“I don’t know,” I said. “I just did. There was this incredible urge to see for myself if the tether had been broken or not.”
Kace didn’t say anything for a while and neither did I. I watched as he brought his hand back up to run through his hair and rub at the back of his neck.
“Did you end up kissing him again?” he asked without looking at me.
My heart skipped a beat and sunk all the way to my toes. He really wasn’t one for beating around the bush. A lump formed in my throat, but I still managed to squeeze out an answer.
“Yeah.” I nodded and dropped my eyes to some coffee grounds Della must have spilled across the counter when she’d been making coffee for everyone last night. “I did.”
My voice had been barely above a whisper, but I knew he’d heard me. His change in stance said so. He’d uncrossed his ankles and straightened his posture.
He sighed loudly, and I swore I heard him mutter the word “Karma” underneath his breath.
Silence enveloped the two of us again, until the soft padding of Binks’s feet left the room.
“I know I said that it wouldn’t happen again,” I began, pushing through the nerves that were constricting my vocal cords. “I didn’t mean for it to, Kace, I promise you that, but it doesn’t erase the fact that it did happen.”
“Is it part of the tether, or is it just you?” he asked, bringing his softened eyes up to meet mine. “Do you have a thing for him?”
I didn’t answer his question right away, because honestly, it was something I had never thought about before. I wanted to believe that it had been the tether causing this obsession with Theo, this attraction that never seemed to let up, but when I paused to think about it, I wasn’t sure. I remembered the first time I’d ever met Theo at the bar of Fisherman’s Brew, the way I’d felt about him then pounded through me, and I came to my answer quickly.
It wasn’t the tether; it was me.
I had a thing for Theo Van Rooyen. My throat became scratchy, and I bit at my bottom lip as I realized with certainty that I had actual feelings for Theo, but that they weren’t reciprocated, because Theo had never wanted a single thing to do with me. The tether had been like a curse to him.
“The more things you don’t like about me, the easier it will be for you to remember I’m dangerous to you…me and my family.”
His words from when we were taking the cleansing bath together flittered through my mind. Yeah, he never wanted me for real. The tether was what made him hot for me.
How freaking embarrassing!
“I guess I have my answer, then,” Kace said suddenly.
His words pulled me from my thoughts.
“No,” I stammered. “I mean…I don’t know.”
I was exhausted, and the thought of lying to him seemed too much, so I didn’t say anything more at all.
Kace left me standing in the kitchen, watching his back as he exited the room.
In my mind, I was back at Theo’s house, locked in his arms, embraced within his kiss. Our bodies were tangled against one another, our breaths merging between us into one. He pulled my head to the side, exposing my neck to him the same way Kace sometimes did—the way that turned me on, but I’d never admit to—and trailed his lips across the skin there. His warm hand pressed just a little under the waistband of my shorts as his lips continued in their blissful trail.
After unbuttoning my shorts, he tugged them downward. They fell to my ankles, and I slipped out of them carefully. His hands glided down my hips, and his thumbs hooked themselves with the side strings of my panties. Theo’s lips slid down the length of my body, just barely grazing the skin in their descent, and paused above my panty line.
“Morning, have you talked with Kace yet?” Callie asked, startling me from my vivid daydream, as she sauntered into the kitchen, still rubbing sleep from her eyes.
Clearing my throat, I took a small sip of my tea. My stomach tightened at the mention of Kace, especially with the thoughts that had been swirling through my mind.
“No, he still isn’t answering my calls,” I said. “We’re going on about thirty-seven hours of not speaking.”
Callie grabbed a box of cereal from on top of the fridge and poured herself a bowl. Opening the fridge, she got out the milk and splashed some over her dry cereal. I watched her as she placed everything back where it went and rummaged through the silverware drawer for a spoon. Not finding one, she crossed the kitchen and got one from the dishwasher.
“I’m sorry,” she said. Her words were so sincere that I felt a swift pang of shame slither through me.
The fact was I didn’t blame Kace for not speaking to me. If I were him, I wouldn’t speak to me either.
“I’m sure he’ll come around soon,” Callie said. She plopped down in the chair across from me and began eating. “He probably just needs some time.”
I nodded and took another sip of my tea. “Maybe. I wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t want to see me anymore after all of this, though.”
“He will,” Callie said confidently around a mouthful of food.
“I think I hurt him pretty badly,” I admitted.
The image of his face from the other day, when he’d asked me if everything between Theo and I was simply the tether or if it was something more, flashed through my mind. How completely crushed he’d looked. How he’d walked out of my kitchen—out of my house—without even looking back at me once.
“Like I said, he’ll come around soon.” She flashed me a closed-mouth smile. “He has to if he ever wants to use his magick again, doesn’t he?”
I glared at her from across the table. My lips twisted into a smirk, and I laughed out loud.
“Seriously, I did not expect that to come out of your mouth. Adam, maybe. But you, no way. I think your boyfriend is rubbing off on you.”
Callie swallowed her mouthful of cereal. “I didn’t mean it to sound so harsh. All I’m saying is he’ll eventually come around. You guys might not be together anymore when he does, but being friends is better than nothing, right?”
Friends. The idea of Kace and I being nothing besides friends had never crossed my mind. Wouldn’t that be strange? I’d never been friends with any of my old boyfriends before and never with one I had slept with. How did you even do that? Wasn’t it always destined to be awkward afterward?
I was getting ahead of myself.
“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see,” I said.
Finishing off my tea, I walked to the sink to rinse out my mug.
“So, have you talked with your mom about anything yet?” I asked, purposely shifting the conversation off my life and onto hers.
Callie frowned at her cereal. “Umm, not really.”
I sauntered to the fridge, hoping there was one more bagel left. Rummaging around, I finally found one tucked in the back. Grabbing it out, as well as the cream cheese, I set them both on the counter.
“I have no problem with you staying here; I’m just wondering when you plan on talking with her?” I asked carefully. “I mean, you can’t avoid her forever. I’m not upset with her for what she did anymore and I don’t think you should hold a grudge either.”
Peeling apart my bagel, I placed the two halves in the slots of the toaster. Casting a quick glance over my shoulder at Callie, I pushed the button down to toast it. She was slouched in her chair, pushing her cereal around in her bowl with her spoon, her head propped up by her left hand.
She didn’t speak for a while, instantly making me wish I hadn’t chosen this topic for a subject change.
“I know.” She sighed. “I guess I just need a little time.”
My bagel popped up, and I carefully plucked it from the toaster and placed it onto a paper towel.
“I guess there’s a lot of that needed around here,” I said.
“A lot of what needed?” she asked.
“Time,” I answered with a small smile.
I smeared cream cheese on my bagel, and then looked at the clock near t
he back door. I had to be to work in just under an hour. My stomach twisted at the thought of seeing Admer, and suddenly I wasn’t as hungry as I thought I was.
“I don’t want to go to work,” I muttered. I walked across the kitchen to sit down at the table with Callie.
She crinkled her nose. “I bet. Are you planning on telling him the tether didn’t break?”
“I’m not sure.”
And I wasn’t. I didn’t know if I wanted Admer to know it hadn’t been broken. All I kept thinking about was what Kyra had said—how it could have all been a lie. Which led me to wonder why he would want me to become initiated so badly.
Callie’s cell went off and she reached out to swipe it off the table. I took a small bite of my bagel, not really wanting it anymore, but knowing that I had to put something besides tea in my stomach.
She took in a sharp breath, and then her fingers and thumbs went flying across the keyboard of her phone.
“What?” I asked, curious.
Callie set her phone down and neglected to meet my stare. I drew my eyebrows together and took another small bite of my bagel.
“Is everything okay?” I asked, concerned.
“Umm, well…I don’t know if I should even be saying this to you.” Her voice shook when she spoke. She bit at her thumbnail before continuing. “Adam just sent me a text saying he was down at the beach, delivering some food to one of his parent’s friends before he came here to visit me, and…” She didn’t finish.
“And what?” I pressed.
“He said he saw Kace sitting at the beach with…Kyra.” Her voice dipped off to a near whisper when she said Kyra’s name.
My heart dropped to my stomach like a rock. Straightening my posture, I took another bite of my bagel before I spoke.
“What were they doing? Were they like together together?” I asked, hoping I didn’t sound as near tears as I felt.
Images from Theo’s house—when Kace had first seen Kyra and then those from when we were leaving—flashed through my mind. Had she really captivated him so much that he would move on from me that quickly?
Regardless of what had happened between us the other day, him moving on so fast stung. Hard.
“I don’t know. Adam will be here in a minute; maybe he’ll know something more,” she said. Her voice was still low. It lacked the type of reassurance that I needed to hear right now.
I pushed my bagel away, deciding now—with my nerves being in such a bundle—might not be the best time to force food into my stomach.
Callie and I didn’t have to wait long before Adam got to my house. Once she let him in, hushed whispers began instantaneously between the two. I couldn’t make out what they were saying to one another, but I knew it involved me in some way. And Kace. And Kyra.
I was still sitting at the table in the kitchen, staring down at my half-eaten bagel, when the two of them walked in. Adam spoke without me having to ask a single question.
“Hey, Avery,” he said. I’d never heard him use such a forlorn tone with anyone before, let alone me. “I know you and Kace are going through a rough patch right now, but I don’t think what I saw was anything to worry about. It was probably just the two of them saying hey or something. A random meeting by chance sort of thing.”
His words were a lie.
I could tell right away, because he sucked at lying. He was merely attempting to alleviate the situation as well as my hurt feelings. I’d been right about him; he wasn’t such a bad guy after all.
“What exactly did you see?” I asked point-blank. I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted an honest answer, or that I even deserved one, but I asked the question anyway.
Adam ran his hand along the back of his neck and dropped his eyes to the tiled floor of my kitchen. “The two of them sitting side by side and talking,” he said.
“Were they laughing or sitting really close?” I pressed. “Deep in conversation maybe? What?”
Adam nodded. “Sort of all of the above. At least that’s what it looked like from where I was standing. I can’t be sure though, because I wasn’t sitting with them.”
Closing my eyes, I took in a deep breath. My legs began to tremble beneath the table, and I felt my eyes prick with tears. I’d lost him. I’d lost Kace to Kyra. In my heart, I was positive of this.
My chair squeaked against the tiled floor as I pushed it away from the table to stand up. I could feel Adam and Callie’s eyes on me as I left the kitchen, but I didn’t meet their stare.
“I’m sorry,” Callie said as I passed her.
I flashed her a small smile. “It’s okay. I’m fine. Really. I mean, I practically cheated on the guy…twice. Why would I be upset when he moves on?”
I left the room before I cried tears that should never leave my eyes in this type of situation.
After a long, hot shower and a dip into my hidden stash of chocolates, I headed downstairs and out the door to work. People say bad things often come in threes; I prayed those people were wrong, because finding out about Kace and Kyra was enough of a bad thing to deal with for one day for me.
I pulled into a parking space just a little down from Spellbinding Reads, and cut the engine of my Jeep. Hunkering my body over the steering wheel, I attempted to calm my nervous heartbeat before I headed inside. I hadn’t seen Admer since the night of the initiation and I didn’t know if the first thing he would ask me was whether the tether had been broken, but I was sure it would eventually come up sometime today.
Did he know what he’d suggested wouldn’t work or had he been just as clueless about it as the rest of us, including Theo? Was it too much to ask for him to have forgotten about the whole thing?
I slowly climbed out of my Jeep and closed the door. The sun went behind gray clouds, and a slight breeze began to blow. It ruffled my hair and made me think of Theo. Again. Scolding myself mentally for being so pathetic, I pushed the door to Spellbinding Reads open and nearly walked right into a customer coming out.
“Sorry,” I said. I lifted my head to flash them an apologetic smile. “I didn’t mean to—”
My lips clamped closed before I could finish getting the sentence out once I realized whom I’d nearly ran into—Kyra.
She stood before me, dressed in a pale yellow cover-up dress. It brushed against the tops of her sandal-clad feet and wrapped around her neck in a halter-top fashion. She’d obviously just come from the beach; her striped bag was hanging off her arm with a polka dot towel dangling out.
“What are you doing here?” I spat out, surprised by my own haughtiness.
Her ruby red lips twisted into a vicious smile. “Well, hello, Addison, nice to see you again too.”
I hated the way her eyes seemed to mock me.
“This is a bookstore, is it not? I enjoy reading…didn’t you see the book in my hand when you and Theo came tromping to the house after your little discovery the other day?” Her voice was so condescending it made my skin prickle with aggravation.
Kyra held up two books she’d obviously just purchased and shook them in the air as evidence.
“Right,” I said. “So, how was the beach?”
There were just a few minutes before I was supposed to be inside. Why not grill her while I had the chance? No better way to find out about something than from the source itself.
“Rather nice actually…breezy, golden, finely sculpted, captivating.”
She was referring to Kace; I knew she was. I’d never been in a fight before, but I could feel my entire body tensing like I was readying for one any moment.
“Better calm down, little fire starter. Wouldn’t want to do something in public you might regret,” she hissed.
Great, this must be my second bad thing of the day to happen. Now I’d be waiting all day for the third to slap me in the face.
I inhaled through my nose and held my breath. She was right. If I didn’t gain control, then I was sure to set myself on fire right here on the sidewalk in front of everyone. I released the breath I’d been ho
lding as a loud clap of thunder startled me.
“Listen, I see where this is going.” She leaned forward, her coconut body spray tickling my nose. “I’m not stealing Kace from you, if that’s what you’re all worked up over. Well, at least not intentionally.”
There was a truth to her words. It was reflected clearly in her caramel-colored eyes.
“Then what are you doing?”
“Buying some books and enjoying myself before the Spirits carry out the plan they have for me,” she said. “I’m here for a reason. I just haven’t figured out that reason yet.”
Rain began to pelt the overhang we were standing under in fat drops. The wind picked up a little more, and thunder boomed in the distance again.
“Kace is a good guy,” Kyra said in a soft tone, every ounce of haughtiness devoid from her voice. “You were lucky to have him once, and then twice, but don’t blame me if he doesn’t happen to want to hang around for a third. That was your and Theo’s doing. Not mine.”
She walked away, clutching the books she’d just bought to her side. I stood under the awning, listening to the storm brewing around me, realizing how right she was. Maybe, just like Adam, Kyra wasn’t so bad either.
Lightning flashed nearby, and I darted into Spellbinding Reads. It was too cool inside for my liking. Admer must have turned up the air at some point. As I headed toward the back office to put my purse up, I noticed there were only two customers in the entire store. One sat in an overstuffed chair, reading. The other stood at the ever-popular coffee machine. I relaxed a little; maybe I’d be able to catch up on some reading of my own today—if the storm kept the customers at bay, that was.
I smiled as I passed the person reading, thinking shoving my nose in a book might save me from having any awkward conversations with Admer today.
One thing I’d learned over the years of being a bookworm, people tended to leave you alone when they saw you with your nose crammed into a book. At least in my experience they did. Vera often told me it was because of two reasons: One, it made me seem antisocial. And two, guys took it as a sign I was too intellectual and didn’t bother to talk to me.
Confined (A Tethered Novel, Book 3) Page 13
