Authors: Shannon Dermott
Tags: #Science Fiction & Fantasy, #Fantasy, #Paranormal & Urban, #Teen & Young Adult, #Romance, #Paranormal, #Two Hours or More (65-100 Pages), #Literature & Fiction, #Paranormal & Fantasy, #Juvenile Fiction
“Do you think we’ll ever see Sara again?’ Luke asked.
Scrubbing a hand through my hair, I asked, “I don’t know. Do you want to see her?”
His hands became white knuckles on the steering wheel. “Do you?”
“No, dude, I asked you first,” I said.
“Yeah, I guess. She was interesting,” he said with a slight smile. There were those stars again.
“Uh, huh, interesting how?” I asked. Oh, I knew how interesting the girl was. Her kiss lit a fire in my gut. And that did some wild shit to me, a stupid kiss. And the guy was going to hook up with her if that shit hadn’t gone down.
“She was just different, real in a way I’ve never seen,” he confessed.
“What you liked was that she said what she meant and wasn’t afraid to do so,” I stated, rather than asked.
“Maybe,” he said. But I knew it was true. It’s what I liked about her. Amanda had that too but she wasn’t as “real” as Sara. I wished we would see her again. I could only imagine her actually shock me with stuff I didn’t even know about.
The niggling thing at the back of my skull was what the hell she was. Not many things could go disappearing and stuff. Luke could wink out but he was still there. No doors opened of their own accord. So unless she’d hung out all morning, she’d actually disappeared for real. Where did she go and who had been after her? Questions, I wondered if I’d ever get answered.
We didn’t speak for a while both of us caught up in our own thoughts. With my seat angled back, I considered getting a little shut eye. The closer we got back to town, the more I started to feel like a man about to be caged. “Is this what married men go through on their wedding night?” I asked Luke.
“What are you having second thoughts about you and Amanda?” he asked.
Second, third, fourths, who was counting. “I don’t know. She doesn’t seem to be the clingy type and –,” I said, trailing off.
“And what?’ he asked, still looking at the road.
“And maybe I won’t have to worry about hurting some girls’ feeling or some shit,” I muttered.
“Ah,” Luke said. I watched him rub at the stubble on his chin. He hadn’t shaved the last two days. “Feeling bad about Shelli?”
Of course he understood. The girl backed me into a corner and I thought she could handle it. “That’s why I don’t mess with native girls like her.”
“Amanda isn’t native,” he retorted on a huff.
“That’s for damn sure,” I said. “If it were up to me, if I could, I’d date a really smart girl. One too smart to date the likes of me. She wouldn’t even have to be the prettiest girl. Just the kind that, you know,” I said pausing to think it through. To myself I said, the kind that would look at me and see me, the real me. The kind that would look past my face and into my soul. One who would care about my feelings and not what party would elevate her status.
“I like them smart too,” he said. And I knew he was thinking of the unspoken name of the dark hair girl. “The total opposite of Amanda.”
“Yeah,” I answered still searching the sky outside the passenger window for the meaning of life in the clouds.
“You could do it,” he said, like it was so fucking easy.
Huffing out a breath, I said, “Yeah, what then. When I have to dump the poor girl because I don’t want to kill her, she’ll be heartbroken and look at me like I’m scum. It’s better this way. The really pretty girls stuck on themselves are easier to manage. The cold hearted bitches that deserve a reality check. Or the ones, that bargain a relationship for status.”
“Flynn, you’re selling yourself short,” he said.
I didn’t bother to look at him. He had it all. Angel, a future in heaven, a girl he could fall in love with. No, I turned that pity shit off. Amanda was just what I needed. That girl would most likely be down with whatever. And I would need whatever to survive in a relationship long term. No, this partnership was going to be fucking stellar.
“Don’t be a douche bag,” he said.
“As soon as you stop drinking like there is a shortage,” I retorted.
“Stop having sex like a jack rabbit,” he said.
“Stop smoking those cancer sticks,” I said.
“Stop having sex,” he said again. Then we laughed. We both had our vices.
“Sex is my lifeline,” I said trying to win the argument anyway.
“Yeah, and we both know there are other ways,” he stated.
“Not as effective,” I countered. “Maybe if you had more sex you’d lighten up.” He got quiet, so I added, “And maybe Nina is the answer to your problems. I mean getting with her would piss the powers that be off.” Still he said nothing, “And you have to admit, she isn’t into me.” That last bit, I was sure would get a laugh out of him.
“Well, that’s always a plus,” he finally said, with a hint of humor still in his voice. “But she isn’t the only girl that finds you repulsive.”
“Hey, I don’t think any girl finds me repulsive as much as they don’t like my reputation,” I countered.
“So, what are you going to do about her?” he asked. And I thought back to the brown haired beauty. She didn’t like me and she had good reason. She was smart and pretty although she tried to hide it. Everything I couldn’t have.
And I finally gave him an answer. “You should ask her out,” I said, reluctantly. “There is nothing I can offer her.” Short of heartbreak, that was.
Nodding, he didn’t speak and I wasn’t sure if he was going to take me up on it. “I don’t know dude. I’m pretty messed up with this whole thing with my dad. Maybe hooking up with Nina is thing to do. She’s a willing victim,” he said. “Kind of like your Amanda. Nina knows we shouldn’t be together yet she doesn’t give a damn.”
“They’re friends too. They’ll want to do the double date thing. So we will have each other,” I said, trying to find the bright side of this conversation.
Luke held out a fist over the center console of the car. I knocked it. A pact was made. We were best friends and brothers in this world even with this relationship thing with Amanda and Nina. No matter what girls came in and out of our lives, I knew we would have each other’s backs. Friends until the end.
“So what were you going to tell me about Adelina,” he asked.
Cringing, I wasn’t sure what he was going to think about what I had to tell him. Plus, I didn’t even know where to begin or the best way to explain, I said, “Yeah, about that.”
About the author
Shannon Dermott is the author of the Cambion series. The first book in this series, Beg for Mercy was released in August of 2011. The second book, Waiting for Mercy was released in April of 2012.
Remember, a new series, will be released late summer of 2012.
Connect with Shannon
Twitter
- @Shannondermott
Facebook
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http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Shannon-Dermott/237824696261512
Goodreads
- http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5121644.Shannon_Dermott
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