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“It was relaxing.” My mouth thins. “I needed that.”
“Well, we’re happy that you took time for yourself,” Jade says.
I nod, forcing myself to eat. I haven’t had much of an appetite since I left Adriel’s. Everywhere I turn, I wonder if the killer is there in the shadows, watching me. Wonder if they’ll find me and end what they started. Adriel wasn’t able to get to me then. What if he’ll be too late again?
“There’s something I wanted to tell you guys.” I take the glass of water to my mouth and pull a few sips.
“What is it?” Jade places a palm to the top of my hand.
“I’m gonna be staying at a hotel for a bit. I?—”
“What?” Elsie straightens her spine. “Did something happen?”
“I don’t know. With everything going on, I don’t feel safe at my place. I’m alone there. I think it would be better to be with a lot of people around.”
“So why don’t you stay with us?” Elsie’s brows furrow with concern. “Why would you go somewhere else? We have plenty of space.”
“That’s sweet of you guys, truly,” I tell her. “But you have doneenough for me. I need to do this on my own. I can’t depend on everyone else. I have to learn how to handle things on my own.”
Elsie twists her mouth in disapproval, but doesn’t say anything.
Jade squeezes my fingers before she returns her hand to the table. “I think she’s right, Elsie. This is good for her. She knows what she needs.”
“Fine. But I’m not happy about it.” She pouts before she grins at me. “It would’ve been fun to have you around again.”
“I can always come over for a slumber party.”
I was only half-joking, but Elsie’s face lights up.
“Like the kind we used to have in high school? My God, those were fun, weren’t they?” Her eyes build with moisture.
“Yeah…” Jade’s gaze turns distant. “We had the best times together.”
“Things are so different now,” I say. “So much has changed.”
“Maybe some things shouldn’t.” Elsie’s attention bounces between the two of us, grabbing both our hands from across the table. “Some things are worth holding on to.”
“We’re lucky, you know.” Jade glances at Elsie, then at me. “For all the things they broke, they never broke this.” She lifts our hands off the table a fraction. “This will never change.”
But it could.
If they find out what I’ve become, they may never want me in their lives again.
And that will only kill me.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
KAYLA
Nerves skitterin my gut as I clutch the door handle of Dr. Collins’s office. We have to break up today, and it makes me sad because I did like him. But after that night at my birthday party, I can’t shake off the unease.
Hopefully, he’ll understand. Blowing a quick breath, I open the door before I change my mind.
“Hello there.” He looks up from his yellow pad, his glasses perched low on his nose.
Suddenly, the nerves return, and I bite my upper lip as a smile trembles out of me.
“Please have a seat, Ms. Jenkins.” He straightens his spine as he takes me in. “I was beginning to worry. You have cancelled our last few sessions.”
