Page 64 of The Fate Factor

“Oh, you don’t have to…” I say half-heartedly. I love her, but suddenly I really want her to go.

“I do.” She darts to the bathroom and comes back with a pack of makeup wipes, shoving a few in my hand. I swipe the damp cloth over my blue eyelids while she buzzes around the room gathering her things.

And then she’s gone.

“Here, come in.” The rain that started as a drizzle earlier this evening has turned into a downpour. A raindrop falls from the zipper of Jamie’s hoodie as he steps through the threshold, toeing off his sneakers.

“This place is identical to my stepdad’s,” he says, looking around.

“Is it?” I like that for some reason, that he might know his way around.

“It’s a good thing the door was locked the night I passed out on your porch.” He nods toward the door to Nana’s room, still closed. “I would have headed straight for your bed.”

I laugh because his flirting is back and I’m so relieved by it, but it’s also an awkward reminder that he wouldn’t have headed to my bed because I’m sleeping in the loft like a child.

I push that down and gesture to where he’s holding a small paper bag in the crook of his arm. “What’s that?”

“Oh, I brought you this.” He seems nervous, color blooming on his neck as he reaches into the bag. It’s a grocery store kalanchoe with the most gorgeous peach flowers, and I think my heartmight flutter right out of my chest. “To paint,” he says. “You said you were done with the hops.”

“I am.” I take it from him and clutch it to my chest.

“None of the real floral shops were open, or—”

“I love it, Jamie.”

He nods once. “Good. I’m sorry I interrupted your night with Kate.”

“It’s fine. Really.” I set the plant on the counter and touch my thumb to a tiny leaf. It’s a double flower variety, so each bloom has about twenty petals in a tight little cluster. I can’t wait to sketch it. “Um. How was your day?”

“It was…” He laughs. “Not great.”

My face falls. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Ireallydon’t.”

“Oh. Okay.” I suppose I don’t deserve his bad days after the way I left things. He starts to say something else, but I interrupt him.“I’m just going to—” I gesture to the bunny onesie “—go put literally anything else on.” God,why?

“You don’t have to,” he says. “I mean… it looks cute. You look cute.” He scratches the back of his neck.

“Thank you. But I definitely have to.” Tail firmly between my legs, I run upstairs and strip out of the onesie and into a pair of shorts and a tank. The hoodie I stole from him is draped over the chair in the corner, but it probably wouldn’t be appropriate to put it on now. Instead, I grab a long sleeve T-shirt, quickly tugging my hair out of the buns.

And then I sink to the bed and breathe through my hands. I’m not sure how I’m supposed to proceed here. If there’s some puzzle involved in this, some secret code I’m supposed to figure out, I can’t imagine why the universe thought I was the girl for the job. It took being slapped in the brain by a psychic vision multiple times before I even dared to believe it.

Everything seemed to fall into place before I saw that tattoo, and I just don’t know what to make of this new development after everything else. The magic things that came true and the real way we are after such a short time. If this thing is taking requests, I could really use some clarity, an easy explanation that turns this back into a sure thing. But instead, seeing him like this, unsure and tentative, it makes the whole magic thing seem even more like a dream.

I’m past being impolite, hiding up here, so I head back downstairs and find Jamie crouched down low, letting Pixie attack his hand.

“Hey.”

“I didn’t know you had a cat.” He scoops Pix up, and all of the soft parts inside my heart collectively swoon.

“That’s Pixie.” Pix rubs her face on his chin. “She does this with everyone.”

“Aw, lie to me, would you?”

I laugh. “Sorry. She’s sort of a flirt, but I’m sure this is genuine.”

“She’s beautiful.” He teases her with the string on his hoodie, and she grabs it with her claw. “Look at those big gold eyes just like your momma.”

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