Tristen chuckled. “I suppose that’s true.” He sobered, then cupped her face with both hands as he asked, “Nothing else happened? You seem distant. I’m sorry about the computer. I didn’t know it would upset you that much.”
Lauren hesitated. He always knew when something bothered her, so she saw no sense in lying. “Calvron gave me a hard time for not showing up last night. It made me feel guilty.”
Tristen’s hands fell away from her, and he rubbed the back of his neck. “Calvron should mind his own business. I’ve never cared for him.”
That came out of left field, Lauren thought, startled. Eyes wide, she blurted out, “What? You never said anything. Why don’t you like him? Everyone loves Calvron.” She’d known that Tristen would rather hang out with his own friends, but not that he actually disliked Calvron. Her friends were really important to her. The sudden revelation bothered her.
“I don’t like the way he looks at you.” Tristen’s jaw tensed, and he avoided her gaze.
Lauren covered her mouth, but a laugh escaped before she could stop it. He couldn’t seriously be jealous of Calvron. She moved in closer, trying to suppress her grin. “I assure you, there is nothing to worry about. I’ve known Calvron since we were toddlers—and he used to date my little sister. Trust me, he only thinks of me as a friend and nothing more.”
“You are naive when it comes to the opposite sex.” Tristen pivoted on his heel and stalked into the kitchen.
Lauren stared after him in disbelief. First the computer, now this? She seemed to have a black cloud hovering above her head these days, and she couldn’t get away from it no matter how hard she tried. She just wanted to be happy. Seriously, was that too much to ask?
Not knowing how to react, she followed meekly behind him. She hated when he made her feel this way. Part of her wanted to tell him off, and the other part wanted to beg him not to be angry at her. Lately, she always seemed to be walking on eggshells around him. One thing she knew for sure, she wasn’t giving up her childhood friends for his jealousy. He was going to have to get over it.
She caught up to him in the kitchen. He stood in the dark with the refrigerator door open, the dim interior light splashing onto the slate floors.
“You’re overreacting,” Lauren said soothingly. “Calvron’s just worried about me.”
Tristen spun around and slammed the fridge door in one movement. One strong hand shot out and gripped her arm almost painfully. “Worried about you? Why in the hell would he be worried about you? What did he say?”
Lauren could see a vein pulse on his forehead. Never a good sign. “H-he’s just worried about my grades, because I’ve been missing classes,” Lauren gasped out, pulling her wrist from his grasp. “He knows how important school is to me.”
“Oh, really?” Tristen barked. He opened the refrigerator again and pulled out a soda, without looking at her. “And what else does Calvron know about you?”
Lauren crossed her arms tightly. “Can’t we drop this? I’ve known him since forever. Of course he knows me.”
“Next time, tell him to mind his own business,” Tristen growled.
Next time, I’ll just keep my mouth shut. If she hadn’t brought it up, everything would be fine. She couldn’t bring herself to agree with him, even though she knew that would calm him down. Calvron was her friend, and to give in to Tristen would be like back-stabbing him, even if he didn’t know about it.
“What about you? How was your day?” Lauren asked quietly, hoping she could change the subject and get rid of the tension that filled the room. She was grasping at straws—he’d never tell her anything about his day. He never did. But she didn’t know what else to say.
Tristen didn’t answer her question, his body still in the fridge. He yanked out a small square casserole dish of what looked like lasagna and dropped it onto the counter. The cook must have left it for him. She’d never seen him actually cook anything; he just heated up the dishes left for him. She watched as he walked over to the stove to preheat the oven.
Lauren grew up in a large family where it was easy to feel invisible, and she didn’t enjoy that feeling. Silent treatment drove her insane. Of course, Tristen excelled at it.
“Do you need help?” Lauren stood behind the dark granite island, rubbing her temples. She could feel a headache coming on. Lovely.
Tristen ripped the aluminum foil off the glass dish, but still said nothing. He pulled out a cookie sheet.
This is getting ridiculous. She had been looking forward to a quiet, relaxing night with her boyfriend. Why did there always have to some sort of drama these days? She missed the days when they’d been getting to know each other. He had been so perfect. This other side of him came out so gradually that she didn’t even see it coming, and she often wondered what she’d done to cause his mood swings. She went out of her way not to upset him. Obviously, she wasn’t trying hard enough.
She watched as he opened the freezer drawer and extracted a box of frozen garlic bread.
Closing her eyes, Lauren took a deep breath. She had to smooth things over before it went any further. It was either that or leave, and she wasn’t ready to give up yet.
Lauren tiptoed up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. She felt his muscles tense. “You know you are the only one for me,” she whispered. Her voice cracked ever so slightly. She hated herself for allowing her nervousness to show, for allowing him to see weakness.
She could feel his breathing increase, but he didn’t say anything.
“Tristen, please don’t be angry with me.” Lauren pulled one of her hands from his waist and wiped a tear away beneath her eye before it had a chance to roll down her cheek. “I was looking forward to seeing you all day. I really don’t want to fight. I love you more than anything in the world.”
Tristen turned slowly around. He ran his hand through his shaggy black hair, his green eyes pained. By the gods, he was beautiful. He literally took her breath away.
“Forgive me, Lauren.” He kissed the top of her head. “I can’t stand to see you cry. I don’t know what came over me. I just hate the thought of not having you in my life. I see every guy as a threat when it comes to you.”
Her body relaxed. Crisis averted.
“Of course I forgive you.”
Tristen pulled her in for a slow, lingering kiss. Her heart beat so loudly that she felt sure he could hear it. When he pulled away, he stared into her eyes. “Please, don’t leave me, Lauren. You’re my everything. I need you more than you can ever understand. I know I can be a total ass, but it’s because I love you so much. No one has ever been able to get under my skin the way you have.”
“I feel the same way about you. I wish you wouldn’t worry.”
Tristen rubbed his hands over his face. “I really don’t know how you put up with me, or what I did to deserve you.”
Lauren smiled and picked up the pan of lasagna, placing it in the oven. She wanted to end the conversation as quickly as possible. If they kept talking about it, he would get angry again. She was starting to predict his unpredictable outbursts, which made it easier to smooth things over. Maybe someday, he would feel secure enough in the relationship that they wouldn’t have to deal with it.
She just had to try harder.
Tristen opened the garlic bread and cut off a few slices. Lauren pulled out the drawer near the sink and grabbed the aluminum foil. She enjoyed this the most, the little moments of them working together with no drama. She hoped the longer they were together, the more frequent these times would become. Everything about Tristen was so intense, but she longed for normal moments. It baffled her that he could be insecure about their relationship.
She glanced over as he took two plates out of the cabinet. He was gorgeous and could have any girl he wanted. She was still shocked that he picked her. A part of her felt flattered by his possessiveness, but another part wished he would chill out. She would just have to prove to him every day that she only wanted and needed him.
&nb
sp; That seemed to be her mantra lately—one day at a time.
Chapter 5
Sunlight streamed through the curtains, piercing her eyes. Lauren groaned and pulled the fuzzy blanket over her head as she flopped over to get away from the bright morning.
She was exhausted. She had stayed up late at Tristen’s the night before, then spent two hours studying when she got home. The studying had probably been in vain. She had just kept reading the same passages over and over. Nothing seemed to stick.
Lauren slowly lifted the corner of the blanket and peeked out at the alarm clock on the nightstand. Panic flooded through her, and she sat straight up in shock. No. No. No. She must have slept through her alarm. English 101 was half over. This cannot be happening!
She fell back to her pillow, defeated. No matter how hard she tried, school was a nightmare. She just wanted to curl up in a ball and stay in bed for the rest of the day, but she couldn’t. She had to try to salvage what she could of the day.
Lauren groaned and kicked the blankets off her. She swung her legs out of bed and rose to her feet, rubbing her eyes. The bare floor was chilly, so she slipped on her fluffy sheep slippers. Coffee first. No—bathroom first.
Lauren splashed cold water on her face, trying to wake up, but it had no effect. Her mind felt foggy and unfocused from too little sleep and the jarring shock of realizing she’d messed up on school. Again.
She plodded out of the bathroom and down the hall, kicking irritably at the crooked rug on the floor, another reminder that things weren’t going so great.
In the kitchen, she turned on the coffee pot. The stainless steel carafe kept the coffee hot, but she could never tell how much she had left. Despite that small downfall, it looked good on her white counter next to the shiny sink and matching steel toaster.
As she pulled the cream from the fridge, her phone chirped loudly from her bedroom—not Tristen. She hurried back down the hall to grab her phone off her nightstand. “Hello.”
“Hey, stranger! Did I wake you?”
“Keegan! How are you?” The sound of her best friend’s voice gave Lauren instant comfort, like a calming sedative. “You didn’t wake me. I’m just running late. I overslept.”
“You overslept? You’re always so annoyingly chipper in the morning.”
Lauren chuckled. It was just like Keegan to sound chipper as she said that. Lauren felt blessed to have such great childhood friends.
“Anyways,” Keegan went on. “I’m alright, I guess. Rourk just got deployed.” She paused briefly and, when she spoke again, Lauren could hear the frustration in Keegan’s voice. “Actually, I’m not really okay. It sucks. I’m miserable without Rourk.”
Like all elves, Rourk and Keegan had married young, last fall. Every elfin boy and girl had a predetermined, “chosen” mate, and Rourk was Keegan’s. From what Lauren had gathered from Keegan’s recent phone calls, their honeymoon period had been amazing. But elven warriors always joined the human military—Rourk was a weapons specialist in the Special Forces, which meant he was gone more than he was home. Lauren couldn’t even imagine how that felt for Keegan—they felt physical pain when apart, as if their living bond was stretched too far.
“I’m sorry. That really sucks.” Lauren crossed the hallway back into the kitchen. She opened the cabinet to pull out a coffee mug as she asked, “Is there anything I can do?”
Keegan sighed. “No. It’s not like this was a surprise. It just seems like every time we get together, we get torn apart. It’s hard.”
Lauren pulled the carafe from the coffeemaker and filled her cup, taking a deep breath of the heavenly scent. “Yeah, you guys haven’t had the easiest time. How long is he going to be gone?”
“Four months. Really not that long. It could be much worse. Tommy is going to be gone for six months, so Anna is in a funk.”
Anna, Lauren and Keegan’s other best friend, was a quirky but powerful witch going to school at the Art Institute of Seattle. As far as Lauren knew, her new boyfriend, Tommy, was human. In Special Forces with Rourk but in a different team, he was an engineer. Lauren hadn’t met the guy yet, but he had to be a good guy to catch Anna’s attention. That girl was picky.
Lauren couldn’t imagine how it must feel to send a loved one off to war, and Anna was the most emotional of the group. “Poor Anna,” Lauren said sadly, reaching for the cream.
“That’s actually why I’m calling you. What would you think of us coming to visit for spring break?” Keegan asked, her voice hopeful. “I think it would be good for both of us to get out of here. Plus, it would be nice to get the gang back together again.”
Lauren’s mind raced as she took her first sip of coffee. She would like nothing more than to spend time with her best friends, but she also knew it would cause trouble with Tristen. He would be so angry at her when she couldn’t spend as much time with him.
Screw it, Lauren thought, slamming her coffee mug to the counter in irritation and splashing mocha-colored liquid on the counter. Her best friends needed her. “I think—I can’t wait to see you guys. Do you need a place to stay?”
“Awesome. We were kinda hoping to bunk with you, but if that’s an issue we can get a hotel room.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Lauren said sternly. “Of course you can stay here.”
“Great. So we’ll see you next week.”
“Looking forward to it.” Lauren hung up the phone, then sank into a kitchen chair and dropped her head in her hands.
She’d just have to make it work.
Lauren hurried across campus, determined to make it to her next class early. She clutched the strap of her bag where it rested against her chest, weaving in and out of meanderers on the sidewalk without really seeing anybody.
She was almost to the science building, when Donald and Audrey appeared before her, seemingly out of nowhere. She hadn’t seen Donald in weeks. He looked good in his Batman t-shirt and loose jeans. Lauren’s eyes lingered on the new ink that snaked up his forearm. He had changed so much over the last several months. It was sad that they were growing up and going their own ways.
“Hey, guys,” Lauren said with a genuine smile. She was happy to see him.
“Hey, yourself,” Donald replied, his own grin wolfish.
“Hi, Lauren. It’s good to see you again,” Audrey said brightly.
Her breathtaking beauty always took Lauren by surprise. She had impossibly pale—almost white—hair, fair skin, and the lightest blue eyes Lauren had ever seen on a person. Tall and strong, Audrey still managed to keep her curves. Lauren would probably have hated the girl on principle if she weren’t so nice and so obviously good for Donald.
They weren’t exactly a couple, but they seemed to be headed that way. Both shape-shifters, Donald and Audrey made quite the contrast physically, with her long white hair and his spiky, bright orange hair.
“Haven’t seen you around much lately,” Lauren said as she shifted her bag to her other shoulder.
They fell into step beside her, and Donald shrugged. “Oh, we’ve been around. You’re the one that’s never available.” Donald’s eyes crinkled when he smiled.
“Not you, too.” Lauren groaned inwardly, relieved to see him smile. Such a great sight, she thought. He hadn’t smiled for months last year, and he was still a little jaded from his breakup with Keegan. She had shattered the poor boy’s heart, which seemed to be why he and Audrey were taking it slow.
Not that it was Keegan’s fault. She couldn’t resist Rourk if she wanted—he was her ideal mate. Hell, not many people could resist Rourk anyway, Lauren told herself with an internal giggle. Intense and deeply devoted to Keegan, he was also one badass warrior.
Still, they’d all worried about Donald after the breakup. On the bright side, Audrey seemed to pull him out of the darkness.
“Calvron gave me a lecture yesterday,” Lauren grumbled. “Can’t you guys just be happy for me?”
“We just miss you. That’s all,” Donald told her, throwing a lanky arm a
round her shoulders and giving her a squeeze.
Lauren froze, her eyes immediately darting around the campus for Tristen. He’d freak if he caught her being hugged by someone else. I’m being stupid. He isn’t on campus. He never comes on campus.
“I miss you guys, too,” Lauren responded, edging away from his friendly embrace. “I wish there was more time in the day. Cheering takes up a lot of my life, and I’m so behind on school work.”
“Do you need some help?” Audrey peeked around Donald, one of her pale arms entwined with his. “I could tutor you if you want.”
Great—a beautiful brainiac. Lauren eyed her. “What’s your specialty?”
“Pretty much anything you can throw at me. I have a photographic memory, so I can learn whatever you need and help you out.”
Another gift Lauren would love to have. She thought about it for a minute. The truth was she needed help, and she wasn’t going to pass on her own.
“Sure, that would be great.” Lauren pulled her phone out of her bag, and scrolled through her schedule. “I don’t have cheer practice on Thursdays. Would that work for you? In the afternoon?”
Audrey nodded. “Sure. How about three to six?”
Perfect. Lauren would still be able to make it to Tristen’s around the same time he got home from work. Lauren stopped in her tracks and turned to throw her arms around the startled girl. “You are a lifesaver,” Lauren said, Audrey’s pale hair tickling her nose. She pulled away and glanced at Donald. “In more ways than one.”
Audrey’s musical laughter rang out. “Wait until you pass your classes before you offer up such high praise.”
Lauren’s face turned serious. She really needed to pull her grades up and quickly. “Thank you. I know you don’t know me that well, and it means a lot that you would take time out to help me.”
“Any friend of Donald’s is a friend of mine.” Audrey linked her arm through Donald’s and beamed up at him.
“Speaking of friends of mine, Keegan called today.” Lauren glanced at Donald to see his reaction. She caught a spark of interest in his bright blue eyes, but it disappeared before Lauren could be sure.