Page 67 of Heartless As Puck

“Wow.” Jane sighed. “That was amazing.”

I kissed her. “Just wait until we’re in a real bed.”

She snuggled closer. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Another minute ticked by, and I reluctantly extricated myself from her, got rid of the condom, and cleaned us both with a cloth. Jane sat up and swung her legs off the bed, looking as if she might be about to climb up to the top bunk.

“Stay with me?” I asked, gesturing to the lower bunk.

She studied it critically. “It’s pretty small.”

I winked. “Then we’ll have to get really close.”

With a soft laugh, she agreed, and I got under the covers and pulled her into my arms.

It wasn’t long before we fell asleep.

I dreamed of dancing with Jane in a field of lilacs.

Until the shrill whistle of a ringing phone jarred me awake.

I reached around for my phone in the dark and raised it to my ear, still half asleep.

“’Lo?”

“Austin?” It was Gus’s voice.

“Hm?”

“You and Jane need to get back here right now. We have a massive problem.”

TWENTY

JANE

I jerked away at the sound of Austin’s voice. I looked around, blinking myself awake. Why was he up already? What was he doing?

He was standing near the end of the bed and a tinny noise niggled at the edge of my consciousness. Was he on the phone?

All of a sudden, the memories from last night came back to me in a rush, and I smiled as he turned to me, ignoring that background buzz for the moment.

He’d asked me to stay in bed with him. That definitely said commitment.

The noise got louder.

“Gus, you’re on speaker phone. Jane is here too,” Austin said. “What’s up?”

With a sigh, I brushed off the last vestiges of sleep and did my best to focus on the conversation, which apparently, I needed to be involved in.

“I need you to get here before we talk.” Gus’s tone was uncharacteristically somber. “Don’t go online. Fuck, put your phone on airplane mode. Don’t talk to anyone and don’t answer any calls. Got it?”

“What the hell is going on?” Austin demanded, pacing the length of the room. “You’re worrying me.”

He was worrying me, too.

The only reason Gus would be making a fuss like this was because of something Austin wouldn’t like. Probably posted online. A scandal or an accusation. But there was nothing like that to be unearthed. Austin was legitimately a stand-up guy, if a bit emotionally repressed.

Could it have anything to do with me?