Free Duplicity (Spellbound #2) by Nikki Jefford Page B

eyes from her legs and blinked several times. “Not that he’s sharing, but he must know something.”
    “Here’s hoping.” Gray walked ahead of Raj to his car, which was parked beside the Beetle in the driveway. She could feel his gaze on her rear. Gray smiled when she pulled open the passenger door. “Still not locking your doors, McKenna?”
    Their eyes locked over the roof and they stood a moment, frozen in place. Then Raj looked away as though snapping out of a fog and climbed inside. They closed their doors in unison.
    Gray cleared her throat once they’d reached the main road. “Maybe you can catch me up on the past ten months. How long have you lived with your mom and sister?”
    Her question had the desired effect of causing Raj’s shoulders to relax.
    “I moved in with them a couple days after your purge.”
    “I don’t see your Zippo.”
    Raj chuckled. “Mom confiscated it.”
    “Good.” Gray waited for Raj to say more, but he didn’t. If he was going to be tightlipped, then far be it from her to spill her own guts.
    Finally, the silence got the better of him. “So, you really woke up in France?”
    It was Gray’s turn to chuckle. “Yep—came to in a cafeteria full of French students.”
    “I can’t imagine.” Raj looked sideways at her. “And you managed to get yourself halfway around the world with no powers? I’m impressed.”
    “Yeah, first trip abroad. It wasn’t quite how I imagined. Maybe next time I’ll get to see something other than the train station and airport: like the Louvre or Eiffel Tower.” Gray looked at the strip mall outside her window.
    “Ahem.”
    “What?”
    Raj jutted his chin toward the red traffic light they were waiting on.
    “Oh, right.” A car coming from the left braked suddenly when his light abruptly changed. Gray didn’t want to turn the light green. She wanted more time alone with Raj before they reached Gathering. Gray crossed her right leg over her left. “So, you’re a senior this year. Have you applied to college?”
    “Lee and I applied and were accepted into Burlington College in Vermont.”
    “Vermont!” Lee and Raj attending university together!
    Raj slammed on the brake when the next light abruptly turned red.
    Gray’s cheeks heated and it had nothing to do with fantasizing about Raj’s lips on hers a moment earlier. “Vermont is so… far away,” she finished lamely.
    Raj grinned at her. “It’s not that far. Much closer than, say, France.” Raj chuckled. “And it’s a beautiful little town. The college offers a unique hands-on experience and the school’s small: the way we like it.”
    We?
    There was no we! “We” was a two-letter word and Gray wasn’t part of it.
    “Sounds great,” Gray muttered.
    Raj shifted in his seat. “Have you thought about what you’re going to do?”
    Gray’s jaw tightened so hard it hurt. Did Raj really expect her to answer his question? In her mind, she hadn’t finished junior year yet. In her mind, they’d kissed against a tree mere days ago.
    Meanwhile, Raj had gone on to live his life without her.
    “I’m sorry, Gray. I wasn’t thinking,” Raj said, as though reading her thoughts. The kind tone of his voice only made it worse.
    Gray swallowed. “I’m glad you’re happy.” It sounded insincere. She tried again. Raj had been nothing but faithful to her from the moment she woke up in Charlene’s body on April first of last year. “I’m glad you’re with your mom and sister. I’m even glad you’re with me. Not me, me, but that we’re together in one form or another.”
    Raj’s eyes danced. “That was something, the way you took over Stacey Morehouse’s body.”
    “I try to keep on top of recycling.” Gray looked sideways at Raj and laughed when she caught sight of his grin. Then she sobered. “Is my mom happy?”
    Raj went back to tapping the steering wheel. “She seems to be doing better now. It was a bit touch-and-go once she returned home and found out about