Channie glanced sideways at the trips and said, “Thanks for coming over this morning to fix breakfast for us.”
Josh quirked an eyebrow, but he went along with Channie’s plan to keep his overnight visit a secret. “Anytime. Call me if you need anything.”
Channie ducked her chin as she stacked the breakfast dishes on the table. “Don’t tell anyone, okay? Especially not your momma.”
Josh kissed the top of her head and said, “I’m not stupid.”
~***~
Channie spent most of the morning at the park with the trips. It was a warm day so she sat at the new picnic table in the pavilion — the city didn’t waste any time replacing the one Daddy had stolen — and did her homework while the boys played and fought with each other.
When her phone started playing “Gotta Be Somebody,” Channie’s heart flip-flopped into her throat.
“Hi, Josh.”
“Hey, Channie. I just called to let you know that I can’t call you today.”
“Why?” Her heart stopped mid-flip and slid to the floor.
“Mom’s punishing me and taking my phone after this call.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
“Me too, I just didn’t want you to think I was ignoring you, but she’s standing here listening to every word I say and timing this call. For every minute we talk, she’s grounding me an extra day … so I guess I’ll see you at school.”
Ten minutes after they hung up, Josh started texting Channie — from Elijah’s phone.
She fed the trips peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch and supper both, but no one complained. She didn’t give them baths or try to put them to bed on time, but just let them play until they fell asleep on the floor, then carried them to bed.
Channie’s phone woke her up a little after midnight. It was just an ordinary ring tone so Channie assumed it was either Momma or Daddy calling from a pay phone to check on her and the boys.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Channie, you awake?”
“Josh? Did your momma give you your phone back?”
“No, I’m still using Elijah’s.”
“That’s awful nice of him.”
“Not really. I’m paying the little twerp five bucks to use his phone and another five to not tell on me.”
Channie had no idea how long they talked before she fell asleep, but the last time she checked her alarm clock, it was after two in the morning.
Her phone was open and stuck to her cheek when Momma shook her awake and said, “Rise and shine sleepy-head, you’re gonna be late for school.”
Channie yawned and stretched then forced her eyes open. “When did you get back?”
“About an hour ago.” Momma was grinning so wide Channie could see her back teeth.
“Did you and Daddy win any money?”
“You would not believe how much money we won.”
Channie’s mouth was instantly dry. “Did you get enough to pay off Daddy’s debts.”
“Not quite. We’re going to go again next weekend.”
~***~
Channie was about half-way to school when her phone played Josh’s ring-tone.
“Hey, you got your phone back.”
“Where are you?” Josh’s voice was slightly higher pitched than normal, tense.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s my shield. The girls are going nuts.”
How could she have forgotten about the aphrodisiacal effect of Josh’s shield? There were a lot more girls at school than there had been at the races. At least she hadn’t super-charged it with her own lust recently.
“Are you safe?”
“For now. I’m in the boy’s bathroom next to the gym.”
“Stay put until I get there.”
Channie didn’t even bother to lock her bike when she got to school. She raced to the gym and cast a moon-curse at the crowd of girls gathered outside the boy’s bathroom. They all clutched their bellies and scampered into the girl’s bathroom. Channie knocked on the door and said, “Josh? Are you in there?”
The door creaked open and Josh peeked his head out. “Are they gone?”
“Yeah, but we better get you somewhere safe and figure out a way to fix this.”
Josh looked both ways like he was getting ready to cross a busy street, then slipped his arm around Channie’s waist and made a mad dash for the south door. They made it outside without incident, but there were too many girls hanging around in the court yard and they honed in on Josh like heat-seeking missiles. Channie cast curse after curse, but the girls kept coming.
“Josh, I’m running out of power. Can you give me a little boost?”
He seemed to know exactly what she was hinting at and slid his hand from Channie’s waist to her back-side and gave it a little squeeze.
Chastity’s power-well went from nearly empty to overflowing in an instant. Channie took care of all the girls and still had power left over. If she didn’t dump the excess soon, she was going to light Josh’s shield up with so much energy, she wouldn’t be able to resist him either.
The marching band was still practicing on the football field. It was a large group and far enough away that no one in their right mind would believe she’d tasered the entire bunch. But when she released Chastity’s excess energy, every single musician hit a sour note. One of the color guard tripped and fell against the drummer standing next to her. The entire front row, and half of the second, stumbled into each other like falling dominoes.
Josh snickered and said, “Sweet! Did you do that?”
“Actually, I blame you for that one.”
“Me?”
“I said a little boost. Grabbing my butt was not a good idea.”
He said, “Sorry,” but the grin on his face proved he wasn’t the least bit remorseful. “You want to go to my house? My mom’s at work.”
“I thought you were grounded.”
“I am, but you’re not.”
“Your momma’s not going to be happy to see me.”
“She doesn’t even get off work till five.”
Channie knew better than to go to a boy’s house without a chaperone, but she trusted Josh. Besides, they had to do something about that shield.
~***~
Josh opened the door and said, “Mom and Dad sold our house after the divorce so now we have to live in this crappy little townhouse. But Dad and Liz have a huge place in Boulder.” There was a slight trace of bitterness in his voice. “They even have an indoor pool and hot tub. I’ll take you there sometime.”
Channie didn’t know what he was talking about. The place wasn’t any smaller than the house she was living in and a heck of a lot bigger than the cabin back home. Everything was new and clean. “All your furniture matches.”
Josh looked around as if he’d never seen the place, then glanced sideways at Channie and blushed.
If he was feeling sorry for her, Channie was going to turn around right now and go home. She scanned his energy field but all she found was embarrassment and humility. No pity. Good.
She followed Josh into the kitchen. The first thing that caught her attention was the fancy refrigerator. It had an ice and water dispenser in the door. Josh followed her gaze and said, “Are you hungry?”
“No, but I’m a little thirsty.”
He dug around inside the refrigerator then handed her a diet Pepsi and shut the door.
The drink Josh had gotten for himself was not sugar-free. She narrowed her eyes and said, “You think I’m getting fat or something?”
“No. Of course not, but most girls I know won’t drink any kind of soda unless it’s diet.”
Channie handed it back to him and said, “I’m not like most girls.”
Josh laughed and said, “Sorry, you can say that again. What would you like to drink?”
“You got Dr. Pepper?”
“Hell no, that stuff’s nasty. It tastes like carbonated prune juice. We’ve got regular Pepsi, root beer, ginger ale, Sprite and Mount
ain Dew.”
“I’ll take a ginger ale, please.”
Josh twisted the top off the glass bottle and stuck a straw in it. “Come on, I’ll give you the tour.”
They wound up in the basement in a dark room with a huge flatscreen television on the wall and sound speakers in every corner. Josh called it an entertainment room and made a point of demonstrating the fact that with the door shut, it was completely soundproof.
Josh flopped into the middle of the sofa and draped his arms over the back. He obviously wanted Channie to sit next to him, but he was practically lying down. She chose a black leather chair across from him and sank four inches into the cushioned seat.
Josh pushed his lower lip out a bit then sat up straight and said, “So, do you have any idea how we can keep the girls at school from attacking me?”
~***~
There was no way Channie could protect Josh by casting a moon-curse on every girl at school that wanted to get her hands on him. Even if she had the energy, they only had one class together. She couldn’t protect him if she wasn’t there.
She attached an itching spell to Josh’s shield and used her own lust to create a trigger. Neither of them wanted an accidental bump in the halls or a friendly touch to curse an innocent bystander.
Josh rubbed his arms and said, “I don’t feel any different. You sure this will work?”
“If any girl lays hands on you with less than pure intent, she’ll feel as if a thousand fleas have infested her sorry hide.”
“Ha! Itches for bitches. I like it. Call it IFB for short.”
Channie rolled her eyes and said, “Are you ready to go back to school?”
Josh pulled his lower lip through his teeth and said, “I’ve got a better idea.” His level of lust increased by two hundred percent.
Channie clamped down on Chastity’s energy and said, “That IFB spell affects me too.”
Josh made his sad puppy face. “Even through cuddle clothes?”
“Afraid so.” Channie had made damn sure that clothing would not interfere with the curse. She didn’t want anyone touching Josh but her, no matter how many layers of clothes were between them. “We’ll have to wait for the spell to fade. It should only last for a few hours. Long enough to protect you until we get home from school.”
“You want to go get something to eat? My mom carpools on Mondays. We can drive the Toyota.”
“Aren’t you supposed to babysit when Elijah gets home from school?”
“Yeah, but we’ll be back way before then.”
Josh tried to talk Channie into eating at a fancy restaurant, but she insisted on McDonald’s. “Abby told me that if I ever got the chance, I had to try their fried potatoes. Please? I gotta try ‘em, at least once.”
“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather eat at The Waterloo Ice House or Red Robin’s? They have french fries there too.”
“I’m not dressed up enough for a fancy restaurant.”
Josh laughed and shook his head. “Alright, McDonald’s it is. But the one on West Dillon Road is going to be too crowded. We’ll go to the food court at the mall.”
Channie had never been to a mall before. It was even better than Walmart. And a lot less crowded. But the few teenaged girls that were there definitely noticed Josh. It was hard to keep Chastity from cursing the girls, but she wanted to see how well the IFB spell worked on a small crowd.
The first girl that touched Josh thought she was having an allergic reaction and used an epi-pen on herself. Her friends were loyal and managed to conquer their lust long enough to whisk her away and that was the end of that.
Josh accidentally-on-purpose brushed against a mom dragging a couple of squalling toddlers behind her. She said, “Hey, watch where you’re going,” but didn’t so much as twitch.
He apologized to the woman then leaned closer to Channie and whispered in her ear, making her heart race. “I’d say the experiment’s a success. Let’s go get something to eat.”
He slid his hand under the curtain of her hair and pressed his palm against the middle of her back then guided her to the food court. A medley of exotic spices tickled her nose and made her eyes water.
Josh promised to buy Channie some french fries at McDonald’s, but insisted they buy the rest of their meal somewhere healthy and eat that first. He said, “I can’t eat too much junk food. I have to stay in shape.”
Channie used Josh’s comment as an excuse to let her gaze travel over his lean, hard-muscled body and said, “You’re not going to get fat no matter what you eat.”
Josh wasn’t fooled. Channie knew he could feel her energy pouring into his shield, but he just chuckled and said, “I’m not worried about getting fat, I’m worried about getting enough protein to maintain the small amount of muscle mass I’ve managed to build over the last year. I need to bulk up before Grands.”
“What’s Grands? It sounds important.”
“It’s sort of the Superbowl of BMX racing, so yeah, it’s really important. It determines your ranking for the next year. If I want to race in the 2012 Olympics I need to do well at Grands from here on out.”
“I’d like to see you race at Grands. When is it?”
“Thanksgiving, but since it’s in Tulsa, we leave as soon as school’s out on Wednesday afternoon.”
Thanksgiving was a big deal in Channie’s family, at least it had been, before they moved. It wouldn’t be the same without all the aunts, uncles, and cousins — or Abby. Channie tried not to think about her sister. She and Abby hadn’t been close for years — not since she’d gotten pregnant and shut everyone out of her life — but that one conversation after Channie had kissed Josh had given her hope that they could be friends and confidants again. False hope was worse than no hope at all. Channie pushed all thoughts of Abby into the back of her mind and said, “What about Thanksgiving dinner?”
Josh said, “My family’s eaten Thanksgiving dinner at Mimi’s cafe for the past four years. Before that, Mom tried to cook it in the trailer. Mimi’s is better. We don’t even take the trailer anymore. We just stay in a hotel. If you want to come, I’ll rent you a separate room.”
“That sounds expensive.”
“You’re worth it.” Josh laced his fingers behind his head and tipped his chair back, balancing on two legs. “But if you’re worried about the expense, you could always share a room with me.”
Channie’s mouth fell open, but she was speechless.
Josh slammed the front legs of his chair onto the floor, grabbed the edge of the table and laughed.“I’m sorry, but you should have seen the look on your face.” He continued to chuckle as he stacked their trays together and gathered up their trash. “Why don’t you let me make it up to you? I’ll buy you dessert.”
Chocolate raspberry crepes had to be the most delicious thing Channie had ever tasted in her entire life. They were better than Momma’s oatmeal cookies. Better than Nana’s blueberry pancakes. Better than McDonald’s fried potatoes.
A middle-aged woman moaned and said, “I swear, these crepes are better than sex.”
Channie choked, snorting a piece of raspberry up her nose.
Josh chuckled and said, “Are you okay?”
She nodded, but her eyes were still watering and she couldn’t stop coughing. Josh started to pat her back, but Channie twisted out of reach and shook her head. If she got hit with his IFB spell on top of everything else, she’d probably choke to death. Josh waited until she quit coughing then offered her a sip of water. “We gotta get home before Elijah.”
Josh was quiet as they walked back to the car. Channie was amazed that he was able to find it without a seeking spell. Every third car was a dark blue SUV identical to his mother’s. He opened the door for Channie, then slid in behind the wheel and filled the car with lustful energy. He bit his lip and pulled it, ever so slowly, through his teeth.
The corners of Channie’s mouth tugged upwards against her will. She gave in to the urge to smile and said, “You do that on purpose.”
She shook it off as best she could and decided to give him a taste of his own medicine. She mimicked him — exaggerating everything, from the slow drag of teeth across her bottom lip to the low sigh as she exhaled. She decided to improvise a little and ran her hands through her hair, lifting it off her back then letting it slide through her fingers and drift back into place.
When she finished her little demonstration, Channie tossed her hair over her shoulder, stuck her chin in the air and looked down her nose at Josh. “It’s not so much fun when you’re the one being teased, is it?”
His pupils dilated. He gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white and said, “Do it again.”
~***~
When Mrs. Abrim got home from work at a quarter ‘till six, she seemed genuinely pleased to see Channie … although she made a point of leaving the media room’s door open. Josh rolled his eyes and shut it as soon as she went back upstairs.
Channie worked on Josh’s shield every day. By the end of the week she could fine tune the spell so it lasted exactly as long as she wanted. A three hour spell before school — so she could sit on his lap during lunch without breaking out in hives — and another spell afterwards that lasted until they got home from school.
Channie and Josh were watching “Shrek” with Elijah after school on Friday when Channie’s phone rang. It was Daddy.
“Hey, baby girl, I hate to bother you, but your momma and I are ready to head back on up into the mountains. We need you to come home and keep an eye on the boys.” Daddy always shouted into the phone, as if he didn’t believe in the technology and it was all up to him.
Channie held the phone away from her ear to keep from going deaf. “I’m going to watch Josh race all day tomorrow. You and Momma can go gamble after I get back.”
“We need you to come home now.”
It sounded like Daddy needed another demonstration of Chastity’s power. “No.”
“How about if I pay you to babysit?”
“Seriously?” Daddy had never given Channie so much as a dime. She leaned forward and said, “How much?”
Enchantment Page 15
