The Oath, Book 2 of The Coven Series

Chapter Thirteen

~ Date Night 2.0 ~

"Soooo..." Sebastian drew the word out and grinned.

I laughed. I couldn't help it. Sebastian's good mood was infectious. He looked so teasing and conspiratorial I had to remind myself he was the enemy.

"I thought you were going to wait until tomorrow to hear all about my hot date?"

"So was it a hot date?" He gave me what I could only assume was the Caine look designed to melt the heart of any girl he bothered to even glance at. It was butterflies in the stomach, knees turning to jelly, and heartbeat thudding in your ears, all while you scarfed your favorite chocolate kind of look.

"Do you do that on purpose?" I asked.

"What?"

"That look designed to make a girl fall down at your feet."

He laughed out loud. "Do I really do that?"

"Yeah, you do," I said with a smile.

"Is it working on you?" His grin widened at my blush.

"There isn't a girl alive it wouldn't work on," I told him. "Unfortunately, I have no desire to date you, so I'll brush it off in a few minutes."

"And that's why I like you, James. My good looks don't work on you."

I shook my head as he ordered a cheeseburger platter. The boy sitting across from me and the one I'd gotten to know in the latter half of Jenny's journal were so different. Maybe because he looked at me as an equal and not just a means to an end? I still needed to figure out what kind of spell they'd done that required my sister to kill herself.

"He's the friend in town?" he asked, distracting me.

"Yeah, he and a couple of his friends are staying with my gran. Problems at their place, and Gran said they could stay with us."

"How's that working out?"

I made my disgusted face, and Sebastian laughed at my sour look. "You don't sound too happy about that."

"Yeah, well, it's like I'm living in a soap opera at the moment," I grouched. "I don't have time to play Doctor Phil."

"So your date was a Doctor Phil therapy session?" Sebastian looked at me skeptically.

"Sorta," I said. "It all starts and ends with a girl. She's in love with both of them, but she refuses to let one go."

"That sucks." Sebastian thanked the waitress as she set his food down in front of him.

"Yeah," I agreed. "Jeff is a really great guy, but he needs to just give it up. I've seen the way she looks at the other guy. She'll never dump him. She loves him too much to do that to him."

"Yeah, love can be kinda crazy, but if you find it, you should never let it go. It's special, you know?"

"Don't tell me The Sebastian Caine is in love?" I laughed.

His eyes became clouded, haunted. "I was."

"Past tense?" I asked. "What happened?"

"She died," he said simply. The pain in his voice was undeniable. "Even though she's gone, I still love her. It's not something that just goes away because she's no longer here."

The air rushed out of my lungs, and for a moment, I couldn't breathe. His eyes were full of so much pain, it made my own heart break. He couldn't be referring to Jenny. Could he?

"Tell me about her," I demanded, using my Voice to make him talk. He blinked once, but nodded.

"She was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen," he said. "Took me almost two years to work up the nerve just to ask her out. She wasn't the kind of girl I usually dated either. No one understood what I saw in her, but they didn't need to. Jenny was the kindest, sweetest girl I've ever known. She meant everything to me."