He flinched back at my words. This was not the news either of us had wanted to hear.
“Exactly,” I said, responding to the horrified expression on his face. “Best case scenario, he turns catatonic. Worst case, he goes completely crazy.”
“Duuude. What the fuck?” He ran a hand down his face as if trying to wipe the image away from his eyes.
“And there’s more,” I continued, deciding it was best to just put all the bad news out on the table and let him have his pick. “I think he’s already starting to remember me. He told me he’s been having dreams about me.”
He let out another string of expletives.
“You can say that again.” I sank further back in my chair, feeling as hopeless and deflated as a slashed tire.
“So, what are we going to do about this, Jem?” he asked, looking at me for some sign of light. “What’s the plan?”
I glanced down at my hands, fumbling with my fingernails because I still hadn’t figured that out myself. “The only thing I know right now is that I need to stay away from him.” I met his eyes. “He can’t remember me. He can’t remember what happened to him. We all need to make sure he stays in the dark. For his own good.”
“I get that, but I’m barely even talking to him right now—”
“Then that needs to change,” I quickly cut in. “I need you to be in his ear, distracting him and redirecting him, and I need someone I can trust on the inside. Nikki’s…” I shook my head. “Nikki is Nikki and she can’t be trusted.”
He nodded in agreement. “Alright, consider it done.”
I knew I could count on Ben. At the end of the day, he was still Trace’s best friend and that would never change no matter how many times Nikki wiped his memory.
“What about you?” he asked, furrowing his brows at me. “What are you going to do?”
“The only thing I can do.” I shrugged and then met his eyes. “I’m going to make sure he forgets me.”
Once and for all.
14. RUNNING ON EMPTY
Ben and I went our separate ways after we’d finished up our conversation, and since most of the students had already cleared out of the building, I guessed it was safe for me to finally come out of hiding. After dumping my books in my locker and grabbing my schoolbag and jacket, I swung my bag over my shoulder and headed towards the student parking lot.
There were only three cars left in the lot. Mine, a black Lexus I didn’t recognize, and Nikki’s red jeep.
Wait. Nikki’s red jeep? I stopped in my tracks. What the hell was Nikki’s jeep still doing here?
And then it dawned on me. She must’ve faked car trouble in order to steal a ride home from Trace. Way to go, you little genius tramp, I thought to myself as I continued passed it with a satisfied smirk on my face. If there was one thing Nikki knew how to do well, it was keeping Trace the hell away from me.
Signing my relief, I ambled across the parking lot to my car as I dug into the front pocket of my schoolbag for my keys. The lights flashed as the doors unlocked and I quickly climbed into the driver’s side before throwing my bag onto the passenger seat. Pulling down the sun visor, I stole a quick peek at myself in the mirror and then pushed the engine start button.
Zero response.
My eyebrows smushed together as I inspected the dashboard. There were no indicator lights on, and the tank was definitely full.
Okay…weird.
I pushed the button again, and then twice more after that, and still, I got nothing.
Fuck! I slammed my hands against the steering wheel in frustration. How was this happening to me right now? This was a brand-new freaking car! And of course, since I was a brand-new driver, I had literally no idea what was wrong with the damn thing.
Had I put the wrong kind of gas in? Did I leave my lights on and kill the battery? I shook my head as I tried to run through my steps earlier that day.
Coming up short of any plausible explanations, I reached into my school bag and pulled out my cell phone. I was about to call Dominic when I realized it was still the middle of the day, which meant he wouldn’t be able to come help me until nightfall. Having no one else to call, I pulled up my sister’s contact and hit the call button just as my phone screen turned black. A little empty battery icon popped up, taunting me with the fact that I’d forgotten to charge my phone.
I smacked the steering wheel again and then grabbed my schoolbag from the passenger seat before climbing right back out of the car. If I had any car experience at all, I may have tried popping the hood open and seeing if I could fix the problem myself, but since I knew absolutely diddly squat about cars, I saved myself the frustration of even trying.
Looks like I’m walking, I said to myself as I slid my arms into my schoolbag straps and released a heavy breath.
Before I could take a step in either direction, I heard the sound of a roaring engine in the distance. My eyes flicked up to see Trace’s blue Mustang slowly cruising through the fog into the student parking lot. Towards me.
Without Nikki.
I immediately swung around in the opposite direction and started walking. Very, very quickly. I wasn’t even going the right way, but at this point, it really didn’t matter. I just needed him to not see me, and I needed to be walking.
Very, very freaking quickly.
Within seconds the Mustang was rolling beside me, keeping pace with my speed-walk. I kept my eyes forward, hoping that if I pretended I didn’t see him, he’d go away.
“You need a ride?” he asked through the passenger side window.
“No thanks, I’m good,” I said, still staring forward. “I’m getting my daily exercise in and totally loving it!” I wanted to cringe at how fake and stupid that sounded.
He revved the engine and sped up passed me before swerving to the right and killing his engine. He’d placed his car in the middle of the lane, which also happened to be directly in my path.
I slowed my stride as he popped his driver’s side door open, stepped out, and then leisurely walked around his car. Leaning against the passenger side, he crossed his arms and watched me as I slowly approached him.
“You’re in my way,” I said softly, my eyes skittering from his car to his shoes and then the bottom of his pants. Pretty much anywhere but his eyes. I couldn’t handle looking at those eyes.
“You said we could talk,” he reminded.
I stopped advancing when I was about three feet away from him. “You never showed.” Actually, I wasn’t sure if he showed up or not. All I could do was assume that Nikki had done her job right.
Which she obviously didn’t.
“I just had to take care of something first.” He crossed his feet at his ankles. “But I’m here now.”
“I sort of have somewhere to be now,” I lied, quickly running out of believable reasons to keep avoiding him.
“Then jump in. I’ll give you a ride and we can talk in my car.” Still leaning against the car, he reached his left arm back and opened the passenger door for me.
I shuffled my weight to my other foot but made no attempts to approach him or his car. “What did you say you needed to talk to me about again?” I asked instead, buying myself some extra time. I mean, maybe he just wanted to ask me about our English assignment, and I was making a big deal out of nothing. Then again, why the heck would he ask me about homework? I wasn’t exactly a model student—not even on my best day.
“I’d rather not talk out here,” he said, his expression guarded.
Okay, so definitely not homework talk.
I looked around at the near-deserted parking lot. “Why not? There’s nobody here.”
He didn’t answer me. Instead, he stared back at me pensively for a moment and then asked, “Why do you keep running from me?”
“I’m not running from you—I’m standing right here.”
“You know what I mean, Jemma.” He pushed off the car and took a step towards me to which I immediately matched in the opposite direction. His gaze d
usted over me as he took in my retreat. “Are you scared of me?” he asked, cocking his head to the side.
“No.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Should I be?”
“No.” His face was a blank, unreadable canvas.
“Then why are you asking me that?”
He took another step forward, and again, I stepped back. I couldn’t help it. My heart knew I needed to keep my distance. That I couldn’t let him get too close to me. To feel me. To know me and remember me.
“Because of that,” he said coolly, ticking his chin towards my feet. “You keep backing away from me.”
“Oh, that?” Shit! Think of something! “It’s just what I do. Because…I’m like…farsighted.” Again, I inwardly cringed.
He narrowed his eyes, a tiny smirk playing on his lips. “You really are strange.”
I shrugged, not really having anything to say to that.
His eyes moved down the length of my body and then came back up the other way. My cheeks immediately reddened upon realizing he was checking me out. Sizing me up.
Frankly, he was taking way too much interest in me. I needed to book it.
“So, anyway, now that that’s settled, I guess I’ll see you in school tomorrow, yeah? We can talk then,” I said, completely flustered as I lurched forward to make my way around his car.
He jumped to the side, putting his arm out to stop me before stepping in front of me. Like right in front of me. I could feel his breath on my face, feel his chest rising and falling mere inches away from my own.
“I just want to talk to you, Jemma.” He lowered himself a few inches so that his eyes were level to mine. “Just give me ten minutes of your time and I swear, I’ll leave you alone after that.”
Thinking it over, my gaze remained lowered, hovering around his chin and neck area—completely avoiding his mouth or eyes, especially with him standing this close to me. And I sure as shit wasn’t looking at those damn dimples of his.
“Please,” he pushed, dropping down again to catch my gaze again.
The minute my eyes met his, all of my remaining resolve fluttered away like sand caught in a windstorm.
“Fine. Ten minutes,” I agreed begrudgingly. “And then you leave me alone.”
“You have my word,” he said, flashing a lopsided grin. But something about the way his eyes were shinning with victory told me he had no intention on following through with that promise.
15. ON THE ROAD AGAIN
I knew this was a bad idea. Even as I climbed into Trace’s Mustang, avoiding any and all eye-contact with him, I knew I shouldn’t have been there. But I wasn’t sure how else to get the leave-me-alone point across to him. I’d run out of excuses to keep avoiding him and running from him only made him more suspicious.
At this point, I figured I needed to try a different approach. Maybe now that I was agreeing to talk with him, I’d be able to settle his mounting curiosity about me and he’d finally be able to let the whole thing go.
Maybe…
“You want the A/C up?” he asked as he adjusted the vents to make sure they were blowing cool air on me.
“I’m fine,” I said, yanking at the belt strap. Oh, god, not this again.
“It sticks sometimes,” he said, regarding me curiously me as I continued to struggle with it.
The more nervous I got, the harder I pulled and the harder I pulled, the more it locked.
“Here, let me get it for you,” he offered, leaning towards me as he started to reach his left arm around my body to help with the seatbelt situation.
“No!” I yelled and then pushed him back into his seat. I already knew exactly how that scene went, and it ended with me getting a lungful of his delicious woodsy cologne and then fantasizing about plastering my mouth all over his.
And that was so not happening…again.
With his brows furrowed and his hands raised in defense, he sat back in his seat and stared at me as though I were a complete basket case. Granted, I’d just yelled at him as though he were trying to grope me in his front seat when all he was trying to do was help me get my belt on.
Good! That should teach him to invite strange girls into his car. Maybe I should be playing the whole psycho-girl-angle up a little bit more? Food for thought.
“I wasn’t trying to feel you up,” he said cautiously as though speaking to someone who was liable to snap at any moment. “I was just trying to help you get the belt on. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
I let go of the belt and took a deep breath, centering myself. “I know,” I said and then ever so calmly reached back to grab the seatbelt again. “I just have a thing about seatbelts.”
“Right.” His tone was less than believing as he watched me carefully drag the belt across my body and then click it into place. “You seem to have a ‘thing’ about a lot of things.”
I looked back at him. “Are you insulting me?”
“No.” His palms were still raised in the air as though he’d forgotten to lower them. That or he’d been stunned into a stone statue. A gorgeous one at that. “Just making an observation.”
“Well, I don’t think you know me well enough to be making observations about me.”
Nodding slowly, he lowered his hands, placing one on the steering wheel and one on the gear shift. “Fair enough.”
I tried to relax back in my seat as he turned the car around and then started towards the parking lot exit, but I couldn’t seem to get rid of the sharp pain shooting out from my neck to my shoulder. Wait…wasn’t that a sign of a heart attack? Hadn’t I read that somewhere? Oh, god, please don’t let me have a heart attack in his front seat.
“So, where to?” he asked as he turned onto the main boulevard.
“Temple.”
“You’re training?” he probed, bouncing a glance at me.
I shrugged and then mumbled, “sort of.”
I felt his curious eyes on me again. “You really don’t give much away, do you?”
“Meaning what?” I asked, distracting myself with the scenery outside my window. Everything was so plush and emerald this time a year. There was something so welcoming about it when the sun hit the trees at just the right angle.
“I mean, I keep trying to get to know you and you keep shutting me down.”
Steeling myself and my heart, I avoided looking at him when I said, “Maybe you should take the hint then.”
“Maybe,” he agreed half-heartedly. “Or maybe I just need to try harder.” I could hear the smile behind his words.
I turned to look at him and surely enough, he was grinning at me with both of his dimples locked and loaded. He was making this unbelievably hard for me. I really needed to up my game if I had any hope of repelling him.
“Aren’t you dating Nikki?” I reminded him. As awful as it was for me to even think of him with Nikki, I needed to use every morsel of arsenal I could get my hands on.
“I wouldn’t exactly call it that,” he said and then shifted into third gear.
Now it was my turn to look at him like he was crazy. “Then what would you call it?”
He laughed. “I don’t know, we’ve hooked up a few times, but we haven’t been together like that for a while.”
I so did not want to hear any of this and yet, “how long is a while?”
He shrugged, glancing at me as though gauging my interest. “A few months, I guess.”
“A FEW MONTHS?” I hadn’t meant to shout it, but seriously? What in slippery fuck was going on? “But you’re always together, and Nikki said—”
“Nikki says a lot of things,” he cut in, his tone flat and bored.
My eyes narrowed as I stared at him, hoping that if I stared long enough, this would all begin to make sense to me.
It didn’t.
“So, let me get this straight. You’re not with Nikki anymore, but you still hook up with her and hang out with each other at school, and kiss in the hallways, all while flirting with other girls?”
“Wait. Who am I
flirting with?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Me.”
His dimples exploded as he grinned at me. “So, you caught that then? I thought I was getting rusty.”
“This isn’t funny,” I informed, though it sort of was. “This whole thing makes you sound like a real—”
“Asshole,” he answered for me. “I guess it does when you say it like that. But it’s not like that. Trust me.” He tossed another glance in my direction, his blues eyes looking like a couple of sacred crystals that had been hand-picked straight out of heaven’s gates. “I broke up with her right before the accident. I don’t remember much after that—I don’t even remember the accident itself. But I know I ended things with her.”
My heart sank, realizing how far back his amnesia went.
“The next thing I remember,” he continued, gracing me with another look, “was waking up at home in my bed, all bruised and bandaged up with Nikki by my side, nursing me back to health.” He shrugged his shoulders noncommittally. “I guess I felt like I owed her after that.”
Something I was certain Nikki was taking full advantage of. Man, I really hated that bitch.
“But you’re not hooking up with her anymore now, right?” I verified, and then inwardly scolded myself for even asking. Taking an interest in his relationship status was not the way to end this thing he had for me. And yet, I couldn’t stop myself from wanting to know—to free myself from having to imagine them together that way.
It was selfish, but I just couldn’t help myself.
“Nah. Not for a long time.”
Relief kissed my insides as I nodded to myself. “Okay. That’s good.” His eyes met mine the minute the words came out and I immediately backpaddled. “I mean, that you’re not a total asshole. Not that I’d care if you were.”
“Because you’re into assholes?”
“What? No! That’s not what I—”
He put his hand on my knee and halted me. “I’m kidding, Jemma. Relax.”
Incarnate: A Dark Paranormal Romance (The Marked Saga Book 5) Page 12