Goddess Legacy: Goddess Series Book 1 (Young Adult / New Adult Series)

by M. W. Muse

  “Sorry,” he whispered, but he was breathing heavily.

  She didn’t say anything. She just turned and walked to the side of the house where the woods were. She flashed the light in the trees and called the dog again. She didn’t hear anything, but she thought she saw movement. She couldn’t be sure. It was dark, and she was moving a light around. Her eyes could have very easily been playing tricks on her.

  She started to step into the trees, but River grabbed her arm. She looked back at him.

  “Don’t go in there.”

  “Why?”

  “Please, Legacy. I don’t want you to get hurt.” He looked at her with a wistful expression, but she couldn’t understand it. She wasn’t sure if he was just worried about the woods, or if there was a deeper meaning in his expression. “Look out!” he yelled, and pulled her to the side.

  She saw a rustling on the ground and jumped anyway. Eeek! It was a rattlesnake! She started to move. She had to get away before he struck out.

  “Don’t,” River whispered, halting her escape. He reached over, picked up a piece of scrap lumber, and crushed the snake. “Let’s go.” He grabbed her by the arm, and they walked quickly down the street and back toward the house. They saw Calli walking toward them.

  “Where have you been?” she asked her as she got closer.

  “I was out looking for the dog.”

  “I got him already. Security had him.”

  “Oh. Good. Okay.” She looked at River’s face, then looked at his hand that was still locked tightly around her arm. He dropped it.

  “I’ll see you at work tomorrow,” she said as she walked away from him.

  “Sweet dreams,” he murmured.

  There was nothing sweet about her dreams that night. She guessed her encounter with a real snake wasn’t enough; she’d dreamed about them all night. When she finally woke up, she was relieved to be back in reality. Even better, Adin would be back today.

  She got dressed and headed to work. Calli stayed in bed. Ahh, the life of a debutante.

  River was already there when she arrived. She guessed he was all giddy from seeing her unexpectedly last night that he rushed up here to see her as soon as possible. Stupid prophecy.

  “Good morning,” she said as she walked in the door.

  “Good morning,” River responded, but he didn’t sound as cheerful as she thought he’d be. Maybe he’d taken last night for what it had actually been and didn’t obsess about it all night. That’d be a big relief.

  “Where’s everybody at?” she asked as she walked to the back to put up her purse. She didn’t have to turn around to see if he was following her. She knew.

  “Yale called in and my mom stayed home. We have family visiting from out of town.”

  Nice…it would just be the two of them then.

  “Hopefully, it won’t be too busy,” she said as she locked up her purse and headed back out the door.

  It was slow all day, but she stayed in front by the register just in case anyone came in. River spent most of the morning in the back, but came out at lunch time.

  “What do you want to eat?”

  “Don’t worry about it. I can go get something.”

  “Don’t be silly. My mom buys us all lunch all the time.”

  “I don’t care. Whatever you want is fine with me.”

  “How about we just order a pizza?”

  “That sounds good.”

  He walked over to where she was standing and gently stroked her arm. “What kind do you want?”

  She stepped to the side so that he couldn’t reach her. The touch felt too intimate for just friends. “Pepperoni’s fine.”

  River smiled as he called and ordered the pizza. “It’ll be here in thirty minutes,” he said once he got off the phone.

  She shrugged, but he didn’t go back to work. Maybe she needed to be verbal about it. “Okay,” she said with her eyebrows raised.

  But he kept standing there, staring at her. She stared right back. Then he moved back over to her and stroked her arm again. “Why did you step away from me?” he asked softly.

  “Because I didn’t want you touching me.” She shoved her shoulder in an attempt to knock off his hand, but he kept it there.

  “Is it because you like me touching you and you don’t know how to deal with that?”

  “Er, no. What gave you that crazy idea?”

  “Just a hunch.”

  “You’re wrong.”

  He stepped to the side again, so now, he was standing right in front of her. She took a step back and realized she was backed up against a wall. He put his other hand on her other arm.

  “I think you do like me. More than you’re willing to admit.”

  Why was she in the pits of hell?

  “Look, River, I don’t want to hurt your feelings.” She tried being nice, but as she spoke, he took another step. Now he was uncomfortably close. “You’re right,” she whispered, and River’s eyes popped open. “I do like you. But I don’t feel about you the way I feel about Adin.”

  He flinched at that acknowledgement. “You will love me. One day.”

  “Not this day, and not ever if I have anything to do about it.”

  “Well, I’m tired of sitting by and watching you grow closer to Adin. You’re supposed to be growing closer to me,” he whispered.

  He asked for it. “I love the way Adin makes me feel. The way he talks to me, holds me, hugs me, kisses me. There’s nothing in the world that can top that.”

  River dropped his arms and huffed angrily. “I can’t do this anymore. I tried being your friend like you wanted, but I’m done. I want to be with you. From here on out, I’m going to be pursuing you like any other man would do in this situation.”

  So Adin was right about River.

  “Right, because there are so many men out there pinning their hopes on a prophecy!”

  “Touchy much?” He smirked and stepped right up against her, their bodies touching. “I think you’re putting up a fight because you’re afraid of the temptation.”

  “You have completely lost your mind.” She put her hands on his chest and shoved him back. “I don’t want to be with you. I want Adin!”

  “There’s nothing wrong with giving him a little competition. He’s going to mess up, and I’ll be the one you’ll turn to.”

  “No.” She shook her head and glared at him.

  “Legacy, you will be mine. I’m going to be the one who’ll be there for you in the end.”

  “No! You’re going to be nothing to me. You are nothing!”

  “Baby, I’m everything. I’m everywhere. You can’t stop me. You have no choice.”

  She slumped back on the wall and threw her hand up over her mouth. She shook her head, staring at him in disbelief. His words had been in her dream. The one where she stood under the tornado, daring it to come for her. She wanted it to come. She needed it to come. She yelled no up to the sky like she just did to River, and the words that River just spoke were the words from that female voice.

  The sudden change in her expression softened his stance. Now, he looked concerned. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” She stepped aside, intending to walk away from him, but she found herself running for the restroom.

  She burst through the door and ran to the sink. She splashed water on her face, hoping the cold water would make her numb. It didn’t. She could clearly feel one hot hand and one cold hand on her cheeks. There was no escaping her reality.

  Why was this happening to her? Everything had to fit together. With each new experience, she was more certain about that. But if everything kept making sense, then how did this prophecy fit in? She truly felt like she belonged to Adin. She wasn’t just telling herself this. She felt it with every fiber of her being.

  But River felt the exact same way about her. She couldn’t be mad at him when she thought of the pain that caused him. Because if she couldn’t be with Adin, she knew she would be hurting too.

  River kn
ocked on the bathroom door. “Are you okay?”

  She didn’t want to talk to him. She felt sorry for him, but that didn’t excuse his behavior. If he was going to be actively pursuing her, she would have to be on her guard. This was the first time she was actually looking forward to school starting and this job ending.

  “Legacy?”

  “I’ll be out in a minute.”

  She took a few deep breaths and wiped the water from her face. Then she walked out of the restroom. River was standing right there.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say all that.”

  “Apology accepted,” she said as she stepped around him and walked back to the register.

  River followed her. “I’m not saying what I said wasn’t true,” he muttered. “But I shouldn’t have been a dick about it.”

  “I understand,” she said, looking down, fidgeting with some papers.

  “I think about you all the time,” he breathed. “I just don’t know how to do this anymore. I can’t sit by and watch you fall in love with him.”

  She looked up at River, and he was looking at his feet. “I get it.” And she did. He wanted her, and he was through pretending that he didn’t.

  He looked up and met her gaze. “You don’t know what I’ve been going through. When I saw you unexpectedly last night, it made my day. Just seeing you. But when you tripped, and I caught you…with you so close…” He sighed, shutting his eyes. “You have no idea.”

  “I said I understand, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to change my mind.”

  He opened his eyes. “I know how you feel, which is why I’ve tried to be a good friend to you. I wish I could continue being that friend. But that’s not who I am. I’ll still be there for you, and I’ll still help you whenever you need it. But I just can’t deny my feelings anymore. I know that’s what you want, and it’s killing me that I can’t do that for you.”

  “I know you can’t change your feelings, but neither can I. I really don’t want you to be hurting, but I can’t be what you want.”

  This was such a mess. River’s confession just added to her list of crapola she had to deal with. His longing looks spoke volumes. He wasn’t hiding his feelings anymore because he wasn’t pretending anymore, and it would make working with him brutal.

  By the gods, if she got through this with her sanity intact, it’d be a friggin’ miracle.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Legacy couldn’t wait to see Adin. She had missed him so much already before she went to work. Now, she was aching to see him.

  The knock on the door made her heart flutter. She opened it, and Adin was standing there with roses. She didn’t even take them from him. She threw her arms around his neck and squeezed him to her. He put his arms around her and held her tightly. She was where she belonged. He was where she belonged.

  “I missed you so, so much,” she breathed into his chest.

  “Me too.” He kissed the top of her head.

  She didn’t want to let go of him, but they couldn’t stand here in the doorway all night. She took a deep breath, breathing in his luscious scent, and let go.

  “These are for you,” he said, handing her the flowers.

  She took them from him and reached up and kissed him softly. Then he put his forehead on hers and stroked her face.

  “I really, really missed you,” he whispered.

  She nodded and stepped away again. “I’ll be right back.” She went into the kitchen to put the flowers up and met him again at the front door.

  Once they were in the car, she held Adin’s hand in her lap and took her other hand and held his arm. If she didn’t have her seatbelt on, she would have leaned up against him, but she still tried.

  “When did you get back?” she wondered.

  “About thirty minutes ago. I took a quick shower and came right over. I couldn’t wait to see you,” he said, gazing into her eyes.

  She reached up with her free hand and felt his hair. “Your hair’s still a little wet.” It felt so good to touch him.

  “I was in a hurry,” he said with a laugh.

  “What are we doing tonight?”

  “I was thinking we’d get some takeout and watch the sunset again. We haven’t done that since our first date.”

  “That sounds wonderful.” It sounded perfect.

  Adin was glowing. He looked even better than before he’d left. She couldn’t keep her eyes off him.

  “How was your trip this time?”

  “Better. No arguing, just a lot of unpacking.”

  “Arguing?”

  Adin’s smile faded a little, and he glanced at her. He looked like he didn’t want to tell her what he meant by that, but surely he could see the concern building.

  “When I was there before, my dad had a hard time understanding why I wanted to stay here,” he said slowly.

  “What did he say?”

  “Umm, I don’t really remember all the specifics of it.” Adin looked out his side window. He had to be hiding something.

  “You can tell me,” she whispered.

  “I don’t want it to upset you.”

  “Will it upset me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Were you arguing about me?” Did his dad hate her or something?

  “Legacy,” he murmured, shaking his head.

  “Please, Adin.”

  “You came up, yes. But the arguing was directed more toward me and my life.”

  “Did you talk about me this time too?”

  “Of course.” He stroked her hand.

  “But you didn’t argue this time?”

  “No. He understands what I want, and he’s not going to press it anymore. He knew he needed to speak his mind last time, and he did that. We argued, and then he understood how strongly I felt about everything.”

  She nodded. It still felt like he was leaving a lot out, but as long as he was staying, she really didn’t care. If it took a fight with his dad to make sure he stayed here, then she was all for that. Yeah, she was being selfish.

  “How was your weekend?” Adin asked while she was mulling over his fight with his dad.

  She really didn’t want to talk about what happened while Adin was away. She had every intention of telling him everything about her weekend—just not right now. But since he’d asked, she couldn’t put it off.

  “Um, well, I went to Calli’s Saturday and helped her with her Hamlet paper.”

  “She hadn’t started it yet?” Adin asked incredulously.

  “Nope.” Legacy laughed. “But I spent the day with her, and she got it done.”

  “Good. How was everything else?”

  She sighed. She knew what he was getting at. He wanted to know about River.

  “I stayed the night with Calli.” She frowned. Time to find her big-girl panties and fess up. “When Calli went outside to feed the dogs, she noticed that one was missing. We grabbed some flashlights and started walking the neighborhood to find him. We left in a hurry, not bothering to change out of our pajamas.”

  Adin’s happy expression was changing. He knew where this story was going.

  “River was outside and he saw us. He came over, and Calli told him what happened. He suggested she contact security. She left, and I kept walking.”

  Adin sighed. “You went searching alone?”

  She let go of Adin’s arm and put that hand on top of their joined hands in her lap. “Not exactly. River followed me. I asked him what he was doing, and he fed me some crap about two pairs of eyes being better than one. I didn’t buy that, so I tried to brush him off. He wasn’t going to let me walk alone, so I stormed off, ignoring him. He kept following me, and when I walked around a new house, I tripped on some lumber, and he caught me.” She looked down at her hands holding his. “Um, he let go but didn’t move. When I looked up at him, he had his eyes closed. I was already uncomfortable because I was in my pajamas, so the fact that he was right beside me made her feel extremely uncomfortable, so I stepped away. When I did, h
e apologized.” She looked back up at Adin, and his expression was harder. “Anyway, I started to go into the woods, and he grabbed my arm. He didn’t want me walking around in the woods. When I started to leave, he saw a snake beside me and killed it. We got back to the main road, and Calli was walking down. Security did have the dog.”

  “And?” His expression was still hard, but controlled.

  “That night, I dreamed about snakes. You know, for obvious reasons. Then this morning, I had to work. Yale called in, and River’s mom stayed home with houseguests. River and I were the only ones there, and it was really slow. He left me alone most of the morning, but he came out at lunchtime and asked me what I wanted to eat. I told him I could fend for myself, but he insisted and decided on pizza. When he asked me what kind I wanted…” She paused and glanced at Adin, his hard expression unchanged. “River stepped over and rubbed my arm. I walked away from him, but after he ordered the pizza, he walked back up to me. I was trapped up against a wall.” She looked at Adin again, and he was gripping the steering wheel as tightly as he was gritting his teeth. She let go of his hand and rubbed both her hands on her legs while Adin took the hand that she had been holding and locked it to the steering wheel like his other. She took a deep breath. “I don’t know if you want to hear the rest of this,” she muttered as she exhaled.

  “Yes, I do,” Adin said through his teeth.

  “You’re not going to like it,” she said, shaking her head.

  He laughed sarcastically. “I already don’t like it.”

  That much was obvious. “Okay. After I was trapped, he put both hands on my arms and asked why I stepped away from him. I told him I didn’t want him touching me. He said some nonsense about me actually liking him and just not knowing how to deal with it. He stepped right up against me, and I pushed him off. Then we fought. He said he was through being just my friend. He was tired of sitting back watching me grow close to you because I was supposed to be growing closer to him. He said from here on out he’s not going to deny his feelings anymore and that he’s going to be pursuing me. We were yelling at each other, and he said something that I’d heard in my dream the other night, so I freaked out and ran to the bathroom. When I came out, he was apologetic for his behavior, but he was still resolved.”