I’m done letting Ezra pull my strings.
I pick up the envelope, tilting it to the side so the necklace inside slides along the crease. Back and forth, like I have so many times over the years.
“I’m not quitting,” I murmur to myself as I slide the envelope into my hoodie’s pouch. When I look up, she’s staring at my pouch with a zoned-out look on her face. Probably wondering what’s inside the envelope.
Unless she opened it when she was snooping.
Doubtful. She’d have strangled me with the chain if she had.
“Not quitting,” I repeat, shaking my head.
“Okay.” She pulls her messy brown hair away from her face and ties it up with a hair band from her wrist. We both glance over at the window as a breeze rifles the curtains.
“So…regrouping then?” she asks as I go over to shut the window.
Puffy gray clouds are gathering in the sky, but the rain will hold for an hour or two at least.
Should be enough time.
I slip the duffel bag’s strap over my shoulder, grab my laptop bag and puffer vest, and head for the door.
“We’re gonna go have something to eat, then we’re going on vacation. You good with Pie Palace, or you wanna go someplace else?”
“Vacation?” A curious frown appears between Haven’s brows as she tilts her head.
I expect her to talk me out of it, so it’s no surprise that she says, “You really think I can afford to just up and leave in the middle of the semester?”
“It’s just for a few days.” I grab her shoulder, turning and steering her out of the room. “There’ll be plenty of time to study before midterms.”
When she stops walking, I’m ready with an exasperated sigh, expecting to convince her one way or the other.
Which is fucked, because I don’t need her at my side.
Except…maybe I do. Because the thought of leaving without her makes me want to jump off the fucking roof and aim to miss the pool.
But instead of whining about school or her responsibilities, she just turns to look at me with a curious look on her face.
I’ve seen it before.
Back in the day, I’d come up with a lot of the games we played…but so did Haven. Strangely, she’d later turn it around, telling me I was the one who’d thought them out. Hide and Hunt was mine. Columbus and Jane. Variants of those when I was feeling creative. But The Bandit and The Queen? That was all Haven.
The Quiet Game?
Ishouldhave come up with that one, but Miss H was the brains behind the operation. I just tweaked the rules so there weren’t any loopholes.
This look? It’s the one she wore whenever she was thinking out a new game.
“What’s going on in that head of yours, Miss H?”
She licks her lips, then bites down on the bottom one. “What if it’s not?”
“Not what?”
“What if it’s not just for a few days?” she asks carefully.
I clear my throat, not sure I’m understanding her right. “How long do you want to stay gone?”
She blinks, gaze unfocused for a moment before she looks at my mouth, then my eyes.
