Untouchable (Untouchables, 1)

“Did Caroline know?”

“Yes. She knew she had to help you pick out an outfit for your Columbia interview, but I told her not to say anything.”

“And Kasey? Did she know you were trying to pad my resume?”

“I told her for college, but I didn’t specify which one. I knew Caroline would keep my secrets, I didn’t trust your friends to.”

“You’re amazing,” I tell him, kissing the side of his face. “And wonderful,” I add, dropping a kiss at the corner of his mouth. “And incredible.” Another kiss. “Thank you so much for doing this, Carter. This is above and beyond anything I’ve ever hoped for.”

His tone is light, but his eyes are solemn as he tells me, “I’m the one who should be thanking you. You’re above and beyond anything I’ve ever hoped for. I never even knew to look for you, but I sure am glad I stumbled across you.”

I feel a pang of affection as my heart fills up. I wrap my arms around him to draw him as close to me as possible. It sure has been a hell of a ride and I haven’t always been thrilled to have encountered Carter Mahoney, but at the end of the day, despite pushing past—and sometimes exploding—my comfort zones, he has opened up parts of me I didn’t even know were closed, and I think it’s for the best. In all honesty, I don’t want to be the kind of person who is so afraid of leaving my comfort zone, I become imprisoned by it. I don’t want to be a person who is afraid to be challenged.

Truthfully, I’d rather be captivated by Carter than be comfortable any day.

In all the ways that matter, I make Carter better, and I think he makes me better, too. He needs a little taming, and I need a little shove sometimes. Carter can love me and challenge me at the same time, and I can keep him from being too catastrophic. Oh, and keep him happy. I’m pretty proud of that.

I know life with Carter won’t always be easy. Sometimes he’ll be mean and pushy, and I’ll have to stand my ground until he finds a way around it. He probably will, too. He’ll always try to outsmart me, try to find alternative paths to getting his way, even when I don’t want to give it to him. That doesn’t annoy me, though. That has been our dynamic since day one; I’m almost looking forward to taking him on again and again.

Whatever life with Carter will be like, it will never be boring.

Epilogue

one year later

“What I’m saying is, you can’t blame the psychiatrist in the study for incorrectly diagnosing. The pseudo-patients made up a schizophrenic episode in order to get admitted to the hospital. Just because they didn’t exhibit symptoms when—”

“Psychiatrists, plural. Are you really going to tell me there’s not one competent person in that hospital who would have noticed, hey, wait, this person seems totally healthy and not schizophrenic at all?”

Gaping, Max rears back dramatically in his chair. “Except for the schizophrenic episode that got them admitted, you mean? So, what, we’re supposed to completely throw out the behavior if they act normal tomorrow? Should we just go on a day-by-day basis? Hey, I know you committed a mass murder yesterday, but today you dropped a dollar in the Salvation Army bell ringer’s shiny red pail, so now you’re a-okay.”

I grin as Cadence grabs her head like it might explode from the mounting frustration of conversing with him. The study sessions for my psychology class are always intense, and Max and Cadence are always at each other’s throats. They’ve never met an issue they could agree on, and it’s so entertaining to watch them fight to the death, we’ve literally started bringing popcorn.

While they continue to go at it, Lucis moves the bowl toward me invitingly. Flashing him a conspiratorial smile, I grab a handful of popcorn and reach for my phone to check the time. My smile drops along with my heart when it lights up and I see the time.

I was supposed to leave 16 minutes ago.

“Shit.” Shoving the popcorn in my mouth and slamming my notebook shut, I start to gather my things.

Noticing movement, Max tears his attention away from Cadence and glances my way. “What do you think, Zoey?”

“I can see both sides of the issue, honestly, but I don’t have time to debate. I did not realize what time it was. I have to go.”

“What?” Cadence demands, wide-eyed. “But we’re right in the middle of this, and we haven’t even finished reviewing the material. We’ve got finals this week, you can’t leave.”

“I have to,” I tell them, shoving the last of my things into my messenger bag and dragging it over my head. “It’s date night.”