"Thank you. Maybe you're right." Daniel finally grinned again. "By the way, the same goes for Jay and Gavin. They're your friends. Both of them like you—Jay a little too much."
"Maybe we were meant to find each other, huh?" She laughed.
With a wistful smile, Daniel wrapped an arm around her again. "Yeah, I guess we were."
****
The taxi pulled to the side of the road in front of the academy. Annamarie's heart beat fast in excitement, yet her palms were slick with sweat at the memory of being kidnapped by Nathan. At least she had people at her side to help her endure. She smiled, deciding to focus on the excitement instead of the weariness, and climbed out of the taxi. Daniel paid the driver and followed her out. After they collected their baggage from the trunk, both of them stood side-by-side.
"Glad to be back?" Daniel asked.
"Yeah." Mostly, anyway.
"Good." Daniel snuck an arm around her waist. "You know, you never did thank me for coming to get you."
She clamped her mouth shut.
"Ungrateful girlfriend," he muttered. "You're not going to thank me at all, are you?"
"Who'd be grateful for a boyfriend like you?" She stuck out her tongue.
"One of these days…" Daniel's expression darkened.
Before Daniel could harass her more, she walked down the sidewalk. Everybody was in class, so she had a break from evasive eyes. Daniel caught up with her and walked at her side.
"I have to see Mrs. Carmichael, don't I?" She had no doubt that the woman would be just as stern as before.
"Well, you could unpack first, if you managed to get into your dorm room." Daniel pulled a key out of his pocket and tossed it into the air once, whistling gaily.
"That's my dorm room key, isn't it?" she asked. "Mrs. Carmichael gave it to you to unlock my door."
"Maybe." Daniel winked at her.
It definitely was the key to the new lock on her door. She could tell by the mischievous sparkle in Daniel's eye.
"Give it to me," she cried, reaching for the key.
Daniel was so much taller than her that he easily held the key out of her reach.
"Jump for it," he said.
She leapt into the air, but even that didn't do much good. It wasn't a great day to be puny. Stupid genetics.
"Don't play games with me, Daniel." She placed her hands on her hips.
"I'll tell you what." Daniel cocked his gorgeous head. "I'll give you the key if you promise to be my slave for a week."
Slave for a week? Who was he kidding? She wrinkled her nose and kicked him in the shin in the exact same place as before. Swearing, he dropped the key straight into her outstretched palm.
"Thanks." She cackled evilly.
Daniel let out a string of curses a mile long.
"Why am I dating you again?" he muttered, massaging his shin. "One of these days you're going to break my leg."
"I wouldn't kick you if you stopped acting like an idiot." She placed her key in her pocket. "You have no one to blame but yourself."
"I'm not an idiot!" he cried.
Somebody walked up behind them.
"It looks like some things never change," Jaiden said.
She whirled around, unsure of whether she should be grinning or appearing apologetic. Situations like this should come with a guidebook. Luckily, Jaiden was beaming and his luminescent green eyes twinkled. She took that as a sign that she should smile back.
"It's good to see you." Jaiden laughed at her startled expression. "It's funny how a week can feel like a year."
Amen to that.
"And you said you wanted to go to Paris." She punched his arm playfully.
Awkward silence fell. Darn it. She'd messed everything up already.
"I think the two of you need to talk." Daniel shoved her straight into Jaiden. "Do it. Now."
"Hey." She glared at Daniel.
"Annamarie, I'll watch your stuff. You two go somewhere private." Daniel waggled his finger threateningly at Jaiden. "Jay, be good. I mean it."
"Okay, okay." Jaiden let out a nervous laugh. "Let's go, Annamarie."
Jaiden headed down the sidewalk and she followed, casting confused looks at Daniel as she went. What was the guy playing at?
Once she couldn't see Daniel anymore, she stopped looking behind her and blew out a sigh. She was practically choking on awkward.
"Um, Jaiden, are you okay?" she asked.
"I should be asking you that question," Jaiden said. "The last time I saw you, you were in the hospital."
"I'm fine." She shrugged. "I still have headaches, but they'll go away in a little while."
"I'm glad you're feeling better." Jaiden cleared his throat. "Did you hear about Nathan? His own mother is testifying against him in court. There's no way he'll be let off easy."
"I didn't know that." It surprised her that a mother would go against her own son, even if he was guilty. "I have to testify too. I don't know how I'll handle it."
It would be a lot easier now that she didn't have to worry about the Daniel dilemma though.
"You're stronger than anyone I've ever met," Jaiden said. "You'll manage."
Once again, there was silence. They were beating around the bush. She needed to take a Daniel-esque approach and ask how Jaiden felt without hesitation.
"How do you really feel about me coming back?" she asked.
Jaiden didn't even take a second to answer.
"I'm happy, of course," Jaiden said. "I'm surprised you'd even have to ask that. I never wanted you to leave. Nobody has done something so selfless for me before. I appreciate what you were trying to do, but it hurt more knowing you were gone because of me."
"Daniel and I are, you know, together now." She tried to form the sentence as carefully as possible to stop the words from hurting Jaiden.
"I know." Jaiden ran a hand through his dark hair. "I talked with Dan about it and he called me selfish."
"Daniel said that?" She shook her head in disgust. What right did Daniel have to call anyone else selfish?
"He was right, though." Jaiden leaned his head back. "I knew you liked him. Instead of accepting it like a good friend, I dragged you down in my own misery. Dan may have many faults, but you can always trust him to say what he's really thinking. In some ways that brutal honesty can be helpful when you have shortcomings you didn't realize you had. That's why I'm staying at the academy and dealing with everything. I'm going to grow up. I think I need to do that."
"So you're still hurting because of me," she clarified.
"I'll get over it." Jaiden nudged her. "Just don't run away again. I still want us to be friends no matter what."
Friends…The word choked her up.
"Okay." She nodded. "We'll be friends for sure."
Jaiden stopped walking.
"I never did give you a hello hug, did I?" Jaiden asked.
"I don't suppose you did," she said.
"Come here."
With a grin on his face, Jaiden pulled her close. She'd missed his warmth and his rumbling voice. I'm so lucky to have a friend like him, she thought, squeezing her eyes shut.
"Annamarie?" Jaiden said.
"Yeah." She opened her eyes.
"We should probably get back to Dan," Jaiden said. "He's trying to be cool right now, but he's the jealous type."
She stepped back.
"Yeah." She nodded. "I bet you anything it's killing him to wait behind."
The two of them exchanged smiles and started to head back. Together.
Epilogue
Annamarie sat next to Daniel in her dorm room as Jaiden and Gavin played games on their phones. It was a Saturday morning, three hours before her flight back to London where she'd stay at home for summer break. The four months of school had breezed by. Well, mostly.
"I don't get why you guys always hang out in here," she muttered. "My room is tiny."
"If I didn't come to your room, then I wouldn't see you." Daniel scowled.
Good point. S
he thought his dorm room was cold.
"I come for the snacks." Gavin held up a bag of chips. "You have more junk food than any other person I know."
Jaiden snorted. "I'm here because everybody else always comes here."
It was no wonder she'd barely passed this semester. Her room was party central and she hardly had time to study.
"You do realize the two of you are going to have to leave the room after Daniel and I head to the airport," she said.
"Yep." Gavin popped a chip into his mouth. "But I should be full by then."
"I can't believe you two are ditching us for a whole three months." Jaiden stretched. "What am I going to do without you guys?"
"Eat," Gavin said.
"Take up karate," Annamarie suggested.
"Play video games," Gavin said.
"Go for a run," Annamarie said.
"Wow." Jaiden shook his head. "I love how you two just said what you like to do. Maybe over the summer I should find out what I like instead of just going along with everybody else. It'll be good for when I go to college. I can't major in business just because Daniel is."
"While Jay pursues such a noble quest, I'll eat and play video games." Gavin grinned and crunched a chip between his teeth. "I already know I'm going into graphic design."
Daniel smirked, then checked his watch.
"Well, I hate to break it to you guys, but you're going to have to commence your summer plans elsewhere as of now." Daniel stood up. "It's time that Annamarie and I head to the airport."
She checked the time on her phone. Yeah, they really needed to leave. She was going to miss the academy, but at least now she could go home and torture her little brother again. She stood up too, dusting invisible lint from her t-shirt.
Both Gavin and Jaiden hopped to their feet.
"See you later." Gavin gave her a hug, then Daniel.
"Be careful," Jaiden said.
Jaiden embraced her and then stepped back.
"I will." She nodded.
"Take care of yourself." Daniel clapped Jaiden on the shoulder. "You sure you'll live without me?"
"I'll be fine." Jaiden nodded. "Just be careful. Don't get into any fights with Annamarie or break any bones."
Daniel and Jaiden hugged too. Once Daniel pulled back, he checked his watch for the second time.
"You ready?" Daniel asked, glancing at her.
"Yep." She seized her suitcase and Daniel grabbed his.
Once the two of them went into the hall, all girls around stopped in their tracks and stared at Daniel.
"The girls are going to miss you when you go to college next year," she said.
"Will you?" Daniel scrutinized her.
"You're going to Berkeley," she said. "It's ten miles away from the academy. I'll see you all the time."
"Who are you going to kick around during the day, though?" Daniel asked.
"Owen." She never kicked Owen around, but she didn't want Daniel to think she would be helpless without him.
"So you don't need me at all, huh?" Daniel asked.
It could have been her imagination, but she could swear he looked disappointed. She stopped and tugged at his arm.
"Daniel, I'll always need you," she said. "Even though you're annoying, conceited, aggressive—"
"Watch it!" Daniel scowled at her.
"—loud, and pompous, you bring harmony to my life."
"I'm going to ignore all of the insults you just threw in and pretend I only heard the 'bring harmony' part," he said.
"I guess I should have added ignorant to my list of insults." She walked out the door.
"Just you wait…" Daniel muttered, following behind her.
Once they were both outside, she came to a stop again.
"What am I waiting for?" She faced Daniel, cocking her head. "What are you going to do?"
Daniel paused for a moment, then a devilish smile crossed his face.
"This," he said.
Daniel swooped down and embraced her. When his lips met hers, she dropped her suitcase and wrapped her arms around his neck. No matter what they argued about, being in Daniel's arms was sweet harmony—and that would never, ever change.
THE END
About the Author
Amy Malone Evanston grew up on a farm in Afton, Wyoming. An avid animal lover, she has a houseful of cats and dogs. Her goal, along with expressing herself through writing, is to open an animal rescue. Along with reading and playing with her pets, Amy loves cake, good friends, and sweet tea. You can reach Amy at [email protected].
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