“Wow.”
“Yeah, he said he noticed it when he thought about me. He wanted to hold me to try and do it again, and he sort of made a pass at me.” She glanced at Adin, and he nodded. This didn’t surprise him. “Well, I was still mad at him the next day, and he apologized, thinking he was only apologizing for talking about you. When I told him that I’m tired of him treating me like we were more than friends, he didn’t understand what I meant. I told him he needed to keep his hands to himself.”
“Good.” Adin smiled.
“He didn’t take it very well, at first. He said he would respect my relationship with you, but that my friendship with him didn’t have anything to do with you. He frantically tried to explain the emotions he felt when he caused the tremors. He wasn’t thinking about me romantically. He was feeling ignored. He had to embrace some feelings of never having me the way you have me in order to manifest his ability into an earthquake. We talked about it some more, and he eventually became accepting of this new boundary because he thinks it’ll only be temporary.”
“Has he been sticking to it?”
“Yes.” Adin parked the car. He grabbed the sweatshirt in case she needed it again, and they rushed toward the field. “Anyway, he may seem a little more distant with you than normal. When River and Calli came over to study for the chemistry test, Calli wanted him to show her his ability. He tried, but didn’t have any luck, so Calli asked him if I’d told him you and I had…er…talked about sex.”
“Huh?”
“Yeah. So of course he was able to feel the needed emotion immediately; the ground shook, but he couldn’t suppress the emotion. He ran out, screamed, and left. Calli rode to my house with him, so when I took her back home, I went to his house—”
“You what?” Adin grabbed her arm and stopped her just as they were about to go up the stands.
“I had to make sure he was okay. You know who his dad is, and the river was all choppy and the wind was blowing everywhere. When I got there, he was crying, and I visited him until he was better.”
“Was Medusa there?”
“No. He said she was out of town.”
“Legacy, I’m sure you were concerned about him, but you shouldn’t have jeopardized your safety like that.”
“I’m fine, Adin. River has been doing better, but I know the thought of us being together like
that
has really disturbed him. Anyway, I wanted to give you a heads up because I’m not sure how he’ll act around you now.”
They started up the bleachers and headed to the section that they’d sat in last time. River and Paul were sitting behind Ellen and Kate.
Calli saw them and ran up. Legacy waited for her, but Adin continued up the stands.
“What took you so long?” Calli demanded, her hand on her hip.
“We lost track of time. Here’s your candy.” Legacy shoved the bag toward her.
“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!” Calli grabbed it and ran back to the rest of the squad.
Legacy turned around to go up the stands, and Adin was still walking up. She ran to catch up with him. He walked to the row behind River and Paul, but didn’t scoot in toward them. She reached Adin and slid beside him so that she was sitting closer to River than he was. Just in case things got ugly.
River turned around to look at her. “I was wondering if you changed your mind about coming.”
“We, er, just lost track of time.” She shrugged
Adin let a short laugh slip and looked away. River’s eyes narrowed as he glanced at Adin, and then he turned back around.
Legacy elbowed Adin playfully, and he chuckled again. She turned to look at him. “Stop,” she whispered playfully.
“Sorry.” He smiled.
She and Adin talked throughout the rest of the first quarter and all the second quarter. They laughed and talked about everything they could think of. They held hands and rubbed each other’s knees, and at times, Adin put his arm around her back, and she caressed his chest. Neither of them paid much attention to the game, and River didn’t turn back around to talk to her.
After Calli performed, she came up and sat beside Legacy.
“Where’s Zach?”
“He’s doing some study group thing for one of his classes. They have some big project due next week.”
“Yeah, Adin’s group finished late last night.”
Calli hung out with them during her free quarter, and River turned around and talked to her too. They all talked together while Calli was up in the stands, but as soon as she went back down, they all went back to engaging in their own individual conversations.
Their team was winning by a large margin, so many of the people lost interest in the game. It didn’t surprise her that River turned back around to face her when there was about five minutes left on the clock.
“I think this is yours.” He handed her an earring.
“Yes! I’ve been looking everywhere for that. Where did you find it?” she asked as she took it out of his hand.
“In my room. I figured it fell off when you were lying on my bed, and it dropped to the floor when you got up to leave.”
Adin’s hand was on her knee, and as soon as River mentioned she was with him in his bedroom, his hand slipped off. She shut her eyes and shook her head. She realized that she’d left out this little detail when she’d rushed through the story earlier.
She opened her eyes and stared at River. He had a smug look on his face that infuriated her.
“And
you
waited until tonight to give it back to me.” It wasn’t a question.
“I just found it this afternoon.”
“That’s a lie, and you know it!”
Adin leaned his head over to her ear. “Legacy, I’m fine. He obviously planned this. I’m not going to give him the satisfaction of getting upset and neither should you.”
She turned to face Adin. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I rushed through the story, trying to hit all the major points. Nothing happened.” She shook her head.
River leaned over to them. “She’s right. I just leaned over her while she fell back onto my bed, and I whispered a few things in her ear. I got as close to her as humanly possible without actually touching her. Well, not if you count breathing. I did breathe along her neck, and I felt her breath on my face.”
“River!” she yelled, turning back toward him.
Adin grimaced, but didn’t say anything. Legacy was pretty sure he was trying to stay calm for her and because they had an audience now. At least he was refusing to give in to River’s taunting.
But
she
was a different story. Legacy had no composure left. She cocked her head to the side and leaned toward River. If she saw black clouds rolling in from the corner of eye, she ignored it.
“We were late tonight because Adin had me pinned against the counter. I had my legs wrapped so tightly around him that I had a hard time unbuttoning his clothes…but I managed.” She raised an eyebrow.
River shut his eyes and the bleachers started to shake. Adin grabbed a hold of Legacy so she wouldn’t fall back. People started screaming and running down the stands, but River got control of himself before the bleachers went crashing down.
She and Adin stood up to leave, but River was holding his head between his hands. She stepped over to him, getting right in front of him. He didn’t look at her. She slid her hands onto his face and pulled his head up to make him look at her eyes. While she glared at him, lightning illuminated all around. Yet she had an eerie calm about her. Like being in the eye of a storm.
She moved her face so that it was within inches of his. “Can you feel my breath now?” And she knew he could. He had to shut his eyes—his hair moved like he was sitting in front of a fan.
Thunder crashed, and River opened his eyes to glare at her.
“If you ever,
ever
pull another stunt like that again, I’ll make you regret the day you met me.” She glanced at an electrical pole just as lightning hit the transformer at the top of it. The field went black. She looked at River again, head cocked to the side. “Am I making myself clear?”
“Crystal.”
She nodded. “One of the many differences between you and Adin is the fact that
he
is a gentleman. He has never gone out of his way to flaunt our relationship in front of you. But you took the
first
opportunity you got to throw in his face that I was alone with you in your bedroom.”
“Legacy,” River murmured, shaking his head.
“No! Even if Adin wasn’t in the picture, do you think I’d
ever
be with a man as hateful as you?”
He shut his eyes and the bleachers started to shake again.
“Look at me!” He did so, and the tremors stopped. But the lightning raged in the sky. “Am I still crystal clear?”
River nodded.
“That’s good.” Her voiced purred like a kitten, and she leaned over, her lips at his ear. “Otherwise, I’d be forced to make an exception to my privacy rules. I don’t think you want a play-by-play of everything Adin and I have done and will do. But I’ll make sure you’re up to speed on everything. Any pathetic fantasies you have of me will be ruined. And with as much as I plan on doing with him, you won’t be able to create new ones fast enough.”
She let go of his face and stood up. But she felt a gust of wind like she had last time. Her arms flew up to steady herself. Adin jumped over and grabbed her, and River stood up, grabbing her too.
“Get your hands
off
me!”
River let go and lifted his hands up in the air as he stepped back.
She glared at him as she turned away. Adin walked her back down the bleachers and to his car. She was fuming, but trying to keep her emotions in check. When they got back to her house, Adin walked in with her and came up to her bedroom. She grabbed some pajamas and went to the restroom to change. When she came back to her room, Adin had his shoes off and was sitting on her bed, leaning against the pillows with his hands on top of his head. He was staring at the ceiling.
She walked over to her bed and sat with her legs crossed, facing him.
Adin’s eyes slowly made their way to her. “If the earlier story was the short version, what’s the long version?”
She sighed, but understood why he wanted to know everything. If she’d forgotten a little detail like being alone in River’s room, on his bed, then what else had she skipped over? She started from the beginning. Adin nodded a few times, but never interrupted her.
“I think you’re right,” he said after she finished.
“Right about what?”
“That he’s taking advantage of your friendship.”
“Yeah.”
“Are you going to do something about it?”
She stared at Adin with a puzzled look. “I already did. Except for when I almost fell, he hasn’t touched me since he came over that day.”
“I don’t think that’s going to be enough, sweetheart. You said it yourself, he’s not thinking clearly when it comes to his feelings for you. That makes him very dangerous.”
She shook her head. “He’s not going to hurt me.”
“We don’t know that. I’m sure he doesn’t want to hurt you, but if he’s reacting first and thinking last, then we can’t be sure he wouldn’t cause you any harm.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Stay away from him. Not talk to him.”
“Well, right now, that sounds like an excellent idea, but I know it’s because I’m still furious with him. When I think about it logically, I know I can’t do that to him. At least not right now, Adin.”
“If not now, then when?”
“I don’t know. Maybe after he ascends. I just know that right now I need to be there for him while he adjusts to his changes. But if he’s linked to my changes, then I may not be able to do anything about him until after I ascend too. I guess I’ll just have to see how everything goes after his change.”
Adin nodded. “I love you and trust you, so I’m still going to be supportive of all your decisions, which includes your decision about him.
But
… I’m through with him.”
“What do you mean?”
“It means that it took more control than I realized I even had not to break his face tonight.” His whole body tensed, his jaw clenching.
“Adin, I don’t want you fighting with him.”
“Legacy, if he respects your boundaries, rather than utilizing the loopholes within them, then there won’t be a need to worry about that.”
“I can take care of myself, and I can definitely take care of
River
.”
He chuckled. “You proved
that
tonight.”
She laughed too, and then she frowned. “I’m serious.”
“I know, sweetheart, but so am I. I’ve given him more than enough opportunities to prove that he respects you and your decisions, and he has faltered time and time again.” Adin stroked her hair. “He’s not only disrespecting you, but he’s disrespecting me. I. Am. Done. There are no more chances.”
“Adin, look—”
“No, sweetheart. I won’t stand in your way if you want to be friends with him and hang out with him, but I’m not tolerating his pushy, possessive behavior anymore. One way or another, he will start showing you the respect you deserve. He’s had plenty of chances to do that the easy way, but he chose his desires over your wishes. So now I’m going to have to show him the hard way.”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t worry about that,” he whispered, and leaned over to kiss her forehead.
Yeah, right.
“You’re not going to kill him and hide his body, are you?”
Adin laughed. “That’s an intriguing thought. But no.”
She smiled and nodded.
“You know, I’m really proud of how you handled yourself tonight.”
“You don’t think I went overboard with all the details? I was bluffing. I have no intention of telling him about our intimate relationship.”
He chuckled. “I don’t mean about that. You were angry, but you controlled your reactions. You blew in his face when you wanted to without changing your tone. You looked at where you wanted the lightning to strike. You also stopped before any serious weather developed, keeping everyone safe. I didn’t think you’d be this controlled so soon.”
“I still don’t feel completely in control. But thanks.” She smiled.
Adin stayed with her until she nodded off. She felt him kiss her forehead as he finagled his way out of her arms. Then he tucked the covers around her and kissed her forehead again. “I love you, princess.”