“I see.” He paused. “I know we didn’t play last night, but all that adrenaline and dopamine from the party itself still fried your nervous system. Take care of yourself, please. I know it probably wasn’t easy, from what you’ve shared about your upbringing.”
Fuck, I was confused. Was he manipulating me? Grooming me for the cult in a way I was too blinded by infatuation to see?
Before I could respond, I heard someone greet him.
“Bring it to the church?” they asked, finishing a sentence I hadn’t heard the start to. “Elections are happening.”
My blood ran cold. What thefuckwere they talking about?
“Sorry, Nova, I’ve gotta go,” Wes said abruptly, something uncharacteristically jittery about his voice. He let go of a breath. “I’ll meet you inside,” he said to the mystery person.
“Love diners!” a girl squealed somewhere close to Wes.
“I’m tied up tonight, but how does Tuesday or Wednesday sound? I’ll cook, and we can talk.”
Oh, God. I was getting a very, very bad feeling, and that bad feeling was pairing nicely with a very, very badidea.
“I’ve got a comedy thing Tuesday, but I can do Wednesday,” I said, keeping my tone light and breezy, as if I hadn’t heard a thing from Wes’s surroundings.
“Comedy…” Wes drawled. “I want to hear more about that. I’ll text you details. Go eat your omelet.”
“Goodbye, Wes,” I said.
“Bye, Nova.”
He hung up, and I sprang into action. After I was dressed in a black t-shirt and billowy burgundy pants, I bounded into the living area.
“Can I borrow someone’s black ballcap?”
26
NOVA
Ieyed my omelet waiting for me on the kitchen counter. After three seconds of inner turmoil, I grabbed a fork and obeyed Wes.
Hudson stood. “No,” he said at the same time Delilah said, “Of course!”
They both watched me shovel omelet into my mouth.
“It’s the Joe fromYoumethod,” Delilah explained to Bradley, who had shaken off his previous discomfort and was back to his easy, cheery demeanor.
“Oh, sick,” he said, still not understanding. Not a single thought in that beautiful head.
“Do you need one of my mustaches?” Delilah offered.
I considered this. “No. I’ll stay out of sight. And I think I’m allergic to adhesive glue. Band-Aids fuck me up.”
“Nova…” Hudson said. “What are you doing?”
“Spying on Wes to see if he can be trusted. It was basically your idea.”
Hudson put a hand on his hip. “My point was for you to stay out ofdanger.This is exactly the opposite of my advice.”
“It’s bright out! Nothing bad can happen to people in broad daylight.”
“That is just not true.”
Delilah returned from her bedroom and cheerfully handed me her black cap, which saidbabyin tiny white cursive. This was actually Lorelei’s hat she’d left behind, but I’d let Delilah keep it. I shoved memories of my ex-best-friend away to stay focused.
