Nodding at my own thoughts, I jump out of bed with a little more pep than someone who’s been awake since three am should have, and I head to the shower.
“Hi,” I murmur when I arrive to see Lucas is already there.
“Hey,” he replies, rubbing the back of his neck.
Well this is awkward.
“Look, I don’t want things to be strange between us. Friends?” I offer, holding my hand out like an idiot.
With a shake of his head and a grin, he grabs my hand in his. “I do really want to be your friend. I’m cool with this only being a friendship,” he tells me.
I smile back as he drags me in for a hug while still shaking my hand. I feel it now, feel him, it really is a friendship. There’s a settled feeling between us, and I breathe out a sigh of relief.
“What the fuck,” is growled from behind us, and we both break apart like we’ve done something wrong, and I’m immediately irritated with myself for reacting that way.
Jacobi stands staring at the both of us. A feral look on his face. The stubble along his jaw evidences that what he told me in our middle-of-the-night call was true. It’s also hella hot, and I chastise myself silently for having that reaction to him.
“Cobi, we’re friends. You have to get over it,” Lucas tells him with a cocky smile.
Jacobi moves so quickly that I gasp with shock. He pins Lucas against the wall, breathing heavily. “She’s…” he barks then looks over at me.
Shaking his head a dark emotion filters through his eyes, and I want to go to him, to hold him, to make it better. I take a quick step backwards scared of my own thoughts. My movement causes something else to move through his eyes. He believes I’m scared of him, and it’s not what he wants. This whole time he’s been trying to intimidate me, and now he thinks he has, it’s upset him.
“She’s what?” Lucas challenges, but he doesn’t try to push Jacobi away.
Jacobi turns his hard stare back to Lucas. “Nothing… she’s nothing,” he growls, releasing his friend and stalking away.
Lucas pulls his blue t-shirt down, reshaping it while grinning at me.
“What?” I ask, confused by his expression.
“My boy likes you. That,” he says pointing to where Jacobi went, “proved what I already thought.”
I bite down on my bottom lip and stare at the ground for a few seconds.
“Come on, let’s get this last day over with,” I sigh, looking up at Lucas, who’s still wearing a grin.
“So, do you want to tell me what you’ve found out? How I actually fit into all this? Or would you rather start by explaining what the hell that was this morning with Lucas?” I question Jacobi when I see him just before lunch.
Jacobi opens his locker, throws his books in, and slams it shut before looking down at me. He looks like he’s about to say something when two hands slide around his middle from behind, and Taya peeks around the side of him.
“Is she bothering you?” she asks, looking up at him like he hangs the moon.
I frown when I notice he’s looking at her with annoyance, but she doesn’t realise. Her eyes are on me now. “Run along, pigbitch,” she orders waving her hand at me.
Jacobi opens his mouth to say God knows what, but I get there before him, “Pigbitch? Branching out are we, Taya?”
Her eyes narrow on me, and I see the fire ignite in them. Her magic is appearing, and I realise something in that second.
“You’re threatened by me.” The words spill out of my mouth before I can stop them, the realisation has me almost laughing at the absurdity of it all.
“I am in no way threatened by you and your ugly face. Whore,” she adds for good measure.
Jacobi shakes her off. “Go away, Taya.”
“What the hell!” she replies, stomping her foot down.
I snort, roll my eyes, and walk away. I do not want to be anywhere near those two when they’re going at it.
The day gets easier as I don’t see the two of them again. Emmie and I have a class together, and even though I tell her about my run in with Taya, I don’t mention anything about Jacobi’s secret. It’s his to tell. I may be many things, but a gossip isn’t one of them.
Sitting on my balcony and enjoying the April sunshine, a rarity in London, I notice Jacobi crossing the road and heading towards my building. When I hear his knock, I click my fingers and unlock the front door.
“I could have been anyone,” he complains, walking out to meet me on the balcony.
“I saw you coming,” I say, pointing down to the road.
“I know. Still, a neighbour could have got here before me. Just…be careful, okay?”
“Aww, worried about me? Shouldn’t you be more concerned about your girlfriend?” I reply, pushing my sunglasses up onto my head and staring into his deep blue eyes. They seem never-ending. I’m pretty sure you could get lost in them.
Grinding my teeth, I try to erase his beautiful eyes from my mind, but it’s futile. I’ve never been able to forget about Jacobi Ashdown.
“Not my girlfriend.”
My head jerks back, surprise no doubt shining in my eyes. “Since when?”
“Since today, and no, I don’t want to talk about it. Believe it or not, my relationship status isn’t why I’m here,” he snaps.
I hold my hands up, “Okay, sunshine, let’s go inside.” He nods and follows me indoors. I grab two cans of Coke from my fridge and hold them up. “I have Bud if you’d prefer?” I offer, but he shakes his head.
Most alcoholic drinks don’t affect us. It must be something to do with the magic we hold in our veins. The only alcohol that does is Tequila, no one knows why. If we want to get buzzed or forget, we’ll turn to Tequila, but otherwise, most of us choose not to drink alcohol at all. I keep Bud in my fridge, but I’ve no idea why other than it makes me feel a little more human, and a little less witch. I don’t know why that feeling is important to me, it just is.
“I’ve finished translating the book,” he tells me, popping open the Coke as I sit next to him on the sofa.
He’s so close I have to try hard to focus on him and not on his leg, which is touching mine, or his smell. His cologne is subtle and fresh, and mixed with his natural woodsy scent, it’s heady. I close my eyes involuntarily.
“Are you okay?” he questions, and my eyes pop open.
I cough. “Yeah, sorry, just tired. Someone woke me up early,” I complain, pursing my lips.
“Sorry,” he apologises, his shoulders dropping.
Shit! That’s the second time in twenty-four hours that Jacobi Ashdown has apologised to me.
“So, what answers did the book give you?”
He pinches the bridge of his nose, and for the first time in a long time, I feel sorry for him. “It threw up more questions than it gave answers,” he sighs.
“I’m sorry, Jacobi,”
“Cobi.”
“Huh?”
“You used to call me Cobi,” he says, turning and looking down into my eyes.
“That was a long time ago.”
“It feels like yesterday, Juni,” he responds, and the soft way he says my name makes my insides clench with the memories of the past, the happiness and the sadness. I can’t deal with it right now.