“You don’t know that,” I said, tugging on his hand, leading him to the Escalade. “We have no idea what they’ll do next.”

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

New

Summer wound down, and Beth and I undertook the process of delegation. Our schedule at Brown would make it impossible to maintain the hours we’d been keeping at Titan.

Jared made frequent calls to Claire to check on Ryan’s progress, which steadily improved. At times faster than Claire would have liked. To all of our surprise, Ryan wasn't fighting the decision to decommission him. He was focused on getting well and getting back to the States—something none of us had anticipated.

As promised, Jared didn’t try another ambush on Shax, or Donovan and Isaac. Instead, he became obsessed with constructing a fail-safe plan, one that included a Plan B, and help. He refused to let the book get away from him a second time.

Bex grew two more inches, which was a good thing. His inflated ego needed all the room he could give it.

Jared and I spent my last day of Summer Break at our Oak Tree. We stretched out across a blanket Jared had spread over the grass, just inside the shade of the tree. I kept my eyes closed, quiet and lazy, listening to the bugs buzzing and the grass dancing in the wind.

“You’re officially a college junior tomorrow,” he said with a proud smile, brushing the petals of a wildflower down the line of my jaw.

“I am,” I said. “Another summer gone by. Just one more left before I graduate.”

Jared squeezed my hand, turning his attention to the carving above us. “Hmmm…where do you see yourself this time next year?”

I breathed out a laugh. “I have no idea. Why don’t we make this an annual event? We spend the day at our Oak tree the last day of Summer Break next year, too.” Jared grimaced, and my expression mimicked his. “What?”

He worked to smooth out the deepening line between his brows. “Nothing.”

“Jared,” I warned. I became impatient very quickly when he kept things from me, and he seemed to be taking that risk more frequently.

He sighed. “I was hoping your answer would be different, that’s all.”

“Different how?” I asked.

“I was hoping that you would say you saw yourself married this time next year,” he said quietly.

“Oh,” I said, sheepish.

“I’m trying very hard to be patient about this,” he said, his voice suddenly strained. “I don’t understand why you’re putting it off.” He chuckled nervously. “I thought we’d be married by now.” His eyes were still bright, but I could hear the edge of worry in his voice.