Oblivion

“No.” She was walking faster. “It had nothing to do with you—or her.”

“You’re jealous.” Oddly, happiness flooded me. “I’m so going to win this bet.”

She stomped forward. “Me? Jealous? You’ve lost your mind. I wasn’t the one trying to scare off Blake.”

I caught a hold of Kat’s arm, stopping her just as her porch came into sight. “Who cares about Ben?”

“Blake,” she corrected.

“Whatever. I thought you didn’t like me?”

Her hand curled around empty air. “You’re right. I don’t like you.”

And the happiness was vanquished like chalk in a downpour. “You’re lying—blushing cheeks and all.”

Her mouth opened, and then it all just came out. “You were kissing me a few days ago and now you were having fun with Ash? Is this what you normally do? Jump from one girl to the next?”

“No.” I dropped her arm, actually offended. “That’s not what I do. I don’t.”

“Yeah, I hate to break it to you, but you are doing it.” She drew back, her brows knitting, and then she shook her head “God, I am being such a whiny girl. Just forget I said anything. You can do whatever you want and I don’t have any right—”

“Okay. You have no idea what was going on between Ash and me. We were only talking. She was messing with you, Kat.”

“Whatever.” She whirled around, walking again. “I’m not jealous. I don’t care if you and Ash make alien babies together. I don’t care. And honestly, if it weren’t for this stupid co

Unable to believe what I was hearing, I flew around her, stopping her. “Do you think I didn’t enjoy kissing you? That I haven’t thought about it every second since then? And I know you have. Just admit it.”

Her chest rose sharply. “What is the point of this?”

“Have you?” I demanded, wanting—needing to hear her admit it.

“Oh, for crap’s sake, yes, I have. I do!” she shouted. “Do you want me to write it down for you? Send you an email or a text? Will that make you feel better?”

I arched a brow, slightly mollified. “You don’t need to be sarcastic.”

“And you don’t need to be here. Ash is waiting for you.”

A grunt of exasperation left me. “Do you really think I’m going to go to her?”

“Uh, yeah, I do.”

“Kat.” Disappointed, I shook my head. She really thought that? After everything we’d been through, everything we’d shared, she’d honestly think I’d be interested in Ash?

“It doesn’t matter.” She tugged her fingers through her hair, pulling it back from her face. “Can we just forget this? Please?”

Lifting my hand, I smoothed a finger over my brow. The disappointment burned and sat in my stomach like sour cream. “I can’t forget this, and neither can you.”

Chapter 11

Adam was on his second helping of stacked pancakes. His head was bowed over his plate, blond hair sticking up in every direction as he shoved the fluffy goodness into his mouth.

I sat across from him at the kitchen table, idly rubbing my palm along my jaw while I stared out the window. Prickly stubble grazed my hand. I needed to shave.

It had been a long night.

The last of the partygoers left around two in the morning, and then the great cleanup began. Dee, Adam, and I managed to straighten up most of the house, and then I’d tackled the kitchen this morning. It was a little past four in the afternoon, and Dee was back in bed. She’d probably sleep the entire day away.

Adam had stayed the night.

My brain was too fried to even deal with that, but he at least helped clean up.

“Did you even sleep last night?” Adam paused in his record-breaking pancake buffet.

I raised a shoulder. “A little.”

“Looks like it.”

Truth be told, I might’ve gotten two hours tops, and it really had nothing to do with cleaning the house. Had a lot to do with Kat. Not just our argument. If I’d lost sleep every time we argued, I’d never get any shut-eye. Granted, there was a huge part of me that was still hella disappointed and pissed over what she thought. I also felt…yeah, I felt bad, because I’d seen that flash of hurt in Kat’s eyes when she thought I was hooking up with Ash. That didn’t sit well with me, but that wasn’t my main beef. Had a lot to do with her breaking those windows; not the reason behind it, but the fact that she had been able to do it in the first place.

We needed to accept that Kat was changing. The why behind it wasn’t the most important part of what was going down. We needed to get her…her abilities under control before it was too late.

Today was her birthday.

And I knew she had gotten a new laptop because I’d received an email alert this morning signaling that she’d posted on her blog. Yeah, I’d signed up for alerts. Whatever.

When I’d dragged the tenth garbage bag outside, I’d seen an unfamiliar car in her driveway. It had belonged to that doctor—Will Michaels. The three of them—Will, Kat, and her mom—had left together.

Adam leaned back in the chair and stretched his arms over his head. Bones cracked. “So, I hear something went down with you last night?”

Raising an eyebrow, I dropped my hand to the table. “Is that so?”

He nodded. “Ash was pissed about you and Kat. She was bitching to me and Dee about it, like we were supposed to do something.”

Ash needed a hobby. Stat.

“You know, she’s just worried about you. I mean, Ash can be…well, she’s my sister. She can be a bitch, but it comes from a good place.”

“I know.” I took a drink of my milk.

Adam’s gaze dropped to his empty plate. “Can I be real with you for a sec?

“Sure…”

A brief grin appeared. “You know I’m not like Andrew or Ash. I don’t care about what’s going on with you and Kat.” When I opened my mouth, he pi

Unsure of what to say, I stared at him. Words formed on the tip of my tongue, but I didn’t give them voice. What I felt for Kat wasn’t something I’d been entirely vocal about with the exception of what I’d said to Matthew, but I really hadn’t said much. I wasn’t surprised that Adam was cool with it. That was just the kind of…Luxen he was. Something occurred to me then.

“Thanks, man.” I leaned forward, keeping my voice low. “I’ve got a question for you.”

He smiled. “I’m all ears.”

Adam had always been the most open of all the Luxen I’d known. Everyone knew that, including Dawson. My brother wouldn’t have confided in me, but there was a chance he would’ve said something to Adam. Maybe even hinted at what had happened between him and Bethany when they went hiking the weekend he’d returned with torn, bloody clothing. “Did Dawson ever talk to you about Beth?”

Surprise flickered across his face. Obviously, he hadn’t expected that question. “Not really. I mean, he was super quiet about Beth, but I did talk to him. Like the stuff I said to you. I’m cool with it. I did tell him that I was worried.”

“You didn’t tell me you are worried about Kat and me,” I pointed out.

“Yeah, well, you’re not Dawson.”

That was the first time anyone said that and probably actually meant it as a compliment. “True,” I murmured, and then smiled faintly. “But I think…I think I’m more like him than most realize.”

“Why are you asking about Dawson?” He nudged his empty plate without touching it. “You never talk about him.”

“Just because I don’t talk about him doesn’t mean I don’t think about him.” Standing, I motioned at the plates. They floated to the sink. “I don’t know. I’ve just been thinking a lot about Dawson and Bethany.” I stood in the center of the kitchen and decided to go there with Adam. I trusted him. “I think…I think he did something to Bethany.”