I slid on Jace’s black Knightstown sweatpants and rolled them up on my waist so I wasn’t stepping on them. I put on my own tank top and Drake’s junior Olympics hoodie. I snatched my hair up into a messy bun and didn’t bother putting on my makeup. I almost died twice in a 3-day period; I could do what I wanted, and right now, I wanted no makeup.
I was pleased to see that I wasn’t the last one to arrive. We were missing quite a few people, but at least the food was here. I did a little happy dance when I noticed they had gotten sushi.
“It was confirmed that Rose did tamper with the water,” Terrance stated as he slid next to me.
I looked up with a frown. “So, what does that mean?”
“Her team was disqualified from the race and will receive the lowest marks,” Terrance explained.
“Even though they came in second?” I frowned. She needed to be reprimanded, but I didn’t want her whole team to suffer. Even though I thought half of them were arrogant pricks.
Terrance nodded as he eyed a piece of tuna skeptically. “They knew the rules. Needless to say, she isn’t going to be popular for a while. She claimed that she was hormonal and affected by the empath. She said he made her do it.”
“Hmm,” I said thoughtfully as I placed a piece of a California roll and another cooked roll on his plate. “Try it. It’s cooked.” I giggled at his look of disgust. “Who was the empath? I wouldn’t put it past her, but you see how Ms. Bullock reacted. Something is going on. What if the empath amplified her hate for me.”
“It’s a possibility,” Jace startled me from behind. He slid behind me, so his chest was against my back. He slid a hand down my back and onto my hip, giving me a gentle squeeze. “That’s why Rachel is headed into the facility as we speak with Beth.”
“What is going to happen to the person responsible?” I asked as I leaned into his touch.
“If it’s the empath involved, we may have to go to extreme measures to figure out what his motive was. If it was Rose, then she will never be allowed to go on another assignment, ever again. It’s a necessity, working as a team. Sometimes we are obligated to collaborate with other teams. We need to know whoever has our back, has our back,” Jace explained. “Especially with the missions coming up.”
“Hope she has a backup plan, with the baby coming along,” Jemmy said tartly as she began grabbing some food. “‘Cause she ain’t bleeding my brother dry.”
“Jemmy,” Drake said with exasperation as he came up behind her.
“What? The kid isn’t yours. That’s why she won’t take the DNA test until after the baby is born and keeps trying to get money from you,” Jemmy said stubbornly.
“Jemmy,” I said gently as I looked at Drake. “I don’t think your brother wants talk about it right now.”
She snorted. “Well someone has to.”
I wondered what put her in such a foul mood. I looked over at Gavin and noticed he wasn’t by her side as he normally was. Uh oh, looks like I needed to talk to him.
“Don’t let her put your name on the birth certificate, bro,” Marcel suggested to Drake.
I set my plate to the side and leaned up to Jace. “I’ll be back,” I whispered to him.
He looked at Gavin, then Jemmy and nodded. I marched over to Gavin and grabbed his hand and dragged him to the den.
“What’s going on?” I demanded with my hands on my hips.
“I might move out for a little while,” he said tentatively as he stuffed one hand in his pocket and the other grasped the back of his neck. He wouldn’t look at me. He seemed fascinated by the floor suddenly.
“Why?” I gasped.
He flushed red. “I’m not sure…Jemmy and I are going to work…”
“Are you nuts?” I asked him in bewilderment. “You do realize you’re connected, right? Of course it’s going to work.”
He looked up at me, with a shrewdness in his eyes. “Like you and Drake are? Like you and Noah did?”
I felt momentarily hurt, like he was attacking me. “That’s not fair,” I said quietly. “Drake and I are really good friends, and when this Rose crap has blown over, I know we’ll be amazing lovers. Noah and I had problems connecting initially because of my naivety, and I essentially gave him permission to continue seeing Stacey. We had issues we both had to get through, but we’re better now. We were given a second chance, and we’re better than ever. All relationships take work, but we’re lucky because we know who we are destined to be with—our connections.”
“I’m sorry, Blake.” He grabbed my shoulders gently. “I shouldn’t have lashed out at you to protect my own insecurities. The truth is, Jemmy and I are in two different places in life. I want to wait before we finally seal the deal. I want to get to know her more. I want her to turn 18. I know she’s had quite a few boyfriends, but she’s my first real girlfriend.” He blushed. “She was fine with that at first, but now she’s starting to take it more personally. She sees how you guys have gotten stronger through your connections, and she wants to see if we can or will get stronger. I don’t want that to be the driving factor for us.”
“You guys haven’t…” At his uncomfortable look, I scrunched up my nose. “I’m sorry. I just thought you guys were. I thought you guys were sharing a room.”
He shook his head. “No, we’ve fooled around, and we’ve had sleep overs, but like I said, I’m not ready for that.”
I hugged him. “You are such a rare man, and I adore you for that. Talk to her. You guys can and will work this out. You belong together.”
“Hey, guys?” Jaxson popped his head in the room. “Dad’s back, and we’re going to start going over the tapes.”
When we walked back into the living room, I was surprised to see three white boards. Will was eating with one hand and putting up 4 x 6 pictures on the board with the other. Jace was at one of the boards making four columns, and on the top of each column was a picture of himself, Terrance, Will, and Steven. I sat down between Drake and Noah and smiled when Drake handed me my plate of food.
“As everyone knows,” Will said as he continued posting the pictures on the board. “We have a major mission I will like to set into motion by Friday. I want teams of ten. Right now, we have eighteen of us. That leaves us with twenty-two spots to fill. This is the pool we must pick from. Unfortunately, due to the sensitive nature of these missions, you will be split up. I don’t even want the other members on your teams to know what or where we are going. The team leaders and the people in this room, will be the only ones who know when, why, and where we are going.”
“Our reconnaissance team is currently gathering all the intel necessary for these missions,” Steven stated as he took a drink from his beer. “Everyone selected for these teams could have less than twenty minutes to meet at the training center and leave for their designated spot. Everyone needs to have their phones on them at all times. In other words, don’t make any plans this week. Right now, we’re saying next Friday, but it can be as early as Wednesday morning. Tomorrow morning, we will be contacting the candidates for the open spots.”