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Entering the portal is a lot like stepping into a hot tub. Bubbly warmth immediately engulfs me, and I swear water seeps through my clothes. Yet, when I stumble out of the rainbow light, my jeans and shirt are dry. Apparently, though, my feet have forgotten how to work, and I end up losing my hold of Max’s hand as I trip forward. But arms enclose around me and stop me from falling to the ground.
Whoever is touching me, their nearness causes a jolt of electricity to zap through my body.
“Gods, do you have two left feet or something?” Foster grumbles as he wraps his arm around my waist.
Grimacing, I shove him away. Out of all the Everettsons to catch me, why did it have to be him?
“Your klutziness is going to get you hurt here,” Foster continues, crossing his lean arms and glaring at me.
“I’m not that klutzy,” I argue. “And even if I am, there’re six of you to keep me from getting hurt, so I guess I don’t have too much to worry about, do I?” I smirk but, deep down, I’m a bit surprised.
I’ve never been one for smarting off to people I don’t know, but I’ve done it a couple of times since I’ve been with the Everettsons. Is it the stress of the situation making me do it? Or are the Everettson brothers bringing out a different side of me? A side I’m not sure I hate or like. Maybe a bit of both.
“You really trust us to protect you?” Foster questions with a raise of his brow.
I shrug. “Sure.”
He leans in, his eyes darkening. “Then you’re stupider than I thought.”
“And you’re a bigger asshole than I thought,” I quip, curling my fingers into fists.
He smirks. “I thought you would’ve figured that out after you tried to hit on me back in Honeyton.”
My face stupidly floods with heat.
Since he hadn’t mentioned the incident before, I assumed he either forgot about it or was just going to pretend it never happened. That was probably pretty damn stupid of me.
“I wasn’t hitting on you.” Not a total lie. I was planning to hit on him that day, but his immediate rejection put an end to it before it even started. “I was just being friendly.”
“Liar.” His smirk magnifies as he slants closer, the rainbow portal reflecting in his eyes. “I could tell you wanted me. You still do.”
“Actually, I don’t.” That part is true. Do I think Foster is hot? Absolutely. But I’m in no way attracted to a guy who has called me stupid and treats me like shit. “The second you opened your mouth, any attraction went poof.” I make a poofing gesture with my hand right in his face.
His grin remains. “You do realize you just admitted you were attracted to me, right?”
I lower my hand to my side, my blood boiling. “Yeah? So what? I’m sure you’ve had a lot of girls attracted to you, but I doubt you’ve ever had any of them like you for your awesome personality. In fact, I bet most girls lost their attraction to you the second you opened your mouth.”
I must have struck a nerve because his smile fades.
I should feel good about pissing him off, but I don’t. Nina calls my inability to be a straight-up bitch my weakness, but I’m glad I’m capable of feeling bad. Well, most of the time. Right now, I wish I could hang on to my vindictiveness for a bit longer, but unfortunately, that’s not my MO.
I’m about to apologize when Easton appears out of nowhere. “You know, when I first met you, I thought you were sweet. Now I’m wondering if you were just hiding your claws.”
“I’m not usually this mean. You guys just bring it out of me.” I turn away from them, and my jaw drops. “What the hell?” My eyes widen as I take in the scene before me: the trees that are so tall they appear to touch the sky, the giant mushrooms covering the grassland, the kaleidoscopic sky, and the hundreds of light orbs dancing through the air.
We appear to be standing on a podium with a pearl-like texture. On one side of me is the rainbow portal and standing on my other side is Holden, Hunter, Max, Easton, and Foster. Porter, Emaline, and Gabe are nowhere to be seen.
As I start to ask where the missing three are, Emaline and Gabe leap from the portal and onto the podium.
“Are you okay?” Emaline promptly surveys me over. “Sometimes portal traveling can do … weird things to your body.”
“What sort of weird things?” I ask worriedly.
Emaline gives a wary glance at Gabe, who shrugs.
“We might as well tell her,” he says. “Things are only going to get stranger from here on out.”
Emaline directs her focus back to me. “Sometimes portal traveling can alter the construction of a human body. Like, for instance, your legs could end up where your arms are and vice versa. You seem fine, though, since you walked through with Max. But if something did get messed up, we can fix it.”
