Page 76 of My Turn

All she did was nod and it was enough to fucking destroy me. It was too soon. I’d made a mistake by kissing her so quickly. I got lost in fanciful thoughts of things working out because that’s how it was supposed to be, right? True love always finds a way, true love’s kiss will fix everything.

Yeah, thanks, Disney. Maybe it was time to teach kids something realistic. Life didn’t always go your way and things didn’t just work out because they were supposed to. They sure as shit wouldn’t make a movie about a stalker who tried to force a woman’s hand, even if it did result in a happy ending.

Without another word, I exited the classroom. The bell rang and a gaggle of teenagers began scrambling toward their classes. I wished life were this simple again.

Whatever I had to do, Iwouldget my happy ending. You can bet your ass that I wasn’t going to give up. I just had to return to the old plan and hope things on this side could be salvaged.

She didn’t get a fucking choice. She never had one. With Erebus, she understood that, so that’s where I had to focus my attention.

Chapter 28

Jayce

It was Thanksgiving, which used to be my favorite holiday because my parents were damn good cooks and there were no expectations on this day. I didn’t have to buy gifts or bags of candy or plastic fucking eggs that were killing the planet. We cooked together, ate, laughed, and passed out fat and happy.

Jayce:I’ll pick you up in an hour.

Alana:I’ll drive myself.

The response was better than nothing considering nothing was exactly what I’d been given for the last six days. I didn’t go to her as either of my personas, both to punish me and her. All I did was watch like the days of old.

She looked for me again. I never told her when I was coming back, but it seemed that she expected me on Saturday because that was when I’d shown up in the past. Over the weekend, I forced myself to stay put, even after her fourth time staring out the window.

I sent her a coffee every day at work and she kept drinking them. To me, it was her continuing to reinforce that shebelonged to me. She must have suspected I was watching her. I always was.

Staying gone forever wasn’t my intention. I just wanted to make her wonder. Hopefully, she was sweating while she waited for what could come next.

I kept my eyes trained on her sliding glass door from my place in the trees. She was dressed and looked ready, but I didn’t know what she was waiting for. She’d never had a problem with showing up early to my parents’ place. Maybe it was because of Jake. Next weekend marked the year anniversary of his death. It couldn’t be easy for her.

Alana had confirmed my fears last week. As much as I didn’t want to, I had to focus a little more on Erebus, but I also needed to be careful about our true relationship. I couldn’t let it fade or shatter. I wouldn’t make her think that I didn’t have feelings for her, nor would I give her too much space. There was a very delicate balance to maintain if I was going to merge these relationships someday.

She was standing by the table with a hand on her hip. Suddenly, her head snapped down and she picked up her phone. At the same moment, I saw someone jog up the stairs.

What the hell was he doing here?

I couldn’t see the door, but she must’ve opened it. With them away from the window, I had no way to know what was going on. Cautiously, I left my spot and headed toward her building. Instead of going up right away, I continued to the parking lot where I saw a car idling. There was a head visible in the backseat.

After flipping on the lights of my mask, I walked over to her window. She was playing a game on a tablet and didn’t see me for a few seconds. When she did, she jumped a little, then offered me a nervous smile. I opened the door and crouched so that we could look at each other.

“Hey, Alicia.”

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“Protecting you, remember?”

Her eyes widened. “Is it dangerous here?”

“No, but your dad shouldn’t have left you in the car by yourself. That’s not very safe.”

“It’s okay. Nobody ever comes over to me. Well, you did.”

She laughed a little, but her words didn’t evoke amusement from me. Sure, she wasn’t a toddler, but I didn’t like that he left her in the car. Not just this time, either.

“Is your stepdad nice?” I ventured.

Her brow furrowed. “Nice? He’s okay.”

“What do you mean by that?”