Page 114 of The Echo of Forever

Mmm. A shooting guard.

“Same,” I mused, watching him take me in again like he didn’t believe it. “But I was way too aggressive for team sports.”

Tristian took a step back, while bouncing the ball.

“Everybody will be talking about you soon. D ain’t never brought a woman around before.”

He shook his head and laughed, then walked off.

I watched until he disappeared at the end of the curve and then went inside to the bedroom, where I’d seen phone chargers.

After plugging my main line in, I waited and scrolled through the messages. My dad had called fifty times in the last twelve hours, the most recent an hour ago.

I kept scrolling, wanting to piss him off to the point of calling a board of trustees meeting. Once he involved them, I could make my first move.

There was one from Carmen updating me on my mom.

The paramedics had to sedate Quinn once she realized you were gone. Eliel hasn’t shown up at all, but he asked where you were when I called.

I shot off a quick reply while pacing.

Did she have bruises, or had I been seeing things?

She responded quickly.

Are you okay?

And no, you weren’t seeing things. She’s covered in them. They look a little like footprints.

I closed my eyes for a second and took a deep breath. My ma followed a routine schedule and hadn’t deviated from it in years. This sudden change didn’t make sense.

The last time I’d seen her was at the gala, but I couldn’t remember if she’d been herself or not. Just that she tried giving me anxiety meds more than once that night.

Ativan to be exact.

“Something got you worked up,” Demetrius said, his deep voice startling me. “What’s wrong?”

He was in nothing but a towel, and my attention immediately went to the bulge he couldn’t hide even if he wanted to.

Blessed.

My husband was blessed.

“Eyes up here, my forever.”

I lifted my gaze slowly to meet his.

“I’m not worked up, just trying to think about the last few times I’ve seen my mom. She’d been trying to give me…” I paused and bit my lip. “…anxiety meds more frequently lately, but I refused and was too focused on the headaches to notice something was off.”

He sat on the edge of the bed and beckoned me to stand in front of him. I obliged, even though I didn’t want to.

“Don’t look at me like that,” I whispered, dropping my hand as he took my hands and his fingers through mine.

“Like what, baby? Can you look at me, please?”

I immediately lifted my gaze.

“Like you see me.”