Tormented (Evolution Series Book 2) (24 page)

“Shift?” I asked, a little surprised. “And how did they find out that he was here this morning?”

Aiden tensed ever so slightly. “That would be because I took the bag to Dave while you were in the bathroom. And I’m guessing that Dave thinks that we should have someone else around us for a little while?”

“Yep,” Kai confirmed. “And because my body clock isn’t really set to any schedule, I got to have the Aussie day time, and Dave and Anna will come here for the night shift.”

“Oh,” I said softly. I couldn’t believe that it had come to being babysat. They all thought I needed around the clock guarding.

“So, what are we
gonna
do today?” Kai asked.

I didn’t really feel like going out, but then again, I didn’t really want to stay there either. So we decided to take Kai up to Main Beach where he could go for
a surf
. Aiden and I headed to
Tedder
Avenue for brunch, and then we went down to the beach to soak up the rays.

The fresh air did me some good, and by the time we returned home, I no longer felt like curling up and hiding away somewhere where no one could find me. Chelsea called again when we were at the beach to let us know that Ben’s funeral was being held in two days. I guessed there wasn’t much need for an autopsy, considering that about fifty people witnessed his death, not to mention the surveillance cameras that operated
twenty-four-seven
around that place. Chelsea still sounded so heartbroken, so against my better judgment, I invited her to spend the night over Aiden’s.

“That’s my shift over,” Kai said when Anna and Dave arrived. “Same time tomorrow.” He disappeared before giving us a chance to say anything.

“Don’t tell me you’ve been on that thing all day?” Anna said, looking at Aiden who was playing on his Xbox.

“Nope.” Aiden was too engrossed in trying to beat his highest score to say more.

I said, “We took Kai down to Main Beach so he could go for a surf, and Aiden and I went down to
Tedder
Ave for brunch, then back down to the beach.”

Anna opened up the bi-fold doors to let in some fresh air. “Bet Kai loved that. I don’t think he’s ever surfed there.”

“No, I don’t think he has,” Dave said, sitting down on the other side of Aiden. “Kai mainly likes to stick to Hawaii or South Africa, and when he’s been out here, he’s either gone to
Superbanks
, down to
Bondi
, or popped over to Bali.” He picked up a controller and began playing with Aiden. Boys.

“He’s a pretty good surfer,” I said.

“That’s because he’s had a lot of practice.” Anna laughed. “If Kai isn’t on the computer, he’s out surfing.” She sat next to me.

I turned to her, putting one knee up on the sofa. “Yeah, I
kinda
got that impression.”

Lucas walked into the lounge room, wiping his hands on his shirt. “Sorry, I wanted to use the loo before we came, but they insisted that I wait ‘til we got here.”

Anna rolled her eyes. “You make it sound like we made you wait hours, not just a couple of seconds.”

Ignoring Anna, Lucas joined the boys on the couch, without so much as a hi or even a look in my direction. Like the other guys, his eyes were glued to the screen. Maybe I had just imagined a hidden truth in his comment back at his apartment.

“Hey,” Anna said, turning to me. “Do you want to go see a movie with me tonight?”

I was about to say yes, then remembered that Chelsea was coming over. “I don’t think I’ll be able to. I asked Chelsea to stay over here tonight.” I quickly added, “If that’s okay with you?”

She swatted my arm gently. “Of course. Our homes are your homes now. You got that?” Anna asked, raising her eyebrows.

“Got it,” I said with a smile.

“So what time will she be here?”

I looked at my watch—almost six. “She should be here any minute.”

“Okay then, have you
organised
anything for dinner?”

“Not yet.”

“Chinese would be good,” Aiden said at the same time that Dave and Lucas suggested pizza.

“It’s funny how your ears pick up on something relating to food, but any other topic and you wouldn’t hear a word,” I said to Aiden. Proving me right, he didn’t respond. I decided to get him back for ignoring me, so I sent him a mental image of our last shower together. But as I was in the middle of doing it, I
realised
that I had never done that before, and there was no way of telling if I had sent the image to only him. Luckily, Aiden was the only one that bombed out on the game, making me sigh in relief. Dave and Lucas gave him shit for his sudden loss of control.

Aiden turned to face me, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards slightly.
“That so wasn’t fair.”

“I know.”
I smirked.

“I think you might owe me big time for that.”

“Oh, really?”
I knew what he was thinking, and the steamy image he sent me proved just how right I was.

The intercom buzzed, putting a much-needed dampener on our silent conversation. I looked up at the surveillance screen on the wall and saw Chelsea standing there looking disheartened. I jumped up off the sofa. “I’ll get it.”

I opened the door. “Hey,
Chels
.”

“Hey,” she said, stepping into the house. I could see my insurance replacement car sitting in the visitor’s parking bay. I could only imagine that DD had something to do with how she’d ended up with it, but I was glad she had. After all, it wasn’t as if I needed it. I had my own, completely green way of getting around.

She gave me a small hug. “Thanks for letting me stay tonight. Although I’ve been sleeping almost all day, so I’m not sure if I will be doing any of it tonight.”

“That’s okay. There’s a house full of people, and I’m sure one of us will stay up with you.” Anna and Dave were the mostly likely candidates because it was their daytime, but I wasn’t about to tell her that.

I took the overnight bag out of her hand, put my arm around her, and led her into the lounge room. I could feel anxiety dripping off her when she saw the room full of people, and especially when she laid eyes on Lucas. She instantly started thinking about how hot he was, then started beating herself up about thinking that way only a day after her boyfriend’s death. God, I really wanted to do something to help her deal, but all I could do for the moment was to take her upstairs to get away from them all. “Let’s get these bags up to your room.”

Chelsea smiled, glad for the excuse to get away. That was so not like her, and I hated that
my fun-loving friend was replaced by a guilt-stricken, self-hating one
. Anna shot me a knowing glance, but the boys were still too caught up in the game to notice. Or there was also the possibility that they were being sensitive to her situation. I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and think the latter.

I opened the door to a spare bedroom across the hall from Aiden’s and dropped her bag down on the king-sized bed. The room was almost identical to Aiden’s, with its own bathroom and a little sitting area, the only difference being the view. She would have a view of the street, whereas Aiden’s room overlooked the water.

I sat down on the bed. “Come here.” I patted a spot on the bed next to me.

Chelsea sat down, looking defeated. All I wanted to do was to get inside her mind and make her
realise
that she didn’t need to feel guilty for what she had said at the beach just before Ben died. I put my arm around her shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

Chelsea straightened. “What for?” And the strange thing was, she really didn’t have a clue.

“Oh, crap,” I mumbled under my breath. “
Hey,
Anna?”

“Yeah?”

“I think I stuffed up.”

“Why?”

“I think I may have altered her memories or something. She’s no longer feeling sad or guilty.”

“I’ll be up in a second.”
There was a knock on the door, before Anna opened it. “Hi, girls. It’s a bit boring with the boys. Do you mind if I join you two?”

“Of course not. Come on in,” I said with relief.

“Are they still playing that damn game?” Chelsea asked. “I reckon it’s about time us girls had a go at something on the Xbox. You know, one of those dancing or singing games. Oh, yeah, a singing one would be awesome.” Her eyes gleamed with excitement. “Maybe we could have teams. There would be you and Aiden…” She pointed at Anna. “…
and
you and Dave. And then I guess that leaves me with Lucas.” Her eyes at once glazed over as she began dreaming of what a good team the two of them would make, and she wasn’t just meaning in the game either.

“Oh, you really did a number on her, didn’t you?”
Anna said.

“Tell me about it.”

Chelsea was back to the girl I knew before she even began dating Ben. And as far as I could tell, she may not even remember the two of them ever dating.

“How are we going to fix it?”
I asked. The last thing we needed was for her to turn up to Ben’s funeral acting as if she’d never known the guy, let alone been in a relationship with him for the last few months.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll try to fix it.”

I gave Anna an appreciative smile.
“Thanks.”

“What?” Chelsea asked, noticing the smile I threw Anna. “Don’t tell me that just because you’re so in love with that hunk of yours downstairs, that you can’t think his friend is hot. I think I might need to tape my mouth shut, just to stop myself from drooling.” A mischievous smile spread across her face. “But then again, I might just need the use of my mouth if all ends well.”

“Oh, God, Chelsea,” I said when she imagined herself getting all hot and steamy with Lucas.

Anna cracked up laughing.
“Are you sure you want to change this? We could have so much fun tonight.”

I thought about it for a moment. Yeah, I would’ve loved to have the fun Chelsea back, but it didn’t feel right.
“I don’t suppose you could do to her what Aiden did to me after my mum died.”

Anna gave me a wink.
“You got it.”

A second later, Chelsea’s expression went blank. I prayed Anna would be able to fix my mistake, although I wasn’t sure why I had any doubt. She could make anyone do just about anything she wanted.

“Shall we all go downstairs and get the boys off that game?” Anna said, putting her hands on her lap.

“Let’s do this,” Chelsea said, hopping off the bed and walking over to the door.

“Is she fixed?”
I asked.

Anna laughed.
“You didn’t break her. You just made her forget about Ben’s death and the fact that she ever dated him. But yeah, I did fix her. She now remembers dating Ben and that he died, but she feels numb to the pain, like it happened years ago instead.”