Page 125 of Inception

Trace’s eyes stayed pinned on me as I walked around the car to the passenger side where he leaned over and opened the door for me. I climbed in and waved goodbye to my nosy uncle as we backed out of the driveway in silence.

In my rush to get ready on time and avoid my uncle’s third degree this morning, I’d failed to prepare myself for the possibility that things might be weird between me and Trace after spending the better part of yesterday performing mouth to mouth resuscitations on each other. We hadn’t exactly discussed what any of it meant for us or how things might change.

Even after Gabriel picked me up and took me back home—back to reality—I still hadn’t had a chance to process any of the potential repercussions. I already had too much on my mind, like my father and how I was going to save him, Tessa and Gabriel and the impending duel they would soon be facing, and Dominic and his obscure threats that I knew not to take lightly. There was so much to worry about and all I wanted to do was shut it all off and have one night of peaceful rest.

Of course, Gabriel wasn’t any help in that regard; he was the embodiment of apprehension. He’d spent the entire night on my balcony, pacing and keeping watch like an armed prison guard ready to shoot anyone who dared cross the boundary. As much as I appreciated him being here, his presence was more of a reminder that I wasn’t safe. That trouble was on the horizon.

No matter how I tried to spin it, that feeling of imminent doom still wafted in my abdomen like a virus unwilling to retract its claws. Engel, Dominic, and even Nikki; they were all a part of my interminable affliction. The question was, which one of them would be my end?

“I spoke with Gabriel this morning,” said Trace matter-of-factly as we turned onto the main throughway. Plumes of ground fog drifted alongside us like our own personal escorts. “He said everything went okay last night.”

“Yeah.”

He waited for me to elaborate.

“I woke upaliveso...victory, right?” I shook my head at my own comment. Why did I say such idiotic things when I was nervous? Mouth filter. Get one. Seriously.

“Right.” He paused momentarily, his eyes watching me with great interest. “I guess it beats waking up dead.”

“I’d say so.” I sunk deeper in my seat.

“Right.”

Clearly we’d left planet earth and entered some kind of weird morning-after-the-kiss dimension.

“Jemma—” My phone beeped, interrupting him.

“Sorry,” I said, glancing down to read the message. It was a text from Caleb:

Morning, beautiful. What color is your dress? I’m picking up your corsage today.

“Crap.”

“What’s wrong?” asked Trace, his soulful eyes trailing from me to my phone.

“I don’t have a dress for the dance.” I pressed out an awkward smile. “I was supposed to go shopping with Taylor yesterday, but I...gotdistracted.” With his mouth, that is. I glanced out the passenger window to hide the fact that my cheeks were picking up color.

“What about that potato sack idea?”

I turned back to him, smiling. “If I don’t figure something out soon, it might have to come to that.”

“Or you can always just skip the dance,” he offered, though it sounded a lot more like a plea than it did a suggestion. “Stay with me instead.”

My heart fluttered and then took off into overdrive. “I can’t. I have to go. I already told Caleb I would go with him. And I promised Taylor.”

A stretch of silence passed between us before he spoke again. “Is that the only reason you want to go?” he asked, his jaw working overtime.

“What other reason would there be?”

“I could think of a couple.”

“Such as?” I searched his face for clarity.

His jaw muscles were still pumping hard.

“Whatever it is you need to say, I wish you’d just come out and say it.”

He didn’t miss a beat. “Do you like him?”

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