Burn Out *18+*

Chapter 27

I didn't realize how much time had passed until I got an email for Jasper, detailing my schedule with Dexter and I realized that we only had three weeks left together. My first thought was that this couldn't possibly be the end.

The thought following immediately after was not as kind. I had agreed to fake date Dexter for an extended period of time, a believable period of time, to keep him safe. And I had started on this assignment weeks after my mother had disappeared. It's not that I ever stopped thinking that my mother was gone, but more that I felt that the day blended together, all a sequence of the same events. Work, school, checking my laptop to see if there was an update on her whereabouts. It was all so mechanical and straight forward, that it felt like time wasn't passing at all.

I had forgotten that time was running out.

Hope was dwindling.

I phoned Jasper immediately.

"Hey there Alligator," he greeted before bursting into laughter.

I resisted the urge to sigh. Even before the whole South America assignment, he had had the worst sense of humor. That experience had not made it any better and I was in no mood to deal with it.

"Any update on my mom?" I asked, sounding a little breathless to my own ears.

The laughter died sharp and fast. "You know that I would tell you right away," he said. "I promise that you will hear from me before that computer system is updated with anything so you can stop checking it every day."

We both knew that I wasn't going to be breaking that habit any time soon.

"I confronted his brother," I admitted. It felt like ripping off a band-aid.

"I know."

"It's not him."

"I know."

"Fuck, Jasper. I'm trying to do all of the right things. I'm trying to grit my teeth and get through it all, but it's getting so hard. I feel like I don't know what is wrong and what is right anymore."

"It gets like that. I know it does. And you can stop anytime you want, kiddo."

I felt like I couldn't even control my reaction. I hung up. I pulled the phone away from my ear and ended the phone call. I was not giving up. I would not be the failure in the long legacy that my family had created, that my mother was so proud of. I had a place in this world and it was working in covert operations, solving the world's problems before the public could even smell them in the air.

Dexter came over a few hours later, after I had taken a tank top and created a beautiful blouse with it. It was the first time since we had started this whole charade that he had come over, the first time since I had verbally betrayed him after we slept together the first time. I worried that it would be tense, awkward. Even though we were doing it for the sake of maintaining a proper image, there was bound to be hiccups.

Dexter seemed unaware of this and swept in, loading my cat into his arms as he deposited a pizza box on the counter.

"What's the occasion?" I asked from my safe spot on the couch.

"There is a race on. I know you hate watching them, but I need to get ready for race day. It's my first time in a real race and I already have a couple real sponsors. The last thing I want to do is fuck it up," he explained. Completely unbothered by anything that might have lingered between us, he sat down on the couch right beside me, our thighs touching.

For the sake of maintaining familiarity, I rolled my eyes, acting like I was annoyed with the idea of having to spare a weekend night on something as uninteresting to me as rally racing yet again.

But my plan backfired.

Gentle but firm fingers caught my jaw. My head was turned to his, eyes locked on my face. I felt frozen, feeling my lips part but unable to say anything when I saw a flame in his eyes, one that I was coming to know.

"Come on sweetheart, I know that you don't have a short memory. You couldn't have forgotten that good girls get rewarded already, could you have?"

I wanted to say something, anything. I could have shoved his hands away. I could have fallen into his arms and pressed my mouth against his in a feverish act that would have left both of us wanting more. But I did nothing

"If you sit here quietly and can behave just for a couple races, you might get rewarded," he whispered.

"You know I won't settle on half promises," I said back, my voice raspy and low.

"Well, you can either try and be on your best behavior and find out, or you can throw it all away and guarantee that you get nothing. The choice is yours, sweetheart."

~~~Question of the Day~~~

What weird food combination do you enjoy?