Timespell (23 page)

His pleasure rolled over her in a wave of contentment.
No, not bored.

She wondered if she could send him her own emotions. How strong was this connection? She explored the feelings he was sending her, reaching beyond simply accepting what was given.

I won’t let you get too far into my thoughts,
he said.
Not unless you let me see what’s in your mind first.

She thought of Brian and almost lost the connection again. No, he most definitely shouldn’t go poking around in her brain.
That’s okay. Boundaries are probably a good thing when someone can read your mind.

She felt another wave of emotion, this time humor.

She smiled again, keeping her eyes closed as she got up off the bed.
I was so worried about you.
She made her way blindly to the bathroom. A dip in the Seine River and another in the ocean had left her grimy.
That was smart, going on the plane when time was frozen.

It was your idea.
His voice became deeper. Quieter.
You mentioned something about it
...
about sneaking on a plane.

Julia didn’t remember that, but there was more to think about, wandering around the bathroom with her eyes closed. She reached out clumsily until she found the faucet and started the shower, waiting for it to get hot as she slid out of Angie’s borrowed clothes. This was freaking difficult. Had he fallen asleep? She might as well open her eyes if he wasn’t there.
Hello?

I’m here,
he said.

She held out a hand, her eyes still closed, until she felt water beating on her palm. It sprayed her arm and chest, giving her goose bumps.
You sound tired.

She stepped into the shower, letting the hot water massage her back and sensing nothing from him.
Hello? Ethan? Did you fall asleep?

No. Not asleep.

It keeps feeling like you’re disappearing.
Should talking to Ethan and taking a shower at the same time feel weird? It wasn’t like he could see her. That made it okay, didn’t it? Really, it felt weirder taking a shower with her eyes closed than it did while talking to Ethan.

I’m going to try to sleep,
he said.
You should break the connection.

Okay,
she said, but she left her eyes closed. She didn’t want to lose the secret connection she had with him. She liked it. If only the plane wasn’t moving too fast for her to see him. She would have liked to watch him sleep.

Julia, you have to open your eyes.

Why?

I’m in an airplane. All you see is a blur going five hundred and fifty miles an hour. You are
not
in an airplane. What do you think I see?

Heat spread out from her chest and her eyes flew open. His low laughter mixed with the sound of streaming water as she lost their connection.

Holy crap, he could see her?

What a punk. If she wasn’t naked, she would establish that connection again and tell him off.

N
aked. He had seen her naked.

She toweled off and threw on cut-off sweats and a tank top, her “officially grounded” outfit. Ethan kept sending her questioning thoughts, trying to establish their connection again. Yeah, right. It would be a long time before she let him into her head again, if ever.

She needed to call Angie and tell her about Ethan being on a plane and needing their help to get off it. She rummaged around her dresser until she realized that she and Angie didn’t have cell phones anymore. They had left them at prom.

“Great,” she said, falling onto the bed.

She sat back up.

Voices.

Someone was out in the living room.

She opened the door a crack. “Bye, Ms. Corona,” she heard the voice say.

Angie?

“Thank you,” her mom said. “I’ll be sure to give it to her.”

Julia rushed into the living room as the door closed. “Was that Angie?”

“Yes,” her mom said, wearing her fluffy pink bathrobe. Her hair stuck up on one side. But she smiled. “Angie told me what happened.”

“She did?”

“Oh, honey. You missed your whole prom night to help Angie?” She gave Julia a big hug and said, “You
still
should have called. But I’m sorry I didn’t hear you out.”

“Right. I should have called, though.” Julia clutched the purse her mom held out to her, more confused than ever.

“And I didn’t know you and Brian were having problems,”
her mom said. The blood drained from Julia’s face. What had Angie told her? Her mom smiled gently, her eyes tinged with compassion. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Heck no! She had no idea what to talk about. “Um, not right now,” she managed. “If that’s okay.”

“Of course it’s okay. I’m going to take a shower.” Her mom patted her arm and headed for the hallway. “Sorry I didn’t let you explain. But next time,
call.”

“I will.”

Her mom paused at the bathroom door. “You’re still grounded, but if you work it out with Brian, you can have dinner with his family like you planned. Consider yourself partially grounded.”

That was tonight? Julia’s head spun out of control.

“You don’t have to go,” her mom added.

“I know.”

Her mom went into the bathroom and called out. “If you’re not going, let him know. Don’t stand him up in front of his family.”

As soon as the door closed, Julia opened her purse and pulled out her phone. The battery light came on, but she ignored it, scanning through her texts. There were twenty from Brian. She only read the most recent message. It was from Angie.

Call me.

“Well, duh,” Julia whispered.

Angie picked up on the first ring. “Are you alone?”

“Yes,” Julia said. “What did you tell my mom?”

“I said that you and Brian had issues to work out, which isn’t a lie, and that I had serious personal problems—family problems— and I had to leave prom right after dinner ... not exactly a lie, although a lie of omission is still a lie.”

Wow, Mom bought that?
“How did you find our purses?”

“We left them at the table at prom. David had them. Oh! David saw us disappear.”

“Holy crap!”

“He thought it was the strobe lights from the dance floor, making it seem like we glowed and vanished. I don’t like lying to
him. If things work out between us, maybe it’s time I tell him. I don’t know.”

Julia thought of David, how he always looked for Angie in the sidelines after he made a play at a game, and how he watched Angie when he thought no one was looking. He lit up like Christmas whenever she was around.

“He’s all right to tell,” she finally said. “We can trust him.”

“Yeah,” Angie said softly.

Julia’s phone beeped. “My battery’s dying,” she said. She realized she hadn’t told her about Ethan. The explanation about him being on a plane on his way from Paris seemed insane when she said it out loud, but Angie didn’t seem surprised.

“So, tonight at five we have to meet up with Kaitlyn and freeze time.”

“Right.” Julia leaned on the counter. “I wish I had just waited to summon him. If we had already been in our own time, I could have brought him over properly ... if Nevine is right.”

“We’ll be more careful next time,” Angie said.

Next time? She didn’t want to think about a next time. “Angie, what am I going to do? Brian and I didn’t break up or anything, and tonight I’m supposed to meet his family.”

“Julia? Hello? Are you there?”

“Angie?” She heard the long beep that meant her phone was dead. Whatever. It wasn’t as if she could even explain what her problem was. Brian loved her and he was her boyfriend. Ethan was a moody stranger. She knew nothing about him. She didn’t like the idea of some guy being her destiny. What about choosing her own fate? She cared about Brian, and he deserved a fair chance.

“Are
you sure you don’t want me to give Kaitlyn a message?” the housekeeper asked.

It was the second time she and Julia had been to Kaitlyn’s beachfront house that afternoon. Angie let out a slow breath. “No, thank you.”

The housekeeper shrugged as she shut the massive double doors.

Julia’s face fell. “We can’t freeze time without Kaitlyn. Ethan needs us.” She jammed her hands into her hair, as if she could squeeze the answer out of her skull. “This is so
frustrating.
What are we going to do?”

Angie headed down the hill to her car, knowing Julia would follow. She sat down in the driver’s seat, her thoughts spinning. Neither she nor Julia had Kaitlyn’s phone number. The clock on the dash showed 3:55. They were cutting this very close, but there had to be a way to get a hold of Kaitlyn. They must know someone who had her phone number or who knew where she might be.

“Angie? Helloooo?”

“Sorry,” Angie said, starting the car.

“Ethan’s counting on us. He could be arrested!”

Angie let the car idle as a thought flowed into her mind. She pulled out her cell phone. “I have an idea.”

David picked up on the first ring.

“Hey, are you home?” she asked. “We need your help.”

A
ngie turned into David’s cul-de-sac. Her steering wheel became slick in her hands as she pulled up to his house. Out front, David bounced his basketball. He was shirtless, his eyes focused on the basketball hoop hanging over his garage door. Angie let out a long, steady breath.

David turned toward the car. His damp, brown hair fell against his glistening forehead. The muscles on his back and shoulders gleamed.

She got out of the car and he dropped the basketball with a smile. She loved the way he kept his eyes on her while stopping the ball with his foot.

He nodded at her once before walking over to where he always kept his shirt and water bottle. She had to stifle a sigh as his abdomen disappeared beneath a layer of thin cotton. His vivid blue eyes locked on hers, the moment stretching as they stood face to face.

Julia cleared her throat.

“Hi, Julia,” he said, ducking his head a little. He led the way to his front door. “So, what’s going on? What do you need that’s on my computer?”

“Kaitlyn’s phone number,” Angie said, hating the ache in her chest as she said it.

His hand froze on the door knob. “Angie ....”

She pressed her lips together. Faking a smile with David never worked. “It’s really important. We need to get a hold of her, and you’re the only person I know who has her number.”

A muscle clenched in David’s jaw as he opened the door. “Well, I don’t have it.”

“But she put it in your phone,” Angie insisted, crossing the threshold and pausing in the living room. She felt her cheeks burn at the memory of Kaitlyn’s name appearing on his cell phone while they had been on a date. “That’s what you said, at least.”

“She did,” he said through clenched teeth. “But I deleted it. I deleted all the emails she sent too. And I never called her or replied. I don’t have her number.”

Angie’s throat closed up as the light left his eyes. She hated bringing all of this back up, but they didn’t have much time. She forced herself to say, “She called you, though.”

David’s brows came together. The air became tense. Angie was vaguely aware that Julia was standing a few feet away, sliding along the wall behind them. “Are your brothers or sisters around?” she asked. “Never mind, I’ll just ... hang out with the dogs. Or stare at the wall. Not that listening to you two hash out an old fight isn’t super fun.”

Julia headed down the hallway, where video game music mingled with the raucous noise of David’s four younger siblings. Angie met David’s gaze again. His mouth slashed down across his face. “Why would you need to talk to her?” His voice was ragged. Incredulous. “She only ever wants to hurt you.”

“It’s complicated.” She held her hair to one side with both hands.

David’s face softened. “I’ll do whatever you need me to. You know I will.”

Angie let out a pent-up breath. He trusted her. And she knew she could trust him. With everything. Even the magic. But with Ethan counting on them, explanations would have to wait.

David’s gaze lingered on her mouth. A blush reached her cheeks before she could turn away. “Let’s get to your computer,” she said. “If Kaitlyn called you, it’ll be on your cell phone’s call log or on the phone bill or something. We have to find it.”

She followed him to his room. He flipped open his laptop and
logged on his phone account. His hand moved slowly off the track pad. “You look through it,” he said, edging off the chair. “I don’t really want to.”

Angie slid into his seat and scrolled down the page. “How will I know which one is her number?”

His voice was quiet. “She called a lot.”

A number appeared repeatedly. Almost as often as her own number. She hated herself for doing it, but she slowed down and scrutinized the call log. Guilty relief flooded her at the sight of the word ‘incoming’ beside each of the entries from the number that had to be Kaitlyn’s. She scanned the ‘minutes used’ column lined up on the right, barely fighting herself before feasting her gluttonous eyes on the long row of zeroes. He hadn’t taken any of her calls. Not one.

She glanced at where he sat on his bed, surprised to find him watching her, studying her as she searched his phone bill. Her cheeks burned. She lowered her eyes and scribbled Kaitlyn’s phone number on a notepad.

“Got it,” she murmured, closing the browser windows and shutting his laptop. “I have to go.”

David crossed the room as she stood. He caught her arm. The contact startled her.

“Angie,” he whispered. “Angel.”

She didn’t make mention of her old nickname. She wanted him to know how much she loved hearing it on his lips, but some small part of her remained terrified. His hand came up to caress her cheek. His gaze was vulnerable, but he held her firmly in his arms. He lowered his head and pulled her close.

“At prom last night, I wanted to wait for the perfect moment,” he said, his voice shaky and low. He blinked slowly before finding her eyes again. “But then you were gone, and we never even kissed.”