especially Austin and Cam.
“I... uh... I wanted to invite you to my house tonight. We’re having another bonfire on the beach.” Jessie stuffs his hands into the front pockets of his jeans, shifting his eyes between Tristan and me. “And... I was hoping to hang out with Zara tonight.” He clears his throat, licking his lips. “I mean... um...” He clears his throat for a second time. “Zara, you’re really pretty. So, I thought maybe we could hang out and get to know each other better. Maybe we could even exchange numbers or something.”
Oh.
He likes me.
Yikes.
“I have,” boyfriends, “a boyfriend.”
Austin snorts, and I know he thinks my response is funny. It’s easier to just say I have a boyfriend than to try and explain that I have five boyfriends. I don’t want to hurt this guy’s feelings. What if he says he wants to be my sixth boyfriend or something silly like that? I mean, there is no way he would say that, but I still don’t want any more boyfriends. My five are enough. More than enough, really.
“Oh.” He frowns. “Tristan, she’s your girl?”
Tristan nods, putting his arm around me. “Yeah. She’s mine.”
“Ah, well, I am disappointed. But you guys should still come by the party tonight. It’s going to be fun,” Jessie says, his smile returning.
I’m relieved that I didn’t hurt his feelings too badly.
“Thanks, but we have to get back to school,” Tristan says.
Jessie smiles. “Okay. Well, have fun at your fancy boarding school, man. If I knew girls this hot went there, I would’ve asked my parents to send me there with you.”
Cam crosses his arms over his chest glaring at Jessie. “Don’t call her hot.”
Jessie looks at Cam, his face paling. He turns to Tristan quickly. “It was good catching up, but I really should go.”
“Bye,” Tristan says, his voice tight.
I can tell he doesn’t like the things that Jessie was saying about me. In fact, he hated it.
Jessie walks out the door, and Tristan shuts it behind him, locking it back into place. All of the guys turn to look at me.
“What?” I ask, wondering why they’re looking at me.
Cam shakes his head, smirking. “We can’t leave you alone for a moment.”
I roll my eyes. “I didn’t even remember his name. You can’t be mad at me for that.”
“You should’ve been here last night,” Tristan says. “We stayed at that stupid party for maybe ten minutes because all the guys kept hitting on Zara.”
I roll my eyes. “You mean all the girls kept hitting on you, which is why I wanted to go in the first place. I wanted to show all those local girls that you’re mine.”
Dylan laughs. “How about we just never let another guy around Zara ever again. Except family. And a few Spy School agents we deem worthy.”
“Meaning only guys with wives or serious girlfriends,” Stefan says.
I look at Stefan. “You’re supposed to be on my side here.”
“Sorry. Can’t have other guys flirting with my girl.” He winks at me.
I sigh, throwing my hands into the air. “Oh, good grief.” I look between my guys, glaring at each of them. “I don’t want anybody else but the five of you. Trust me, I have my hands full enough with the five of you.”
“You’re outnumbered on this one.” Tristan grins. “The lasagna should be cooled off enough. I figured we’d want to eat something good before we leave for the airport.”
My stomach growls, reminding me that I definitely haven’t eaten all day.
“Food it is,” Cam says.
The plan sucks.
The six of us sit down at the huge table in the dining room to eat the lasagna that Tristan made. It smells amazing, and just the smell makes my stomach growl some more.
“Did you not feed her at all while we’ve been apart?” Austin glares at Tristan across the table.
“I’ve eaten a lot since I’ve been here.” I put a hand to my stomach. “Southern food is incredible. I’m going to get fat if we stay here.”
“I think it would take more than a couple of days eating like this to get fat, especially with how active you are,” Tristan says.
The guys snicker.
“That’s not what I meant.” Tristan rolls his eyes, but ends up laughing, too.
“What? I don’t get it,” I say.
The guys just laugh harder.
Suddenly, I realize why they’re laughing.
“A bunch of dirty minded boys.” I poke out my bottom lip. “You guys are so going to corrupt me, aren’t you?”
“I think it’s a little late for that.” Dylan takes my plate and puts a huge chunk of lasagna on it.
My eyes widen and he plops the plate in front of me. “You realize there is no way I can eat this much, right?”
He ignores me though, and just gets his own food.
“Cam, have you thought about where we’re going next?” Stefan asks.
I look at Cam as I take a huge bite of my lasagna.
Cam hasn’t touched his food yet. “I have no idea what we’re going to do, if I’m being honest. I don’t have a plan. My plan was to come here and find Zara. Now that I’ve found her, I don’t really have a plan.”
“What do you think we should do?” Austin asks. “You always have some sort of plan.”
“I do, sort of.” Cam sighs. “I think the next logical thing to do would be to go international. We have those identities we got when we were in New Orleans. I think it’s time to put them to good use. I know leaving the country won’t stop them from following us, but it’ll definitely make things more difficult. It’s a lot harder to hide your flights. There is no way we won’t be able to figure out who is following us.”
The thought of leaving America makes me a little bit sad, but I get why we need to.
“The next part you guys probably aren’t going to like.” Cam looks down at his untouched food as he says it. “In fact, I’m quite certain you won’t like it.”
“What is it?” I put my hand on Cam’s arm. “You can tell us, Cam.”
Cam takes a deep breath and looks me in the eyes. “If this is going to work, we’re all going to have to split up, at least temporarily. If we all trave
l together in one big group, it’s going to draw too much attention to us.”
“What do you propose?” Dylan asks.
The fact that nobody objects right away shocks me.
“I don’t know the exact details yet, but I don’t think we will split up for longer than a day or two. We’ll all fly somewhere different and meet up at a location,” Cam says. “We’ll fly in teams of two together.”
I frown, not liking this at all. “But we just got back together. I don’t want to separate.” A tear actually falls down my cheek, so I quickly wipe it away.
“But it makes the most sense.” Stefan sighs. “I hate this, but I think you’re right, Cam. It’s the only thing that makes sense. If all six of us fly together, it’ll be too big of a group.”
“How can it be okay if we’re all separated?” Austin asks, being the voice of reason. “What if this is what they want? We’ll be susceptible if we’re separated.”
“We’re susceptible whether we’re together or separated.” Cam’s voice is hard. “No, this is the right thing. The more I think about it, the more it makes sense. I hated the idea when Zach told it to me, too.”
“Do I get a say in this?” I ask.
“It’s decided,” Cam says.
I look at him. “But don’t we get to vote?”
His face softens as he looks at me. He reaches a hand up to stoke my cheek softly with his thumb. “Zara, baby, this isn’t a democracy. I’m the team leader. What I say is the final decision.”
I want to throw a fit. I want to fight him on this. But I know this is the moment that could make or break our team. I can give in to Cam’s demands, or I can fight him.
It was always going to come down to this moment.
If I fight him, I know the guys would feel torn. They would want to follow Cam, their leader, but they’d also want to follow me, their girlfriend.
I know what is right. And what I want isn’t right. Even if I think it is.
I sigh. “Okay. Just... promise me that this is the only way.”
“I think it is,” he says.
I nod. “Okay.”
And with that one word, I let Cam know what I’ve decided.
I’m going to do what I’ve been trained to do.
I am going to follow Cam, even if I think he is very, very wrong.
After that, I don’t have much of an appetite. I’m only able to eat a few bites, and I think they feel the same, because there are a lot of plates that only have a few bites taken out of it. I feel bad. Tristan worked hard making that lasagna. But I just can’t eat right now.
“I want to stay here tonight,” Cam announces. “I think taking a plane in the day makes more sense than buying a last-minute plane ticket that leaves the same night.”
I’m definitely okay with that, because I don’t want to be separated from my guys, yet.
“We should sleep in the living room tonight,” Tristan suggests. “So we can all sleep together.”
My heart soars.
Yes, I definitely like the sound of that.
I’m going to hold my guys extra close to me tonight, because tomorrow my heart is going to break all over again. At least this time I will know that they’re okay and I’ll know that we have a meeting point.
Everything is going to be okay.
I keep telling myself that, because it’s what I have to believe.
Saturday, January 4
Goodbye.
We say our goodbyes before we leave Tristan’s house.
When we get to the airport, we are going to separate until tomorrow.
Tomorrow.
And I’m not okay with this.
The six of us stand around in a circle in the foyer to Tristan’s house. Cam holds our tickets in his hands, and he looks nervous.
Cam clears his throat and shifts his weight from one foot to the other. “I think Zara should come with me.”
The guys don’t say a word. Not one word. And the silence almost feels... loud. I don’t like it. When I look up, I see that all the guys are looking at me to see what my reaction is.
“Uh...” I lick my lips and look at Cam. “If you think it’s best, then I’ll go with you.”
Cam nods once, his face softening. “Zara and I will be flying to London. The rest of you will be flying to various countries around Europe, and we will be meeting up tomorrow in Milan, Italy.”
Milan, Italy?
I’ve never been to Italy before. Actually, I haven’t been to a lot of Europe. In fact, other than Switzerland, I haven’t been anywhere in Europe. Going to London and Italy in a twenty-four-hour span is going to be crazy.
“This is it, isn’t it?” Austin asks.
Cam nods. “Zara and I have to leave in a few minutes. The rest of you will be leaving at varying times throughout the day.”
“I get it.” Austin frowns, his shoulders sagging. “This just freaking sucks.”
“Yeah, it does,” I agree.
“I agree.” Cam grabs onto my hand. “But I get a feeling that we’ll be doing this again soon, and it’ll be my turn to watch Zara leave with one of you.”
My chest drops at his words.
I don’t want to be separated anymore. Being separated is the absolute worst. But I take comfort in the fact that this is almost over. I know it is. I’m almost free. I can literally taste the freedom, it’s so close.
There is a honk from outside.
“That’s our ride.” Cam picks up my bag and his.
Our ride?
Cam is letting somebody else drive us to the airport?
“I’ll wait for you out there,” he says. “Don’t take too long.”
Cam walks out the front door with our bags in hand, and I turn to my guys. I know I’ll be seeing them tomorrow, but I am still so panicked. I don’t like this at all.
Each of the guys takes his turn saying his goodbyes, giving me hugs and kisses. None of them want to let go, and neither do I. But I know that this is what is right. I have to trust Cam. And I have to show the guys that I trust Cam. This is important for not just our team, but also our relationships.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I tell them, holding my head high. I put a smile on my face as I walk out the front door of Tristan’s house. And I keep that smile on my face until I get into the car with Cam. Once I am in the backseat of the car with Cam, that is when I lose it.
When Cam sees the look on my face, he puts his arms around me and pulls me into his arms, squeezing me tight against his chest. I bury my face into him, letting the tears flow.
“It’s going to be okay,” he whispers, stroking my back. He’s trying to comfort me, and he’s doing a good job. It’s just... this is a lot right now.
He holds me until the car comes to a stop at the airport. The guy driving the car clears his throat and he looks uncomfortable.
“You got your bags okay?” the guy asks.
“Yep.” Cam opens the door, getting out, then helping me. He grabs our two duffle bags from the back. I try to take one, but he won’t let me.
Somehow, Cam makes my bag look light, even though I know it’s not. He carries both bags with one arm and he holds my hand with the other. The two of us make our way through the airport, hand in hand.
The security line isn’t that long, for which I am thankful. We are able to make it through security in about fifteen minutes, which I think is a record for me. And then we head to our gate to wait for our plane. We’ve only got about forty-five minutes until take off, so we grab a sandwich and a drink to kill some time. We left this morning before we could even get breakfast. But despite the fact that I barely ate yesterday, I still struggle to eat this morning. I force myself to finish the sandwich, knowing I need something on my stomach. It’s going to be a very long day, most of it will be spent on an airplane.
After eating and making a quick trip to the bathroom, they call our flight to board. Cam got us first class tickets, and I’m glad for that. It’s such a long flight to fly commercial. And ma
ybe I’m a little spoiled, but those seats in coach just aren’t that comfy. I imagine they’re especially bad for Cam because he’s so tall.
Cam puts our bags into the overhead compartment and we get in our seat and get buckled up. He holds my hand while they rest of the passengers file onto the plane.
“I’m going to get to see the city you were raised in,” I say, trying to look on the bright side. I mostly just want to not cry anymore. I need to be strong.
Cam smiles at me. “We won’t be there long.”
“I know.” I look up at him through my lashes. “But we’ll go back someday, right? ’Cause, I need you to give me a proper tour of London.”
“I promise we will,” he says.
“Good.” I lean my head over on his shoulder and I feel his lips on the top of my head. I stay snuggled up at his side for the entire flight.
London.
I somehow managed to fall asleep somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean.
The last thing I remember, Cam and I were watching a movie. Now, Cam is shaking me gently, telling me it’s time to wake up.
I stretch out, thankful that we have these first-class seats.
“You’re unbelievably adorable when you wake up.” He smirks.
I roll my eyes, but grin.
Who am I to disagree? To be honest, I’m glad my boyfriend finds me attractive, even when I’m a complete hot mess.
“You’re unbelievably adorable all the time,” I counter.
He leans over, kissing the tip of my nose. “You should look out the window.”
I glance from him to the window, thinking no view is better than him, but this is definitely a close second.
London is unlike any city I have ever seen. I can tell that, even while still on the plane.
It’s lit up in a way that reminds me of New York. I know it’s still early in the night, but I get the feeling that London is always lit up, no matter what time you fly in. I bet London is also a city that never sleeps.
My heart races as the plane makes its descent. I’m excited to see this city, not just because it’s freaking London, but also because this is Cam’s home. This is where he was raised. I want to see the town that helped make him the man he is today.
Crazy Page 4
