TWIN PASSIONS: (A Logan Brothers Novel)
Read TWIN PASSIONS: (A Logan Brothers Novel) Online
Authors: L. A. Shorter
Tags: #Romance, #New Adult Romance, #college romance, #Young Adult Romance, #Contemporary Romance
L. A. Shorter
©2014 L. A. Shorter
Copyright Notice
This book is a work of fiction. Any names, places, events, and incidents that occur are entirely a result of the author's imagination and any resemblance to real people, events, and places is entirely coincidental.
authors page here.
9 Years Ago
Gemma
The cool air swept through my
hair as I sat on the log down by the water's edge. It was silent
there, all except the light rustling of leaves and the croaking of
frogs. The boisterous noise of kids chattering and laughing had
drained away now, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
I looked out over the lake,
sparkling and shimmering under the light of the full moon. The
ripples grew and faded away with the breeze, catching the light as
they sped along the surface of the water. Up above, the stars were as
bright as I'd ever seen them, unhindered by smog and smoke and
pollution. Here it was so clean, so pure, so quiet.
It
wasn't what I was used to.
I'd
just moved to Montana from New York and had never experienced such
absolute silence, such
tranquility.
It was strangely unnerving, but it was what I craved right now.
There was a party going on in
the large main cabin in the middle of our camp: a welcome party to
start this week long trip. It was some sort of end of summer trip
before starting high school. Trouble was, everyone knew each other
and I had only just moved there.
I felt totally left out and
totally alone. I knew it would be like this. I'd begged my stupid
parents not to make me go.
“
Daddy, can't I just start
school normally in two weeks? Please don't make me go on that trip.”
My pleads had fallen on deaf
ears. They just wanted to get away for their own late summer vacation
and saw it as a great chance to get rid of me for the week.
“
Gemma, it'll be good for you.
It will give you a chance to get to know the other kids before you
start at your new high school.”
Yeah right. Stupid selfish
parents. I knew they just wanted me out of the way.
I felt so alone sitting on that
hard log. As I'd feared, everyone had jumped into each others arms
and starting chattering immediately about their amazing vacations and
everything that they'd been doing over the summer. Barely anyone took
notice of me, and I was too shy to try to introduce myself to them.
It was hell.
Then the worst thing of all
happened.
One of the teachers calmed
everyone down and stood me up in front of my entire year. She made me
introduce myself and talk about where I'd come from; about my life;
about my family.
I had never been so nervous or
felt so stupid. I could feel my cheeks beginning to burn and redden.
I could see the smirks and looks of amusement in the crowd. I could
hear the chattering and stifled giggles as I hung my head and mumbled
a few cracked and nervous words.
Damn that stupid teacher for
making me do that.
It wasn't long after my public
humiliation that I'd decided to run off out of the large open cabin
and into the cool night air. I needed to get away from all the prying
eyes and whispering voices.
So I ran.
I ran away towards the lake
where we'd be swimming and boating the next day. I felt this huge
urge to keep going, rush away into the woods and somehow make my way
back home. I'd get lost. I'd probably get eaten by a bear. But I
didn't care. Somehow anything was better than going back and facing
all those staring faces.
“
Are you OK?”
I jumped at the sound of the
voice behind me and turned quickly.
A
boy stood there, his hair dark and unkempt, a look of compassion on
his face. His eyes were shining green in the glowing moonlight, his
face so clean cut and free of the spots and acne that many of the
others kids were engulfed by.
“
It's horrible, isn't it?”
he continued as I stared on at him, a mixture of confusion and
surprise dominating my expression. "You know, being the new
kid...”
I nodded sheepishly.
He crept in closer towards me
and reached out his hand. “My name's Zack,” he said with a smile.
I could feel a slight blush
reappearing on my face as I reached out my hand and took his. His
touch was gentle and warm in the cool night.
“
Gemma,” I said, slightly
nervously. I still hadn't really learned to talk to boys properly.
He winked at me. “I know. Do
you mind if I sit?”
I nodded again and he rounded
the side of the log and sat beside me, closer than I was comfortable
with.
“
It's beautiful here, isn't
it?” he said. His voice was buoyant and full of confidence. He
seemed so much older than me but I knew he was just starting high
school as I was. “I guess it's a far cry from New York. That's
where you grew up, right?”
I kept looking out over the
water, my head slightly hung. “Yeah. You must have been the only
person actually listening. Everyone else was laughing.”
He giggled lightly, the sound
disturbing the silent night and echoing quietly across the lake.“I
guess they're all just excited to see each other again. Anyway, half
of them would have been just as nervous as you going up in front of
everyone.”
Somehow I got the impression
that Zack wasn't one of them.
“
Was it that obvious? Me being
nervous?” The hurt and embarrassment in my voice must have been
clear.
I could see his head turn to me
out of the corner of my eye. He hesitated, his expression growing
more serious. “Not really, no. Look, don't worry about it. I'll
introduce you around, OK?”
I cranked my head slowly to the
left and caught his eyes. A light flutter rushed up through my body.
“
Thanks,” I said,
tentatively meeting his gaze.
I turned my head quickly back
towards the water as it sparkled and swayed in the gentle breeze. I
felt weirdly comforted by Zack's presence. He was the only one who
had ventured to talk to me so far. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad
starting at this new school after all.
“
So tell me about home,” he
said, turning back to the twinkling lake. “It's just me now, no one
else. I want to hear about it. I've never been to New York.”
I glanced at him again, his
green eyes cast into the middle distance, and started speaking. For
the next hour we spoke, talking about home, about family, about
everything else in between. It was the longest I'd ever spoken to a
boy, and this boy was gorgeous. I felt invigorated, like I was a
different person. Maybe they weren't quite so scary after all.
I grew more and more comfortable
the longer we spoke, the both of us forgetting about the party a few
hundred feet behind us. Every now and then I'd hear a bit of extra
loud chatter drift towards us from the lights of the camp, but Zack
never turned. He just kept speaking or listening, whatever it was,
and kept his eyes on me or out onto the water or the dark silhouettes
of the trees in the distance.
A chill began to descend as the
minutes moved by, causing me to shiver lightly. He suggested we take
a walk to warm us up and I didn't argue against it. I wanted to stay
longer from the party. I wanted to stay longer with him. Just him.
We walked through light woods
without a flashlight. The warm glow of the moon made one largely
redundant, lighting our path as we crept over twigs and debris fallen
from the trees above.
I
asked of bears and other animals, a fear growing in me that we'd
suddenly be set upon by some form of wildlife I'd only ever seen on
TV, but he put my mind to rest. He told me he'd spent his entire life
in Montana and knew this place well, having come up here on several
school trips and other family vacations in the past.
He was the complete opposite of
me: confident, self assured, and seemingly fearless. I felt
immediately attached to him.
We circled the camp, moving up
through the woods surrounding it and back down towards the shore of
the lake. The party kept going inside the ring of smaller cabins that
would act as dorms for the next week. Suddenly the idea of being
there didn't seem so alarming. Suddenly the idea of starting a new
school was less scary.
I could hear party games going
on, organized by the teachers, as cheers and laughs erupted from the
main cabin. It sounded like everyone was having a blast, the time of
their lives. I asked Zack if he wanted to go and rejoin his friends.
He told me he was having a better time with me.
We moved back to the lake and
stopped on the shore. Our sneakers came off and we tiptoed into the
cold water, lapping against the pebbles. We splashed and played as we
waded further in, the cold water gradually growing warmer against our
skin the more we thrashed.
I felt Zack's hand reaching for
mine as I prepared to splash him once more. He was suddenly still in
the surf, his eyes set on me. He was looking at me like I'd never
been looked at, a smile lighting up his face. I could feel my breath
begin to hold firm in my body as he leaned in closer towards me.
I instinctively leaned back a
fraction but he kept forward. From nowhere his lips touched mine,
soft and warm, as a shot of electricity pulsed through my body. I was
drawn back forward by this energy as we stood in the cold water, his
hand still clasping mine.
It lasted only a second or two
but it felt like hours. When he pulled back, a smile once more began
to grow on his face. My mind was swimming like I was, the world
blurred.
It was a beautiful blur, an
electrifying blur, a blur brought on by a new experience.
My first kiss.
Present Day
Gemma
I could feel the energy
beginning to build inside the arena as I walked down the corridor
towards two large double doors. Well, arena might be too strong a
word. This place was more of an underground bunker, a large hollowed
out space where people would gather to watch men box.
It was Friday night and
something I was used to. It wasn't really by choice that I was there.
Boxing wasn't exactly something I enjoyed, but then, I had to support
my man.
He told me I was his lucky
charm, that every time I was there watching him he'd win, and win
well. I gave him confidence, he said. My eyes on him made him
unbeatable, unwavering in the face of his opponent. Honestly, I had
no idea what he was talking about, but if it worked, it worked, and I
wasn't going to argue.