Аманда Хокинг - Flutter

“boyfriend” no longer fits.

“Yeah. What happened in Finland?” Jack turned to look at me, trying really hard to keep the edge from his voice. Unfortunately, I could hear and understand all the little nuances and inflections to his tones.

He was worried as hell. Not just about the danger I had been in, but about what might have transpired between Peter and me.

“It’s too much to talk about right now,” I brushed him off.

“Seriously?” Jack raised an eyebrow. “That’s what you’re giving me? After weeks of this shit?

You’re gonna come home and tell me it’s too much to talk about?”

“Well, I just don’t want to upset you needlessly,” I insisted looking up at him.

“You were in Finland with Peter! And you wouldn’t answer my calls!” Jack retorted. “I’m pretty sure you’ve upset me plenty already, and it didn’t bother you then!”

“Of course it bothered me!” I pulled away from him, even though it hurt just to separate, but I was trying to be pissed off. “I thought about you constantly! But I couldn’t tell you stuff! I knew if I said anything you would rush over there and get yourself killed!”

“I would get myself killed?” Jack turned his body more so he was facing me and his expression got even more severe. “What the hell were you involved with, Alice? And what happened to Ezra?”

“Yeah, what is the deal with him?” Milo added unhelpfully.

“It’s all very complicated.” I shook my head, afraid that if I told Jack what had happened he would…

I don’t know. Yell at me a lot and then try to beat up Peter and Ezra.

“I know you were with lycan,” Jack replied quietly. “That’s who had Peter.” He bit his lip, looking down at me. “I should’ve came over as soon as you told me but…” He shook his head, upset by his own decisions. If he had gone there, everything would’ve turned out much worse, but that sounded like a horrible thing to say to him.

“Lycan?” Milo sat up sharply, almost knocking Bobby off the chair. “You mean werewolves?”

“Not exactly,” I looked over at him. “Not at all, really. They’re just vampires that live in the woods.

And they were after Peter, but Ezra made an exchange with them, and we came home. End of story. Most of the trip was spent just looking for Peter.”

“What was the exchange?” Milo asked, but by Jack’s expression, I could tell that he’d already figured it out. He furrowed his brow and stared at me.

“Peter let them do that?” Jack whispered hoarsely.

“He didn’t have a choice. Ezra… tricked him,” I explained as best I could. Somehow, I knew that if I told Jack that Ezra had left me with Peter, that would not go over well.

“What are you talking about? What happened?” Milo demanded.

“Nothing. Never mind,” I snapped. Jack was looking at me intently, his blue eyes full of too much for me to read. He was definitely pained and unhappy though, and I didn’t know how to fix it.

“Nothing happened to me, though. Okay? I barely even left the hotel room. Nobody tried to hurt me.

I never got in any fights. Everything was fine. Honest.”

Jack wasn’t completely convinced, but he was at least momentarily satisfied. He wrapped his arm around me again, so I would curl up next to him. Milo was completely perplexed, but he dropped the subject since we looked contented again. He had never been out the area, either, so he pressed for more information about traveling, and I told him what little I had seen and how terrified I had been on the plane.

Once Bobby started falling asleep, Milo decided it was time to excuse himself and head up to bed. He scooped Bobby up in his arms, carrying him upstairs to their room, and I gaped after him.

We had to have a very long talk about all of this as soon as I had the chance.

I really would’ve loved some time to catch up with Jack, but I felt exhausted and drained from the trip. Being away from home, and Jack, had been much harder than I had thought it would be. He really wanted to go to bed with me, and even with my exhaustion being what it was, I would’ve been happy to oblige. Except I knew the only reason he was insisting upon it was because Peter was sleeping across from me, and I refused to give into his paranoia. He had to get used to Peter being around, and I would rather get some rest before trying to be alone with Jack. Just the same, he walked me up to his room, kissing me gently on the forehead before going back down to the den to sleep. As soon as he left, I instantly regretted sending him away. Thankfully, I was too tired to reconsider, and I curled up in his unmade bed, falling asleep in his mass of blankets almost immediately. It felt so good to be home.

When I woke up, there was this instant relief of waking up in my own bed. After a long, exhausting trip away, nothing felt better than that. Well, almost nothing. As I stretched, trying work the stiffness out of my limbs, I realized how anticlimactic my reunion with Jack had been. In fact, it hardly qualified as one at all. Somehow, I had allowed myself to get too distracted by my brother’s new boyfriend and Jack’s worry over Finland. I’d have to a very long talk with Milo about this Bobby fellow, and very soon at that. But there were more pressing needs in my mind.

Along with that familiar hunger that always burned just below the surface, there was a desperate ache for Jack. I don’t know how I hadn’t jumped him the second I saw him. Probably a bit of jet lag and confusion and stress made it too bittersweet for me to greet him the way he deserved, but I hoped he didn’t hold against me. I knew that I had go about rectifying the situation immediately. With immediately being after I had showered and brushed my teeth and made myself somewhat presentable.

When I walked out into the hall, I could smell Bobby. That sweet, delightful scent of hot blood coursing through his veins. His heart was pounding quickly, like a frightened rabbit. I tensed up, thinking he was in some kind of danger, but I belatedly realized he was just excited. This was confirmed by a happy moan from him, and a throaty laugh from Milo. My stomach tightened with nausea and anxiety as I thought about what Milo was doing in the room next to mine. It was completely unforgivable that he would have a sex life before I did, and I pushed the thought from my mind. The “talk” was becoming more imminent, but I did not want to walk in on whatever they were doing right now to administer it.

I had just gulped back the urge to vomit and took a step towards the stairs when Peter’s bedroom door opened, making me jump. Even though I had been the one that had brought him home, it was still a shock to see someone in his room. It had been shut off for so long, like a shrine for a dead loved one, even though that’s the opposite of what had been happening. He looked a little startled at seeing me himself, pushing his dark hair out of his eyes and smiling thinly at me.

“Oh. Hey,” Peter said, nodding at me.

“Hey,” I replied, and wondered why this felt so awkward. We were standing across from each other, staring uncertainly, so I assumed that I should try and make conversation. “Did you sleep okay? I bet its nice being back in your own bed.”

“Yeah. It is.” Peter nodded again and shifted uncomfortably.

“You’re up!” Jack announced too loudly from the bottom of the stairs, and hurriedly raced up to us. I knew he was just doing it out of some kind of protective jealousy, but I was still relieved that he was breaking up the awkward moment between me and Peter. Jack was happy to see me, but the arm he threw around my shoulder was too tight to be anything but show. “I thought you were going to sleep all day!”