Black and white. Right and wrong.
My voice is soft, and it trembles like the rest of me as I announce, “We can’t let Tiffany go. She tried to murder me, and she would have succeeded if you guys hadn’t intervened. A girl like that can’t be loosed on the general public.”
Cole nods. “It’s settled, then. We gear up and let Rebecca come to us.”
*
One day passes. Two, then three, but nothing happens. Not from Rebecca’s end.
I and the other blonde females in the house dye our hair brown. That way, Rebecca and her men might hesitate to take a shot, mistaking us for Tiffany.
The first time Frosty got a glimpse of my new hairstyle...well. I still haven’t come down from the high.
“What the hell did you do to yourself?” he barked. “Change it back. Now.”
He should be happy. Now I look more like the girls he picked up at the club. “No,” I finally said.
“No? That’s it? Just no?”
“Oh, good. Your ears are working.”
“You were perfect the way you were, Mills.”
Perfect? Me?
So why has he stopped sleeping in our room?
And if he doesn’t want me, why does he watch me? In fact, his gaze is never far from me. He tracks me like he’s a starving and I’m on the menu. But if I glance in his direction, he hastily looks away.
I have hope again.
Only one other time has he spoken to me, though, and only to ask about the visions. He wanted to know why the last one revealed my encounter with Rebecca. With a little Q and A, we came to the conclusion our thoughts direct the visions. He’d wondered about my meeting with Rebecca right before it happened. Just like I’d wondered about his name before the previous one.
These visions...they may be the complete opposite of Ali’s, but they’re helping us get to know each other better than any conversation. Which is why I love them almost as much as I dread them.
“An-n-nd...yes! We’re done!” Love’s excited announcement draws me from my thoughts. She pushes out of her chair. “I’m gonna spend the morning with Ali and just, I don’t know, be a girl for a bit.”
“Sounds nice.” We’ve been monitoring the security cameras in twelve-hour shifts and last night Love and I were paired.
“Want to come?” she asks me.
I’m floored by the invite. And warmed. “Yes, actually, I do. But I missed dinner, and I’m starved. Let me grab a sandwich first.”
“Okay, see you in a bit.”
I make my way to the kitchen, where I find Chance pouring orange juice.
I swipe the glass and drain half the contents. “Thanks.”
He snorts. “Anytime, apparently. Where’s Love?”
“Headed to Ali’s room.”
He confiscates the juice and drinks the rest. “Well then, to Ali’s room I go.”
“First, bad Chance. Bad. She wants a girls’ night, and you most definitely aren’t a girl. Second, you are sooo whipped.” I make a tsking sound.
“You mean I’m so happy.”
“Wow. Way to rub it in.” I lightly punch him in the stomach, just hard enough to make him lose his breath. “What about now? Still happy?”
He laughs, bends down and rams his shoulders into my midsection, then straightens with me draped over his shoulder. “Just for that, I’m taking you to Love. You damaged her property, and you’ll have to pay her fine.”
“Certainly...after I tell her about the time you tried to collar a zombie, but actually collared yourself.”
He smacks my behind. “You know what happens to rats, don’t you?”
“They bite anyone who holds them?”
He gives me another smack, and I playfully kick at him.
“Put me down. I’m hungry.”
“Put her down. Now.” The new voice is as hard as steel.
Frosty! I still, even as my heartbeat speeds up.
“Why? I’m not hurting her.” Chance sets me on my feet. “I don’t hurt my friends.”
Frosty approaches us, trapping me in the middle of a testosterone sandwich. “Where were you a few months ago, when River kicked her out? She was sure hurting then.”
“I know where I wasn’t,” Chance snaps. “At the bottom of a bottle, or in some random chick’s bed.”
Frosty draws back a fist, ready to strike.
“No!” I shout. “No. This isn’t happening. We aren’t fighting amongst ourselves. And over what? A little teasing?” I give Chance a push toward the exit. “Go tell Love good-night, then go to your own room like a good little boy.” I stare him down until he shuffles off—then I turn to Frosty. “What the hell was that?”
He leans down until we’re nose-to-nose. “He’s with someone else. I won’t let him lead you on.”
“You mean the way you led me on?” My cheeks flash with heat. “Are you concerned for my feelings...or jealous?” I say the words to taunt him, but they echo in my mind and I gasp. Is he jealous?
“I’m not jealous.” He steps away from me and rubs the back of his neck. “I’m your friend.”