Sweet Harmony (34 page)

"I'll go back to the academy," she said,
placing her hands on her hips. "While I'm packing, you might want to put some ice on your leg."

Daniel let out a string of curse words that made her dad groan
from outside the door.

****

Annamarie stood in her room and looked down at her suitcase on the bed. Even though she felt rejuvenated, she was also a little sad too. Over the past week, she'd gotten to know her dad a lot more. Now that he was finally spending time with her, she was leaving. Somehow that didn't seem right. Frowning, she headed over to her closet and grabbed a stack of t-shirts from her shelf. She was packing them in her bag when her dad darkened her door. It was like he'd been summoned by her thoughts.

"You kicked Daniel pretty
hard," her dad said. "He has a bruise the size of Oxford on his shin."

"Just a little reminder not to get too
full of himself." She shrugged. "A kick now and then is healthy for him."

"The bruise sa
ys otherwise." Her dad chuckled despite his words. "Annamarie?"

"Yep?" She
met his eyes, cocking her head.

"I'm glad you're back to normal," her dad said. "Will everything be
okay with that Jaiden guy?"

"I hope so." She still wasn't sure going back to the acade
my was the right thing. "I just don't want to torture Jaiden."

"It'll probably take him a little ti
me, but he'll move on." Her dad twiddled his thumbs. "If the two of you weren't meant for each other, then he can't force it. You can't make somebody love you the way you want them to."

"Daniel would beg to differ."
She chewed her bottom lip.

"If you didn't like Daniel, then all the force in the world wouldn't make
a difference," her dad said.

"I suppose you're right." She sat on the bed.

Her dad sat next to her and their knees brushed.

"I like
Daniel, you know." Her dad smiled. "He'll keep you from getting bored. I also have a feeling he'll stick to you like glue."

"Don't tell him I admitted it so easily, but I like him too." She nudged her
parent playfully, then sobered. "Hey, Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you disappointed that I'm leaving now?" she asked. "You put your music career on hold to spend time with me. If you asked me to stay home…"

"I wouldn't do that." Her dad wrapped an arm around her shoulder
s. "You should go back to the academy. Besides, you'll get to come home over summer break. Yuri will get some one-on-one time with me too, which will be good for him. Do you want to know a secret?"

"What's that?" She leaned in closer.

"When Yuri acts all uptight and adult, it annoys me more than when you blow up the kitchen sink or fill my socks with jelly," he said. "I think I'm going to try to get him to act more his age."

"When I'm
home during breaks, I'll do my best to help with the cause." Harassing Yuri would be the best task in the world.

"I thought you'd be up
for it." He nodded, his eyes twinkling.

Normally she evaded
hugging at all costs, but this felt like an occasion for it. She embraced her parent and smelled his sweet aftershave lotion.

"You're a good dad." She gave him a squeeze. "Don't beat yourself up so much
."

"And you're a good daughter." He chuckled into her hair. "I never told you because I thought it would encourage you
r troublemaking, but I always laughed whenever you tormented somebody with your pranks."

I don't feel so lonely anymore,
she thought, smiling.

"Good to see you're having a good time," Daniel muttered
as he entered the room, interrupting their conversation. "I'm critically injured over here."

Both she and her dad broke a part. Daniel hobbled toward her, acting like he had a broken leg instead of a bruise.

"Stop being such a baby," she said.

"I'm not a baby!"

She seized a pillow and hurled it at his face.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Annamarie stood in the airport next to Daniel as she prepared to say goodbye to her dad and little brother. Even though she was glad she was going back to the academy, she'd miss her family as well as the sprawling city of London.

"I'm going to miss you." She
hugged her dad.

"You too," he said. "But you'll be home for summer in just a few months."

"Yep." She stepped back, grinning.

"Daniel, you're welcome to stay with us over the
break," her dad said. "It'll be nice to see you around."

"Dad, don't," she muttered, embarrassed. Shouldn't she be the one inviting
Daniel to spend the summer?

"I'll take you up on that offer, Mr. Chadwick." Daniel wrapped an arm around her
waist. "It's important that Annamarie and I spend as much time together as possible before we get married. Besides, I've always wanted to explore London."

"Who
says I'm marrying you?" she muttered.

Daniel chuckled, pleased he'd irritated her.

"I hate to end such an emotional moment, but you're going to miss your flight." Yuri frowned as he checked his wristwatch. "You'd better say goodbye to me and then go."

"Right." She was grate
ful for anything to change the subject, even if leaving made her sad.

"
See you soon, Yuri." Daniel nodded at him.

Yuri nodded back, appearing smug and, yes, gentlemanly. Geez.

She bent down and hugged her little brother. Immediately she smelled cologne and aftershave. Why was an eleven-year-old wearing aftershave? The only way he'd have facial hair was if he drew it on with a pen.

"I approve of Daniel," Yuri said
as she patted his back. "Act a little more ladylike so he'll stick around."

That was it. She was officially irritated.

"Sure thing, little bro." She grinned wickedly.

"Don't call me that,
" Yuri cried.

She pulled
away, wet her finger in her mouth, and jammed it in his ear.

"Gross
!" Yuri immediately lost all maturity and started dancing around like he had to pee. "Did you see what she did, Dad? It was so unsanitary."

"Annamarie, that wasn't very nice," he
r dad said, even as he hid his grin behind his hand.

She smirked and ruffled her brother's slicked back hair. That only made him glare and squirm more.

"You're such a child," Yuri muttered.

"Loosen up, little bro." She
winked. "Are we ready to head through security, Daniel?"

"Yeah." Daniel snorted. "
It might be a good idea to leave before you torture your little brother to death."

Good thing she'd have Daniel to torture on the plane.

The two of them made it through security and found their gate with a half an hour to spare. Daniel sat down and stared out the window, not saying a word. Was he a nervous flier or something? She sunk into the seat next to him, recalling how she'd attempted to calm a nervous flier on her flight to New York. It felt like ages had passed since then.

"You scared of airplanes?" she asked.

"Me?" He laughed bitterly. "Of course not. My dad does most of his work in Osaka, Japan. If I ever want to see him, I have to fly."

"You're awfully quiet
, though," she said. "Well, for you, anyway."

"I'm going to pretend that didn't sound like an insult." He
frowned at her. "It's just…"

"Just what?" she asked.

"You say you're envious of me for having friends, but I'm envious of you for having a little brother and a dad who cares," Daniel said.

Daniel, the superrich, ultra attractive
guy, was jealous of her? No way.

"You serious?" She studied his face, trying to see if he was joking or not.

"Yeah." He blew out a sigh and stretched. "Ridiculous, huh?"

Not at all,
she thought.

"
We weren't always like that. My mom leaving seems to have made us a closer family." She shrugged. "Besides, you're my boyfriend now, aren't you? My dad has practically already adopted you as a Chadwick. My family is your family."

"
Thank you. Maybe you're right." Daniel finally grinned again. "By the way, the same goes for Jay and Gavin. They're your friends. Both of them like you—Jay a little too much."

"Maybe we were meant to find each other, huh?" She laughed.

With a wistful smile, Daniel wrapped an arm around her again. "Yeah, I guess we were."

****

The taxi pulled to the side of the road in front of the academy. Annamarie's heart beat fast in excitement, yet her palms were slick with sweat at the memory of being kidnapped by Nathan. At least she had people at her side to help her endure. She smiled, deciding to focus on the excitement instead of the weariness, and climbed out of the taxi. Daniel paid the driver and followed her out. After they collected their baggage from the trunk, both of them stood side-by-side.

"Glad to be back?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah." Mostly, anyway.

"Good." Daniel
snuck an arm around her waist. "You know, you never did thank me for coming to get you."

She clamped her
mouth shut.

"Ungrateful girlfriend,
" he muttered. "You're not going to thank me at all, are you?"

"Who'd be grateful for a boyfriend like you?" She stuck out her tongue.

"One of these days…" Daniel's expression darkened.

Before Daniel could
harass her more, she walked down the sidewalk. Everybody was in class, so she had a break from evasive eyes. Daniel caught up with her and walked at her side.

"I have to see Mrs. Carmichael, don't I?" She had no doub
t that the woman would be just as stern as before.

"Well, you could unpack first, if you
managed to get into your dorm room." Daniel pulled a key out of his pocket and tossed it into the air once, whistling gaily.

"That's my dorm room key, isn't it?" she asked.
"Mrs. Carmichael gave it to you to unlock my door."

"Maybe." Daniel winked at her.

It definitely was the key to the new lock on her door. She could tell by the mischievous sparkle in Daniel's eye.

"Give it to me,
" she cried, reaching for the key.

Daniel was so much taller than her that he easily held
the key out of her reach.

"Jump for it," he said.

She leapt into the air, but even that didn't do much good. It wasn't a great day to be puny. Stupid genetics.

"
Don't play games with me, Daniel." She placed her hands on her hips.

"I'll tell you what." Daniel cocked his gorgeous head. "I'll give you the key if you promise to be my slave for a week."

Slave for a week? Who was he kidding? She wrinkled her nose and kicked him in the shin in the exact same place as before. Swearing, he dropped the key straight into her outstretched palm.

"Thanks." She
cackled evilly.

Daniel
let out a string of curses a mile long.

"Why am I dating you agai
n?" he muttered, massaging his shin. "One of these days you're going to break my leg."

"I wouldn't kick you if you stopped acting like an
idiot." She placed her key in her pocket. "You have no one to blame but yourself."

"I'm not an idiot!" he cried.

Somebody walked up behind them.

"It looks like some things never change," Jaiden said.

She whirled around, unsure of whether she should be grinning or appearing apologetic. Situations like this should come with a guidebook. Luckily, Jaiden was beaming and his luminescent green eyes twinkled. She took that as a sign that she should smile back.

"It's good to see you." Jaiden
laughed at her startled expression. "It's funny how a week can feel like a year."

Amen to that.

"And you said you wanted to go to Paris." She punched his arm playfully.

Awkward silence fell. Darn it. She
'd messed everything up already.

"I think the two of you
need to talk." Daniel shoved her straight into Jaiden. "Do it. Now."

"Hey." She glared at
Daniel.

"
Annamarie, I'll watch your stuff. You two go somewhere private." Daniel waggled his finger threateningly at Jaiden. "Jay, be good. I mean it."

"Okay, okay." Jaiden let out a nervous laugh. "Let's go, Annamarie."

Jaiden headed down the sidewalk and she followed, casting confused looks at Daniel as she went. What was the guy playing at?

Once
she couldn't see Daniel anymore, she stopped looking behind her and blew out a sigh. She was practically choking on awkward.

"Um,
Jaiden, are you okay?" she asked.

"I should be asking you that question," Jaiden said. "The last time I saw you, you were in the hospital."

"I'm fine." She shrugged. "I still have headaches, but they'll go away in a little while."

"
I'm glad you're feeling better." Jaiden cleared his throat. "Did you hear about Nathan? His own mother is testifying against him in court. There's no way he'll be let off easy."

"I didn't know that." It surprised her that a mother would go against her own son, even if he was guilty. "I have to testify too. I don't know how I'll handle it."

It would be a lot easier now that she didn't have to worry about the Daniel dilemma though.

"You're stronger than anyone I've ever met," Jaiden said. "You'll manage."

Once again, there was silence. They were beating around the bush. She needed to take a Daniel-esque approach and ask how Jaiden felt without hesitation.

"How do you really feel about me
coming back?" she asked.

Jaiden didn't even take a second to answer.

"I'm happy, of course," Jaiden said. "I'm surprised you'd even have to ask that. I never wanted you to leave. Nobody has done something so selfless for me before. I appreciate what you were trying to do, but it hurt more knowing you were gone because of me."

"Daniel and I are, you know, together now." She tried to form the
sentence as carefully as possible to stop the words from hurting Jaiden.

"I know." Jaiden ran a hand through h
is dark hair. "I talked with Dan about it and he called me selfish."

"Daniel said that?" She shook her head in disgust. What right did Daniel have to call anyone else selfish?

"He was right, though." Jaiden leaned his head back. "I knew you liked him. Instead of accepting it like a good friend, I dragged you down in my own misery. Dan may have many faults, but you can always trust him to say what he's really thinking. In some ways that brutal honesty can be helpful when you have shortcomings you didn't realize you had. That's why I'm staying at the academy and dealing with everything. I'm going to grow up. I think I need to do that."

"So you're still h
urting because of me," she clarified.

"I'll get over it." Jaiden nudged her. "Just don't run away again. I still want us to be friends no matter what."

Friends…The word choked her up.

"Okay." She nodded. "We'll be f
riends for sure."

Jaiden stopped walking.

"I never did give you a hello hug, did I?" Jaiden asked.

"I don't suppose you did," she said.

"Come here."

With a grin on his face, Jaiden
pulled her close. She'd missed his warmth and his rumbling voice.
I'm so lucky to have a friend like him,
she thought, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Annamarie?" Jaiden said.

"Yeah." She opened her eyes.

"We should probably get back to Dan," Jaiden said. "He's trying to be cool right now, but he's the jealous type."

She stepped back.

"Yeah." She nodded. "I bet you anything it's killing him
to wait behind."

The two of them exchanged smiles and started to
head back. Together.