Chuckling under his breath, Sebastian came down the steps to join me. I waved goodbye to Mom and started across the driveway, through the tall hedges, toward Sebastian’s house.
“You know,” I said, shifting the bag on my shoulder, “you don’t ‘got’ me, whatever that means.”
Sebastian’s long-legged pace put him in front of me. “Yeah, I do.” He transferred his load to his other arm, opened the Jeep’s back door and placed the books inside. “I’ve had you for longer than I realized.”
My lips pursed as I glared at him. “I don’t even know what to say to that.”
“You don’t have to say anything.” His fingers slipped under the strap of my bag. I sucked in a soft breath as he lifted it off my shoulder. “You look good today.”
Not expecting that, I blinked and looked down at myself. I was wearing an old shirt, jeans and flip-flops that were days from coming apart. “Really?”
“Yeah.” He placed my bag in the back and closed the door. Facing me once more, he stepped out until his feet were nearly touching mine. I craned my head back as he looked down. “No bruises.”
I almost didn’t get what he was saying.
“They’d faded for the most part, but there was a little bit of it that was here.” His thumb brushed along the left side of my jaw, causing my breath to hitch. His deep midnight-blue eyes flicked to mine. “It’s gone now.”
“It is?” I managed to say.
“Yeah.” His thumb traveled the line of my jaw. “It was just a faint bluish color, but I saw it.”
I shuddered.
His thumb skimmed my chin and coasted along my lower lip. His head lowered.
“Today is going to be rough,” he rasped out, voice deeper than normal. “You’re going to tire out physically...” His thumb made another sweep. “It’s going to wear you out emotionally. The first day for me... Yeah, there are no words.”
Everything inside me, every cell and muscle, tightened and loosened at once. It was hard to pay attention to what he was saying when he was touching me like this. Touching me in a way he never had before. In the way I’d always wanted from him.
“Sounds...sounds like you’ve been reading up on psychology again,” I forced out, sounding breathless.
His lips kicked up on one side. “Or I’ve been talking and listening.”
I tilted my head to the side, brows fitting together. I started to ask what that meant, but he suddenly pressed his lips to the corner of mine. It was brief—briefer than the one kiss at the lake—but it rocked me straight to the core.
“What are you doing?” I gasped out.
Stepping back, his heavy hooded gaze swept over me. “Doing what I said I was going to do.”
*
A note was waiting for me the moment I walked into homeroom. I didn’t even make it to my seat before the teacher waved me over and handed me a slip. A sympathetic look was etched into her heavily lined face. “You need to go to the front office, sweetie.”
Sweetie? Pretty sure I’d never been called that in my entire high school career, but I nodded, took my note and walked right back out of class.
I kept my head down—when I walked in and out, when I was out in the hall, and even at my locker, where Sebastian had helped unload my books and get everything situated before kissing me again, on my cheek this time, and leaving to head to his class.
Everyone was staring, they were whispering, and when I made the mistake of looking up as I closed my locker door, a girl who’d never spoken to me my entire life had rushed up to my side, awkwardly hugged me and spewed out this rambling paragraph about how sorry she was for me and how glad she was that I was okay. I had no idea what her name was. I was pretty sure she’d had no idea who I was before the accident.
I’d been left standing there, utterly confused.
Now the note crinkled in my hand as I made my way to the front of the school and pushed open the double glass doors of the main office. One of the administrative volunteers was at the front desk, an older lady who had the brightest pink lipstick I’d ever seen on a person.
I approached the desk. “I was told to come to the office. My name is Lena Wise.”
“Oh.” Recognition flared in the rheumy eyes. “You stay right there and I’ll let them know you’re here.”
Them? I stepped back from the counter, tensing. What was going on? I watched her shuffle down the narrow hallway that led to all the offices. I didn’t have long to wait. A tall silver-haired man came out just a few moments later.
“Ms. Wise?” He walked up to me, extending his hand. “I’m Dr. Perry. I’m with the team that has been brought in due to the recent events.”
Oh.
Oh, dammit.
“Let’s step back and chat for a few minutes, okay?” He moved aside, waiting. Not like I had much of a choice.
Swallowing a sigh, I trudged down the hall and followed Dr. Perry into one of the meeting rooms usually reserved for parent meetings. The kind filled with stupid motivational posters of kittens clinging to ropes, talking about teamwork.
I dropped my bag on the floor and eased into the hard plastic chair as he walked around the desk to sit across from me. An obvious Father’s Day gift—a mug proclaiming his greatness—sat on the desk next to a closed file that had my name scribbled along the tab.
“May I call you Lena?” he asked.
I nodded, shoving my hands between my knees. That didn’t feel good on my arm, so I pulled my arm up and laid it on the table.
“Perfect.” He smiled faintly. “As I said, my name is Dr. Perry. I have my own practice, but I work for the school district, brought in as needed in certain circumstances where staff may be overwhelmed by the need for counselors.” He fired off credentials at that point, and they were impressive. Undergrad at Penn State. Grad school at Brown University. A ton of certifications that were like a different language to me. Then the conversation turned to me. “How are you feeling about starting school?”
“Okay,” I answered, crossing my ankles. “I’m...I’m ready.”
He rested an arm on the table. “It has to be tough missing nearly two weeks and dealing with the deaths of your friends.”
I jolted at the unexpected bluntness. He was the first to just put it out there like that. “I... It’s been...” I blinked. “It’s been tough.”
“I can imagine. The deaths of four young, bright people who had their entire futures ahead of them is a very hard thing to grasp, to fully comprehend.” His brown eyes were sharp as he spoke. “And it’s more difficult for you. You were in the car with them. You were seriously injured, and according to your file, these injuries will affect volleyball? A lot has happened.”
Tensing, I winced as pain shot across my ribs. I glanced at the door, debating on making a run for it.
“We’re not going to go there today,” he said softly. “You can relax.”
My gaze shot back to him. “Today?”
“We’re going to meet three times a week for the next month,” he announced, picking up his Greatest Dad Ever mug. “I’m not sure if your mother mentioned that to you.”