As he just looks at me, I listen to the soft chiming of the phone in his pocket, and a frown touches my lips. “That’s yours,” I inform him as if it’s some kind of mystery.
“I know,” Isaac sighs, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “And it’s Cyril.”
“Feels like you should pick it up then, don’t you think?”
“Depends on if he calls again.” The phone stops making noise, though a second later starts back up once more. This time, Isaac makes a face and moves, his legs under my shoulders and head lifting for a moment so he can dig his phone out of his pocket. He settles back down a second later, and before I can move, his hand comes up to stroke through my hair sweetly, an obvious sign for me to stay.
“What’s up?” Isaac asks, his voice soft and amiable. I stare at him through mostly-closed eyes, almost feeling like I could go right back to sleep with the way he’s running his fingers through my hair.
Not to mention I’m incredibly comfortable here on his lap. Ilikestaring up at him and just letting him touch me however he wants.
This is a problem, of course, since I’m supposed to be figuring a way out of this, instead of digging myself a deeper grave.
“You know exactly where I am,” Isaac chuckles, looking down at me with a wicked grin. “You’ve known since I told you at 6 a.m. where I’d be all day.” His grin widens. “Yeah, shedidlet me in and didn’t threaten to stab me. Make sure you tell Ezra that too, okay?”
Suddenly the smile falls from his face, only to be replaced with a look of mild annoyance. Gently he helps me sit up, murmurs an agreement into the phone, and without another word to me, goes to my bathroom and closes the door behind him.
Well then. I suppose this is aprivateconversation and one that I’m not welcome to be a part of.
Which is precisely why I prowl to the door and stick my ear against it, happy for once that all of the sound echoes in there, and it probably isn’t as quiet as he thinks it is.
“Tuesday?” he lets out a soft curse. “I’ll be out of town, remember? You told me I had to go to…yeah, I know you know. But I just didn’t think…” he trails off with another sigh. “Who’s going?Otherthan Ashe.” There’s silence, then a scoff. “You really want a mess, Cy, if you’re letting Ezra go. And I thought he wasgroundedafter he cut up that kid in San Diego?”
My breath is a sudden, sharp inhale. Does he mean the guy from the convention?
“I’ll try to get back early, but don’t count on it. Tell them that they can use the cabin out on Telina Lane. Umm…” he sighs, obviously thinking. “That’s where I was going to do it. There’s no one out there right now, so there’s no need to worry about any of that. I’lltryto get back, okay? Have them push going to around midnight or so.”
I’ve heard all I probably can without being suspicious, so I tiptoe back over to the sofa and lie down, my arms pillowing my head as I look toward the television once more at whatever’s playing now.
Minutes later, the bathroom door opens and closes. Isaac comes back to the sofa, and I sit up so he can slide onto the cushions once more. This time I let him pull me to his lap easily, and I sigh contentedly when his hands find my hair to thread through the strands in a way that might put me to sleep.
“I’m going to be gone for a few days,” he tells me lightly. “So maybe don’t piss anyone off? Arlo’s good at being the voice of reason, but he won’t stand up to Cyril.”
“You afraid yourboysare going to kill me while you’re gone?” I ask, hating that there’s a layer of uncertainty under the dry humor in my tone.
“What? God, absolutely not.” He sounds horrified at the suggestion. “But I know how you act around Cy, and I know how worked up Ezra gets with you. So maybe just…work on that. All of that.”
“All ofthatis my personality.”
“I know. That’s what worries me.”
I snort and bury my face against his leg, happy that he seems to not know that I was listening at the door to his conversation. I’m happier still that he can’t tell what I’m thinking. Can’t see that I’m making plans to do something stupid because, more than anything, I just want to know what it is the Lost Boysdofor Chancellor.
And if that means going out to some remote cabin on a street I’ve never heard of before? Well, then that’s absolutely what I’m going to do.