Overture (Rain Dance, Book 1) (Rain Dance Series) (55 page)

      
A few
hours later, we had finished dinner and were getting ready to rest for the
remainder of the night. I used this time to check my phone and was surprised to
find that I had multiple missed calls from Dale. He never called me - not
unless it was important. Worried, I quickly dialed his number. He picked up on
the fourth ring.

     
"Coops?"

     
"Finally!
Get your ass over here." He sounded more exasperated than anything.

     
"What's
wrong?"

     
"Jilly's
here."

     
I froze.
"…
What?
Where?"

     
"In your
shower."

     
"…Holy
fuck. Are you serious? When? How?" I looked around aimlessly, having a
hard time trying to figure out how Jillian had gotten there.
It's called a
plane, Daphne. Duh
.

     
"She flew
up here a few hours ago. There was a knock at the door, I answered, and
suddenly she's crying all over me. Samantha was confused. I had to explain
things. She ended up leaving."

     
"The
bad
kind of leaving or the
got it
kind of leaving?" I asked.

     
"The
I
don't like it, but I guess I have to deal
kind of leaving. I'll have to
make it up to her." Poor Coops. He and Samantha were supposed to get the
apartment to themselves this weekend. "So are you coming home or are you
gonna stay with Ster-"

     
"
Spook
,"
I interrupted. "I've dubbed him Spook." Ethan looked over at me
curiously.
That's right, I hadn't told him the reason for it.

     
"Spook?
Why?" Dale asked.

     
"He's the
head of a secret undercover agency with eyes all over the globe," I
answered in a serious tone. "He sees all, knows all, and is in charge of
special security involving yours truly. Also, he's an assassin." Ethan's
face went from questioning to blank directness. I could tell - something about
what I'd just said had irked him.
Huh. Interesting.
"And yes, of
course I'm coming home."

     
"…Are you
aware of who you just described?"

     
"…See you
soon." Ignoring his laugh, I hung up and spoke to Ethan, "Family
emergency. Jillian is in my shower."

     
He got up,
frowning. "I don't like the way you call it home."

    
 
"I live there, what else would I
call it?"

     
"Anything
but."

     
"Well,
keep feeding me for long enough and maybe I'll decide to make this place my new
home. Just like a real cat." I turned to sprint upstairs, calling behind
me, "I'm gonna change."

"Don't
get out, you don't have to walk me to the door," I said when we arrived at
the apartment.

     
Ethan looked at
me sharply, his lips forming into a straight line. With determination and
purpose, he pressed the button, effectively unbuckling his seatbelt. As always,
he didn't like it when I told him what to do.

     
"…Because
I want to say goodbye to you in here," I explained as I unbuckled my own
seatbelt before moving to sit on my knees and face him. I was small enough that
I could do so easily, and because he had driven the electric, there wasn't
anything to get in the way between us. I took his face between my hands and
kissed him full-force, moving my lips against his for a good minute before
tasting his bottom lip with my tongue. When his mouth opened I entered to
taste, but by then I guess he'd had enough. He took control of the kiss, deepening
it and pulling me closer. I moaned softly, relishing the feel of his tongue on
mine.

     
"Alright," he said tightly when we broke apart. "Time for
you to go inside."

     
I smiled, only
to realize that I was going to have to be apart from him again. I didn't like
it. I loved Jillian and wanted to see her dearly, but that didn't make it any
easier to leave Ethan's side.
Not good. Not good at all.
Sighing, I
looked away. "…I miss you."

     
"I'm still
here."

     
I shook my
head. "I just want to be
somewhat
near you at all times."

     
"…You can
be." He was watching me carefully when I looked back up at him.

     
I pressed my
hand against the side of his face. Even now, there was still no way I was ready
for
that
yet. He wasn't Dale. Living with him would mean that there'd be
severe consequences if things…

     
Don't. Not
now.

     
Leaning over, I
kissed him again - softly this time. "Thank you for playing my game. And
for playing the piano for me."

     
"…Monday,
then?"

     
I nodded. After
one last look, I turned and exited the car. "Later, Spook."

     
"Baby!"

     
Before I had
even fully entered the apartment, Jillian had pounced, pulling me into a tight
embrace. I couldn't help it - after not seeing her in so long, I got a little
teary eyed.

     
"I swear,
you don't age at all," she said when she pulled away. She looked tired,
but still just as gorgeous as ever. Her honey-blonde hair, still damp from the
shower, framed her face in long layers, ending just a few inches past her
shoulders. Her misty gray eyes were as buoyant as they were alluring, and those
adorable dimples matched even Douglas' mischief. She was only four inches
taller than myself, which made it easy for me to grab hold of her cheeks. I
squeezed and wiggled them gently.

     
"Why
didn't you call? We would've thrown a party for you or something," I
complained.

     
"I
am
the party," she replied cheerfully, not bothering to move my hands away.
"Surprise!"

      
I kicked
the door closed with my foot and began leading her into the living room.
"How long are you staying?"

     
"I'm
catching a plane back Wednesday evening, which gives us at least three full
days for non-stop fun." She jumped onto the couch beside Dale.

     
"Some of
us have jobs, you know," he grumbled while flipping through the channels,
looking somewhat annoyed.

     
Jillian rolled
her eyes and looked at me. "He's still mad because I came in just before
he could get the poontang."

     
"I told
you, it's not like that with us." He reached for the nearest pillow and
threw it at her face, then turned to me with pleading eyes. "You'll take
her with you on Monday, right? If Samantha sees you two together, she'll feel
better about the whole situation."

     
"Sure," I agreed.
Guess I won't be getting any work done
that day.

     
"And I'll
get to meet Mr. Assassinator?" Jillian asked excitedly.

     
I frowned at
Dale. "You told her? That was some top secret information."

     
"Then you
shouldn't have told me," he quipped.

     
"You
better keep him close," Jillian said in a warning tone. "I looked him
up, and holy shit did you strike gold. Men like that are a rare breed."

     
That wasn't the
kind of thing I wanted to talk or think about, so I simply shook my head and
walked away. "I'm gonna get changed."

     
We spent the
rest of the night messing around. The television was on, but mostly we just
talked about the past. The happier parts of our past, of course, when it was
just us three throwing all kinds of shenanigans in our tree house. Lots of
'remember that time…,'
which included falling off ladders, tripping over
rocks, starting our own band, and helping Coops with various building projects.

     
Jillian caught
us up on how a few of the other kids from our grade were doing. I was fairly
surprised to hear that most of them were now married. But I was shocked to hear
that some of them were about to have babies. Hell, a few were already a couple
years into parenthood. At twenty-four, I still felt very young and had a hard
time simply even trying to imagine having children. When I finally did manage
to picture it, the idea as a whole seemed rather abhorrent. Unfortunate
circumstances aside, I was far too selfish to ever be a good mother. I didn't
see that ever changing.

     
The things we
did
not
discuss all revolved around The Doctor. Jillian hadn't come to
cry on our shoulders. She came to have some fun with her old friends and forget
about the real world for a couple of days. Dale and I were both happy to give
her whatever she needed. So we chatted away, reminiscing about our youth until
the early morning, when we finally began drifting off. We all slept scattered
across the living room.

     
When we woke
late next morning, we were still feeling nostalgic and decided to stay in
rather than go out. We ordered enough pizza to last us the whole day. I gave
Jillian one of my nightgowns to wear and pulled out some tiara crowns I kept
hidden in a hatbox for when I needed a mood boost. Today, we would all be
royalty. I didn't have a crown for Coops, but I
did
have a lovely top
hat that I found for cheap at an old antique shop. It fit him nicely.

     
We danced
around like little kids at a birthday party, jumping and sing-shouting to songs
from the past. We played every card game that we knew of at least once, with
the exception of Poker. Dale opened up the bottle of wine he'd meant to use for
his night with Samantha, and for the second time in my life I drank some. It
was a deep red this time and, according to Jilly and Coops, went well with the pizza.
I agreed, but then again it was my personal belief that any beverage would go
well with pizza. That was just the power of pizza.

     
We played a few
rounds of Who Am I before diving right into Charades. By that time we were all
a little buzzed, me more than the others. Eventually, we ran out of ideas and,
though I'm not sure how, ended up singing 'Gangsta's Paradise' a cappella. I
completely forgot the second verse, so I had to make do with 'Amish Paradise'
instead. Rather than correct me, they followed suit.

     
"We need
to go to a karaoke joint," Jillian suggested.

     
I threw punches
at the air. "So I can kick both your asses?"

     
"I've been
practicing in the shower, just wait and see. We can go on Tuesday."

     
"What are
we doing tomorrow?"

     
"After
I've seen what you're working on, we are going to go shopping," she
answered with a grin. "Tuesday okay for you, Cooper?"

     
"Yeah," he yawned, stretching out on the couch. "What
time is it? I gotta be up early."

     
"Almost
nine-thirty."

     
He stood up.
"I'm gonna shower and hit the hay. You two be good."

     
"Aren't we
always?"

     
I ended up
showering last. By the time I got out, Jillian was already passed out on the
couch with her hair still wrapped in a towel. I grabbed a blanket from the
closet and carefully placed it over her.

     
When I was
alone in my room, my mind immediately turned to thoughts of Ethan. I checked my
phone for any messages, but there were none. I began to wonder about what he'd
done today and even thought about texting him just to let him know that I was
thinking about him. It was a little late though, and I didn't want him to get
mad with my so-called 'teasing.' Besides, I'm sure he already knew I was
thinking about him.

     
I got into bed
and fell fast asleep within just a few minutes.