Page 144 of Cruel Abandon (Fallen Royals 5)

Which is… crazy.

It feels like it’s verging on insane, actually.

Liam and I learn each other’s bodies… and more than that. The amount of things we can talk about blows my mind. He’s studying psychology, and at one point he whispers that he might want to go into trauma counseling.

He questions my double major, citing the fact that I must be brilliant to tackle math and economics.

I agree but then shrug. I have another year of school to get through, and my options are wide open. I’ve been considering going toward my doctorate in mathematics. I could narrow down my focus to statistics or engineering. Depends on how I want to spend the rest of my life, I suppose.

“I’m officially out of coffee,” Liam says, coming back into the room.

He wears only boxers, and I have to physically close my mouth so I don’t drool. He’s hot. He’s always been hot, but twenty-one-year-old Liam is sexy hot.

“Earth to Skylar.” He waves his hand in front of his abdomen. “My eyes are up here.”

I giggle. “I missed whatever it is you said.”

“We have no coffee.”

“Oh, that’s not good.” I hop out of bed, protesting the way my muscles holler.

We may have spent last night experimenting… and christening every room in his apartment. I think one of my favorites was when he bent me over the couch.

I shower quickly and get dressed even faster. I’m ready and waiting by the time Liam emerges from the bathroom. His hair is wet and sticking up every which way.

Things are different now. Maybe it was our mutual love confession, or just that we’ve put the outside world on pause. No bad news has infiltrated our lives in the past day and a half. We’ve barely looked at our phones.

He tosses me a winter hat and motions toward the window. “Did you notice the snow?”

I grimace. “It snowed again? It’s the beginning of November.”

“That’s New England for you. It’ll probably be gone in two days.”

He waits while I change my sneakers for boots and pull the cap on over my hair. I take a moment to stare at myself in the mirror. My hair has been fading even faster now, and it’s nearing a blue-silver color. Hard to believe I started at such a deep blue-black.

“Ready,” I call.

We walk to the nearest cafe side by side. It’s not as cold out as I thought it would be, but the sky is light gray with thick clouds. As it so happens, the cafe we arrive at is one of my favorites. It was close to my last apartment, although from the opposite direction.

We order and sit at a table in the corner.

Almost as soon as we get our drinks delivered, my phone rings. I glance at the screen, then at Liam. “It’s Whitney’s mom.”

He takes my free hand in his.

“Hello?” I answer.

“Hi, Skylar.” Her voice is scratchy. “How are you?”

I swallow. “I’m okay. How are you guys doing?”

“We’ve been better. Detective McAdams told me she asked you to come in and you hadn’t yet?”

Apprehension prickles up my spine. I glance around the cafe.

“We just got back into town this morning,” I inform her. “We went home for the week.”

“Ah.” Silence, then, “I just want them to have everything they need to bring my baby girl back home.”