Chapter 5 #2
Neville Bordeau lived in a townhouse in the heart of a college town.
He lived with three other roommates, although with all the information we were able to gather, he was wealthy.
Granted, he owned the property, but it seemed odd to me that he would coexist with four other people if he didn’t need to.
After stalking his socials, I couldn’t imagine Casey being best friends with a man that seemed to be a programmer, a yogi, and movie production enthusiasts in his spare time.
Even his looks seemed to be in stark contrast to Caseys.
He seemed to be a lot more laid back and not so pristine in the looks department.
The man had longer hair that fell to his shoulders and dressed like well…
a yogi instructor. He seemed to favor loose fitting lounging pants and sleeveless shirts—when he wore them, that is.
Exchanging a glance with Gavin, Jaxson, Lincoln, and Drake, I nodded before exiting the vehicle we had rented. Troy had flown us in his helicopter, and we had rented a vehicle at the airport. The rest of my guys rented another vehicle and were stationed around campus, just in case we needed them.
I paused on the sidewalk as a group of giggling girls walked past us.
I couldn’t help but notice how they cast furtive glances toward Gavin and my guys, and I barely refrained from rolling my eyes.
Lincoln was in another disguise, yet he still drew attention.
One of them even turned around and gave Jaxson a pointed look to wink at him.
Jaxson grinned, clearly pleased by the attention and when he turned around his face fell when he noticed my mock look of annoyance. “Do I need to worry about you when you go off to college?”
In truth, I knew I didn’t. He was my connection and my best friend. He would never betray me. I also realized he was a flirt and was thrilled when women checked him out. He didn’t encourage it, but his ego was stroked when it happened.
Truthfully, there was a small part of me concerned that some females may not take the hint.
I knew some people—men and women alike—that didn’t respect other people’s relationships and would try anything in their power to get who they wanted.
In a few short months he would be a big dog on campus, even if he wasn’t starting on the football team.
I knew more women than I was comfortable with would be vying for his attention and attempting to make him stray.
It was my only misgiving with the distance that would be between us.
I knew with the help of Micah I would see him as much as possible, but on the other hand I would be caring for newborn twins, so there was that.
He gave me an impish smile before drawing me into his arms. “Don’t be silly. I only have eyes for you!” At Lincoln’s snort he rolled his eyes. “I can’t help being flattered if a chick was checking me out. You would be too if—”
His voice trailed off at Lincoln’s cocky grin. “Wanna finish that statement?”
Jaxson scoffed. “Just wait until I make it to the NFL. You only gain attention because of the extra zeros in your bank account.”
Gavin made a groaning sound. “Dude! You shouldn’t want anyone else’s attention.”
My indifference was turned into real ire.
I narrowed my eyes on Jaxson, surprised he was going to make this into a competition.
I knew without a shadow of a doubt that if another man were to wink at me, he wouldn’t be a happy camper.
In fact, he would be sullen unless I put the offender in their places.
It seemed a little hypocritical if you asked me.
I gave him an exasperated look. “Are you really vying for more attention?” As he opened his mouth to backtrack, I held up my hand. “Never mind. I don’t care.” I slid my arm through Drakes. “Come on Drake. We have more important things to worry about than a bunch of hot co-eds checking us out.”
“You kind of buried yourself with that comment,” Gavin said before falling into step with Drake and me.
I knew Sierra and Mercedes wanted to be here for Gavin. Unfortunately, Sierra had a spike in her blood pressure yesterday and the doctor advised her to take it easy for a little while. Mercedes volunteered to stay with her and make sure she relaxed today, which had put Gavin at ease.
Gavin may have stopped attempting to mend the chasm between him and Jemmy, but she was still his connection.
Once she returned to us—yes, it was when and not if—he was determined to prove that he was there for her.
He may have determined that he wasn’t going to beg her for her affection any longer, but he respected the connection they had.
Jaxson made a whining noise, but I refused to turn around.
I could hear Lincoln’s dulcet tones talking to him as we began to walk across the crosswalk.
Since we were in a campus town, parking spots were few and far between.
We didn’t have the necessary permit to park in some of the parking lots they offered their students, so we had to drive around to find street parking.
Neville’s townhouse was visible, but we had to take a little walk to get there.
Jaxson called to me in a wheedling tone, but I chose to ignore him. My indifference had evolved into annoyance. My negative thoughts were unfounded, but my fragile state had built a case against him.
I was cranky. This endless traveling was getting old.
Plus, it was another sleepless night of getting up to pee and the throbbing pain in my lower back had made any position uncomfortable.
At one point it was bad enough that Noah had to keep a hand on me to trickle relief to the offending area and Jace had to push feelings of euphoria on me so I could relax enough to sleep.
Entering my third trimester was a different kind of torture than the endless nauseousness of my first. At this rate, even if I could have another child, I don’t think I would want to.
Drake pulled me in closer and kissed the top of my head. Even if he wasn’t an empath, he seemed to pick up on my mood so easily. “It’s not too late for us to rent a room so you can relax. We can get you after our meeting. You didn’t need to come.”
Gavin made a humming sound of agreement. “I’m still surprised you chose to come with us instead of letting yourself get pampered.”
Megan and the guys attempted to convince me to stay home today.
Pops even offered to send Megan, Miranda, Cora, Beth, Dawn, Rachel, Sierra, Anna, Mercedes, and I to a spa a couple of towns over.
He said they had a bed for pregnant women so I could get a massage on top of additional pampering.
It had been tempting. The guys pampered me daily but the thought of trained people cosseting me sounded like a dream.
The women had looked at me pleadingly, understanding this was Pop’s attempt to bribe me to relax. I had to ask for a raincheck. He acquiesced and said he would book an appointment for us on Sunday. Fingers crossed that it took us less than a day to convince Neville!
I smiled up at him well aware of the dark circles under my eyes. “I know I didn’t need to come, but I wanted to. I want to be here for you.”
He kissed my temple. “I love you.”
I laughed. “I love you too.”
Jaxson sidled to my other side. “I’m sorry for lapping up that attention.”
I sighed and leaned my head against Drake’s arm.
I knew I was being irrational, but I also wanted him to understand that I was worried about him leaving us.
I needed to find a way to express how I was feeling without him feeling guilty or rethinking his college plans.
I would never stand between him and his dreams. He needed to go to college, and I needed to come to terms with the fact that he was hot, and a lot of women would be drawn to him.
Before I could articulate my feelings, I saw a familiar man heading our way, it took way too long for my foggy mind to recognize Neville Bordeau heading our way with a yoga mat rolled under his left arm. Drake had stopped and seemed at a loss.
“Mr. Bordeau,” I chirped up, hoping my looks would be in my favor.
I intentionally dressed “innocently” today. I had straightened my hair and was wearing a white maternity tank top, bootcut jeans with artful tears in it, a long grey sleeveless cardigan, and white leather thong flip flops.
He stopped, a wide smile on his face. “Yes.”
“Hi, I’m Blake Thomas and—”
The easy smile on his face vanished and he immediately tensed up. His eyes swung to the others, and he began to slowly back away from us. “I know exactly who you are, and I don’t want anything to do with any of it.”
I was confused by his reaction when I heard Ella saying, “Mr. Neville, it’s important that you help us find our friend.”
I started as I noticed Micah, Kade, and Ella a few feet away from us. Kade and Micah sent us a sheepish look while Ella seemed unrepentant as she shot us a grin. Neville seemed even more freaked out by their sudden appearance of them. Ella was unmoved as she handed him a drawing.
He didn’t even want to seem to take it, but Ella didn’t seem to care and shoved it in his hands. He looked down at the drawing as his brows knitted in confusion.
“Ella is a precog,” Gavin explained. “She’s learned to draw her visions so we can better understand the future she has envisioned for us.”
Micah looked over at us as Gavin earnestly talked to Neville. “Sorry, she’s a little dictator and demanded that we come. She got a vision and insisted that it was very important.”
I was at an impasse. I knew I should probably admonish them for just showing up without contacting us. On the other hand, I knew as Ella’s gift grew, we needed to support her when she had a strong vision. She had already shown us that her premonitions could save lives.
“This means nothing,” Neville stuttered attempting to shove the paper back at her.
Ella sighed wearily, sounding far older than her eight years of age. “Kade, you’re up.”