Chapter 33
ASHLEY
Professor Harris: Thank you for your email, Miss Layne. Your application for an extension on your assignment is approved without the need for further documentation. Please don’t hesitate to ask if you need more time. The faculty are here to help in these trying times.
W e had no solid answers the next morning about what had happened to the cars in the race.
Rumors swirled that more than just my car had its brakes cut, but the motives were unclear.
As much as I was sure Jocelyn was involved, there could have been countless other reasons for someone tampering with the brake lines.
Not the least of which being a radical protest group that had also reportedly vandalized a couple of the private jets sitting on the local airstrip.
Heath’s grandfather had called and assured us that it would be fully investigated, and that was really all we could ask for at this point. So we returned to Nevaeh with a heavy dose of shock and a gut-deep sense of helplessness.
“What do we do now?” Royce asked as we sat around the living room with coffee in hand early the next morning. I’d parked myself in Heath’s lap and was so comfy, I never wanted to move. “It’s starting to feel like we’re never going to be safe again.”
“At least not until Jocelyn is caught or…dealt with,” Carter agreed, grimacing as he glanced at Nate briefly. “Sorry, bro.”
Nate just sighed and rubbed his bloodshot eyes. “You’re not wrong, though. How are you feeling, Layne?”
I shrugged, taking a sip of my coffee. “Fine,” I murmured after I’d swallowed.
“A little sore but otherwise alive. Can we all agree no more Devil’s Backbone events until we get confirmation that Jocelyn is behind bars?
She seems to have half the Society under her spell, and it’s becoming hard to trust my own shadow. ”
“Agreed.” Heath brushed a kiss over the back of my neck, and I shivered with delight.
“Did you call Carly back?” Royce asked, looking at his phone with a frown. “She was ready to reach through the phone and throttle me when I wouldn’t wake you up.”
I laughed slightly, thinking about Carly’s threats.
She’d never signed up for the races—she was actually an awful driver, not that we acknowledged it out loud—and had been otherwise occupied with Edmund during the crash.
She hadn’t even found out until hours later because, the last she’d heard, I also wouldn’t be at the race.
“Yeah, I called her back,” I confirmed with a little yawn.
“She was freaking out a bit.” My phone lit up on the table, and I leaned forward to check it, expecting to see more messages from Carly.
Instead, to my surprise, it was my professor approving the assignment extension I’d requested from the plane yesterday.
Thank fuck for that, because I desperately needed a day off.
“Good news?” Heath asked when I settled back in his lap with my head resting against his shoulder.
“Assignment extension,” I explained, putting my phone down once more. “Although I should still go to class, so I don’t fall even further behind.”
The idea of driving today had me breaking out in a cold sweat.
Crashing at high speed would do that, I supposed.
My gut said I needed to start thinking about therapy, but every time I acknowledged that idea, I remembered Dr. Fox.
Heath had trusted him, had let himself be vulnerable with him, and he’d nearly died as a result.
Carter and Nate exchanged a loaded look, and I scowled with suspicion. What the fuck were they up to?
“Considering the circumstances,” Nate said carefully, drifting his gaze away from Carter to meet my squinted eyes, “you’d have a free pass for the rest of semester. As far as the administration is concerned, we recently lost our parents in a tragic plane crash.”
He had a point, but… “Taking a free pass doesn’t help me learn, though. It just puts me further behind.” I took a bigger sip of my coffee, mentally running through my schedule and working out how much time I had to shower and dress. My stomach was rumbling too, so I needed time to grab food.
“I’ll take you, then,” Nate offered. “I’d feel better if you weren’t alone. If none of us were alone. Do you guys have classes too?”
Heath and Carter didn’t, but I knew Royce had something at a similar time as mine.
I reluctantly peeled myself out of Heath’s arms and dragged my feet back down the hallway to get ready.
It was so crazy tempting to just climb back into bed and try again tomorrow, but I meant what I’d said: the more classes I skipped now, the harder it’d be to catch up when my grief pass ran out.
The three of us left for campus in Nate’s truck earlier than necessary, and I texted Carly to let her know I was on my way with the boys. She told me she’d order coffee at Dancing Goats, and I smiled. It’d been way too long since we’d had a coffee date.
As it was, she only ordered my coffee.
“Bestie, what the hell?” Royce asked in mock outrage when we arrived. “Where’s mine?”
Carly pointed to the busy barista station with a smirk. “They’re keeping it warm for you inside the machine. You just need to line up and ask for it.”
I bit back my laugh as I slid into the vacant armchair opposite her while the boys joined the end of the line to order. “Thanks, girl. It feels like there isn’t enough coffee in the world today.”
Her answering smile was sympathetic. “I feel that. How’s your face?”
I touched a finger to the side of my bruised nose. I’d covered it pretty heavily with concealer, but maybe it wasn’t good enough. “Is it obvious? I put like four layers of makeup on.”
“Nah, only because you told me. You definitely got checked over properly, right?” She tilted her head in concern, eyes running over me like she was checking for more injuries.
I gave a small nod, still babying my extremely stiff neck.
I’d taken anti-inflammatories and rubbed it with a muscle relaxer that didn’t stink, but it still hurt like a bitch if I moved too quickly.
“Yes, they were thorough. I’m fine, I promise.
I’d be better if I could make it through one week without nearly dying.
” I winced, doing the math inside my head.
“That was three times in eight days. It’s too much. ”
“Three?” Carly repeated, frowning. “The lake last weekend and the car this past weekend…what else happened?”
I wet my lips, remembering she didn’t know about the elders council incident. “Um, there was another thing…but we dealt with it.”
Her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed. “Uh-huh. And does that have something to do with why all your boys had bruised knuckles?”
I offered her an apologetic smile back, showing teeth. “Possibly. Anyway, it’s in the past. Tell me about your weekend. Was it only Edmund that came up to Alaska with you?”
She rolled her eyes, flopping back into her seat with a sigh. With relief, I picked up my coffee and sipped it while she launched into an entertaining recount of her weekend activities, including how they’d been caught having sex in the hotel gym.
It took the boys ages to get their coffee, but that allowed us time to hang out and catch up without them lurking or, worse, contributing. We parted ways and headed to our respective classes, but I was surprised to find Nate tag along to mine.
“You don’t have to actually sit in on the class,” I told him quietly as I unpacked my laptop and notes.
“I know,” he replied, slouching in his seat and manspreading like a fucking professional. Normally, that shit would piss me off something wicked, but instead I found myself kind of liking how his thigh rested against mine.
Credit to him, he wasn’t annoying throughout my class.
He didn’t make any comments or act bored or even show the faintest bit of irritation.
The only distraction he gave throughout the lecture was when he rested his hand on my leg and his thumb stroked little circles on the inside of my knee almost absent-mindedly.
When he first did it, I glanced over to see if he wanted my attention for something, but he just glanced at me briefly before nodding to the front of the room. In other words, pay attention .
Easier said than done, initially, but as the lesson continued and his hand didn’t move, I slowly relaxed and focused on taking notes so I could review again later.
By the time the class ended, I was actually disappointed that his hand had to move, which I would never admit out loud where he could hear me.
“You still awake?” I teased while I packed up my things.
Nate flashed a quick grin, stretching his arms over his head. “Just.”
“You really didn’t have to stay. Don’t you have your own classes to go to?” I zipped up my bag and went to toss it over my shoulder, but my stiff neck protested the movement and I hissed with pain.
Nate’s brow dipped ever so slightly, then he took the bag from me and looped the strap over his own shoulder without a word.
I was tempted to protest, but…why? My neck fucking hurt, and my bag wasn’t light.
So I bit my tongue and reminded myself that I wouldn’t blink twice if Heath carried my bag for me.
“Do you need to do anything else while we’re on campus?” he asked as we left the class and headed outside. “Royce has another lecture, but one of the boys can come back to get him later.”
“Nope, I’m done,” I told him with a small yawn. All the travel and stress were really starting to take its toll on me. Even if I wasn’t trying to cover bruises, I’d have still needed the same amount of concealer to hide my eye bags.
Thinking about my bruises made my nose itch, and I scratched it before I could stop myself.
“Damn it.” I grabbed Nate’s arm to get his attention.
“Did I just take a line of makeup off?” I gestured to my face where I’d just scratched.
The bruising had been bad this morning, which was why I’d put so much effort in.