Forbidden Law (An Alien Love #1)

Chapter Sixteen

A sigh of relief escaped me as we settled in Jace's driveway. My little SUV was loaded down like a clown mobile. We had split cars, mine followed by Layla's, each divided up with people. Jace had sat in sort of a frustrated-anxious silence as the streets passed by and we turned into the neighborhood. A snake of doubt and guilt still slithered at the pit of my stomach as I tried not to glance in the rearview mirror every few seconds at Rowan. Jaden and Rayne kept up a constant banter, I suspected attempting to cut through the tension and silence.

"Okay, guys. Ready for this? Rayne?" I said, unbuckling my seatbelt. I turned to face her and took in a quick breath; she was already leaning forward, a grin pulling her beautiful face into a literal heart shape. She looked delicate and doll-like, yet I knew better. Her blue eyes reflected a faint glimmer of light from Jace's front porch.

"Of course! I've been waiting for something like this since I came here. It's in tons of movies and I kept hearing about it in different places, so it's been on my to-do list for a while now."

"How long have you been here, anyway?"

She shrugged and leaned back. "For about four years and seventy-two days."

I couldn't help but lift a brow. "You know the exact day?"

She grinned again, glancing at Jaden. "Of course. We all do. You'll come to find that our species is great at math and memory."

"Oh, I can see that already," I said dryly as I opened my door and looked at Jace. He followed suit while offering a wry smile. The number of times I'd seen him bored in pre-cal was too many to count, him doodling odd symbols and equations on the margins of his paperwork or staring absent-mindedly out of the window. And of course, the wicked way he memorized the tiniest of details was almost creepy.

We all headed to his front door, Layla and her group coming. The boy in her group had come along regardless of the invitation being only to the girls, his name being Jacob. Annoying Jacob at that. He made me feel itchy, in the way he watched like, every move and word we expressed. He didn't offer any conversation, which made his presence increasingly questionable. Jace unlocked his heavy wooden door and swung it open. Cozy warmth greeted us as we took our sweaters and jackets off and gathered into the living room. It was about three-thirty in the morning, and I could feel a steady throb in my temples as I glanced towards the corner where Jace's "rock" sat cold and silent.

"Want anything to drink or eat?" Jace said hesitantly. His eyes flicked from face to face. It paused on Rowan, a minute tightening the only sign of his tension towards our new guest.

"Sure," Layla said, her hands running along her thighs. "So...what do you guys want to do?"

"There's movies, games, video games..." My voice almost sounded hoarse. "But first, I'm going to go dry off and see if I can't find dry clothes."

"Can I join you?" Rowan said in a smooth lilt. I'd totally forgotten he was soaked also. Not that that made me feel sorry for him.

Jace stiffened.

"Sure, but don't be a perv," I muttered as I started up the stairs. Jace watched, looking like he wanted to follow, but I shook my head. He scowled, actually scowled, and headed to the kitchen. I caught a glimpse of a few corded muscles in his forearms. The guilt twinged. Rowan was two steps behind me as I entered the first room and flipped on the light. This was one of the guest rooms where a single bed and side table sat in stillness. I had a folded up set of clothes on the end of the bedspread, ready to be changed into.

Rowan cleared his throat. "So...you and Jace, huh?"

I huffed a stringy piece of hair out of my face and turned on him. His face looked too innocent. "Don't even start, Row. Don't. Deal with it. Besides, it's not your business."