by KB Anne
He studied me for a minute, before taking a deep breath. “What do you have in mind?”
“Well, Ben’s off tomorrow. I was thinking he could be my getaway driver.”
“Getaway driver, huh? I like it.” He grabbed my hand and started walking again. “Ben loves any excuse to drive fast. Where are we supposed to meet Jude?”
It was my turn to stop. “Listen Christian, you’re not going. You just got out of the hospital. I’ll be safe with Ben.”
His body tensed, his fists tightened, and his face turned a bright red. “You are not going unless I’m with you! End of discussion!” His demeanor relaxed almost instantly. “Besides, if it’s as safe a place as you say, we’ll be just fine. Won’t we?” He smiled.
I studied his face. Although he was smiling, there was that stubbornness that kept showing up. A stubbornness I knew all too well. I opened my mouth to say something but closed it, realizing there was no point arguing with him about Jude. I decided to visit my next campaign instead. “We’re going to need some help regardless of what happens with Jude. We need to come up with our own team.”
He glanced sideways at me. “Who do you have in mind?”
“Diane.”
“Di would be great. She would definitely be into something so counter-culture. Anyone else?”
“Frank Wagner.”
He stopped again. At this rate, we were never going to get to the falls. “Biff?”
“Whatdya mean Biff?”
“Biff, the muscle-head from school who follows you everywhere?”
I cracked my head side to side. “First of all, Frank is not a stupid muscle-head. He’s a smart guy and has been my best friend since junior high school!”
His eyes were skeptical. “Best friend, huh?”
I jerked my head up and down.
“More like lovesick puppy!”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. He’s in love with you.”
“No, he’s not. We’re best friends and have been since his first day of school in seventh grade when he moved to Webster.”
“Well, that’s a lovely little fairy tale,” he snapped. “You may feel that way about him, but I guarantee that Biff is in love with you.”
I got right in his face. “First of all, what difference does it make how Frank feels about me? I trust him with my life. He’s always been there for me and will always be there for me. Second of all, I find it offensive that you call my best friend, Biff. His name is Frank!”
“Well, Frank is not joining our operation!” he thundered at me.
“Says who?” I roared back.
“Says me,” he snarled and stormed up the trail.
I was left staring at his back until he disappeared around the bend.
I couldn’t figure out why he freaked out when I brought up Frank. And why did he call Frank, Biff, like some preppy, pampered high school boy?
Uh, Starr, hello. He’s jealous.
“Of Frank?” I snorted to myself. I pictured Frank in my mind. With his buzzed black hair, green eyes made all the more striking with his rich dark skin, height, and muscles, he was a good-looking guy, a very good-looking guy.
I never thought about him like that before. We were always together—school, holidays, family milestones, parties… If Frank was in love with me, I would know that .
Would you Starr? You’ve always been a bit oblivious when it comes to guys.
Yeah, but I would know if my best friend was in love with me. How dare Christian question our friendship! What business was it of his anyway?
Starr, Christian’s crazy about you.
He is, isn’t he?
I smiled to myself before taking a deep breath to steel my nerves for my next conversation with Christian. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to have “the talk” yet, but I needed to let him know how I felt about him. Then maybe, I could persuade him to let Frank help us.
I rounded the corner of the trail. Christian might have left me alone on the trail, but he didn’t go far. He was barely twenty feet away from me—always ready to protect me even when I didn’t need saving. He was hunched over with his head in his hands. He looked pitiful, absolutely pitiful. I smiled to myself feeling warm and fuzzy at the sight of him. “Can I talk to you?”
He lifted and dropped his shoulders.
“I was really upset about the comments you made about my best friend,” I began, “but I figured out why you said it.”
“You did, did you?” he asked, eyeing me warily.
“You’re jealous.”
His face lit up in surprise. “And why would I be jealous?”
I winked at him. “Because you’re crazy about me!”
“I am, am I? Awfully confident in ourselves, aren’t we?”
“Yes, I am.” I grabbed his hands and let the electricity do its work before I kissed him. He didn’t even pretend to put up a fight, but after too short a time, he broke the kiss.
He smoldered his eyes at me. “And how do you feel about me?”
“Well,” I tried to catch my breath as I gathered my thoughts, “I suppose my feelings for you are pretty strong.”
“Pretty strong?” He stroked my cheek.
I tapped his arm. “Yes, strong enough that you don’t have to worry your silly little head about a boy or two.”
“A boy or two? How many old boyfriends are you planning on recruiting?”
“Frank’s not an old boyfriend. He’s a friend, my absolute best friend, and you have nothing to worry about.”
“Starr,” he said, holding my hands to his chest, “I love you.”
He did not just say that. He did not just say that. He did not…
“I love you too,” I blurted out.
There. I said it. Holy crap. I said it. It didn’t matter that we were young or that we just met. Love knew no boundaries, and we just confessed it to each other. Holy crap.
Goofy smiles plastered across our faces. I tried my hand at eye smoldering. I seemed to be good at it because a half a second later, Christian kissed me.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
The gentle incessant babble of the stream grew louder as we approached the bend. A few more jumps along the boulders, and my breath caught at the amazing sight before me. Chiseled in the rock face of the waterfall, an old man peeked out at me. Water cascaded down his hard stone features on its way to the river.
“Tsali, the founder of our people,” he said. “He keeps an eye on the valley, but rarely, interferes with the life of men. He’s here to remind us, that our people have been in these mountains since the beginning.”
Rainbows danced through the air as rays of sunshine caught the fine mist from the falls. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” I whispered.
“That’s why I brought you up along the stream. The trail’s easier, but you don’t get the view.” He grabbed my hand and squeezed. “I wanted to make your first impression of the falls a lasting one.”
“You’ve made a lasting impression all right.” I smiled up at him. I couldn’t even begin to imagine my life without Christian by my side.
“Good,” he replied, sensing my double meaning. “Watch this.” He took off his sneakers and threw them over to the side of the stream. He leapt across a few rocks to where offshoots of the main waterfall were flowing. He flashed his crooked smile at me before sticking his head under the water. The water ran down over his head and neck. After a few seconds, he pulled his head out and shook his long, wet hair. Droplets of water sprayed in every direction.
The energy and joy on his face could only be described as radiant. “I want to try it!” I shouted. I removed off my shoes and threw them next to Christian’s. In my rush to try out the waterfall, I forget to watch my step and slipped on a rock. Thousands of tiny knives stabbed at my body as I slid completely underwater. The icy water momentarily froze me in place before I returned to my senses. I thrashed and kicked to regain my footing. Finally, my hands and feet found the rocky bottom, and I pushed myself
up, gasping for air. My eyes opened wide in shock, as a loud gasp escaped from my mouth.
The alarm on Christian’s face disappeared when he realized I was okay. He started laughing hysterically.
“What’s so funny wise guy?” I waded over to him.
“Oh nothing,” he teased. When I got to him, I lifted my arms up in the air and bear hugged him to wrestle him into the water. He slipped right in and brought me crashing down with him. He grabbed me tight and pulled me over to a rock. We shared a look at each other and burst out laughing until I became aware of the freezing water we were still sitting in.
“We’ve got to get you home before you freeze,” he said, pulling me to my feet.
“Okay tough guy, get me home or there’s going to be trouble!”
“Yes ma’am.” He ducked down and swooped me up in the air.
“Put me down,” I shouted, squirming around wildly.
“Geez,” he said, almost dropping me, “you’re slippery when you’re wet.”
I landed and tried to pull myself together all serious-like, but I failed miserably. I couldn’t stop laughing—until I saw the devilish glint return to Christian’s eye. Desire. Want. Need.
Our lips crushed together. The rush of energy I felt whenever I kissed him was like a drug I couldn’t live without. He ran his fingers through my wet hair and pulled me closer. The heat we generated dried our soaked clothes from the inside out. Our hands were everywhere, trying to touch every part of the other’s body all at once. All I wanted to do was kiss Christian forever.
Being with him made it easy to forget that a secret organization was after me. I almost forget that two of my best friends were dead—and that the General killed them. I knew we couldn’t hide forever, that even with his smiles and his kisses and his undivided attention, the desire for revenge called to me, and I would not be denied, but for right now, for this moment, being with Christian was enough.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Moonlight stretched across the room and haloed Christian’s face. In sleep, the bruises beneath his eyes seemed especially cruel. My fingers butterfly kissed the outlines of his injuries.
I had never considered describing a guy as beautiful, but that was what he was, and not just on the outside. On the inside too. His heart. His mind. His soul. The Organization tried to break him, but for what? What purpose did they beat and torture him if not for gaining knowledge to my whereabouts? He swore the General didn’t mention me, but why should I believe him when the bruises on this face suggested otherwise?
I brushed my fingers through his black hair fanned across the pillow. From the very first time I saw him I imagined running my fingers through it. Even when the rules of Webster High’s social hierarchy demanded I stay away, gravity pulled me toward him in the hallways, in class, in the cafeteria…. I fought my desires as best I could. The only way I survived at Webster was to fight my desires.
Everyone at school assumed I had my shit together. Class President, captain of the cross-country, track, and swim teams, Miss “Voted Mostly Likely to Run a Fortune 500 Company,” but it was a lie. It was all a lie. Beneath the confident, outgoing Starr Bishop was little Jessalyn Silverlain, a girl scared shitless. A girl so insecure in her day-to-day interaction with her peers that she decided to become the boss of them instead. A girl afraid to open her heart to boys because the prospect of getting said heart broken seemed too painful. The boy beside me changed me though. The moment he took my hand at the club all those days ago, he changed me.
He shuddered when he inhaled. He didn’t pretend to be strong when he was asleep. A tear streaked down my cheek. His lips, slightly parted, spoke magic to me at the falls this morning when he declared his love for me. As sure in his love, as he was about everything.
I felt it too—that love he spoke of. I never gave love much thought before yesterday, never allowed myself the opportunity to love someone other than my parents. The less interaction I had with boys, the better Sami, Jovie, and I got along. That was how our friendship worked—I’d give anything to have it back. Another tear trailed down my cheek. I longed to blanket myself in his undivided attention, to escape the feelings of sadness that lingered whenever I thought of Sami and Jovie.
I traced his lips, no longer caring if I woke him.
In fact, hoping I do.
His eyes fluttered open. I reached for him. He needed no persuasion. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his chest, as if that was his intent all along. Just as my lips reached his, someone banged on the bedroom door. “Christian, Rebecca just called. She’s on her way over to visit.”
His lips pressed against mine. Our hands were everywhere at once, moving too fast to ignite a flame but fanning a hotter, all-consuming brush fire instead.
Another bang at the door. “If you don’t come out, I’m sending her in.” There was a long pause. “Don’t think I won’t. Coda and I’ll crawl underneath the covers with the both of you and let her have her way with all of us.”
We burst out laughing. Christian tickled me. I laughed more. I tickled his sides. He laugh-winced. Yep, leave it to me to forget about his ribs. He always hid his pain from me, but I should have known better. I took a deep breath and managed to choke out, “You better get cleaned up for your girlfriend.”
“She’s not my girlfriend,” he laugh-winced again. “And if I have to listen to her, so do you!”
“Oh no, no way. She’s yours. I’m out of here.” I shifted to my side of the bed.
He mirrored me. “Where are you gonna go?”
“Uhhhhh…,”
“Exactly. I’ve got you just where I want you.” The devilish glint returned to his eyes.
“Oh yeah?” I teased back.
“Yeah.” Our lips mashed together. We left polite tender kissing back at the lake. Now every time our lips met it was an explosion of senses. The rush of energy I felt every time I kissed him was like a drug I couldn’t live without. I was addicted. He pushed his fingers into my hair and pulled me closer to him. All I wanted to do was kiss him forever.
Another knock on the door.
“She’s here!” Ben shouted.
Christian devoured my mouth.
Ben knocked again. “I’ll send her down to your room if you don’t come soon.”
Christian tugged me toward him, as if the distance between us was too great. I managed to push myself away. “Christian, you have to talk to her. She’s got sooo much to tell you.”
“If I’m going, you’re going.”
“Oh no, it’s all you.” I repositioned myself against the pillows. “I’ll get changed.”
“No way.” He jumped on the bed before I could blink. In another burst of speed, he picked me up and ran out of the room and down the hall before I could catch my breath. There was no doubt in my mind that Christian was part superhero.
A tall, beautiful girl with straight black hair stood in the foyer. Her eyes bulged out of her head when she saw us. Her jaw followed, unhinging at the joint.
Christian collapsed onto the sofa, still holding me. “How ya doing?”
I tried to keep a straight face in order to smile a greeting, but it was impossible, and if I weren’t so giddy, I’d feel bad for being rude. She closed her mouth and swallowed. Just as she reopened it to speak, Christian interrupted her. “Oh, I’m sorry. Rebecca, this is Starr. Starr, Rebecca.”
A shadow crossed her deep, brown eyes, as she gave me a tight-lipped smile. She glanced at Christian, probably making sure he didn’t notice her not-so-civil-but-still-pretty-civil-greeting, before she sat down. She cleared her throat and began a dissertation on what she had been up to since his last visit.
I figured the guys were exaggerating about her storytelling. I soon realized they weren’t. Not by a long shot. If anything, they grossly underestimated her ability. I tried to be polite and listen to her. I nodded at appropriate points in her monologue, but the warmth and comfort of Christian’s body paired with last night’s lack of sleep made it impo
ssible to stay awake. I couldn’t stop yawning. I peeked up at him. He grinned down at me stroking my back. It was enough to put me to sleep. ‘Sorry,’ I thought to myself, ‘it’s all you,’ and I let sleep take me.
Chapter Forty
The living room was dark when I woke up. Someone must have shut the curtains or we slept the entire day away—which, given our nightly activities, was entirely possible. I could hear Ben and Coda whispering in the kitchen.
“According to Christian, Starr saved his life,” Ben said.
“But why was he beat up? I thought it had to do with Starr?” Coda asked.
“He got involved originally because he heard she went missing.”
“Typical.”
“Yeah it is,” Ben agreed. “It turns out the two of them never even spoke before a couple weeks ago.”
“They seem awfully comfortable with each other for that short of time,” Coda said.
“Tell me about it.”
“What are they going to do? Stay here forever?”
“I don’t know. I have a feeling Christian wants to, but I think he’ll do whatever Starr wants. She seems the type who needs to find answers,” Ben said.
I ground my teeth. It might have been true, but it stung a bit when someone else said it.
“She’s really got a hold on him, doesn’t she?”
“From the way it looks, he’s got the same hold on her,” Ben replied.
“I’ve never seen him so goofy.”
“Neither have I. He’s obviously in love.”
“Ewwww,” they snickered together.
Christian squeezed me to his chest. I glanced up. He was looking down at me with a smirk on his face.
Evidently, his friends’ conversation didn’t bother him. Good. It didn’t bother me either…. Well, not entirely.
“How was your nap?”
“Sorry, I couldn’t stay awake.”
