Kiss in the Dark (2010) by Henderson Lauren

Author:Henderson, Lauren [Lauren, Henderson,]
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2011-01-14T19:14:22.421000+00:00

thirteen

I SOUND LIKE LIZZIE LIVERMORE

I’ve been waiting for Jase to ring me for what seems like forever. My phone’s scorching hot from all the times I’ve picked it up and called his number, only to hear it click over onto the answering machine after five rings. I’ve practically been stalking him, to be honest. But I can’t give up. I need to talk to him.

I need to make sure he’s okay. That we’re okay.

Because after Plum stalked off and left us alone at the temple, things were awkward. Jase kept saying it was his fault that I’d been dragged into all this. No matter how much I tried to console him, nothing worked.

All that vulnerability, that closeness, that we’d shared when we curled up together on the bench had evaporated; we barely even kissed goodbye. I had to grab a library book and get back to Aunt Gwen’s—and Jase had to go and face the police. The weight of what had happened to his father lay on us so heavily it was hard to breathe, like it is before a storm, when the skies are low above you and the air is so thick with atmospheric disturbance that everything moves more slowly, waiting for the crash of thunder.

And by now, I’m torn between empathy and anger for Jase, because he hasn’t even let me know how everything went with the police yesterday. I haven’t heard from him since we parted at the temple. Over twenty-four hours. It’s not fair of him. I’m so worried, and he must know that! He should at least have sent me a text or something, anything, to let me know he was okay….

Finally! The phone’s ringing, and Jase’s photo has flashed on the screen. I scrabble for the Answer button, so eager that I’m all thumbs. For a moment I’m scared that I’ve cut him off by mistake.

“Jase?” I say, as breathless as if I just did a five-mile run with Taylor setting the pace.

“Hi,” he replies, his voice weary.

“Are you okay? How did things go with the police?”

There’s a long pause.

“I don’t really want to talk about it,” he mutters eventually.

I don’t quite believe what I’m hearing.

“You don’t want to talk about it?” I say, baffled. “But you have to tell me how it went with the police, at least.”

He sighs.

“They took me down to the station and asked me a ton of questions about Dad, what happened that night, did we have a fight … made me go over it again and again. I just told ’em I went out for a ride and when I got back he’d gone to bed already. Me and Gran didn’t hear him go out, but he wasn’t there for breakfast. I mean, we thought it was odd, but we weren’t exactly going to start a big manhunt just because he’d gone out before breakfast. And yeah, we’d had a fight, but me and Dad were always getting into it. That wasn’t exactly anything new.”

His words sound practiced, as if he’s simply reciting back to me what he’s already told the police.

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