I shrugged. Honestly, what could I really say? Truer words had never been spoken.
“Recognize a losing battle, Cole,” Kat said. “It’s been a rough couple of days, and we need a break. Let us have this one night. We’ll be generous and let you have our girl tomorrow. Maybe.” And then she shut the door in his face.
I expected him to burst back in, but he didn’t. I almost laughed as I crawled to the middle of the bed. I’d gotten my reprieve after all.
“I figured you guys would be with Frosty and Bronx,” I said.
I spotted a large envelope on my nightstand. The pictures! I hurriedly stuffed the envelope in the top drawer, not wanting to look at the supposed evidence with anyone else around. I wasn’t sure how I’d react.
“Frosty is already addicted to me.” Kat flipped her hair over her shoulder. “If I spend any more time with him, he’ll become a babbling idiot. And really, I like to keep him craving more. Besides, I wasn’t lying to Cole. I need a one-night stand with you to just...I don’t know, breathe. To be normal kids.”
Yeah. That sounded all kinds of awesome.
Reeve threw herself beside me, the mattress bouncing us both. “I wish I could say the same about Bronx. He’s in a mood. A horrible, terrible mood, and I don’t know what to do about him. He’s distant. He’s snippy. Do you think he wants to break up with me?”
“Of course not.” Bronx wasn’t the love-’em-and-leave-’em type. He was the she’s-mine-and-that’s-that type. “But you have to remember, he just lost four of his friends. In one night.” And then he’d watched me explode them only a few hours ago. Oh, glory. The memory would forever haunt me. “Another one is still missing. Bronx is grieving.”
“I’m sure he’s also worried about keeping you safe,” Kat said, claiming a spot at the edge of the bed and crisscrossing her legs. “I know Frosty gets a little crazy when we’re under attack. And let’s face it. The danger level has never been higher.”
“I know, but still!” Reeve beat her fists into the pillows. “I just wish Bronx would talk to me about this stuff, you know? We’re a couple. We’re supposed to help each other. And I want to help him, I do, but he won’t even give me the opportunity.”
Guilt sparked, burning me. I’d done the same thing to Cole. Well, no more. Tomorrow, I’d tell him everything. Whatever happened, happened. I’d be a big girl and deal.
“Hunt down Bronx and explain how you feel,” I said. “This isn’t working for you. Something is broken and you need to fix it. Right away. If you wait, something else will need fixing soon enough, and then something else, until there’s too much to do and both parties walk away depressed, defeated.”
“Yeah. Okay,” she said, but she still sounded miserable.
She’d do what I suggested or not. I couldn’t force her.
“Let’s shelve the discussion about our boys.” Kat lifted her phone to snap a photo of Reeve. “It’s selfie time!”
I made a face at her, and she snapped one of me.
“That’s it,” she praised, click-click-clicking away. “Make love to the camera.”
She turned the phone on herself and grinned so wide she unveiled a mouthful of pearly whites. Click, click. “Dude! I think me and the camera just made a baby.”
I snorted, reminded all over again why I loved her so danged much.
“Enough,” Reeve said with a laugh, taking the phone away from her.
“Fine,” Kat said. “So get this, guys. I got a call from Wren a few hours ago.”
“What! That should have been the headline.” Wren had been Kat’s friend for years, only to ditch her—and by association, ditch me—so that we wouldn’t draw her into our crazy and ruin her future. Not that she’d had any idea what our particular crazy happened to be. Then she’d started dating Justin, not realizing he was just as deeply ensconced as we were. “What’d she say?”
“Hear for yourself. She left a message.” Kat reclaimed her phone, pressed a few buttons.
“Kat, it’s Wren.” The device practically vibrated with the volume. “Look, I know I’m not your favorite person, and that’s fine. But Justin is missing. Jaclyn, too. Their parents are, like, totally freaking. The cops came and asked me all kinds of questions, but I didn’t say anything about it, I swear. I’m just worried something’s happened. Have you seen them? Heard from them? Call me back. Please.”
Kat sighed. “I haven’t called her back. I don’t know what to say.”
I thought for a moment. “Let me discuss it with Cole before you do. Because honestly? We don’t know if she’s for real, or if the police have convinced her to try and trap us into saying something we shouldn’t, or even if Anima has her phone tapped.”