We’re sitting in the sand finishing up our shave ice when it rings again. “You should answer that,” he says, pointing to me with his spoon.
“That’s what voicemail is for.” I’m smiling so much my cheeks hurt. “You know, I’m glad we came here today.”
He looks out at the water. His answer is soft but sure as he sets his cup and spoon down in the sand. “Me too.”
“I like this.” I wave my spoon back and forth between us.
“Shave ice?”
“That too. But what I mean is this. You and me. Hanging out together, like old times.” His smile droops a bit, so I rush to correct, “Not exactly like old times, but . . . you know . . .”
“I know what you mean,” he says.
“I’ve missed you.” I’m no longer smiling. Neither of us are. I watch him in the moonlight, hair so black it’s blue, and my heart squeezes tight, because he and this place are wonderful, and I’m so lucky to have him sitting next to me, especially since I’d thought, just weeks ago, I’d never be able to do so again.
It takes him a few heartbeats, but he tells me, “Me too.”
When my cell phone rings again, Kellan says, “You need to answer, C.”
The moon is shining down on the waves, making them glitter like diamonds come in with each pull. “Why?”
“Because it’s been more than four hours.”
He doesn’t need to explain further. I pull the phone out of my pocket, and sure enough, Jonah’s face graces the screen. “Quick,” I mutter, clutching it in my hand. “Happy, sad, or mad?”
“Let’s say he isn’t very happy right now.”
Crap.
I answer with the cheeriest greeting I can muster, only to be met with silence on the other end. So I try, “Jonah? Is that you?” Even though, obviously, I know it’s him as the Caller ID told me so.
More silence. Caleb oh-so-helpfully urges me to proceed yet again with caution.
One of my hyena laughs emerges. “Remember, we can’t talk in our minds like you and your brother. So words would be helpful.”
Continued silence, which leads to panic, because I can hear him breathing. And it’s angry breathing, which is really uncomfortable to listen to, because Jonah has never left me dangling like this on the phone before. I’m just about to hang up when he finally speaks. “Hawaii.”
Oh, this is rich. Because, yes—that clipped voice tells me he’s pissed off. I could lay down money steam is emitting from his ears, and honestly? I’m thinking he doesn’t really have a single leg to stand on with this misplaced feeling. I, however, decide to match his pissiness. “Yep! We’re sitting outside your house right now.”
The silence returns.
Now I’m outright angry, because I know what he’s doing. What he’s thinking. He’s assuming that something’s happening between Kellan and me. And while I’ll admit my track record with Kellan is not the best, today was good, and part of that was because Jonah told me earlier that he trusted me to make the right choices. And I did, so it stings that he’s just assumed so easily that nothing we talked about mattered. That somehow or other, when it comes to his brother, I absolutely cannot control myself. So I add belligerently, “You know. The one you never told me about?”
In typical Jonah fashion, he ignores this point entirely. In the coldest, tightest voice he’s ever used to me, he asks, “Why are you there?”
The anger blooms and twists until I can barely see straight. “Am I not allowed?”
“Answer the question, Chloe.”
“Answer mine.”
He grates out, “Of course you’re allowed.”
“Only because your brother brought me here!”
Kellan’s eyes go saucer wide, but I hold a finger out to him. Jonah asks, ice-cold, “If it’s convenient now, please answer my question. Why are you there?”
“To eat.”
“Really.”
The words practically have to slide out from between my teeth. “Yes, really.”
More silence.
I’m seething now. “How dare you?”
“That’s funny, coming from you.”
“Why don’t you just come out and say it?”
“Say what?”
I nearly crush the phone in my fingers. “Don’t play coy with me.”
“I’m not the one who’s playing coy, Chloe.”
IS HE KIDDING ME? “You’re wondering how the sex was, right?”
Silence. Kellan bolts into a standing position and takes a few steps back. “Don’t you go anywhere,” I hiss at him. And then, into the phone, “It was phenomenal.”
I can practically hear Jonah’s head explode across the phone lines, which is oddly satisfying and gut wrenching at the same time. So I hang up, throw the phone as far as I can, and scream at the top of my lungs.
Kellan catches up with me as I storm down the beach. “Where are you going?”
“That way,” I yell, pointing in a random direction. I’m trying not to blow anything up, but I’ve got pretty poor control. Splintered shells litter the path behind me.
“Chloe, wait.” He jogs the last few steps, grabbing hold of my arm gently.
I stop and turn my head, so he can’t see the tears. “What?”
“Talk to me. What’s going on?”
“He just assumed,” I choke out.