Deceptive Cadence (36 page)

He laughed. “Of course you will. You’re brilliant.”

“But what if one of the universities further away has a better program, or is the only one that gives me an offer?”

He scoffed and pulled me closer. “You’ll get into one of the Sydney unis. Don’t even worry about it.”

“But . . .” I bit my lip, feeling guilty for thinking about Austin as James nibbled on my neck. “But what if I want to go to one of those universities that are further away? Like for example, there’s one in Western Australia that―”

He pulled back. “Western Australia? Cadence, why are you even looking there?”

I pushed up onto my elbow to meet his gaze. “There’s a sport science program over there that’s perfect for what I want―”

“And there isn’t one closer that fits your needs just as well?”

I dropped my gaze. “I . . . ah . . . I want to get out of Sydney for a while and explore new things.”

“You what?” He leaped off the bed and stared down at me. “Cadence, we can go on a trip somewhere. We’ll save up and fly to freaking Mongolia if you want. But move clear across the country away from me? Why would you even consider that?”

I stared up at him. His nostrils flared, his brow furrowed, and his eyes filled with fear. How could I leave him and go so far away? But Austin . . . I needed to know what could happen with Austin.

To diffuse the situation, I sat up and clasped onto his hips as I gazed into his eyes. “It’s just a backup option. I wanted you to know it’s a possibility if I can’t get somewhere here. I don’t want to hide it from you.”

He turned away, ruffling his hair as he gazed out the window. “I don’t want you to take it if it comes up.”

“What if it turns out to be my only choice?”

He turned on me. “Don’t take it! Wait a year or so and apply to somewhere around here as a mature age student. Don’t you dare go that far away!”

I gasped and pulled back at his ferocity. “James―”

“No, Cadence, your choices affect me, too. I can’t have you going that far away. I need you here with me. I love you so much that I think it would kill me.”

I rubbed my eyes, feeling guilty for even bringing it up. “Let’s not talk about this.”

He climbed back onto the bed and leaned over me. “No, because there’s nothing to talk about. You’re staying here. You don’t have to move in if you don’t want, but you’re staying here, in this state, in this city.”

“James, you’re acting really possessive.”

His arm slipped around my waist. “I can’t lose you.”

I gazed into his eyes and saw his desperation. My heart pounded as my love for him swelled inside me. “I love you.”

He smiled and pulled me into a tight embrace. “I love you, too.”

THIRTY-TWO

Dusty rambled on about his Design and Tech project, his arm draped lazily over my shoulder as we walked from the student parking lot into the school. I looked up at him, amazed by how handsome he’d grown. We had matching sandy blond hair and dark blue eyes, but his face was more masculine, with a square jaw and a wide lazy grin. It felt like he’d grown up overnight.

We rounded a corner, and I pulled back.

“Cadence?” My odd behavior turned his attention to me.

“I, ah . . . I thought there was a bee or something,” I lied.

“You’re so weird.” He moved to keep walking, but I kept my feet firmly planted. “Ah, what’s up with you?”

“Let’s go a different way.”

His eyes narrowed and he dashed around the corner. I hurried after him to see Geri and Cody pull apart from their kiss. I looked up at Dusty. Only a flash of pain flicked through his eyes before he covered swiftly by saying, “Oh, gross! You kissed Geraldine Turner!”

Geri turned bright red and slapped him. “Get lost, Dusty!”

He laughed. “Seriously, Geri, you can do better than this, don’t you think?”

She swung to me. “Cadence!”

“I got it.” I grabbed Dusty’s arm and dragged him away.

Out of their view, he pulled away from me and scowled. “I hate that guy.”

“You’ve never met him.”

“I still hate him.”

I wrapped my arm through his and rested my head on his shoulder. “It won’t last much longer. Just be patient.”

He chuckled. “You know, James is right. Sometimes you get this mysterious, weird vibe thing going and talk like you can see the future.”

I bit my lip. “Ah, well you
know
that’s impossible.”

“Maybe.” He shrugged. “But there really are times when you know things that kinda blow me away.”

“Like what?” I forced a laugh to hide how uncomfortable I felt.

“Like, ah . . .” He tapped his chin. “Like you always seem to know which football team is going to win the Grand Final, or at least, you always go for the team that wins.”

“That’s just good luck.”

He tilted his head and looked down at me. “Well, you must have the best luck
ever
.”

I glanced around, relieved to see that nothing froze or time warped. I was safe.

“I probably do.”

The middle weekend of the winter break, I stayed with Harper for a few nights while Daniel was out of town. I arrived on Friday, and she spent the day going on and on about how amazing he was. It started to grate my nerves, and I hoped I wasn’t like that about James.

We ordered pizza and watched a girlie TV show while we waited. The next day we’d meet up with James and spend time together in the city, but right at that moment, I focused on Harper. Since her life seemed very similar to what it had been in the first timeline, I wanted to see if I could gain some insight on what I should do once I finished school.

The pizza arrived and, after the delivery boy shamelessly eyed us over, we paid him and slammed the door in his face.

We retreated to Harper’s bedroom and she shut the door behind her. She handed me a plate of pizza, and sat beside me on the bed. “Cadence, I have to tell you something.”

“Sure, what’s up?” I said as I bit into a slice.

“Daniel is incredible.”

I smirked. “That’s not news, Harper. You tell me that all the time and you’ve been going on about it all day.”

She glared at me. “What I’m trying to say is . . .” She bit her lip as she blushed. “I slept with him.”

My jaw fell. “Really? When?”

“On Friday . . . and Saturday . . . but you can’t tell Dad. He’ll totally freak out . . .”

“I think he’ll be better about it than you think,” I muttered, but she didn’t notice.

“Just so you know, the first time isn’t as mind-blowing as everyone makes it out to be.”

“I know.”

“It was kinda weird and gross to be honest. But he’s talking about having me move in with him, and maybe eventually get married! Cadence, I’m twenty in a month and a half, and I think I’ve found the love of my life! And he’s . . .” She paused. “Wait, did you say that you
know
?”

I shrugged.

“Cadence!” She grabbed my shoulders. “You’ve been holding out on me! When did you and James . . . ?”

“The first time was just after my birthday, but we stopped for a while.”

“But when he moved out . . .” A wide grin swept across her face. “Cadence! Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I thought Mum or Dad would have mentioned it—it caused such a huge explosion that Dad didn’t talk to me for weeks.”

“
That’s
what that was about!” She shook me. “Oh, Cay, he’s the one for you, I just know it! I can see when he looks at you that there’s no one else in this world for him. You should totally get married and we can have a double wedding! Wouldn’t that be romantic?”

“I don’t think I’m ready for that.” I laughed. “I’m not even eighteen yet!”

“You will be soon.” She winked at me.

I scoffed. “When did you start gushing? You’re kinda freaking me out.”

She slapped my shoulder and scowled. “You’re such a brat.”

“That’s better.”

She slapped me again, then collapsed onto her pillow and sighed. “Daniel is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I can see myself with him forever. He’ll get his bachelor’s at the end of next year, so that would be the perfect time to get married, and not just for us. You’ll be nineteen, James will be twenty . . .” She winked.

“Seriously, no. I don’t think we’re gonna be at that point.”

She growled. “Whatever. You can’t see it now because you’re a stupid teenager.”

“
You’re
still a teenager.”

“Technicalities! Cadence, he’s been with you since he was sixteen! And he hunted you for months before that! He’s yours, and to be completely honest, I’ve always been a bit jealous of that, especially because he’s a great guy.”

I stopped chewing. “Wait, did you just say James, as in
my
James, is a great guy?”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re so thick sometimes. I’ve always liked James. Why do you think I’m always so mean to him?”

I laughed and lay beside her, staring up at the blank ceiling. I thought of the painting of our family on her ceiling back at home that Dad still hadn’t painted over. I nuzzled up to her. I loved how close I’d become to her with my second chance. We’d never had a close relationship before, so to have her confiding everything in me felt wonderful.

I curled up beside her as she continued on about Daniel again, and slowly fell asleep.

James managed to stay patient with Harper as she told him everything she’d already told me about Daniel, excluding their intimate moments. I watched him as he nodded and responded appropriately, amazed that he’d put up with her endless gushing.

Finally, when we stopped to have dinner and she had a mouthful of food, he changed the topic. “So I think we should go to a club tonight.”

“I’m not eighteen,” I said.

Harper grinned. “I still have your fake ID.”

I rolled my eyes as they both grinned. “No way! You guys, I don’t wanna go clubbing.”

Harper moaned. “You’re so
boring
.”

“Nope. I’m not going.” I folded my arms and pursed my lips.

“Sweet, I’ll text Tom and Sam to see if they wanna join us.” James whipped out his phone. “They seriously need help picking up.”

“I said no!”

Harper giggled. “We picked up some cute new outfits today, so let’s go get changed into them.”

I grunted, knowing I wouldn’t win. “Fine! One hour. I don’t wanna risk getting caught. Dad will lose it.”

Harper scoffed. “Cadence, you’re almost eighteen. You need to stop worrying about what Dad will think. Once you’re an adult, it won’t matter! Not to mention, you’re sleeping with
him
, aren’t you?” She gestured at James.

He grinned. “She has a point.”

I backhanded his shoulder as my face burned.

He laughed. “Anyway, you need to stay to help Tom and Sam pick up. I swear, you’re the only girl they talk to.”

I sighed, knowing there was no way out.

At the club, Harper and I were probably the most dressed girls in the room. We both wore long tanks, mine pink and hers black, while I wore black dress pants and she wore a denim mini. James kept his arms around our waists protectively to ward off anyone who might try to hit on us on the dance floor.

He glanced between us and grinned. “Sometimes I wonder if one of you was adopted! You look so different I’d never pick you as sisters.”

Twenty minutes later, Tom and Sam arrived. They’d ditched their nerdy slogan T-shirts and raided James’ wardrobe for more acceptable attire. So, looking clean-cut in dress shirts and jeans, they approached us.

Harper eyed them over. “When you drop the nerd act you both clean up pretty well.” She wrapped her arm through Sam’s. “Okay, kiddo, you’re my project. Let’s see if any girls wanna talk to you.”

She dragged him away.

James and I turned to Tom, who looked apprehensive. “I’m no good with girls.”

I wrapped my arm through his. “James, go keep an eye on Harper while Tom and I get something to drink.”

James nodded and pushed through the crowd away from us. I took Tom to the bar and he ordered a beer while I asked for water. Once the bartender moved on, Tom shook his head with a grin. “Always the good girl, aren’t you, Cadence?”

I snorted. “I didn’t even wanna come here, so there’s no way I’m going to drink.”

He laughed. “No wonder James is such a good boy now.” He took his cup and sipped from it. “Speaking of James, you wanna hear something pretty cool?”

“Ah, sure, I guess.”

He leaned closer with a smirk. “The other day I went to meet him after one of his classes. I stood just outside the lecture hall so he could see me, and as he came out, he was being tailed by a huge group of girls.”

I grabbed his shoulder. “I, ah . . .”

“No, don’t stop me, this is great. James had his head down, finishing up some notes from the lecture, and had no idea they were tailing him—I had to call his name to get his attention. When he came over, I asked him to introduce me to some of his friends because they were hot. He looked around and seemed surprised to find them with him. He had no idea what their names were, but they quickly introduced themselves and talked to James like they’d known him forever. But when he started talking about his girlfriend Cadence, their flirting came to an abrupt end. They walked away, but he didn’t care and started telling me about his classes.”

I stared at him as a knot formed in my stomach. “Girls are hitting on him?”

I glanced across the room and saw James’ presence with Sam wasn’t helping Sam at all, as the girls focused on him instead. “Oh, no . . . maybe I should . . .”

I moved to climb off the stool.

Tom grabbed my arm. “No need, Cadence! I think you missed my point. Those girls were
hot
. James blew them off for
you
.”