More Than Jamie Baker (Jamie Baker #2) (22 page)

“That’s good.”

Teddy shrugged again and went back to his coffee.

I dropped the subject, even though I had a lot more I wanted to ask. I got the distinct impression that he didn’t like the people who’d adopted him. He’d been with them since he was five, but he didn’t call them his parents and his eyes became a furious storm of emotion when he spoke of them.

Maybe I do take after my dad a little bit with the paranoia—a
teeny tiny
bit—because my brain automatically began creating a story. Teddy said that these people had suspected the truth before they adopted him, but he’d been in Italy and they were from the States. How did they even know about him? Unless they were looking for odd cases like Teddy’s. It seemed to me that maybe these people adopted him because of the powers he possessed. If that was the case, did they try to use him? Did they ever really love him?

Once again my heart was in my throat, but I couldn’t ask him that question. I was afraid of the answer. I asked a different question instead. “Do other people know about you?”

“Besides the people who adopted me?” Teddy met my eyes, glanced at Ryan and then whispered, “No.”

A long, heavy silence stretched out between the three of us.

I knew how big that news was. I knew what it was like to have to tell someone your secret when you weren’t sure you could trust them. The same thing had happened to me, and I got so scared I almost cooked Ryan’s car—with us inside it.

I was surprised when it was Ryan who quietly said, “We won’t tell anyone.”

“Of course we won’t,” I promised.

Teddy whispered a barely audible “I hope not,” and I felt so sorry for him.

“How are you not freaking out right now?” I asked.

“I’m nervous,” Teddy admitted. “Scared, even. But what other choice did I have? I couldn’t just stand there and let that guy shoot you.”

Ryan and I both flinched, but I’m sure our thoughts were on different memories. Ryan, no doubt, was thinking about Lorenz trying to capture me, but I was back in the hospital with a boy who would never walk again because I hadn’t done what Teddy was brave enough to do.

I had to wipe tears from my eyes again. Ryan squeezed me and Teddy’s faced softened.

“It’s okay, Jamie,” Teddy whispered. “I’m only nervous about your reaction to me. I’m not worried that you’re going to tell people about me. I trust you.”

He wasn’t lying. I could tell. He really did have complete faith in me. Now
that
was something I couldn’t understand. “How can you? I’m practically a stranger to you.”

A ghost of a smile crossed Teddy’s lips as he sipped his coffee. “Call it a...gut feeling.”

I really, really didn’t like the sound of that. Ryan didn’t either, because his body went stiff beside me. Ryan clearly didn’t trust him yet, and judging from the way Teddy’s eyes kept drifting to Ryan, that distrust was completely mutual.

“A gut feeling?” I asked skeptically. “Not that Ryan and I aren’t trustworthy people, but your life is now in our hands. That kind of trust isn’t earned based on gut feelings. Not by me anyway, and I doubt it is for you, either.”

Teddy lifted one shoulder and let it drop, another barely there smile playing at the corners of his lips. “What do you want me to say? I just know I can trust you.”

That put a smile on my face and I reached across the table to squeeze Teddy’s hand again. “You
can
trust us. I promise. Thank you for doing what you did tonight.”

Teddy immediately went back to his coffee, trying to hide his blushing cheeks behind his mug. It was adorable.

When it got quiet again, it felt like a good place to end the conversation for the night.

I’d never wanted to tell someone the truth about me so badly before. I was desperate to tell him. He was the first person I’d ever met who was like me. He had abilities no human should have. I wanted to swap stories and talk about so many things that no one else in the world could ever possibly understand. Sure, my parents and Ryan were supportive and sympathetic, but they couldn’t ever
really
understand what I was going through. Teddy could.

It was better to leave before I spilled the beans. “Well, I’m exhausted. I really wasn’t feeling well at the club tonight. I think I need some rest.”

“Okay, babe,” Ryan said, kissing my temple softly. “Let’s go back to my room. Sean will be out for a while, probably. I’ll make you a cup of Magic Tea and let you fall asleep on me to some sappy girl movie.”

I grinned from ear to ear. “Sounds like heaven,” I said, through a yawn. My body was relaxing just at the prospect of some quiet time with Ryan.

Ryan pushed himself to his feet and laced his fingers through mine. When Teddy didn’t budge, I looked back at him. “You want a ride home? What dorm do you live in, anyway?”

I didn’t understand the look on his face until his eyes drifted to my hand in Ryan’s. He forced himself to meet my gaze and then somehow managed a small smile. “You guys go ahead. I think I’m going to hang out for a bit.”

All I could do was nod. Teddy’s crush on me had been cute until that moment. Now it was just heartbreaking. He joked about liking me, but the longing in his eyes right then wasn’t funny. I felt terrible for him, but there was absolutely nothing I could do. My heart was Ryan’s. Always and forever.

Ryan gave my hand a gentle tug. I could tell he was feeling just as badly for Teddy as I was. With nothing left for any of us to say, I gave Teddy an apologetic smile and left without another word.

“Ugh,” I groaned once Ryan and I were on the way back to Ryan’s dorm. “That sucked. I feel awful.”

“Welcome to my world,” Ryan said with a grimace.

It should have been funny, but it wasn’t. Sadly, Ryan wasn’t being cocky. He was just speaking the truth. So many girls had been in Teddy’s shoes, pining after Ryan without a chance in the world at their feelings ever being reciprocated.

“Maybe I can shift his interest,” I said. “I could introduce him to my parents. If they knew he was like me, they would so take him under their wings. My mom would probably unofficially adopt him into the family. Then maybe he’d be able to see me differently. Like just a friend or a sister or something.”

“But you’d have to tell him about your powers.”

I leveled Ryan with a stern look. “I’m going to have to tell him. And soon. Visticorp is a problem.”

“Yeah, but they’re a problem for you, too. We have to do something about them anyway. If we can stop them from coming after you, then they won’t be able to come after him either, and he never has to know anything was ever wrong.”

“Ryan.” I sighed. “I
want
to tell him. Don’t you get it? He’s
like
me.”

“Which is exactly why I don’t trust him. Don’t you think it’s a pretty big coincidence that the only two people in the world with superpowers just happened to meet randomly?”

“I don’t think we can really assume Teddy and I are the only ones anymore. If there are two of us, then there could be others.”

“Still,” Ryan argued. “Even if there were a hundred people like you or a thousand—which seems impossible—out of the six billion people in the world, you end up going to the same college as another one? I don’t think so.”

“What are you saying, that our meeting wasn’t by chance? That’s impossible—unless he knew about me and came looking for me.”

Ryan made a face, as if to say that was exactly his point. “Funny he should show up right at the same time as the Visticorp guys,” he said.

I’d never thought about it that way. Suddenly, my mind raced with a million possibilities. I didn’t like any of them.

I wanted to tell Teddy everything, but Ryan was right. We couldn’t trust him yet. And since I wasn’t going to share my secret with him anytime soon, I couldn’t ask him any questions that might help me figure out if our meeting really had been chance—if he really didn’t have any clue who I was and what I was capable of. My only option for now was to keep a close eye on him and learn everything I could about him.

“You’re right,” I conceded.

Ryan grinned. “When am I not?”

“You’re also full of yourself.”

His smile grew wider. “I was just stating a fact.”

“Okay, egomaniac—hey, maybe that should be my nickname for you.”

“Pet name, Jamie. It’s supposed to be something romantic.”

“Whatever, Captain Sappypants. We were talking about Teddy. How are we going to find out more about him?”

“Easy.”

I knew what he was going to say before he said it.

I nodded my head, agreeing with him, but I still sighed. “It’s time to visit Carter again.”

I was sitting on the steps
of his building with a Coney dog and a Coke when Carter finally decided to be done working for the day. Sneaky man that he was, I didn’t hear him until he was right behind me. “What are you doing here, Jamielynn?”

I nearly jumped out of my skin and managed to spill some of my Coke on my shirt. “Thanks a lot, Carter!” I snapped. “I just bought this shirt.” I’d done a little shopping since I was in New York. The shirt was cute and had cost me a small fortune.

Carter—who rudely didn’t offer to pay for my dry cleaning—shook his head, disappointed. “Still so easy to sneak up on.”

“I have a lot on my mind,” I argued. “And besides, I wasn’t listening for you.”

Carter rolled his eyes and I stuck my tongue out at him. Our relationship wasn’t the most mature one I’d ever had. For him either, probably.

“I can’t tell you how much I love these little surprise visits of yours.” If his voice had been any drier, he’d have been choking on sand.

Grinning at him, I lifted up the hot dog in my hand. “Aw, cheer up. I brought you dinner.”

Carter looked at the Coney dog and frowned. “That’s half-eaten.”

“Yeah, well, I got hungry waiting for you. It’s after nine p.m. on a Saturday. What’s the matter, no special lady in your life? Other than me, of course.”

The glare I got for that totally made this trip worth it.

“Don’t lose hope,” I teased. “I mean, there’s got to be
someone
out there willing to date a grumpy, cynical, rude, sarcastic loner.”

Carter snorted. “Other than your boyfriend?”

Touché
. “Do you find it as disturbing as I do that we have so much in common?” I asked.

“I find it disturbing that I can’t seem to get rid of you even though I moved over three thousand miles away.”

Carter hefted a messenger bag from one shoulder to the other and began walking down the street. I quickly matched his pace. “Shucks, Carter. What would your life be without me in it?”

“Peaceful,” Carter grumbled.

I laughed and then brought my delicious chili and onion covered Coney dog to my mouth. Before I could take another bite, it disappeared from my hand. I watched incredulously as Carter took a big bite. Once his mouth was clear, he regarded my slack jaw and I swear I saw one of his lips twitch. But he couldn’t possibly be holding back a smile. Not on my account.

Carter and I were
not
friends. We would
never
be friends. I
didn’t
like him. At all.

“What do you want, Jamielynn? Why are you buttering me up with chili dogs?”

“I wasn’t. That was my dinner.”

Carter laughed and finished off the last of my hot dog. “You still want something.”

“All right, fine. I need your help. Again.”

The momentary playful mood that had existed between us vanished and Carter sighed. “I’m not your own personal search engine, Jamie.”

“I
know
that. Do you think I’d be here, associating with a
reporter
—”

“Journalist,” Carter corrected, annoyed.

“Fine,
journalist
—if I could get the answers from Google? You should be flattered that I think highly enough of your skills to ask for your help.”