CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

“There’s a good concert coming up next Thursday,” Jared said as he flipped through music on his phone. He was lounging on the overstuffed chair in Z’s bedroom that night while she watched an episode of Seinfeld on her laptop. She’d never seen the show before, but she was actually enjoying it. She’d even chuckled a few times. Which was a miracle, considering her anxiety an hour ago when Gabby texted that she’d gotten Devon’s shirt.

Now Z was waiting on pins and needles to see if a vision would come to Gabby. After the third time she’d texted Gabby Anything? Justin had politely told her and the rest of them to back off. Z had turned on the Seinfeld episode to keep herself from checking her phone every five seconds. Jared didn’t seem to notice anything was up.

“So should I get tickets?” Jared asked.

“Huh?” It was getting hard to stay focused when she was around Jared. He was part of a completely different life, and she wasn’t sure how he fit into this one. Or if he fit into this one. She was trying to sound like her old self around him as much as she could, but she thought at least her boyfriend would be able to see a subtle difference. She was watching Seinfeld, for God’s sake.

“To the concert. On Thursday.”

“Right. Uh, maybe.” Who knew what she’d be doing that night?

“Okay. Let me know,” he said casually. It was at least the fourth music event Z had turned down in the past two weeks. Was there ever going to be a point when he started asking questions?

Z’s finger hovered over the mouse to start another episode when the ringing in her ears made her freeze.

I gotta find that cool electric blues song I heard the other day. Z would love it.

Jared’s thought. Z’s stomach did a nervous little flip.

It was the first time this had happened, and it felt a little wrong — but kind of exhilarating. And interesting. He was sitting here thinking about a song that would make her happy. That was sweet.

Getting a glimpse into his mind was strangely addictive, though, now that she had heard that one thought. She tuned every sound out in the room until her ears started vibrating again.

Man, I’m hungry. They never have good food at this house. Maybe I should leave and go grab a burger. Z couldn’t argue with him there. Her mother was notoriously stingy on buying snacks. Probably because she got full from a glass of cucumber water.

Now that Z was attuned, Jared’s next thought came to her quickly.

Then again, if I stay a little longer, I might get to see Scott in his boxers. Or maybe even out of his boxers. In the shower …

Z’s mouth dropped open. “What did you just say?”

Jared looked up from his phone. “I didn’t say anything.”

Of course he hadn’t. He’d thought it. Z watched him, flabbergasted, as he went back to scrolling through his music.

Jared wanted to see Scott naked.

Her boyfriend had a thing for her twin brother.

This was not happening.

She tried to recall any warning signs that he was into Scott. Suddenly, random flashbacks started pounding her like a hailstorm. The fact that Jared insisted on going swimming when Scott was in the pool. How Jared consistently lingered in the kitchen when Scott was there and made awkward small talk. Oh God. The time in the school hallway when she heard that thought about Scott being hot and she’d assumed it was one of the dumb cheerleaders. It was her own boyfriend!

“You should go,” she told him, slamming her computer shut. Had he seriously been using her this whole time? She cringed when she considered that he might have been thinking of Scott even when he was hooking up with her.

“Yeah, it’s getting late,” he answered, standing up.

“No, I mean … this isn’t working, Jared.”

“Wait, what?” He was looking at her as if she was crazy. “What happened in the last five minutes that made it not work?”

As annoyed as she was, she wasn’t going to embarrass him. Clearly he had some issues he needed to work out. “I think deep down you know we should break up.”

There was no way he realized she was on to his secret, but something made him nod amenably, once again reminding her of a golden retriever. Although at least golden retrievers were loyal.

“You’re probably right,” he finally muttered. Then his face scrunched up in concern. “Hey, your nose is bleeding.”

It seemed like the least important thing in the world right now. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.”

Jared slunk out of her room. As Z reached for a tissue to wipe the blood from her nose, she looked back at her phone. Still nothing from Gabby. Z started typing a text to Sabrina instead.

FYI, my taste in guys sucks worse than yours. Have I got a story for you.

She waited a minute for the telltale dots to appear, showing that Sabrina was typing a response. After a moment, Z realized Sabrina hadn’t even weighed in on the earlier text chain. Maybe she was stuck at Sonic and couldn’t look at her phone.

Call me when you can. Or come on over. I’ll be up for a while.

Somehow, hanging out with Sabrina had started to sound like a fun way to pass an evening.