“Hey, Dad,” Carly announced, closing the door behind her.
Howard looked up from his egg salad sandwich with surprise. “Carly? How are you, sweetheart?”
“I’m fine, and still a virgin—because Gabe and I are just friends. And I assure you, when I do have sex, you’ll be the last to know.”
Howard’s jaw dropped as Carly turned on her heel and headed back to class.
She couldn’t believe she’d done that either. She fumed as she paraded into physics late and plopped down in her usual seat next to Gabe. She had no clue what to do or how to act. Why did everybody suddenly want her to define her relationship with Gabe? And why had her father gone to such extremes to tell her something she was planning on doing anyway?
Gabe caught her on the shoulder as the bell rang, and she flinched. “Why were you late? You’re never late for class. What were you and Crys doing that took so long?”
Carly gazed up into his eyes, and for some reason, all she could think about was sex. She felt the blush in her cheeks as she turned away. This was definitely a problem. “I… don’t want to talk about it.”
“Sure,” he said, pulling his hand back.
The only thing that Carly could seem to think about all afternoon was Gabe. There was no denying that he was smoking hot, even though she’d been doing nothing but denying it since they’d met. He was also funny, and smart, and had excellent taste in music. And those eyes… His pale blue eyes had intrigued Carly before, but now, they left her mesmerized. Gabe Hutchinson was a long list of perfect that added up to the man of her dreams. Why hadn’t she seen it until now?
“What?” Gabe asked as their last class came to an end.
“W-what?” Carly echoed.
“You keep staring at me. Is there something on my face? I’m pretty sure that as my friend, you’re both legally and morally obligated to tell me if there’s something on my face.”
“No, I…” Her stomach knotted up as Gabe looked back at her. Carly couldn’t let herself like him like that, although she was pretty sure she already did. “Sorry, I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
“As long as there’s nothing on my face,” Gabe teased, jumping up from his desk. “We’re all going out for pizza before we head over to Crys’s tonight. No one’s meeting until seven, so I figure you and I have time to fit in a movie before then. As long as you don’t make me watch Scream again.”
Carly imagined the two of them alone in her room as she followed him to the door. Could she handle that right now? It wouldn’t take him long to notice that something was up, especially since he had the advantage of hearing her thoughts.
“I can’t make it tonight,” Carly lied, hoping he wouldn’t see right through her.
“Why not?” he challenged. “I thought your dad ungrounded you?”
“He did, I… have that big history report due next week. Plus, I’m in the middle of this really great novel, and I’d like to get through it before the weekend’s over. So I can get my report done. And that’s why I can’t hang out tonight.”
“But it will only be for a few hours.”
Carly’s gaze fell from his eyes to his lips. What would it be like to kiss them? “I should go.”
“I’ll give you a ride then.”
“No, you don’t have to.”
“Yes, I do,” he laughed. “I drove you in this morning, remember?”
“S-sure.” Carly followed him out to the Jetta, doing her best not to stare. But her best wasn’t good enough.
“Carly, are you sick or something?” Gabe asked as they settled in the car.
“What?”
“I just… I’m getting a really weird vibe from you.”
“I just need some music.” Carly turned up the stereo, and Kurt Cobain sang through the speakers. She tried to focus on the song, but ended up staring at Gabe instead. If she just stayed home and read a book or something, had just one night away from him, she could get all this out of her head and things could go back to normal. To the way they should be.
Gabe pulled up to Grant Manor, putting the car in park as he faced Carly. “If I did something wrong—”
“You didn’t do anything.”
“Then come with me tonight. Please. It won’t be the same without you.”
His eyes almost had her convinced, but she knew she couldn’t cave. No matter how much she wanted to. “No, I… I need to…”
“You need to what?”
“History paper,” Carly determined, and hopped out of the car.
* * *
Carly was almost done with Scream 3 when the doorbell sounded. She ignored it, but it rang two more times. She jumped up from the bed and walked to the top of the staircase. “Dad! Get the door!” But that’s when she remembered that Dad hadn’t come home yet.
The doorbell cried out again.
“Damnit,” Carly muttered as she ran downstairs. She threw open the door, half expecting to face Gabe. But it was Crystal on the porch, staring back at her. “What do you want?”
“What do you mean, what do I want?” Crystal snapped in reply. “Grab a jacket. We’re going to be late.”
“Late for what?”
“Don’t play coy with me. We’re going out for pizza. My car’s running, so hurry up.”
“Sorry, I can’t.”
“Because of that giant history paper you have next week?” Crystal snickered. “You know, if you’re going to lie about something like homework, maybe it shouldn’t be to someone who’s in the same class as you. Duh.”
“Gabe told you that?” Carly asked.
“He told me a lot of things, like how you started acting completely crazy after we got back from lunch this afternoon. What’s up, Carly?”
“N-nothing.”
Crystal barged into the foyer, closing the door behind her. “Fine, if you won’t come with me, I’ll just stay here with you. I’m pretty good at history, if you need some help with that paper. Although, Gabe’s pretty good at history, too. Maybe I should give him a call and ask him to come over.”
“Don’t do that,” Carly pleaded. “I mean, don’t you have to get home? Everyone’s going over to your place tonight.”
“I can do whatever the hell I want. Maybe I like hanging out with you, Carly.”
“Just… I mean, that’s not necessary.”
“I’m not naïve,” Crystal informed her. “I know this is about Gabe.”
Carly gritted her teeth, annoyed that Crystal was reading her so well. “It’s not about him.”
“You like him, don’t you? As more than a friend?”
“I…”
“You can talk to me, Carly,” Crystal urged. “I get that trusting people isn’t the easiest thing for you, but you can trust me. I won’t tell anyone, I promise.”
“I…” Maybe it would be better to talk about this. Maybe if Carly talked about it, her feelings would go away. “I was pretty good at compartmentalizing my relationship with him until… I mean, once the word sex was mentioned…”
“Now you can’t stop thinking about it?”
“It’s not necessarily sex I’m thinking about. It’s just, when I look at him now, it’s… different. Confusing.”
“Like you want to make out with him?”
“No,” Carly quickly replied. “…Yes.”
“That’s not a bad thing, you know,” Crystal told her. “We all have hormones, Carly.”
How could Carly make her understand? “I can’t feel that way about him. It’s just… I just can’t.”
“Why not exactly?”
Carly opened her mouth, but couldn’t say what she was thinking.
“Silence isn’t a very good reason,” Crystal noted.
“Because what if he doesn’t feel the same way?” Carly blurted out in admission.
Crys threw her head back in laughter. “That’s cute.”
“Because what if we broke up? I’m stuck here in this new town, and you guys are my only friends. I’ve already lost
my mom, and my friends from back home… If Gabe and I didn’t make it, you guys would have to choose between us. And I’m not stupid—I know everyone would pick Gabe. And then what? I mean, there’d be no bouncing back from that.”
“Way to overthink it. Like I said before, I’m willing to take Gabe’s place on the friend front. Come with me tonight. I really like you, Carly—we all really like you. Now that you’re here, it’s just not the same when you don’t show up for things. And I’m not the only one who thinks so.”
Carly took some time to consider that and concluded Crystal was right. It wouldn’t hurt to at least make an appearance. “I… should probably change first.”
Crystal clapped her hands together. “Awesome! I’ll help you pick something out.”
fifteen
“I don’t know about this,” Carly muttered as Crystal pulled up to the one pizza place in Sterling later that evening.
“It’s going to be fine,” Crystal assured her, looking over the outfit she’d handpicked for Carly. “Besides, you look super hot. You’ve at least got to feel good about that.”
Carly wasn’t sure if she should blush or roll her eyes as she glided out of the car. Maybe she looked cute, but that didn’t mean anything. She still had to make it through the night without letting Gabe know how she felt about him.
“You’re late,” Abel called to the girls as they stepped into the restaurant. He made a dramatic scene by looking at his watch several times. “Thirty minutes and counting. But considering how beautiful you both look, I could probably find it in my heart to forgive you.”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Crystal warned as she fell into the seat beside him. “Carly took a little more convincing than I’d planned. I guess I’m not as charming as I thought.”
“I think you’ve got enough charm for the both of us, Crys. Hey, Carly, there’s another seat over here by me.”
Carly hurried to take the open chair between Abel and Sharla, hoping not to draw too much attention. “Thanks.”
“Is there any food left?” Crystal asked, looking around the table. “Or did you guys eat it all?”
Abel picked up two slices of supreme pizza, set them on a plate, and shoved it in front of her. “Don’t be such a mean girl. That should be enough to get you started.”
“We’ll see about that,” Crystal replied, and sunk her teeth into the crust first. “Damn, this is good.”
“So, Carly,” Gabe spoke from the other end of the table. “How’s that paper coming?”
Carly let her hair fall in around her face, not sure how to respond.
“I convinced her that she can’t spend her Friday nights doing homework,” Crystal spoke up. “Plus, I haven’t told her what we’re doing tonight. I figured that might make it more fun.”
“I thought we were going to your house after this?” Carly said.
“We are, after a quick stop.”
“After a quick stop where?”
Abel dished up a piece of pizza and set it in front of Carly. “You’ll see.”
Carly kept her gaze on him as she took a bite of pizza.
“You look like you don’t trust me,” Abel speculated.
“That’s because I don’t trust you.”
“Well, we’ll have to do something about that, won’t we?”
Carly caught Gabe staring at her as she poured a glass of water. His pale blue eyes were intent with concern, and that troubled her more than her racing heart. This was exactly why she’d wanted to stay home tonight.
She’d finished little more than half a piece of pizza by the time her friends were ready to leave. That didn’t matter, though—hunger was the furthest thing from Carly’s thoughts. She could feel Gabe’s eyes on her even though she refused to meet his gaze.
“All right, Carly, it’s time to show you what we do for fun around here,” Crystal said as they headed back out to her car. “You can ride with me. The others will meet us out there.”
“Out where?” Carly asked as she climbed into the passenger seat.
“You’ll see.”
Carly focused out the window as Crystal drove up the coast. “Where are we going? It’s starting to get dark.”
“We have at least an hour before sundown. Besides, Gabe will be there to look after you, so you’ll be fine.”
“I just want to know where we’re going.”
“We’re almost there,” Crys answered. “How was it? Being around Gabe?”
Carly shook her head. “I really don’t want to talk about him.”
“He thinks you’re mad at him, and he just wants to know what he did wrong.”
Great, now Carly felt guilty on top of everything else.
“I’d try making eye contact once in a while,” Crystal suggested. “And stop flirting with Abel.”
“I wasn’t flirting with Abel.”
“Well, Gabe thinks you were.”
“Just take me home,” Carly begged. “Please.”
“Too late for that.” Crystal pulled up to a clearing on the coast and cut the engine. “We’re here.”
“Where’s here?”
“Our favorite place to swim.”
“Swim?” Carly choked as she took Crystal’s lead and jumped out of the car. She thought Crystal was really cool, which was why she’d bothered to indulge her in the first place, but this was just ridiculous. “You do realize it’s freezing out, don’t you? You’ll have hypothermia as soon as you hit the water.”
“You would, but only because you haven’t shifted yet. Remember how I told you water temperature doesn’t affect me? Well, I meant it. I’ll be just fine out there. That’s why we always swim at this spot—because it’s secluded enough that no one will find us and think they need to call an ambulance.”
Carly still wasn’t convinced as she stared out at the menacing waves. “You can’t go swimming in there.”
“Why not?” Crystal asked, heading for the sandy coast.
“The waves will… I mean, even if the water doesn’t feel cold, the waves will rip you to shreds.”
Crystal chuckled as she scooped Carly up into her arms and lifted the girl over her head in one swift motion. “I’m stronger than I look,” she explained, and set Carly back on her feet.
Carly cursed, both impressed and terrified by what Crystal had just done. “I-I can’t believe… I mean, wow. That was incredible.”
“Consider it one of my many talents.” Crystal tore her shirt over her head as she reached the shore, revealing a red bikini top beneath. She had an exquisite figure, and it was astounding that someone that sexy didn’t have a boyfriend. “I’m going to head in. Everyone else will be here soon.” She unbuttoned her jeans and slid them down her hips before she went sprinting into the water.
Carly watched in amazement as Crystal battled crashing Lake Superior waves with ease. Carly was so enthralled, in fact, that she didn’t notice when everyone else arrived. One by one, they stripped down to bathing suits and rushed into the water. All save Gabe, who stopped next to Carly on the shore.
He drew his arms across his chest as he looked out at the Great Lake. “Apparently, Crystal convinced you to come tonight.”
Carly didn’t know if she could get any words out, but she’d have to at least try. It wasn’t fair that Gabe thought she was mad at him. “Yeah, I… I guess she did.”
“Did she also convince you to go to the show in Duluth tomorrow night, or do you have to finish that paper instead?”
Something told Carly a lie wouldn’t suffice. “No, I… I’ll probably go.”
“Well, I hear there’s room in Abel’s car if you’re interested,” Gabe mentioned.
Carly turned to spit out some sort of reply just as Gabe ripped off his clothes, revealing board shorts beneath. Her mouth fell open as she gaped over him. There was no denying that he was absolutely hot.
Why was she this girl? She hated that she was this girl. Why couldn’t she just not like him like that?
Gabe said nothing mo
re as he walked into the water. Carly knew she couldn’t join him—the combination of the temperature and the waves would destroy her. Instead, she found a place where the shore met the rock, and sat, pulling her knees up to her chin.
She watched the seven shapeshifters brave cruel waves, and that alone proved how different she was. Maybe she’d always be this different. Maybe she’d never shift. Maybe it didn’t matter what was in her bloodline—maybe she was destined to stay human despite it.
Gabe had said he didn’t believe in destiny. Right now, Carly was debating that very matter. She’d never noticed just how human she was until she’d fallen for someone who was anything but.
Why would Gabe like her anyway? He had three much better options, each of them as beautiful as they were intelligent. And it appeared that Sharla, at least, would agree.
Carly eyed the petite blonde in the water, ripping through those waves like they were air. Sharla swam over to Gabe, threw her arms around his neck, and held onto his shoulders as he pulled her through the water. Gabe and Sharla would be together like that, having fun, whether or not Carly was here.
She dug her fingernails into her palms until she felt a sharp pinch. This crush, or whatever she was feeling for Gabe, was only serving to complicate things between them. She’d been right for just wanting to be friends.
Legacy: Bloodline Book 1 Page 15
