Shift (The Neturu Chronicles)

by Sarah Kay Carter

Damien hops onto the bed. “Show me what you’ve got.”

  “Here,” Kayla says, passing him her book. “These are the questions. I get how to do them, but the calculations are coming out wrong, so I know I’m missing something. It was probably explained in class, but obviously I can’t be there right now.”

  “I can help.” As he reads them, Damien says, “My sister wants to have a video chat with you.”

  “Courtney, why?”

  “No, Victoria.” Damien chuckles. “She wants to give the okay for us to be serious.”

  “Awww, that’s so cute. I didn’t think she knew about me.”

  Looking up at her, Damien replies, “I have to talk to Victoria every day, otherwise, I’m in the doghouse, big time.”

  “It’s nice that you’re so close to your sisters.”

  “I kind of always wanted a brother. The closest thing I have is Jackson. We have a ton of girls in our family, but only two boys.”

  Curious, Kayla inquires, “Why don’t you and Jackson get along better?”

  “I have no idea. We have always butted heads. He didn’t like my playboy lifestyle, and I didn’t care. Now we throw you in the mix and it’s even worse.”

  “I don’t know why I have anything to do with it,” Kayla whispers. “Jackson isn’t interested in me like that.”

  Damien raises an eyebrow. “Do you actually believe that?”

  “What do you mean?” Kayla asks.

  “He likes you, even if he doesn’t want to,” Damien mutters, looking back down at the textbook. “That’s fine. You’re a gorgeous girl, both inside and out. A guy would be a fool not to care about you.”

  Kayla touches her hand to her chest, her heart warming with his words. “Thank you for saying that. As for Jackson, it’s nothing you need to worry about.”

  Silence descends on them before Damien whispers, “It bothers me that you guys always find yourselves kissing each other. I realize it happens when you come out of shifts and everything, but it still bothers me.”

  “I’m sorry. I don’t mean for it to happen.”

  “It’s fine. We aren’t boyfriend and girlfriend. You’re free to do whatever you want.”

  She looks at him. “Yeah, but I would freak if you were kissing another girl, as much as I freaked about that phone call. At least it shows that I really do like you.”

  “That’s true,” Damien responds with a smile. “It’s good that we care about each other.”

  “Yup. Let’s get started on my calculus homework before it’s too late.”

  With a nod, Damien moves the book over and explains how to solve the problems. About an hour later, Kayla huffs.

  “What’s wrong?” Damien laughs.

  “I love school. I love to study. I’m great at it. I just don’t like calculus. I’m allowed to not like one course, right?”

  “Neither do I really, but it’s one of those things you have to do if you’re going to excel in school.”

  Sighing, Kayla says, “I know. Stupid wanting to be the valedictorian, why can’t I be a normal teenager?”

  “Because we’re a much smarter species. We are driven to strive and be better. It’s what we do.”

  “Humph,” Kayla pouts. “I want to go back to being human. Then I could be normal and slack if I wanted.”

  Damien sits back and chuckles. “You can slack if you want to. I’ll support you. You can sit around and eat chocolates all day.”

  She gives him a look. “Do I really seem like the kind of girl who would sit around and eat bonbons all day?”

  “Not at all, but I could see you sitting on Facebook for hours.”

  “I do that now. Oh, we need to be friends! Wait, do you have girls writing romantic stuff all over your page?”

  Damien clicks his tongue. “Kind of.”

  “Then maybe we can skip the Facebook connection. That would be awkward.”

  “I can put that I’m in a relationship with you,” Damien suggests with a smile.

  Kayla raises her eyebrow. “You would do that? We aren’t even exclusive.”

  “I don’t plan on dating anyone else, so I am in a relationship with you, even if we don’t use titles to define it.”

  Looking at him carefully, Kayla says, “Well, wait on that.”

  “Come on, let’s go become friends.” Damien grabs her hand and pulls her off the bed. They run up to his room. He grabs his laptop and sits down on the bed. “Have a seat, I want to check your profile page. Are there embarrassing pictures of you?”

  “Oh, yeah, Tracy tags me in everything,” Kayla groans. “She’s very big on candid shots, awful candid shots.”

  “Excellent.” Damien laughs as he starts his computer.

  She turns to him. “Are there a million pictures of you with girls on there?”

  “I usually take them down,” Damien mumbles.

  With a smirk, Kayla asks, “And why is that?” Damien types in his info but doesn’t say anything. Leaning closer to him, Kayla asks again, “Why is that Damien?”

  “Hmmm, it makes the other girls jealous.”

  Kayla rolls her eyes. “Oh please, I think you need to post a picture of us on there. Let them stew on that.”

  Damien sets his computer down next to him and reaches in his pocket. He takes out his phone and holds it up. “Say cheese.”

  “Don’t you dare!” Kayla exclaims.

  “Too late, gorgeous picture.”

  “Let me see, you jerk,” Kayla snaps, grabbing the phone from him and looking at the picture. “I’ll kill you if you post that on your page.”

  Damien grabs the phone back. “Then smile nicely so I can take your picture.”

  “I look like crap.”

  “You’re beautiful. Now, if I’m going to put you as my significant other, I need a picture to go with it.”

  “My picture is on there. Use that one,” she says, pointing to the screen.

  He grabs her and pulls her onto the bed farther. “Lay on me,” he instructs.

  “What?” Kayla laughs.

  “Come here,” Damien says, holding open his arms. Apprehensively, Kayla crawls into them. “Lie down on my chest and look up at the camera.”

  Kayla smiles. “Your phone has a camera on the front.”

  “Yup, so now you can see the picture,” Damien replies. He moves the phone so they are both in the picture. “Okay, wave to all the other insignificant girls.”

  Kayla giggles. “You aren’t serious.”

  Putting his lips on her head, Damien murmurs, “Deadly serious.”

  With a snort, Kayla waves at the camera. Damien quickly takes the picture. “I love it,” she says, jumping up with his phone. “You’re kissing my head, but you can still tell it’s you.”

  Damien sits up next to her. “So, here, go into this menu and hit share and then choose Facebook. It will load to my page.”

  “Awesome,” Kayla squeals in excitement.

  He grabs his laptop and puts it on his lap. “Let’s tag that.”

  Kayla leans over and looks at the screen. She laughs. “That’s a cute picture.” The profile picture is of a young girl sitting on Damien’s lap. He’s wearing a birthday hat, and she’s laughing.

  “Oh, that’s Victoria,” Damien replies. “It was her birthday a few months ago.”

  She looks at him. “Does that picture get the girls?”

  “What, you expected me to have some picture of me without my shirt on?” Damien inquires with a grin.

  “A little.”

  “Nope, my family means everything to me. I’m very protective of Victoria. I mean, Courtney too, but Courtney is tough and can handle herself. Victoria, on the other hand, is the picture-perfect ten-year-old girl. She still loves dolls and playing with horses. I have to watch out for her.”

  Kayla nudges him with her shoulder. “You’re a good brother.”

  “I’m not a bad guy. I just got a little lost for a while.”

  “Can I ask you a question, a question I’m really
scared to know the answer to?” Kayla whispers.

  Damien raises his eyebrows. “Uh-oh, this can’t be good.”

  “Exactly…how many girls…has it been?”

  Damien is silent as he stares at her. “Like, how many girls…have I had sex with?”

  “Yeah,” Kayla replies. “My curiosity is getting the best of me.”

  “My worry is that you’re going to hear the answer, get up, and walk out the door. So I don’t know if I want to answer the question.”

  Kayla takes a deep breath. “I promise to not walk out the door. From what you said, it’s all in your past now.”

  “The answer is in the double digits,” Damien exhales.

  “Like eleven?” Kayla asks. Damien stares at her, and she sees worry creep into his eyes. “More than eleven?” He nods slowly. “Like what, fifteen?” Kayla chirps. Damien points his finger up. Losing all humor, Kayla says, “How many has it been, Damien?”

  “Mmmm probably around…twenty-six,” Damien slowly let’s out.

  “Twenty-six girls?” Kayla chokes out. “When did you lose your virginity?”

  “When I was fourteen,” Damien mumbles.

  Completely dumbfounded, Kayla sits there and stares at him with wide eyes. “You’ve slept with twenty-six girls in three years? I realize that isn’t one a month, but it’s pretty damn close.”

  Damien drops his head in his hands. “I just messed up everything between us.”

  “It’s just...it’s a lot to take. I mean, there are adults who haven’t slept with that many people. You’re lucky we can’t catch anything from humans. Wait, we can’t, right?”

  He shakes his head. “No, nor can I get a human girl pregnant. Really, it was just rebelling in the only way I could. I was a top honor student. I’m polite and don’t get into much trouble. The one time I got arrested was because I intervened when a guy pushed Courtney around one night. I laid him out. I got out of the charges but other than that, I’m a good guy. It’s just that I never found anyone to connect with. I never felt a draw to anyone. Girls liked my money and what I could do for them. It was so easy.”

  “That’s awful,” Kayla gapes back at him.

  “I know,” Damien sighs into his hands. “The only person I have ever felt a true attraction to was you, but now, well, I ruined that for myself.”

  Kayla sits there staring at him. “This is a lot to process, Damien. I mean, that is a lot of girls. How am I supposed to compete with that? Weren’t they all beautiful and perfect?”

  “No, dear Lord, no,” Damien exclaims shaking his head. “There were some drunken nights that ended badly.”

  “Oh, gee, that makes me feel so much better,” Kayla states sarcastically.

  Damien turns and waves his hands. “Let me explain. There is a plant from our planet called Pivaut. You can brew a tea out of it. It’s like our version of alcohol. It doesn’t taste like any alcoholic beverage a human would drink. Two times some of my guy friends slipped it into my drinks while we were at parties. I had no idea that I was drunk. Both times ended with me in someone’s bed.”

  “Oh, blame it on your friends. So what, you woke up to a different girl each time and they weren’t cute?”

  Damien covers his face with his hands. “This conversation needs to end now.”

  “Why? Were they beautiful?” Kayla snaps.

  “Let’s just leave it be. Please, Kayla, this is going to blow up in my face worse than it already has.”

  “What did you wake up to, a beautiful or ugly girl? Why did it end up horrible?”

  With a heavy exhale, Damien says, “I didn’t wake up to a girl, but girls.”

  Not saying a word, Kayla’s head falls into her hands. “Damien…I don’t even know what to say.”

  “I know this completely blew any chance I had with you. I should have just lied, but I refuse to lie to you. I really wanted to give this a try. I like you a lot, but I’ll completely understand when you get up and walk out the door, because that’s what I would probably do if I were you.”

  Kayla stares down at the comforter in silence, unable to meet his eyes. “Did you care about any of them?”

  “Sure,” Damien replies. “A lot of them were girls I considered my friends. I’m still friends with a few of them. They used me and what I had as much as I used them for sex.”

  “Don’t say that! That makes them sound like they were selling themselves for money.”

  Damien groans and falls back onto the bed. “This is just getting worse with every word that comes out of my mouth.”

  “Well, how would you feel if I just told you I had slept with twenty guys? Would you be happy?”

  “No,” Damien whispers. “Kayla, I can’t change my past, but my future is going to be different. Now I know what it feels like to really like someone. Yo’re incredible, and just the possibility of sharing an intimate moment with you makes me want to change everything about myself right now. Because if you walk out that door it will tear me apart, and I don’t know if I can bear that.”

  “You really think that?” Kayla whispers. “You won’t sleep around anymore?”

  He sits up and meets her gaze. “No, it was stupid and irresponsible. My father always pushed me to meet girls of our own kind. Take a few girlfriends, older girlfriends, so they could have my babies. I didn’t want to, so I took out a lot of human girls. My rebellion backfired because my dad really didn’t care, but I was so caught up in it, I didn’t stop, which makes me a shmuck. I won’t do it anymore, though. It’s pointless. I want something that matters, not a tryst for one night.”

  “I’m happy that you’re honest with me,” Kayla says. “But I have a lot to think about.”

  “Yeah,” Damien exhales. “I know what that means. It’s been nice, Kayla, it really has. I only wish the best for you. Do you want me to find a different trainer for you?”

  She looks up at him and replies, “Damien, don’t be silly. I don’t want you to go anywhere. I just want to think about all of this for a little while. You aren’t going to cheat on me, right?”

  “Dear Lord, no, I would never do that. I may have slept around, but I’m not a cheater.”

  “Okay,” Kayla sighs. “I think we can get past this. I feel insecure at the moment, but hopefully that will pass.”

  Damien groans. “There is nothing to feel insecure about. There has never been a girl on this planet that I have liked as much as you. I really do care about you, Kayla. I would give up every experience with any of those girls, if you would really give our relationship a chance. I’m sorry for my past; I truly am. I wish it wasn’t true, but it is.”

  “But see, you and I aren’t having sex right now and probably won’t for a while. How do I know you aren’t going to go somewhere else when you get bored?”

  “I could never be bored with you. Please understand that. You’re too fantastic for me to want go anywhere else. You make me laugh all the time. I have so much fun with you. I don’t need sex. I really don’t. Anyway, if we were to have sex, I would want it to be perfect. I would want it to mean everything to you, and I know you want to wait, so I will gladly wait with you.”

  Kayla looks at him. “I appreciate that.” Taking a deep breath, Kayla says, “Okay, we can keep dating. I just don’t want to get on Facebook and see pictures of all those girls flirting with you.”

  He sets the computer down and crawls over to her. Damien puts his hands on the sides of her face. “You are gorgeous. Don’t ever think anything else. They all pale in comparison to you, because every part of you is beautiful, especially your laugh. It’s contagious.”

  “Thanks,” Kayla whispers. She looks at him and then leans over and kisses him. He returns the affection. There is no unfurling of energy, just gentle kisses. She eventually pulls away. “You better send me a friend request.”

  “Okay,” Damien replies with a smile. They cuddle together on the bed and browse Facebook. He shows more pictures of his sisters. Kayla laughs, enjoying this different side
of him. “See, there’s more to me than sex—good things,” he murmurs, looking at Kayla.

  She smirks. “Yeah, I get that now. So what do we do?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Do we change our relationship statuses?”

  Damien smiles. “Does that mean you’re my girlfriend?”

  “No, not yet, not exclusively, but I also don’t want girls putting love notes on your page.”

  Turning back to his computer, Damien clicks on a few things. “There you go,” he says. “I’m in a relationship with you. What that relationship is, is entirely up to you. You can give it whatever title you want. “

  “Okay,” Kayla says, taking the computer from him. “Let me log into my account. All the other girls will be jealous that I’m dating such a hot guy.”

  “Aww, are they going to drool all over the picture of us?” Damien laughs.

  “No, that would happen if I posted a picture of you without your shirt on.”

  With a grin, Damien sits up on his knees. He takes his shirt off. “Gotta make them really jealous.”

  Kayla laughs. “You aren’t serious.”

  “Mmhmm.” Damien crawls to the head of the bed and flops down on the pillow. “You have to make it a really sultry picture.”

  Giggling, Kayla grabs her cell phone. Standing over him, she laughs. “Say cheese.”

  He drapes one arm over his head and chuckles. “Cheese,” he says with a smile.

  Kayla takes the picture and clicks her tongue. “Sexy as hell, of course.”

  “What in the world are you guys doing?”

  They turn to see Jackson standing in the doorway with a completely dumbfounded look on his face. “Posting pictures on Facebook,” Damien answers with a smile. “She wants to make the other girls jealous.”

  “If you want to make them jealous, you should put a picture of me on there. I’m by far better looking with my clothes off.”

  She moves across the bed and holds her phone out. “All right, buddy, strip. I’ll put up a poll. Wh’s hotter?”

  “Shouldn’t it be the guy who’s in your relationship status?”

  Jackson’s gaze turns to Kayla. “You guys changed your relationship statuses? Are you that serious now?”

  “No, I just want the other girls to stay away. Now, take your shirt off. I think this will make an excellent poll.”