Font Size:  

The Healing Power of Sugar

First Kiss (2016) – Turn the page for a sneak peek!

The Academy Scarab Beetle Series

Thief

Liar

Fake

Accessory

Hoax (2016)

Other C. L. Stone Books:

Spice God

Smoking Gun

READ AN EXCERPT FROM THE NEXT BOOK IN THE ACADEMY GHOST BIRD SERIES

The Academy

The Ghost Bird Series

FIRST KISS

?

Book Ten

?

Written by C. L. Stone

Published by

Arcato Publishing

FIRST KISS

I was one of the last people to return to the house at the finale of the snow fights. When Luke finally admitted defeat due to being too cold, we returned to the house. We left our boots by the back door and Luke went to find out if the downstairs shower was open.

I went upstairs, finding Kota’s bedroom empty but the bathroom occupied.

Shivering in my soggy clothes, I contemplated whether I should go downstairs, or strip in the closet and put on warm clothes there.

The warm-looking bed called to me, and I kept my clothes on, crawling between the sheets. I suspected Kota or one of the others would yell at me, but I was too cold to wait for a bath, and stripping in the closet meant I’d get even colder once my skin was bare.

The sound of the shower spraying in the bathroom was starting to get to me, too. Lately, that had become very hard to ignore.

I pulled the pillow over my head, appreciating that it was helping to get my face warm, and using it as a sound barrier.

A hand grabbed my ankle and then tugged at the blanket, but I held on, keeping it where it was.

"Sang," Kota said, his voice muffled through the pillow. "Don't fall back asleep."

"I'm too cold to get up," I said.

"Let me walk you to Nathan's house," he said. "We’ll shower over there. The hot water here will probably run out soon. It’s probably gone already, even with the new bigger tanks we installed. My mother is up and so is Jessica and they've already had their showers."

The thought of trekking over the road through the cold and snow back to Nathan's house wasn't appealing. I had just started to warm up underneath the blankets. Still, I shivered after all the excitement had drained away. We’d gotten up too early and now I just wanted to get warm and sleep.

"I'm fine," I said. "Just wake me up in a few hours." It was meant to be a joke because there was no way they would let me sleep after I’d woken them so early over snow.

"Hurry up," he said. He rubbed his hand over my calf, warming me a little over the blanket. "You're not going to want to miss pancakes."

With Erica at home, there would be chocolate chip pancakes. It was what Luke requested every time we were together. The thought of melted chocolate and maple syrup made my stomach rumble. I pushed the pillow and blanket away in a heap, and was hit by a new wave of cold air against my wet clothes. A shiver started at the base my spine and moved upward through my body, finishing at my neck. I gritted my teeth. “Cold,” I bit out.

Kota stood over me, wearing a clean pair of jeans and a new green sweatshirt. His brown hair was still a little damp, combed neatly to one side of his face. I suspected it was something Gabriel had suggested, slightly different for Kota, but stylish.

The thought of getting back into my boots in my bare feet caused another shiver. “The boots are going to be icy,” I said.

He gave me a considering look before he said, "I was going to pick you up, but I don’t want to drop you on the stairs," he said. "Just get to the garage. I’ll carry you over so you won’t have to put your boots back on.”

I winced as I stood, feeling guilty for being such a baby. I was the one who’d walked outside in my bare feet. I was the one from Illinois who was supposed to be used to the cold. Cold was still cold, though, no matter where you’re from. And I was freezing. “You don’t have to do that,” I said. “I can run over. Just go ahead of me and open the door.”

Kota smirked and then turned toward the stairs, but before we started to descend, his bathroom door opened. Victor stepped out wearing only his usual black slacks and a towel around his bare shoulders. His torso was trim with delicate lines around his abdomen and deep indents at his hips. His wavy hair was still wet from the shower and appeared much darker than normal, almost black and contrasted against his light skin. His fire eyes were dim; he looked tired. He noticed at us at the steps and raised a smooth brown eyebrow. "Is she showering downstairs?"

"I'm taking her over to Nathan's house," Kota said. "There's not enough hot water now."

Victor dragged his eyes from Kota to me. "She prefers baths," he said. "Your bathroom has a tub."

He was the only one that knew about my fear of showers. I shivered where I stood and not just from the cold. I didn’t want to talk about showers right now. "I can take one in the other bathroom," I said.

Victor pressed his lips together as he looked at me for a long moment. Then he nodded slightly and turned toward the closet, picking through the hanging shirts.

Since he didn’t say anything else, I assumed had kept his promise not to tell the others until I was ready. As I descended the stairs behind Kota, I hoped he understood why I hadn’t said anything to Kota this time.

Being cold wasn’t the only reason. I didn’t know where to start. Every time I hesitated, I felt the guilt of holding back. At first, it seemed such a stupid little thing to worry about when we had real worries like Mr. Hendricks and his people following us, Mr. McCoy hunting for me, and all the other problems we had been facing. Maybe back then when it had first come up, it had been the wrong time to talk about something like that.

Now, after almost a month of quiet, of all of us going about our routines, and forcing Mr. Hendricks to stay put by not drawing attention to ourselves, I could have told them but I hadn’t. At first I didn’t want to trouble anyone with a new problem. It’s not like they could have solved it, anyway. All I had to say was that I wanted a bath; no one had questioned it.

Still, I knew it was probably best to tell them. I wanted to wait until I got a moment alone with Victor; maybe he could help me figure out how to tell one of the others.

I followed Kota to the back door and the salty, greasy smell of bacon frying hit my nose as we passed near the kitchen, making my stomach rumble.

Kota encouraged me on. “Hurry and get a shower in,” he said. “By the time you get back, it’ll be ready.”

I got out in the garage before he had a chance to close the door behind him and descend the few stairs. The big door was open and I could see the snow had already started to get soggy and melty, only patches remaining now that it had warmed up. There was the start of a very soggy snowman at one corner of the house, the one we had given up on when the boys finally realized they wouldn’t be able to collect enough snow before it all melted.

My clothes were sticking to me and I sniffed as my nose started to run. I wiped at it with the sleeve of my jacket.

Kota came up behind me. “You sure you don’t want me to carry you?”

I looked over at him. “No, it’s okay.

He grinned at me and then blurted out, “Ready, set, go!” before he took off in a jog.

Finding a spurt of energy, I raced behind him, catching up only when we got to the road. Once he realized I was about to leap ahead, his run turned into a faster sprint, aiming right for Nathan’s front door.

I was breathing in cold air and had to go around the wet grass so I wouldn’t slip on it in my bare feet.

He was able to get the key in the door right before I crashed into him, breathing heavily. The short run wouldn’t normally have winded me so badly, except I was already exhausted from playing earlier.

I leaned on him, tired and needing support.

Kota eased me back a bit. “Hang on,” he said with a chuckle. “I can’t open the door and hold you at the same time.”

I pulled back, waiting. Kota opened the door and reached back around my waist to pull me against him, picking me up to carry me into the hallway.

I was met with a wave of warm air—Nathan’s house was warmer than Kota’s—and I breathed in deeply, catching the leather and wood scents of the house.

Kota locked the door behind us and urged me on. I shuffled forward, and then stopped and listened when I heard an unfamiliar sound.

Someone was in the bathroom in Nathan’s dad’s room. I was usually the only one who used it, since everyone else liked Nathan’s new shower.

Kota turned his head toward the sound. “Looks like someone beat you to it,” he said, before turning me toward the hallway bathroom. “You’ll have to settle for a warm shower instead of a bath.”

A memory of being inside the shower at Victor’s house sent waves of nausea to my empty stomach. I almost whimpered but coughed to cover it. “I could wait.”

“You’re freezing,” Kota said with a chuckle, though his eyes were concerned. “Your lips are turning blue. You need to get warm.”

As I stood still in the kitchen, hesitating, I touched my lips. The sprint here and fear were warding off the cold, but that wasn’t the point. I pressed my lips together, secretly hoping whoever was in that bathroom would finish quickly. There wasn’t an argument I could make that would make sense.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
Articles you may like