Page 14 of Agony of Our Regret (Sorcerer’s Society #11)

FOURTEEN

“Noah asked me on a date,” I announced, as I tied my bathrobe over my small belly and walked into the living room to find Luca and Gavin eating breakfast on the couch.

Luca lowered his toast and raised his brows at Gavin before addressing me. “Okay?”

I put my hands on my hips. I hadn’t expected to wake up to a text from Noah wondering if I was free on Friday night like we were in high school again.

“Remember when I told them I wanted space?”

“Then they ignored you and continued to show up?” Gavin smirked. “And you invited them to your OB appointment?”

I held up a finger. “They were worried. Letting them see for themselves that the baby and I are healthy was the best way to dispel that.”

Luca cocked a brow. “So, the space thing is working out well.”

I rolled my eyes.

“And that bothers you?”

In theory, yes. They should have listened and respected my request.

But in reality, I missed them like crazy and didn’t want to waste more time apart when they were finally here.

Luca’s lips slowly lifted into a wicked smile. “You want to punish them.”

“What?” I crossed my arms and stepped back. “No, I don’t.”

Gavin let out a bark of a laugh. “Holy crap, man. You’re right.”

“Nah uh,” I eloquently protested.

“Yes huh!” Gavin pointed at me. “It might not have been intentional, at least not initially, but deep down, you want to make them suffer. Drag it out so they feel a fraction of what you did when they stayed away.”

“That’s not true,” I protested. “They’ve apologized. I forgave them.”

“You think you have,” Luca joined in with a smile. “They’re back, and at least Noah and Sky have told you they’re staying. But you won’t let them into your life until they’ve sweat it out. You’re making them work for it.”

“I don’t mean to,” I admitted, as I walked to the armchair and sat.

“Neither of us is saying they don’t deserve it.” Gavin ate the last bite of his pastry. “But you totally are.”

“It’s okay, love,” Luca agreed. “They should have to prove themselves after everything they put you through. It would be unhealthy for you to let them back in without making sure of their intentions. They say they’re here for good, but actions speak louder and all that. Let Noah take you out. Let him work for you again.”

I did like the sound of that. I was keeping Vince at a distance until he put in the work on himself. So why shouldn’t Noah and Sky have to do the same to varying degrees?

“Yeah, make them woo you. Make them atone for their wrongdoings. Make them make you fall in love again.”

Huh. Gavin had a great point, except for one thing. “I never stopped loving them.”

“Hush.” He smirked. “They don’t need to know that. Plus, it's one thing to love someone, especially after everything we’ve all been through together. It’s another thing to be in love with them, especially after everything we’ve all been through together.”

Luca reached over and patted his shoulder. “That was powerful.”

Gavin grinned at him. “Thank you.”

I shook my head. Those two were too much sometimes.

But he was right.

They should make me fall in love with them all over again. Not that it would be hard.

Seeing them after all this time was basically enough.

“So, did you tell him yes?” Gavin asked, and I remembered why I came out here in the first place.

“I wanted to make sure you guys didn’t have something planned first.”

They shared a look.

“Should we have?” Luca stretched each word.

Gavin’s mouth moved as he stared ahead. After a second, he shook his head. “No. There are no anniversaries, birthdays, or holidays.”

I laughed. “I wasn’t trying to trick you. I just wanted to make sure before I agreed.”

“Even if we did, we could always reschedule. Noah’s making an effort,” Luca said, but I shook my head.

“No, none of them get to show up, and expect I’ll drop everything for them. You two are my priority. You come first.”

Gavin smiled. “We appreciate that, but you can’t punish them forever.”

There was that stupid word again. “I am not punishing them.”

“Fine, rewarding us.” Luca grew serious. “Nothing can get better if you keep them at a distance.”

“I’m not trying to.” I slumped and rested my head back. “It’s even harder to balance things now than when we were teens.”

“We knew that would happen eventually,” Gavin reminded me. “We just thought it would be when we went to college.”

I scrunched my nose. “Yeah, back when that was the worst thing that could happen.”

“This shouldn’t be an us-versus-them situation,” Luca spoke up. “How they arrived here doesn’t matter at this point. They’re here, and they’re trying.”

“And you want them back in your life, right?” Gavin asked.

I didn’t have to think about that. “Yes.”

“And so do we.” Luca gave me a small smile. “Life has thrown us about a million curveballs, but things are finally coming back together. Maybe we all needed to learn a few lessons before we started our lives together.”

“You set a boundary by not letting them move in. Having time together in your house was a really good idea. I’ve heard from each of them, and they’re reconnecting and working through their problems, personally and with one another. Eventually, we’ll all do the same and move forward. Going on a date with Noah is a step toward that.”

I pursed my lips but agreed. “I’m not ready to dive back into the six of us being together. Not like we did last time.”

“We didn’t have much to lose back then.” Luca crossed his ankle over his knee. “Now we do. You’re not just thinking about what you want. There’s the three of us plus a baby to consider. We have jobs and responsibilities. We don’t get to throw caution to the wind and dive right in, hoping for the best.”

“Plus, we’re aware of the AS this time. We have to be more careful.”

As if any of us needed a reminder of the black cloud hanging over us.I still hadn’t seen the security guards who were supposed to be watching us, which was a relief. I trusted they were there if needed, but I was glad they kept their distance.

“Any progress with that?” I decided to change the subject. I’d go out with Noah, and we’d continue to take things slow. One step at a time.

“We stopped another attack,” Luca said.

“Because of a vision?” I asked.

“No, Gavin’s team got through some firewalls, found some plans, and sent them to teams to stop it.”

Gavin shook his head. “That was a terrible explanation for what I do.”

Luca smirked. “Was I wrong?”

“You did your typey thing, really fast and in a secret code language, then boom! You’re in!” I teased.

Gavin rolled his eyes. “Yup. That’s exactly what my department does.”

I chuckled. “Well, it is amazing that you stopped an attack.”

“It wasn’t me alone. We’d been working on it for a while. We gained access to a lot of new information and have a new AI program that sifts through videos, documents, and looking for patterns. I doubt it will be helpful for very long, though. They might not realize they’ve been hacked for a few months, but eventually they will make changes.”

“Soak it in for a minute before going back to doom mode,” Luca told him. “You guys saved countless lives.”

Gavin finally smiled. “You’re right. That’s a win.”

My phone rang in our bedroom, so I hopped up and hurried to grab it. Vince’s number showed on the screen.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Hey, babe.”

“Hi.” I glanced at the clock. It was nearly eight, and I was running late getting ready for work.

“I wanted to let you know I’m heading out of town.”

My stomach dropped. He was leaving? “You are?”

“Yeah, I was talking to Gwen the other night, and she was telling me about the school you guys are working on and the renovations that need to be done. I have construction experience, so I called Daniel. He and I are going to visit the school and see where I can help.”

Oh. He wasn’t running away. He was going to help. With the school. Built by the Society?

“You’re comfortable doing that?”

He hesitated. “Working for the Society?”

“Yeah, I never thought that would happen.”

He let out a long sigh. “I hate feeling useless more than I hate what they did, and I’m letting go of that anger gradually, too. Gavin and you all were right. Plus, this school is important to you. I want to help, and this is one of the few things I can actually do.”

I was momentarily proud of his self-discovery until he fell back into talking down on himself.

“You can do so much more, but I appreciate you wanting to step in. I’m sure Gwen could use the help.”

“Yeah, and Daniel has some ideas he wants to talk through before discussing them with the contractors on site.”

“Very cool. When are you coming back?” I hated how desperate I sounded.

“Saturday morning. We’ll see how much we can get done while we’re there and possibly go back next week too.”

He sounded so happy. Enthusiastic.

“I’ll still speak to my therapist while I’m there. I have two video calls scheduled.”

Wow. He was doing it. Putting in the work.

“That sounds great.”

“Yeah, so I’m packing now, and we fly out this afternoon. I wanted to let you know, so you didn’t think I was leaving. Leaving,” he chuckled, and I laughed with him.

“Thank you.” Calling and letting me know what he was doing. That was new and a big step for him. “And thank you for wanting to help too. The sooner the school is done, the sooner students will have somewhere safe to go.”

“Rather than being split up.” Vince paused. “When Gwen told me that’s what’s still happening, I decided I had to do something to help them.”

“Yeah, that’s how I felt.”

Being forced to leave the farm in South Dakota and getting split up was the beginning of the end, and I hated thinking about how many other teenagers were going through similar things now.

“Anyway, I just wanted to let you know I’ll be gone for a few days.”

I grinned. “But you’re coming back.”

“I’m coming back,” he promised.

“Okay, be safe. I’ll see you this weekend.”

“Bye, babe.”

We hung up, and I hurried to get ready for work, dodging the guys as they did the same. One day, I wanted a bathroom large enough for us to move around without bumping into each other.

I was searching the kitchen for a snack to satisfy my new phase of being continuously hungry when the door opened. I spun around and lifted a brow at Sky.

“Hi?”

He beamed. “Hi, Sweets.”

I glanced around. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to walk you to the office.”

“Luca and Gavin aren’t enough?”

He opened his mouth, closed it, then laughed. “There are so many directions I can take, each more inappropriate than the next.”

I shook my head and settled for a protein bar. Luca swore by them, but they tasted like chemicals and sad chocolate to me.

“Hey.” Gavin walked out of the bedroom, still pulling a jacket on, and spotted Sky. “Why are you here?”

Sky put his hand over his heart. “Can I not show up without it being suspicious?”

“No,” Luca replied, as he entered the living room.

“I wanted to walk Ave to work this morning.”

“Because we can’t?” Gavin asked.

I pointed to him while looking at Sky. “See.”

“I’m not saying you’re incapable. This has nothing to do with safety or security. I don’t have any free time today, and I wanted a chance to spend a few minutes together. That’s all.”

Oh. Well. That was sweet.

“You can’t just wait until after work?” Luca asked.

“No, I’m meeting my parents and brothers for dinner. One has news, and the other is in town for a conference. We’re getting together.”

“Fun.” I smiled, and he shrugged.

“I also have a lunch meeting, so I knew I wouldn’t see you at all today.”

I extended my hand, and he took it. “Well, it’s very nice to come over and make sure we got to see you.”

He glanced at the guys. “I don’t care about them. I’m here for you.”

“We know.” Luca rolled his eyes and headed to the door. “Come on, Gavin. We’ll try to walk fast.”

“Speak for yourself,” Gavin grumbled, as he followed Luca out.

Once they shut the door, Sky tugged me toward him and kissed me. I expected him to pull away quickly, but he ran his free hand from my hip to my back and up to hold the back of my neck.

I moaned as he deepened the kiss, feeling a need arise just as he broke away and smiled.

“I want to start every morning like that.”

I wiggled my brows. “I can think of other ways I’d like even better.”

His eyes darted toward the bedroom, then he shook his head. “No tempting me. I’m still trying to prove myself at the office.”

I pouted and pulled him to the door. “Then let’s get going.”

When we got out to the sidewalk, I fell into step with him. “Did you guys plan this?”

“Plan what?”

“Noah texted me this morning,” I said, and realized I never replied. “Then Vince called, and you showed up.”

He shook his head. “I had no idea. I told Vince I was heading in when I left this morning, but I didn’t even see Noah.”

“What a strange coincidence.”

“Or we all have one thing on our minds.” He lowered his eyes as I grinned. “I don’t know what’s appropriate to say, so smack me if this is wrong, but is that what people mean when they say a woman’s popped?”

I glanced down at my obvious belly. “I wore this shirt two weeks ago and couldn’t see anything, so I think so.”

His smile widened. “I like it.”

I patted his annoyingly flat, toned stomach. “Then you carry the next one.”

He kissed the top of my head. “I’d love to if I could.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Easy to say when it's impossible.”

I tugged my hand away, pulled the protein bar from my purse, and opened it before taking a bite and cringing.

“Doctor recommends more protein?” he asked.

“No,” I replied once I swallowed. “But I’m always hungry, and lately, I’ve noticed I don’t feel nearly as sick if I snack throughout the day.”

“That’s a win.”

I waved the bar. “But this is nasty.”

He pointed to a corner store. “Then let’s grab some goods. We can stock up your desk, so you don’t have to resort to those.”

“That’s the best idea I’ve ever heard.”

He winked, then took the protein bar and tossed it into a garbage bin as we passed. He began listing off options as we found the snack aisle.

“Crackers. Chocolate. Does jerky sound good?” “I bet Lemon likes fruit snacks, too.” He reached for a box before spotting another and building a stack of junk food in his arms.

“I’m pretty sure Gavin would want me to eat real fruit.”

He stopped and looked around. “I don’t see Gavin here making sure you have what you need,” he scoffed. “The two of them go on and on about how they can take care of everything and look at you. Starving. Reduced to eating those abominations Luca pretends are edible.”

He waved his hand up and down in theatrical horror.

I giggled and spotted a box of chocolate graham crackers. “Lemon needs these.”

He nodded a few times while he took the box from me and added them to the top of the pile that now reached his chin. “I won’t ever let you or Lemon go hungry.”

I shook my head and laughed as he headed toward the registers, grabbing a bag of chocolate-covered pretzels as he passed.

I’d missed him so much.