Page 99 of The Fate Factor

Jamie lifts his head, peering at me through one eye, nose scrunched guiltily.

“What?”

“You finished the bag last weekend. I forgot to grab you more.” He rolls to the edge of the bed and stretches his arms over his head. The iris is still perfectly intact on his skin. “I’ll walk to the store.”

“Wait.” I can feel the beer from last night making my body swell. “I’ll go too. I want the exercise.”

We pull on clothes and sneakers, and Jamie lets me borrow another Fortune hoodie, bringing my collection to four. The air is a cold slap when we head out toward downtown. The closest place with halfway decent coffee is a local bakery, and Jamie heads for the counter while I bee-line to the carafes.

I’m pouring too-hot French vanilla roast into my to-go cup when I hear a voice over my shoulder. “I know you.”

“Sorry?” I turn and smile brightly at a smallish blonde dressed in a bright green pea-coat and jeans. Her hair is pulled back and she has pearls in her ears. She’s not smiling back.

“You’re the girl from the roof.”

Oh, God. Becca. I didn’t recognize her. Why didn’t I recognize her?

I open my mouth and close it again, unsure how to make casual conversation with Jamie’s ex, and by the looks of it, she isn’t interested in niceties. Her brows are drawn down, her mouth tight. She looks older now, which obviously makes sense; it’s been two years. I’m stunned and on top of that, growing hot with worry. As uncomfortable as this little reunion is for me, Jamiereallyisn’t going to like it.

“Holy shit. Is that a Fortune sweatshirt?” Becca shakes her head like I’m some bad dream she’s trying to forget.

I tug nervously on the strings of the hoodie, two sizes too big for me and quite obviously not mine. “It’s… uh…” I think about lying. Is it possible to get away with her not knowing I’m here with Jamie? I know how this looks. Maybe I can text him and tell him I’ll meet him outside.

But before I make the decision, Jamie’s boyish laugh echoes through the bakery. She recognizes it as well as I do, and her eyes track to where he’s chatting with the man behind the donut counter. She blinks at him, then turns to me with her nose scrunched. I feel the exact moment she puts it together.

“No way. You’re herewithhim?” She laughs bitterly. “Well, isn’t that interesting.”

I swallow, wishing I could say it’s not, but the fact is she has no idea just how interesting it is, me and him—us.

Her eyes narrow and what I thought might be genuine hurt morphs into indignation. “I’d love to know how you ended up with Jamie after that night. I mean, I’ve seen him around of course. I haven’t seen you.”

“It’s new.” My voice sounds like a string about to snap.

She crosses her arms across her chest and looks me up and down. “Quite the long game.”

“Sorry?”

“The show you put on that night? It was just to steal him? God, couldn’t you just get his number from one of the boys? Shoot your shot like anyone else?” I swear her fingers tremble when she tucks a stray hair behind her ear. She’s shaken. Angry.

This reaction doesn’t mesh with the villain I’ve made her out to be in my head all of these years and my skin starts to tingle with an incoming storm.

“I wasn’t shooting my… I wouldn’t… You were cheating on him,” I say with more confidence than I feel, because this partof the vision? It’s never been any of my business. Certainly not enough so that I can throw it back in her face here.

Becca and Jamie’s relationship is something I don’t like to think about for obvious reasons. I’m a bystander, a particularly intimate one, but standing by nonetheless.

Becca shakes her head like she can’t believe my gall either, bringing up her past crimes. “Wow. Well, that’s one way to spin it.” She leans in closer. “I wasn’tdoinganything,” she hisses. “I didn’t… I didn’t go through with it.”

Something heavy drops inside of my chest. “I don’t understand.”

She huffs a laugh. “Good to know you did your due diligence before messing with my whole life. Why couldn’t you just leave us alone?” She looks at him again and laughs. “Well, I guess I know now.”

Possessiveness scratches inside of me when she refers to herself and Jamie as “us.” It’s not a feeling I have a lot of experience with, but I try to hold onto it because underneath it is a thick and thorny fear.

I want to fire back, tell her that he’smine, actually. I saw it. But instead, my breath starts to skip and go unsteady because I get the distinct feeling there’s something I’m missing here.

“What do you mean you didn’t go through with it?”

“I mean I didn’t cheat on Jamie the way you lied and said I did.”

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