Page 103 of Elusion

“Shit, what did I do?” I pick her back up, terrified I set her on a cactus. Felicia seems like the type to have random succulent plants spread throughout the house.

“It’s cold,” she whines.

I laugh at her overreaction. Once upon a time, she refused to smile at me, and I have no one to blame but myself for her being so damn dramatic now.

“I’m sorry, beautiful.”

I lower her down, gently kissing her as she whimpers from the cool tiles. She recovers quickly, sliding my jeans and boxers down. It only takes a few moves to finish taking off our clothes. My mouth returns to hers, a hand tangled in her hair, when she wraps her legs around my waist. I moan into her mouth, feeling the heat of her bare skin on mine, and I inch into her. She tilts her hips, allowing me to sink all the way in before I pull out and slide into her again. Her arms encircle my neck, and I keep our rhythm slow, savoring each second I have with her.

Other than the unsettling nightlight beneath a blue-and-white-striped bra, nothing but the girl and I remain. Every obstacle between us has finally fallen away, and now we can just be together. It’s another moment that tops so many irreplaceable memories that came before. And the only thing ruined is my ability to live a life without her.

Dinner with my parents on Saturday at seven means sitting in their driveway at six-fifty, debating whether or not to go inside. Thanks to day six of Callie withdrawals, my nerves are even more keyed up than usual. A twenty-four-hour study break to see her tomorrow is becoming more and more of a probability—no, a necessity.

Her gorgeous face lights up my phone. She couldn’t have better timing to tear me out of a cycle of repeatedly opening and closing the door of my Jeep.

“Hello, beautiful.”

“Ew, Jordan,” Cate says.

I take a second, switching from Callie to Cate mode. “I’m sorry, my dear. How were swim lessons?”

“I passed the backstroke and swimming in the deep end.”

“Both in one night? You’ll be a fish in no time.”

“I want to be a mermaid,” she tells me.

“Fine, a mermaid in no time.”

“Would you be a mermaid or a fish?”

“Let’s get one thing straight: I would be a merman. But if given a choice between merman and fish?” I have to think it over, considering no one’s asked me such an important question before. “My biggest concern with being a merman is, how will you transfer me from one place to another?”

“Mine is, which parts of you stay human and which turn fish?” Callie says.

I laugh, realizing Cate abandoned me mid-conversation. A frequent occurrence. “Hey, beautiful. And, if you mean my godlike hair and genius mind, they’ll stay as they are.”

“Nope. Those aren’t the parts I’m concerned about.”

She sounds less stressed than when we talked yesterday. They started their summer schedule with Graham. With Connor being increasingly on edge over anything to do with their father, she’s been dreading an entire week at his house. The two of them were fighting within a few minutes of their arrival, justifying her concerns.

“Did she really pass the backstroke?” I ask.

“Her instructor questioned the legitimacy of her kicking style but gave in to her whining.”

The same thing happened the previous weekend when Shayna took her.

“That’s my girl.”

Callie sighs. “Well, the sea monster beckons me. Good luck with dinner.”

My turn to sigh. “We’ll see how open they actually are to my alternatives. Dustin promised our dear, sweet mother is coming in willing to negotiate. I think the night will more than likely end with,Hello, real world and crippling student loan debt.”

“With an optimistic outlook like that, you can’t fail.” Her car door dings, and a shrieked, “Callista,” follows. “Oh. My. God. Catelynn Renee, stop it.”

“Everything all right over there?”

Sounding ready to unleash hell on Cate, the tension-free Callie of earlier fades away as she groans. “I won’t survive an entire week here, Jordan. She’s being extra Cate-like, so I took her swimming early to let her burn off some energy. Now she’s screaming on the steps.”

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