Time (Laws of Physics #3)(7)

This. Right here. This was the reason I’d been frantic to get here, to see her. We had time now, we had all the time in the world now, but I knew—I fucking knew!—the clock had been ticking on her faith in me. I’d told her it wasn’t goodbye, I’d asked her to trust me. But without contact for days, she must’ve been thinking the worst.

Fucking Leo.

“Hey.” I returned the phone to my back pocket, repeating her number to myself one more time, and cupped her cheek. “Are you okay? I honestly came as soon as I could. I promise, if I’d had your phone number, you’d be sick of hearing from me by now.”

Mona pressed her cheek against my palm, her eyes drifting shut as her smile grew soft, dreamy. “Yes. I’m better than okay.” She sighed. “Now that you’re here, I’m awesome.”

This was exactly the reassurance I’d needed. Relief didn’t crash over me. It gradually settled, like a soft, warm blanket thawing the freezing panic in my bones. The terrible truth was, I hadn’t trusted Mona to trust me. Technically, we’d known each other for over two years, but in reality, it had only been twelve days.

If I’d been her? I would’ve been irate.

Tilting her chin up, I kissed her again, softly this time, just a quick taste even though a sharp, throbbing pulse beneath my skin demanded I do more, take more, touch more.

We have the rest of our lives. Take your time.

“I missed you.” Unwilling to cede any distance, I spoke against her lips. “I’m not here for very long, so we need to make plans to—”

“Hey!” Mona stiffened at Lisa’s shrill interruption, her eyes flying open. My mouth landed on her jaw instead of her mouth as she gave the third person in the room her attention.

“Abram,” Mona’s twin demanded, “what did you promise Tyler?”

Unwilling to give Lisa my eyes—not while this woman I’d been craving was finally right here—I brushed my lips against Mona’s temple and nuzzled the soft texture of her hair, answering Lisa distractedly, “He said he knew where you lived and would take me here, so I said I’d play Pirate Orgy’s new single as part of our set during a few tour stops.”

I didn’t know why I was explaining myself. This was a waste of time. I was here, Mona was here, I’d been thinking about nothing else but hoping she’d still want to see me. And if she did, I’d been obsessing about what I would do to and with her body and brain.

Discussing stuff that didn’t matter with Lisa—because it was already settled and done—was pointless.

“Which tour stops?” Lisa sounded obstinate, like she believed she had a right to the information.

“LA, Chicago, New York, and Miami,” I mumbled, while pulling Mona forward and against me by the fabric of her pajamas. I smoothed my palm down the length of her arm, entwining our fingers together. How many hours had I spent thinking about this? Hoping she would still let me hold her hand?

Too many.

We have time.

Mona, splitting her attention between me and her sister, whispered sweetly, “I missed you too.” And that made me smile.

But Lisa made a sound of indignation. “LA? New York? Why the fuck would you do that?” And that made me scowl.

“Lisa.” Mona’s voice was beseeching, and I leaned away to study her profile. She looked fretful, unhappy. Damn.

Damn. Damn. Damn.

Curling my free hand into a fist, I gathered a steadying breath, filling my lungs before turning from Mona to face her twin. Never mind that I’d barely slept in almost thirty-six hours. Never mind Mona and I hadn’t seen or spoken to each other in almost a week. Clearly, if I wanted to spend any time with Mona, the sister would have to be dealt with first.

“Let it go,” I said, deepening my voice so I wouldn’t shout. “It’s done, and it has nothing to do with you.”

Lisa seemed to clench her jaw at my statement, her lips tightening, but kept her eyes—shining with accusation—stubbornly pointed at her sister. “You know what he did to me. And now your boyfriend is going to launch his career?” Ignoring me and addressing only Mona, her voice had become softer, and yet definitely angrier. “Fuck that and fuck you! You know that’s not okay. I’m your sister! Don’t just stand there and let him—”

“Hey.” A sudden and savage spike in temper, the single word erupted from me, sounding like a bark, and Lisa’s startled glare cut to mine. “Back off.”

Mona’s sister angled her chin, her eyes narrowing into slits. “You don’t tell me what to—”

“That’s where you’re wrong. I don’t care who you are, no one talks to Mona like that. No one.”

Lisa scoffed, sneering. “Oh yeah? You speak for Mona now? Give me a fucking break. She is one of the most intelligent, amazing, strong, capable people in the world. She’s a genius. She doesn’t need you intervening on her behalf. Mona can more than speak up for herself, and this isn’t any of your business, Abram.”

“No. This isn’t any of your business, Lisa. You’re right about your sister. She is amazing, strong, capable, but she also has a huge and sensitive heart that you don’t seem to have a problem kicking around whenever it suits you. I see you’re angry. I get why. But your anger isn’t going to change a damn thing. Giving Tyler’s song a spot was my decision. Mine. Bullying Mona isn’t going to change my mind. You talk to her like the queen she is or shut the fuck up.”