Page 57 of Locke 2

“You should be glad it wasn’t Locke in here,” Jem muttered under his breath, loud enough just for me to hear. “I won’t tell him about that encounter.”

“Thanks,” I said, sarcastically. “God forbid he knows I communicate with the opposite sex.”

Jem glanced at the doctor, though it was more of a side-eye. “That could have been so much worse if I wasn’t here. He would have asked for your fucking number.”

“I’m his patient. He knows my number.”

“You know what I mean.” Jem looked at me, and his amusement was all gone. “Locke wants you. You’re his.”

“I don’t belong to anyone.”

He chuckled, but it sounded mean. “Cute.”

“I’m glad you find my autonomy amusing,” I hissed.

His light expression faded. “It doesn’t amuse me. I don’t like cleaning up Locke’s dead bodies.” Before I could even stomach those words, he added, “Don’t be stupid, or try to get a reaction out of him, either. That’s a fucked-up game we stop playing after high school. Don’t go on dates, or act interested in another man, especially while he’s here. He’ll fucking kill the man that touches you.”

My pulse picked up. I didn’t look at the doctor once as I collected my coffee. I didn’t wait for Jem’s order to come in. I left the coffee shop and walked down the street in the direction of my house. I was now unemployed. I’d nearly forgotten what this felt like. The world felt bigger already, and I felt puny.

“Jem’s right,” Aurora said, skipping alongside me. “You shouldn’t be encouraging the doctor to talk to you.”

I let out a huff. “I was not. I was being friendly!”

“Your cheeks were red, and you smiled at him…even though you don’t feel anything for him. That’s wrong, Kali.”

“I wasn’t trying to do anything—”

“You would have liked it more if Locke was there when you spoke to that doctor. You would have wanted his reaction. Eventhough Jem was there, you were hoping Locke was, too.” She said it matter-of-factly.

A denial was at the tip of my tongue, except when I looked back down, she was gone.

Footsteps sounded behind me. Jem slowed down at my side. He wasn’t breathless. He hadn’t broken a sweat at all despite having half a block to catch up to me. With a cup of coffee in his hand to boot.

“This is a nice town,” he stated, chirpily. “You really had it going on, didn’t you?”

I didn’t answer. I sipped my coffee, and nearly groaned at how good it tasted. Jem whistled under his breath. “Look at all these cute little shops. How long before you would have moved along,Kari?”

“I was building a life here,” I retorted. “I wasn’t going to move along.”

“Oh, right. You’d have been a teacher’s aide, married to that handsome doctor, and you’d have come to that gold dust coffee shop every morning together. Aw. Fucking adorable.” He paused. “Would that really have made you happy?”

His question didn’t sound amused. I glanced at him. He looked back, appearing solemn now. “You don’t know me, Jem. Why do you care?”

“I care about Locke,” he returned. “Where would he have fit into your life?”

“That was the point,” I returned, icily. “He doesn’t fit into my life.”

Jem nodded at my answer and took a sip of his coffee. “It doesn’t bother you how you left him?”

Was he being serious? I slowed down completely and looked up at him. “What about how he leftme, Jem? Unemployed and on the run.”

Jem’s face was hard now. “You knew he was supposed to find you. That was the whole point. You only called him back because you needed him for something.” He took a step closer, his nostrils flaring as he growled, “If it were up to me, I’d have ignored your little plea for help.”

I glared at him. “I’m asking him to help find a little boy. It wasn’t about me.”

He scoffed. “That was a good excuse. I can’t believe he bought it.”

My mouth fell open. “You think I’m full of shit?”

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