Fiona Frost: Order of the Black Moon (29 page)

He looked a
t
Luminal’s dog bed and then back down to the floor, brows furrowed
,
and jaws tightened.
He
struggle
d
with his words
, raising his head, staring at me with
striking eyes.
I blushed.

“I miss you.
I miss th
e club
.
I miss your friendship,” he said
gently
, turning his head to the side, a
crooked
grin invading his face.

“You aren’t happy with Camber
?
”
I challenged
pathetically
, my eyes narrowing.

He grimaced
, his mood shifting
from yellow to black
.
At the sight of his reaction,
I hated myself for a moment
.
I couldn’t believe I said those words
.
I seemed like a jealous nut
.
We
gazed into each other’s eyes, blank expressions on our faces.

“What do you mean, happy with her?
She’s my
friend if that’s what you mean,” he said frostily, eyes smoldering.

“Nothing
.
Didn’t mea
n to say that, just slipped out.”

He st
ared at me, the sun reflecting i
n his eyes
.
He was
stunning,
render
ed
me speechless
.

“Fiona, if you think I am with Camber as anything more than a friend, you are dead wro
ng.
I was just helping her out,
”
he said bluntly, his eyes scrutinizing me.

I
broke
eye contact,
halting
my stupor,
staring at
the floor,
I
responded, “But you were going on a double
-
date with her
and
my
w
h
acked-out
cousin Haley.
My
mom told me.”

His
face turned into
a mask of perplexity
as he
shook his head slowly.

“Your mother told
you
I was going on a date with Camber?
With your
crazy cousin Haley?”
he folded his large hands slowly, the hint of
a
sarcastic
grin
spanning
his tanned face.

I
waded through
my thoughts, torn by
an
internal quandary
, replaying
his words in my head
repeatedly
, realizing Haley and my mother
had never said
whom
Cam
ber was going on the date with.
Embarrassment took hold of me
, turning my face a bright shade of crimson.

“No, I guess not
.
I just assumed it since you have been glued
to her at school,
” I
blurted the words, astonished at myself for sounding so jealous.

His
features
softened.
Pressing his
full
lips together, he stared at me through narrowed eyes.
He lifted his chin and locked
into
a magnetic,
limb-weakening
gaze with
me
.

“Fiona, she has been talking to me as a friend.
She wanted out of th
at
crazy vampire cult.
I was giving her advice.
She
is
dating Ralph Booner from Hartford, remember him?
I’m actually tired of hearing about how great he is.
I’ve met the guy, he’s not that great
, and
he flaunts his parent’s money
.
”

Squeezing my lips into a line,
I fought a grin
attempt
ing
to raid my face.
I sat quietly for a moment, dazed, my thoughts nearly incoherent.
I folded my hands in my lap, leaning back into my foa
m chair, staring at my ceiling.

“Uh, yea
h
,
Ralph is
Duncan Doyle’s friend
—
both members of the paranormal group.
”

I
was officially an
idiot.
His story
made
sense
. A
ll along, the double
-
date never included Wolfe.
It was all in my
head in this fabricated story
I put together because I was so jealous of anybody getting
his
attention but me.
I looked straight at him, a final
thought
burning into the forefront of my mind
so strongly I could see the words
.

“I heard someone in the hall
at school
say
Camber
had a big crush on you!
”

“
Y
ou listen to rumors at school
, now
?
That doesn’t sound like the Fiona
Frost
I know.
People see things
,
and they make up stories.
Just like you did.”

I
sat
up
right;
shoulder’s hunched as my
head
dropped downward. I stared at the floor, avoiding eye contact. N
othing but a fool, a jealous little brat
,
I concentrated on the cracks
in the wood
and how they branched
, uniting with
the other cracks
.

Wolfe
slid off my
bed
, walked over
towards me
,
and
bent
down on one knee
beside my
chair, leaning his head
forward
to
capture my
eyes.
He gently held my face in his massive hand and s
lowly raised my
chin.
I had a full-blown embarrassed pout.
The
corners of his lips
turned upward
.

“I am so sorry
, Wolfe
.
I’ve acted like
an
idiot.
I’m
embarrassed, humiliated
.
I had no right.
”

He
sat on the back of his heels
, placing
his hand on my shoulder, rubbing
me ever so
gently.
His touch
was
magical,
relaxing, made
everything in my body feel at ease.
Thoughts of
our
embrace in the cave raced back into my mind
,
and I longed for another.

“Fiona, I just separated myself from you
,
because I thought
it is
what you wanted me to do.
After I acted inappropriately in the cave
,
and then when I called you
,
and you hung up on me, well—
”

“My dog died that day.
I didn’t mean to hang up, I was just a mess.
Janice
was
sick;
she went to the hospital
—
”

Hurt and shock
had
invaded his face before
they
melted away into an unreadable expression.

“Are you joking with me right now?”

“No.”

His
brows
tightened
into a line of confusion.

“Janice seems fine,
”
he whispered tenderly
with a voice as smooth as silk
.

“She
was
released from the hospital
on Sunday
.
She was in ICU at one point.
Bacterial meningitis.
”

His eyes were soft,
repentant
.
His expression turned into a
saddened
mask
.
He swiped my hair off my shoulder onto my back before gently placing
his hand
on the side of my neck.

“I wondered where Luminal was when I got here, but I was reluctant to ask, figured you would tell me if anything was wrong.
I loved that dog.”

“It was difficult losing him.”

Tears streamed down my cheeks.

“
I can imagine.
So, y
ou were going through all that
?
Why didn’t you just tell me?
I would have been there for you.
”

“Internal defense mechanism, I suppose.
I don’t like people to see me
upset
.
I have to stay strong on the outside.
I hate people to feel sorry for me
,
and
I just lost it.
Then, when you gave me that note at school, moved desks in math and started hanging around Camber, well,” I hesitated,
staring at the ceiling,
trying
frantically
to suppress my emotions.

Wolfe put his other hand on my shoulder and pulled me
towards his
massive
chest
as he rose to both knees
, wrapping his arms around me tightly.
With my blood racing,
I melted into his arms as I laid my head on his shoulder an
d threw my
limp
arms around his neck.
Tears streaming
down my cheek
,
I quickly wiped
my face with my sleeves.

“
This
will never happen again,” he whispered in my ear
,
pulling me tighter against his body
.

He
scaled my back with his palms, landing both hands on either side of my neck
, easing his body back slightly
.
Using his thumbs softly to trace my jaw line, he raised my chin, lock
ing into a steel gaze with me, my hands trembling as a cold
shiver pulsed down my spine.
I covertly gasped for air.

Two quick knocks on my door and Janice surfaced in the room.
He
released his grip
, dropp
ing
backward onto the
floor, smiling awkwardl
y at
her.
I
pushed
back into my
c
hair,
taking shallow breaths
.

“
H
ello
,
Wolfie!
Cookies are done!
”
Janice sang as she
set up
a wooden tray
, placing the
plate of warm cookies onto it
, pretending not to notice she had interrupted something
.
“I’ll be right back with your chocolate milk, dear.”

“Thank you, Ms. Janice.
I l
ive for
your cookies!
I just heard you have been ill recently. I am very glad you are well now. You certainly look beautiful as ever,
”
he
said
with a huge grin
.

“Oh, thank you, dear. You are the sweetest boy,” she sang.

Once
she exited the room,
w
e locked eyes for an
uneasy
moment.
Both wanting to pick up where we had left off,
but
the
mood became rather clumsy
—
especially since
she was due back
with
his
chocolate milk.
I broke the tension.