20. Olivia
Olivia
My gaze bounces from one corner to the next, taking in the rectangular study table that sits in the middle of the study room with two to-go coffee cups resting on the wooden top and a small bag that reads—Jenni’s Cafe.
My favorite café in town. The place I used to sneak to when I was craving good coffee and a donut before class in high school.
“Where do you have to go after this?” I question, prodding for answers. That’s what an agent would do as I meander further into the room.
“Sit. Then we’ll talk,” JJ basically commands as he closes the door softly and clicks the lock into place.
Great. Locked in a see-through prison with my demanding-ass murderer. How could this day get any worse?
JJ slowly makes his way across from me at the table. Never taking his sharp gaze off me. When he sits, he blinks several times again, taking in my almost unrecognizable face.
“I got your favorite coffee. Or…” He scratches the back of his neck with uncertainty. “You still like southern pecan with loads of sugar and too much sweetness? Right? Or has that changed?” An uncertainty sits on the tip of his tongue, like he’s not sure what to say or think.
I frown. “There’s nothing wrong with sweet coffee.” My eyes lock on the coffee cup, and my suspicions rise. “And no, that hasn’t changed.”
“Good. I also got you this…” Slowly, he pushes the bag across the table until it’s in front of my face. “You still like too-sweet donuts, too, right? Because I…”
“Yes,” I say, swallowing hard and trying not to let his sweet gesture soften me up.
I peek in the bag and practically drool at the sight of my favorite donuts wrapped in paper. The scent of cinnamon and maple wafts from the bag, and my stomach growls with anticipation.
But I hold off from reaching in and tearing into the sweet treat. Despite JJ’s claims that he has nothing to do with my death, I have to be cautious. It could be tampered with or poisoned.
“You remembered what I like? After all this time?” I whisper, closing the bag of donuts so I don’t give in to the temptation.
“I never forgot a single detail of our lives together,” he whispers, scraping a hand through his dark locks.
“Your breakfast order. Your coffee. Your favorite dinner. Your favorite TV show. Your favorite romances. You may have died, but my love for you didn’t.
” Tears shimmer in his desperate eyes as he watches me closely now, taking in the rigidity of my body.
Heat billows through me, staining my cheeks.
My eyes dart toward the ground. Focus on your shoes.
Focus on the carpeted floor. Don’t focus on the fact that he remembers everything about you and seems to be locked in his memories.
Don’t focus on the tears glistening in his eyes again, with true sadness seeping through.
“Oh,” I whisper and clear my throat. “So, how can I get my grades back up?”
“By coming here,” his voice cracks, drawing my gaze back to him. “Don’t miss a study session, and I’ll fix it.”
“You didn’t think I’d show today, did you?” I ask cautiously.
JJ sits back and rubs his chin. “I wasn’t sure you’d come back after—” He licks his lips. “After I found you. Why did you?” He leans in now, putting his elbows on the table and keeping his eyes laser-focused on me.
I shift in my seat. Why did I come back? Oh, you know, I have to spy on you and the others and make it into your stupid gang so I can finally take down Franco once and for all. Of course, I can’t say that. Not yet. Not until I know I can trust him, which may never be.
“Because I had to,” is all I say, raising a brow when he nods a few times.
“Is it because of this?” he asks, holding up a small piece of paper with Oliver’s name on it.
The same piece of paper I put into the jar to join their gang at the graveyard party.
“I didn’t know you had done this until Simon asked me if you two were in.
” He looks from me to the strip of paper.
A curiosity springs into his eyes. He sets it down and slides it across the table until it’s right in front of me, and he taps it a few times. “You want in?”
My throat tightens as I stare at my shitty writing. “I do.” I nod, trying to sound confident, but it’s all evaporating quickly.
JJ takes the piece of paper back and shoves it into his pocket. “Okay.”
“Okay? You’ll get me in and then what? What’s the catch, JJ?” Everything comes with a price, and I know this one will be big.
“To earn your trust back. You think we did something we didn’t do. I want to prove it to you. And I want to know why,” he quickly says. “I want to know a lot of things about you, but I figure this is a start, right?”
I weigh my options. I can’t lay everything out on the table for him. Hey, I’m an agent of the law, looking to take you all down. So, let me into your gang.
So I do something dumb and ask a stupid question.
“Do you remember the promise we made to each other? That after college we’d…”
“Disappear. Change our names. Leave Franco behind?” he responds quietly, nodding his head. “Yes, I remember.”
“If you still had the chance, would you leave all of this?” There’s an empty feeling plummeting into the pit of my stomach when he blinks at me several times and digests my words. His Adam’s apple jumps when he nods once, not daring to utter a word. “That’s why.”
I don’t elaborate further. I leave it at that. Giving him a sliver of the truth to understand why I’m truly here. To take them down. Franco, especially.
“What’s your major?” JJ whispers, brows furrowing. “I never asked.”
“Criminal justice.” My fingers wrap around the coffee cup, focusing on the warmth spreading through me instead of the spark of intrigue igniting in JJ’s eyes. “And you?” I clear my throat.
“Criminal justice? Huh…” He trails off slowly. “Mine is computer science with a focus on cybersecurity and a minor in mathematics.”
The ghost of a smile spread across my lips.
“What are you working on?” I ask, coming to sit next to JJ in the library of our high school with a stack of ridiculously heavy history books in my arms. “I swear they’re trying to kill me with all this knowledge.
Why can’t we look on the internet again?
Ugh,” I grunt, setting the books on the table and sitting next to JJ.
His dark eyes dart to me and take me in with a frown, pulling his lips down. “Algebra,” he answers, scratching his head.
I make a face, opening one of my books. “I wish I could help…” I trail off. “But I have my own mess. Plus, I suck at math.” I wave at the stack of books.
“Being here with you helps,” he murmurs, offering me a shy grin as a blush blooms up his neck and ears.
“I feel like I’m interrupting,” Mack chuckles, throwing a chair back and plopping down with no books in his hands across from us.
JJ raises his brows, silently asking Mack what the hell he’s doing in the library. I swear the man never studies but gets straight A’s. It’s honestly sickening how someone can barely glance at a book and ace everything.
Mack shrugs. “It’s my free period, and I’m bored.”
I snort. “Maybe you should study then,” I tease. “That will make you unbored.”
“Studying is for losers.” He winks and leans his elbows on the study table. “Let’s be rebels, Buttercup.”
“And what kind of rebellion are you trying to leave me out of?” JJ huffs, setting down his pencil with defeat. He knows that with Mack here, we’ll never be able to focus.
Mack grins and stands. “Come on, then, my fellow rebels,” he quips, waving a hand. “Come forth into the fuckery!”
JJ and I exchange a look. “I mean…” I gesture to Mack’s retreating back. “He’s promising fuckery. How can we pass that opportunity up?” My brow raises when JJ’s jaw tics, and I see the decision weighing heavily in his eyes.
Finally, JJ groans, shutting his book with a heavy thud, gaining the attention of the librarian wandering between the shelves. Her eyes narrow, and she brings a finger to her lips and then gestures to the other students studying at the tables around us.
“Sorry,” I cringe softly, waving her off.
“Fine,” he hisses, lowering his voice.
“We’ll work on math later, okay?”
JJ snorts at my words, ready to retort about my lack of math skills. Because let’s be real, I couldn’t math my way out of any situation, even if we were in trouble. JJ knows it. I know it. The world knows it.
“Naked math?” Mack says, popping up out of nowhere when we take a few steps away from our table with our books in hand. “It can be a fun game of multiply and divide. Subtraction and addition. Especially the addition. Two plus two…” He grins more, walking backward now while making hand gestures.
I roll my eyes and shove him through the door. “You’re so smooth with your sexy talk.”
“Add a tongue here. Fondle a boobie there.” He grins, dodging my punch as he throws open the side door and holds it for the two of us. “Ladies first.”
“No Hux?” JJ murmurs when we pile into Mack’s truck.
“Left earlier. No clue.” He shrugs, but a hint of hurt rings in his eyes. “Probably has something to do with the guests at the casino.”
A relentless, heavy feeling sits on my chest at the memory. The parallels between here and now. Me. JJ. Sitting across from one another in the library like we used to.
Like old times.
My tongue darts across my dry lips. “You were always good with computers and getting into things you weren’t supposed to.” I pick at the Jenni’s label on my coffee cup, aching to taste it, but apprehensive to take the leap. “But math?” I raise a knowing brow.
JJ throws his head back and laughs a glorious laugh. Like he hasn’t felt an ounce of joy since I was put into the earth, and maybe he hasn’t. Maybe he has.
I’m still unsure of his intentions. Good? Bad? Is he telling the truth? I guess I’ll find out in these sessions.