Branded (The Branded Series) (9 page)

“It’s not
broken,” Anna said. I looked away to avoid Rachel’s eyes, which were clearly
aimed in my direction.

“Really?” Noah
said, his confusion apparent. “But I thought . . .” He glanced quickly at
Rachel.

“Yeah, it was
weird. It felt broken. It hurt a lot, but then it started to feel a lot better
as we sat there. And now it doesn’t hurt at all.” Anna wiggled her arm as
proof.

“Yes, very
strange indeed,” Rachel agreed.

My eyes
focused on Rachel who was now politely smiling at Anna. I put my arm around
Anna’s waist, led her toward the front of the lodge, and said, “I’m hungry. Who
wants to eat?”

Halfway through lunch
I got up to
use the washroom. I hadn’t noticed I was being followed until I rounded the
corner and felt someone grab my arm and spin me around.

“Rachel, what
the hell?”

“You,” she
hissed. “You used your gift.”

“Pretty
impressive, right?” I grinned as I pulled my arm from her grip.

“Impressive?”
Her stone-cold eyes were far from impressed. “You could’ve been caught. That
was just stupid, Jake. She wasn’t dying.”

“Yeah, yeah.
So only use your gifts for life-or-death situations. Got it. May I be excused
now?” I continued to smile, which only made Rachel angrier.

“
That
is why having a girlfriend is dangerous. You just don’t get it! You’re too
focused on the wrong things!” She flung her arms up into the air and spun
around to leave.

I shook my
head. So high-strung. She needed to relax. It’s not like she doesn’t use
her
gift for everyday stuff. Wait, that reminded me . . .

“Hey, Rachel,”
I called after her. “I don’t get it. You saw her arm in a cast. How did you
see
that when it didn't end up happening?”

She stopped in
her tracks and slowly turned to face me. “I see what is meant to be. The only
time that can change is if someone
gifted
”—she waved a disgusted hand in
my direction—“gets in the way.”

I pursed my
lips to hold back a smile. “So . . . I can
trump
you?” Her defeated
expression put a smile on my face.

“No, you can’t
trump
me, you ass! UGH!” She threw her hands up again and stomped off.

This time I
let her go.

The rest of
the day was
pretty uneventful. I didn’t let Anna out of my sight even though Rachel assured
me that there would be no more drama. It was easy to convince Anna to play
beach volleyball for the remainder of the afternoon since she was a little
nervous about getting back on her skis. We decided it was time to call it a day
around eight o’clock.

“I don’t know
about you guys,” Eric said as we walked back toward the lodge, “but I’m
finished. The hot tub sounds pretty damn good right now.”

“I’m already
there,” Anna agreed as she pulled her elastic out, letting her blonde hair
spill over her shoulders. “My body is killing me.”

Eric’s
expression went from exhausted to ecstatic. My fist twitched. What was it about
this guy that stirred my desire for blood? I decided he wasn’t worth the extra
effort it required to hit him.

“Anna, your bag
is still in
here. Did you want me to bring it to you?” I called down the hall as I unlocked
the door to my room.

“Right. I’ll
come and get it. Just give me a sec.” She disappeared into her room with Rachel
trailing behind.

I held the
door open for Noah and then we both crashed on the bed. The soft, plush mattress
felt awesome under my tired body.

“Dude, so
what’s the deal with the bed? How come there’s only one?” Noah asked.

“Eric’s idea
of a joke? Who knows.”

“Aaah.” Noah
stretched out. “That was a lot of fun, man. Rachel’s a surprisingly good skier.
I’m wiped.”

“Well, go
ahead and get your beauty sleep then, I’m going to the hot tub.” I tossed a pillow
at his head as I got up to find my bathing suit.

“Why? So you
can make sure Eric doesn’t hit on your girl?” Noah hurled the pillow back,
smoking me in the back of the head.

I pretended to
think his observation was funny. “Like she’d ever fall for a prep like Eric.”

A knock sounded
at the door and Anna poked her head in. “You boys decent?”

“Come on in,
Anna. We’re just getting our trunks on.” Noah hesitated for a moment, and then
said with as much coolness as he could gather, “Is . . . Rachel coming?”

“You’re such a
dork, Noah. Yes, she’s coming,” Anna said. Noah blushed. I laughed.

“Knock, Knock,”
Rachel chimed as she strutted in wearing a black bikini and holding a towel
over her arm.

Noah stared,
which was embarrassing even for me. I threw my towel to distract him and asked
if he knew where my bathing suit was.

“How the hell
should I know where your bathing suit is?” He got up and walked to the bathroom
to get changed. I rolled my eyes and dug my trunks out of my duffle bag.

“Hurry! Come
on, we’ll never get a spot in the tub if we’re the last ones there,” Rachel
whined.

“So we don’t
get a spot in the tub, so what? I’m sure it won’t be the end of the world,
Rachel,” I said before taking my turn in the bathroom to get changed.

The hot tub
was full,
just as Rachel had said it would be. I should’ve put more faith in her
prediction. Eric, Lexie, Tyler and Monica were already soaking their tired
muscles.

“Hey,” Eric
called to us as we walked toward them. “Come on in.”

Anna pulled up
a chair and said, “Looks full. We’ll wait our turn.”

“There’s a
spot right here on my lap, baby,” Eric flirted as he exchanged a laugh with
Tyler. Apparently they didn’t get the memo about us being the hottest new
couple.

Anna played
along. “That’s sweet of you, Eric . . . maybe Rachel or Noah could take it. I’m
going to sit on Jake’s lap.”

The laughs
echoed through the room as Tyler called, “Burned!”

I sat down in
the chair next to the hot tub, pulling Anna onto my lap while I wrapped my arms
around her smooth waist.

“Mmm, now
this
is relaxing,” Anna moaned.

I was light-headed
yet completely grounded at the same time. I was in absolute bliss holding Anna
Taylor on my lap and feeling her warm skin against mine. Like floating on
clouds. Like how it should be. Was meant to be.

A couple of
hours later
we were on our way back upstairs. My skin was wrinkly and soft. My muscles were
relaxed.

“Well, we
should get some sleep. More skiing and volleyball tomorrow.” Anna smiled as she
forced back a yawn.

“My body could
use a break,” I said. “Maybe we could do something different instead?”

“How about a
hike?” Anna suggested.

“Sounds good
to me.” I kept my eyes locked onto Anna’s. Her face was flush from the hot tub,
her hair was wispy, and her eyes were getting heavy.

Rachel rested
her head against Noah’s shoulder and yawned, “Good night, guys. See you bright
and early.” She attempted a sluggish wave and turned to leave.

“Not
too
early, right?” I called after her to make sure she wasn’t planning any morning
attacks.

“Nine o’clock,
sharp,” she called back.

I rolled my
eyes and reached for Anna’s hand as Noah unlocked our room and then disappeared
to give us some privacy. We stood face to face as our fingers played together.

“I don’t want
to say good night,” I admitted as I brought her hand to my cheek and kissed her
fingers softly.

“I know.” Anna
leaned into me and wrapped her arms around my waist. I kissed her forehead and
stroked her smooth hair. My heart was playing a loud beat in my chest.

“So, let’s
not. Let’s stay up and talk. I couldn’t sleep right now anyway.” I pulled away
to watch her face, hoping she was agreeable.

“I know what
you mean. I’m tired, but I’m not ready for bed.” Anna took a step back. “Let me
go change and I’ll meet you back here in a couple of minutes.”

“Sounds good.”

We found a
cozy spot by
the fire in the lounge area. I sat down at the end of the big leather sofa,
pulled Anna down beside me and locked my arms around her. How could I have
missed this before? How could the idea of “us” have never crossed my mind
before? It was hard to pinpoint what it was about her that made me want to keep
her next to me all the time now. She was irresistible. So smart. So beautiful.
So sweet. She was everything.

“I feel so
silly about the whole arm thing earlier today. I totally overreacted,” Anna
said as she rested her head on my chest and snuggled in.

I paced my
breathing and replied, “You didn’t overreact. What do you mean?”

“Well, you
didn’t see me when I fell. I was crying and everything. It hurt so bad, I
thought for sure it was broken.” Anna ran her hand over her arm.

“Anna, I am
so
sorry I wasn’t there with you.” I could’ve taken the pain away. I could’ve
healed her before she felt anything. I should’ve been there.

“Jake, it’s
not your fault. You couldn’t have changed anything.”

“I know, but I
just wish I was there for you.” I lowered my head.

“S’okay.
You’re here now,” she said sweetly. Lifting my arm slightly, she kissed my
wrist softly, leaving her lips there for a tantalizing moment. It made my body go
limp as I became completely defenceless. When her lips left my wrist, I could
still feel their warmth.

The fire
crackled, captivating us with its flickering flames and we stayed like that for
several minutes. The lounge was nearly empty, with just a few other couples at
the bar.

Anna giggled.
“You know what I was just thinking about?”

I chuckled in
reaction. “No, sorry, I can’t read minds.” Although
that
would have been
a cool gift.

“I was
remembering that time when we went camping a couple of summers ago and you were
trying so hard—” Anna broke off to laugh. “You were trying so hard to start the
fire.”

I laughed as
the memory returned to me. “I had
everything
in that fire pit—magazines,
wood, leaves, toilet paper . . .
food
.”

Anna was
laughing so hard that her body was shaking. “And don’t forget Noah’s T-shirt!”

“Shh! He still
doesn’t know what happened to his shirt!” I laughed.

“You were so
funny!”

“I was trying
to impress you,” I said, realizing it to be true.

“Oh, is that
what you were trying to do?” Anna wiped a tear from her eye as her laughter
dimmed. “I wish I would’ve noticed.”

“Well, that’s
not as bad as the time we were building that tree house in your backyard,” I
casually reminded her.

“Oh, please.
The tree house incident was
your
fault.”

“You can’t be
serious. You were so high on your horse about being the first girl in our
neighbourhood to build a tree house all by herself that you wouldn’t let anyone
help.”

“Well, still.
You knew what I wanted. You could’ve passed it to me,” Anna giggled.

“Well, I’m
glad I didn’t. It wouldn’t have been half as entertaining as watching you fall
out of the tree trying to reach it.” I laughed as I remembered Anna plunging
several feet to the ground while she had been reaching for the hammer with a
lasso rope—too stubborn to ask me to pass it to her. She was afraid people
would find out that a
boy
helped her build the tree house.

We laughed as
we continued to reminisce about the past few years. We had some great times
together.

“It’s weird,
you know?” Anna said softly after a minute of silence.

“What is?”

“This.” She
ran her fingers up my arm, sending goosebumps sprawling across my skin.

“You mean us?”
My heart skipped a beat as I said it.

“Yeah. How
long have you liked me?”

I took a deep
breath. “Truthfully?”

“Of course,”
she whispered.

“Consciously,
just a few days.”

“What do you
mean
consciously
?”

“I mean, I
guess I’ve always been attracted to you and always jealous of anyone you showed
interest in, but I never thought of you as a girlfriend before you came back from
Africa.”

“And why now?”

“Because I
realized that it makes me physically sick to think of you with another guy.”

Even though I
couldn’t see her face, I knew she was smiling. She pressed her back into me and
pulled my arms tighter around her.