Page 64 of The Hawthorne Legacy
I ducked his grip and barreled toward the bricks.
“Heiress.” Suddenly, Jameson was standing between me and the wall. I tried to stop, but couldn’t in time, and my fist connected with his chest. He didn’t even blink.
I uncurled my fists, staring at him, realizing what had happened and horrified that I had hit him.
“I’m sorry.” I had no excuse for losing it like this. So Toby had told me to stop looking? So he didn’t want to be found? So what?
What was that to me?
“Tell me what you need.” Jameson wasn’t flirting. He wasn’t being cryptic. He wasn’t using me, in any way that I could tell.
I let out a long, effortful breath. “I need to take this damn wall down.”
Jameson nodded. He looked past me to Oren. “We’re going to need a sledgehammer.”
CHAPTER 54
I took that wall down, brick by brick, and when my arms couldn’t hold the sledgehammer any longer, Jameson took over for me. With one last swing, he cleared enough that I could step through the rubble.
Jameson ducked in after me.
Oren let us go. He didn’t even try to follow. He stayed positioned at the entrance to Toby’s wing, on the lookout for anyone who might decide that we didn’t belong there.
“You must think I’ve lost it.” I snuck a look at Jameson as I walked across the marble floor of Toby’s hall.
“I think,” Jameson murmured, “that you finally let go.”
I remembered the way his skin had felt under my hands in the hot tub. That was letting go. This was me, hanging on to something. I didn’t even know what.
“He doesn’t want me to find him.” Saying the words out loud made it feel real.
“Which suggests,” Jameson added, “that he thinks we might be able to.”
We.
I stepped into Toby’s bedroom. The black lights were still there. Jameson turned them on. The writing was still on the literal walls.
“I’ve been thinking,” Jameson said, like it was a confession, like his mind wasn’t always on the move. “The old man didn’t leave Xander an impossible task. He left a game, one originally meant for Zara and Skye. And that means that if we follow this through to the end, there will be an end. This is all leading somewhere. I can feel it.”
I took a step toward him. Then another. And another.
“You can feel it, too, can’t you?” Jameson said as I closed the space between us.
I could feel it. The chase was gaining momentum. The hunt was closing in. Eventually, we’d figure out what the dates on the rings meant. We were barreling forward. Jameson and me.
I pushed him up against the closest wall. I could see Toby’s writing all around him, but I didn’t want to think about Toby, who’d told me to stop looking.
I didn’t want to think about anything, so I kissed the boy. This time it wasn’t rough or frantic. It was gentle and slow and terrifying and perfect. And for once in my life, I didn’t feel alone.
CHAPTER 55
The next day at school, I didn’t wait for Jameson to find me. I found him. “What if the numbers aren’t dates?” I said.
That got me a slow, winding, wicked smile. “Heiress, you took the words right out of my mouth.”
I half expected to end up back on the roof, but this time Jameson took me to one of the “learning pods” in the STEM Center. Basically, it was a small, square room where the walls, ceiling, and floor were all painted with whiteboard material. There were two white rolling chairs in the center of the room, and nothing else.
Eli started to follow us inside, and Jameson took that as his cue to run a hand down my back and bring his lips to the spot where my neck met my jawline. I arched my neck, and Eli went bright red and stepped out of the room.
