Chapter Twelve
I walked out of my bedroom, ready to head to breakfast. Today, I was working out with Damien again and wore some black exercise pants with a pink tank top. Normally, Jess would be up and waiting on me, but the living room was bare.
Maybe for once, I had gotten ready before her. I headed to her bedroom and knocked on the door. “Hey, are you ready to go eat?”
“I’m not hungry this morning.” Jess’s voice was groggy like I had just woke her up.
Something strange was going on. “You never skip a meal.” Despite her tiny size, that girl could eat.
“Yeah, I think I may be coming down with something.” She shuffled around in her room. “Just go on without me.”
“Do you want me to run something back before going to training?” I didn’t want to push her into talking to me, but I wished she would go ahead and open up. Ugh, I didn’t know what I should do.
“Actually, that sounds good.” Her voice perked a little at the suggestion. “Uh, If you don’t mind.”
“Girl, I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t want to do it.” I placed my hand on the doorknob, wondering if I should barge in or respect her need for privacy. “Can I come in?”
“No, please don’t.” She sniffed and moved some more. “I’m going to take a shower, so when you’re back, I’ll be in the den.”
“Okay, be back in a few.” I hated strolling away, but I needed to respect her privacy. At this point, it didn’t seem to be anything harmful, so I was going to let it go … at least for the moment.
I made my way downstairs and out of the building. It didn’t take long for me to reach the cafeteria, and I found the guys at our normal table. I headed over to Rage and kissed his lips briefly. I’d missed him last night, but he wanted to be at his dorm for Cole just like I needed to be at mine for Jess because he was acting strange too.
“I missed you last night.” His hand ran through the back of my ponytail. “I snuck out and came over.”
“Yeah, I bet.” Cole snickered as he took a long sip from his mug. “It’s kinda gross you guys talking about that here.”
“Only you would take it there.” Damien rolled his eyes as he took a huge bite of scrambled eggs.
“Yeah, cause I’m unique like that.” Cole nodded and patted himself on the chest.
“No, because you have the humor of a fifth-grade boy.” Rage turned back toward the table and took a drink of water.
“Where’s Jess?” Cole moved so he could see behind me. “Is she hiding behind you?”
“Dude, she’s not that small.” Damien grabbed his bacon and pointed it at him. “Seriously, that’s called discrimination.”
“What? Calling someone short?” Cole leaned back in his seat and wagged his pointer finger back and forth. “If that’s discrimination, then when you talk about how badass you are, that must be too.”
“I never …” Damien lifted his thumbs in the air as he pointed back at himself.
“Just stop.” Rage stood and snorted. “It’s Cole logic. It isn’t meant to make sense.” He grabbed my hand and tugged me to the buffet. “I need a break from the crazy.”
“That’s a good thing. I promised Jess I’d make her a plate and bring it back.” I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “Can you make her plate while I make mine?”
“Of course.” Rage grabbed two plates and handed me one. “We’ve eaten with her enough to know what she likes. She’s a creature of habit in that regard.”
He worked on her plate as I filled mine with eggs, bacon, French toast, and hash browns. I was going to need a lot of energy today. From the hints that Damien had been dropping, I’d be fighting Madison again. We’d been working on counter moves for vampire speed. I was hoping that at least I didn’t fall on my ass within five minutes like the last time.
Right as I finished loading my plate, Rage had Jess’s ready too. I was thinking that I should take it back to her before it gets cold.
We made our way back to the table, and I set my plate on the table out of Cole’s reach. “I’m going to run this back to Jess real fast.”
“Do you have time?” Damien arched an eyebrow and glanced at the clock on the wall. “You need to eat so you’re not late to our session.”
Damien was a stickler about being late to things unless it was something he didn’t want to go to. The one time I showed up five minutes late because Rage had distracted me, my work outlasted an hour longer. “I’ll hurry. I don’t want her food to get cold.”
“No, don’t worry about it.” Cole took the last sip of his drink, causing the drink to gurgle. “I’ll take it to her.”
“But I …” I wasn’t sure if that was a good idea or not.
“Let him take it.” Rage slid the plate over to him. “You’ve got training and need sustenance to get through it.”
“I’ve gotta take care of my girls.” Cole winked as he stood and grabbed the plate. “I’ll catch ya later.”
Usually, I wouldn’t care about not being the one to take it to her, but with how odd she was acting, I was afraid she might get upset. “Maybe I should …”
“Look, Rage is right.” Damien grabbed a napkin and wiped his mouth. “You’re up against Madison again today. Eat up.”
I’d figured that was the case, but him confirming it made my stomach sink a little. Yeah, I was better prepared to fight her, but there was a good chance she could kick my butt. Not bothering to respond, I grabbed my fork and began chowing down.
“Did he ever tell you anything last night?” Rage took the last few bites of sausage on his plate.
“The only thing I got out of him is that he hurt Jess’s feelings and hates it.” Damien shrugged and leaned back in his seat. “I’m not sure what about, but he said that he needed to fix it.” He glanced at me. “Did she say something to you?”
“No, but she’s not acting like herself.” My stomach soured, but I pushed through and kept eating. “I’ll try to drag it out of her when I get back.”
“That’s probably a good idea,” Damien said, “And with the Christmas break coming up, maybe they’ll get some much-needed time and space apart.”
That was another thing I was dreading. “Yeah, most everyone is leaving Friday. When will you?” I was hoping that he might hang around like he did last year, but that was only because I couldn’t leave campus. He had stayed to train me over the break since his family lived close by and only visited them on Christmas day. Even though I could go home this time, since I broke from the pack, I figured I needed to keep some distance for a little while.
“Yeah, I’m leaving Friday too. When are you two heading home?”
“Same.” Rage glanced at me and smiled. “That works for you, right?”
Great, I was going to get stuck alone for at least a week. I’d have to figure out something to keep myself entertained. “Whenever you need to go.” To be honest, I didn’t know much about Rage’s family except that he had a younger brother who lived at home with his parents.