Page 32 of Oleander

It made that sick, twisty feeling in my stomach come back.

When the bed was made, Luke disappeared downstairs, and I sat at my desk and quickly checked my socials. Georgia had uploaded some photos from the beach, which I scanned and liked, lingering too long on one of the two girls with Caspien in the background.

In the middle of the afternoon, Caspien had gone for a long walk along the shore on his own, and the shot captured him standing staring out at sea, looking serious and pensive. His hair had begun to dry by then, and it sat fluffy, thick, and golden on top of his head. His blue shorts hung low on his waist, showing sharply angled hip bones, a delicately curved spine, and strong thighs and calves.

“So your friends are predictably boring,” came the voice from behind me.

I started; he’d been checking his phone the last I’d looked.

My cheeks flushed at the idea of him having caught me looking at the picture, but then I relaxed. Ellie was in the foreground in a bikini. He’d assume I was looking at her.

I brushed a hand through my hair and sat up, turning in the chair to face him.

“And yours are twice your age and should probably be in prison,” I said.

He stiffened before reaching out to close the door, shutting us inside together. He eyed the airbed.

“I’m not sleeping on that.”

I shrugged. “Then go home. To yourfriend.”

He smiled and moved to sit down on my bed. Leaning back on his hands, he studied me. “Tonight was the second time I’ve caught you spying on me, Judith. If you aren’t careful, I’m going to start thinking you fancy me.”

My face heated, but I managed to make a scoffing noise. “Yeah, you’re really not my type.”

“Stupid, giggling airheads are more your type; I forgot.”

“And what about your type? Old perverts, is it?”

He snorted. “Christ, you’re such a child.”

“We’re the same age?!”

“Yes, and it’s as much of a shock to me as it is to you, believe me,” Caspien said. “Look, ask me whatever it is you want to know. Say whatever it is you want to say – but get it out of your system now because it’s not something we are ever going to talk about again.” The look he gave me was harder, more threatening. “And it’s not something you’re ever going to mention to another soul. Not Gideon, not Luke, and not your stupid, idiotic friends. Do you understand?”

Rage and something else rose in my chest. I wanted to defend my friends, but they could be stupid and idiotic, even I knew that.

Anyway, this was more important.

“Fine. Who is he?”

“What does that matter?”

I couldn’t think of a single reason why it did. Except that, I wanted to know his name. I wanted to know so that when I was older, bigger, stronger, I could hunt him down and hurt him in some way.

I vowed to myself at that moment that I’d find out his name some other way. “I guess it doesn’t...” I chewed my lip as I thought about what else I wanted to know.

“Do you love him?” I asked, completely unsure why and completely certain he wouldn’t answer anyway.

He gave me an odd look as though he thought I might be joking, then when it was clear I wasn’t, he said, “No, Jude, I don’t.”

I tried not to care about the soft way he said my name. Softer than he’d ever said it before.

“Does he love you?” It had looked like it.I miss you all the time.

“Certainly not.”

I frowned at this. At the certainty with which he said it. Then I asked, “Was he the person you were talking to on the phone when I...before?”