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I rush to the window just in time to see him disappear into the trees towards the secret hatch.
My body aches. Soreness blooms between my legs and along my thighs, reminders of how completely I was opened.
It’s humiliating to admit that I nearly call him back. If only to see his face when he finds the mess of me he left behind.
Movement to the side of the house catches my eye.
Calista comes up from the street, heels dangling from one hand, but she stops and looks towards the woods.
I jerk the curtains closed and step back, heart pounding.
Her shadow passes across the fabric on the way to her bedroom window. All I can do is pray she didn’t see anything.
CHAPTER 28
ZAIYA
Table legs scrape across the floor of the church basement as I push the last one into place. Calista lets go of her side of the table the second it lines up and steps back before I can thank her. She wipes her hands on her shorts and moves away from me, and I can’t help but take it personally.
We have the room set up for Bible study tonight. Evelyn is in the kitchen baking cookies and stirring up her special punch. I keep staring at Calista, waiting to see if she’ll mention what she saw.
I wish I had someone to confide in about it. Someone to tell me it’s normal to feel like a new person while denying that anything fundamental has changed.
All day Calista has been avoiding me. The space between us feels barren despite being practically handcuffed together today. What happened with Edwin last night shouldn’t matter to her.
She leans on the serving window into the kitchen. “Can I go now?”
Evelyn glances over from where she’s stirring a giant bowl of red liquid with a wooden spoon. “Go get the study guides for me first, please. They’re up in the office.”
Calista sighs dramatically. “Fine.”
She heads for the stairs up to the sanctuary, and I hurry after her.
“Calista.”
She ignores my presence entirely.
“Calista, are you mad at me?”
“No.” She opens the door and tries to shut it on me, but I get my hand up in time to block it.
“Then why won’t you talk to me?”
“I just don’t want to.”
She crosses the sanctuary with me at her heels.
Frank’s office is open at the back of the church. He sits behind his desk, staring at his computer screen with reading glasses low on his nose.
Calista stops inside the door. “Mom wants the study guides.”
He looks up and smiles immediately, all warmth despite the coldness she tends to give him.
“Oh, right. They’re in the filing cabinet.”
Calista takes two steps towards it.
“Actually—” He jerks back so quickly that his chair bumps the desk. “I’ll grab them. It’s a mess in there.”
