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CAM HOBBLED THROUGH the door, his grandfather hanging on to one arm and half a dozen plastic bags filled with groceries hanging from the other. Spotting Star asleep on the couch, he gently set the bags on the counter.
Cam helped Gramps into the bedroom and lowered him to the loveseat.
Jags never stirred.
"Hang here for a second," Cam said. "I'm going to make a protein shake then we'll wake him."
Gramps patted Cam's arm. "You're such a good boy."
Cam resisted the urge to ask his grandfather if it was possible his mind had slipped even further. He just couldn't grasp the concept that his grandfather thought he was a 'good boy' and that Maggie was a 'sweet girl'. And Gramps was supposedly born into a long line of empaths.
Cam went to the kitchen. He opened the cabinets over the stove. He opened the cabinets in the corner, beside the window over the sink
Cabinets here.
Cabinets there.
Fuck.
Where the hell was the damn blender?
Star sat up and stretched her arms over head. "Top cabinet left of the stove."
He whipped the cabinet open and grabbed the blender, setting it clumsily on the counter.
"Didn't mean to wake you," Cam said, trying to sound sincere. But he wasn't sincere. All he gave a shit about was getting some real food into his brother.
Star rolled off the sofa. She yawned and stumbled into the kitchen. In the cabinet beside the stove, she grabbed a glass.
He spilled the contents of the plastic grocery bags onto the counter.
Milk.
Whipped cream.
Ice.
Peanut butter.
Protein powder.
All quickly dumped into the blender.
Cam snatched the glass from Star's grip.
"What does Maggie see in you?"
The whir of the blender drowned out her question.
Cam shut the blender off. "Ajay called and said Jags was talking."
Star stumbled back to the sofa and collapsed backward onto the suede cushions. "I tried to tell you that, but you didn't believe me."
He filled the glass from the pitcher and went to the bedroom. When he set the glass on the end table, Jags opened his eyes.
"Sit up," Cam said.
Jags inched his way up the head board. "What kind?"
Cam hesitated, taken aback by the sound of Jags' coarse voice. "Chocolate peanut butter."
Jags rubbed his hands together. "Heck yeah."
"I have a surprise for you." Cam tilted his head toward the love seat.
"Gramps!" Jags held his arms out.
When Gramps attempted to push himself from the love seat, Cam cursed. "Wait." He went to him and gripped Gramps by the elbow, helping him to his feet.
"I'm so . . ." Jags coughed, ". . . glad to see you."
Using Cam as a crutch, Gramps shuffled to the side of the bed and sat down. As they embraced, Gramps whispered in Jags' ear, "We need to get you out of here."
Cam sank on to the bed opposite Gramps. "I don't think so. He's not ready."
"Pleeeeease," Jags said, "I am ready."
Cam resisted the urge to whack his brother across the head. "You can barely sit up."
Gramps motioned Cam closer. When Cam leaned across the bed, Gramps slapped a flat palm against Cam's forehead.
His large frame collapsed face first across Jags' torso.
Jags' eyes widened. He gently rolled Cam onto his back. "What did you do to him?"
"You've got your secrets. I've got mine."
Jags brows lowered, a look of doubt on his pale face.
"Relax," Gramps said, "He's just asleep. But he won't sleep for long, tops ten minutes. If you want to get out of here, we need to get a move on."
Gramps turned toward the door. "Star!"
She paused in the threshold. "You're awake."
"Come here," Jags said, no hint of his usual cheery self.
As she approached, her eyes settled on Cam's slumbered body.
"What on earth?"
"He fell asleep," Gramps said, "I need you to call Doug. He's parked just down the street. Tell him I'm ready."
Star hesitated.
Look at Jags.
Nodded and turned from the room. Jags and Gramps could hear her shuffling through her purse, trying to find her phone.
Jags sighed, deep and throaty. Then he growled in obvious frustration. "Why did you send her away?"
"Not yet. Almost. But not yet."
"I need her now."
Gramps set his bony hand across Jags' forehead. "Let your father and I help you. We know what you need, which is not Star."
Squeezing his dry eyes shut, Jags turned on his side. "I just want her."
"I know. This is one of the harder stages of the metamorphosis."
A knock resounded from the door off of the kitchen. Door opened. And seconds later Jags' father entered the bedroom with Star following behind.
He tried to lift Cam but he was too heavy. With Star's help, they heaved and pushed and like a roll of thick carpet, Cam flopped over and to the foot of the bed.
Doug lifted Jags from the bed and carried him through the kitchen and down the walkway. At a slow pace, with Star as a crutch, Gramps followed them outside.
Doug set Jags onto wobbly feet, plucked the car door open and guided Jags inside.
As Doug lowered Gramps into the passenger seat, Star asked, "Where are you taking him?"
Doug said, "We'll be back shortly."
She groaned, snapped open the back door and leaned into the car.
"Sexy." Jags weaved his fingers through her long hair. He palmed the back of her head. "Kiss me."
Smiling, she threw herself into his arms. Her lips met his.
Jags moaned, low and deep. A hand gripped her hip while the other slid between her thighs, under the hem of her cotton shorts. "Love me. Let me love you."
His father yanked her from the car, placing himself between her and Jags. "I'm sorry but he can't do this right now."
Doug slammed the car door. He pointed his key fob and locked the car. With quick steps, he circled the car. Another click of the fob and he was behind the wheel.
The car peeled away from the curb.
With the back window cracked a sliver, Jags weak voice was barely audible as the car gained distance. "I love you!"
––––––––
COPPER CREEK
Entering the break room, Jake took a seat beside Emily. He set his cheeseburger and fries beside her turkey croissant. "You're avoiding me."
"I don't mean to."
"You've hardly talked to me since the graduation party. Did I lose you to Ajay?"
"No. I mean . . ." She sighed. "I don't know. I'm so confused."
He gave her a warm smile. "Just promise we can stay friends."
Jake was such a good guy. He didn't deserve a woman like her, a wishy-washy mess.
So many had disappointed him. First his mother, when she gave him away at birth. Then his adoptive father gave him up when his wife died unexpectedly. When Jake was a teenager, his mother, Carina, came back for him, but he hated her for giving him up in the first place. And on top of that, she never told his father about him until recently.
With a tight smile, Emily sipped her iced tea. "How are things with your dad?"
"The same." Taking a bite of his cheeseburger, he added, "Good."
"What about your mother?"
"I hate her and that's never going to change."
"Everybody makes mistakes." Crooking her neck to look at his face, she added, "Even you."
He glanced at her. "Don't."
She took another sip of tea. "We're still friends, right?"
Grinning, he unsnapped her hair clip and dropped it beside her plate. "Yeah. We're friends."
"Can I still dump ice down your pants?"
He set his cheeseburger down, turned in his chair. He looked at her, all stoic like, but just for a moment. Then his stoicism faded, replaced by a smile.
He leaned toward her. "Only if I can dump ice down your pants."
She swallowed a dry lump. Forced herself to smile at him, trying to convey an air of confidence and maturity.
But she was anything but.
"Are you sure you want Ajay?"
She parted her lips to say . . . what? Yes. No. Maybe? Dammit.
He kissed her.
Soft, wet lips touched hers. Slide across hers. She told herself to open her mouth, give him her tongue. But she couldn't make herself do it.
Why didn't she feel the heat in his kiss that she did with Ajay?
Many times, in her mind, she'd replayed the night Ajay nearly took her virginity in his car . . . Jeep. Whatever.
And not one of those scenarios ended with them returning to the party. Instead, he'd take her to his bed and kiss her . . . everywhere.
She may not be experienced but she knew sex. She'd read plenty of romance novels. And Ajay was Sex. She could still remember the scent of tobacco on his clothes, which reminded her of Poppy and her favorite uncle.
If she could only do that night over again. It'd end much differently. But she'd gotten spooked and told him goodbye.
Jake pulled back. He let out a small laugh. "Had to try." He stood, gave a pat on her back and left the break room.
––––––––
JAGS WATCHED OUT HIS window until Star passed from his sight. He let himself fall across the seat. Scrunching his fingers through his long hair, he cursed and punched the back of the driver's seat. "Dad!"
"I know." Doug pulled onto the highway. "You have to trust us. We know what's best for you right now. Star must wait."
Seemed like forever, before Doug exited the highway. A few more miles and he was pulling into the parking lot of Lake Conroe State Park.
From the floorboard on the passenger side, Doug grabbed a brown duffel bag. He strode to the passenger side and helped Gramps out and onto his feet.
With Gramps under one arm and Jags under the other, the three of them hobbled down a sandy path and through a column of overgrown brush.
They soon reached the water's edge.
Gramps sat on one side of Jags, Doug on the other. The three of them glanced over the smooth water.
"Take a deep breath," Doug said, "Feel the air feeding and healing your body."
"Close your eyes," Gramps said.
Jags laid back, stretched out flat.
"That's it," Doug said. "Breathe deep." He opened the brown duffel bag and grabbed a plastic canister.
The foulest odor Jags had ever scented wafted from the green goo inside.
Jags' stomach rolled, his eyes watered. "What the devil is that?"
"It's best you don't know," Doug said.
Gramps swiped his finger through the goo. He cupped Jags' chin and drew on his face, starting at his forehead, gliding down the side of his face, across his chin and back up to this forehead.
A tingling sensation vibrated through Jags' body. His vision grew sharper, colors more vibrant. His hearing magnified. The wake of a speedboat hummed in his mind. The sound of the rippling water lapping at the sand was crisp.
"This will speed the process of the Transai," Gramps said.
"When can I be with Star?"
"Soon," Doug said.