“Nothing so far. I know it’s not easy, but you’ve got to put it out of your mind.”
“Crystal, if everyone else is this worried about me, I should be, too.”
“Everyone else doesn’t need a solid eight hours of sleep a night. Plus, I can guarantee Gabe isn’t going to let anything happen to you.”
“Yeah, I’m sure he’s all torn up inside,” Carly grumbled.
Crystal shoved a bite of cake into her mouth. “Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?”
Carly took another swig of Coke. “As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing to talk about.”
“Okay, but I’m here if you change your mind. What movie were you watching?”
“The Ninth Gate.”
Crystal shivered. “I was going to say I’d finish it with you, but now, I don’t know.”
“We could watch something else.”
“Something else sounds like an excellent idea.”
* * *
Avoiding Gabe was like avoiding oxygen. He was everywhere Carly turned: in her classes, at her house after classes, right outside her door at night, and even in her dreams. She made it nearly a week with him around every single corner before his constant presence really started to grate on her. Of course, it wasn’t until her house was full of people on Saturday afternoon that she decided to do something about it.
“I hope everyone’s staying for dinner,” Howard announced as he stepped into the large family room where the group had gathered to play video games. “I ordered pizza.”
“How much pizza?” Kyle asked without looking up from his game of Tetris, which he was losing.
“Enough. Anyone need anything?”
Pretty much everyone in the room shouted out a drink order.
“I’ll help you with that, Dad,” Carly offered, and jumped up from her place between Crystal and Esther on the sectional.
“Thank you, sweetheart,” Howard said. “I appreciate it.”
Carly followed him into the kitchen, wondering how long it would be until her privacy was returned. “Thanks for ordering pizza. We can’t let everyone go hungry.”
“We both know it’s safer to have them all here than to have you out somewhere where I can’t—”
“Keep an eye on me?” Carly finished.
“Well, yes,” he agreed. “You’re my little girl, and I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“I’ve been okay so far, Dad. I’ve got so many people looking out for me that I’m sure I’m going to be fine.”
“Yes, I know, and all thanks to Gabriel. I’ve noticed that you two haven’t been talking much lately.”
Carly pulled a case of Coke from the fridge. “What makes you say that?”
“Because I spend nearly as much time with him as you do these days.”
“Even if we’re not talking, why do you care? I thought you didn’t like the idea of us hanging out so much.”
“What I don’t like is seeing my only daughter sad all the time,” Howard spoke.
Carly nodded toward the case of soda in her arms. “This should take care of everyone until the pizza gets here.” She marched back into the family room just in time to watch Abel take the victory in Tetris. She set the case down on the coffee table, grabbed a can, and handed it to him. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” Abel replied, and popped the tab on the Coke. “You want a turn?”
“I don’t know. You look like you’re doing okay there.”
“What’s wrong with having some fun once in a while?” Abel challenged, shoving the controller in her hand. “Good luck beating my score.”
Carly slid down onto the floor between Kyle and Gabe, ignoring them both as the game began. She tried to concentrate on putting blocks into place on the screen, but there was Gabe right beside her, and he smelled so good.
Carly wasn’t at all surprised when she came in last place. She jumped up from her spot on the floor and walked over to the picture window overlooking Lake Superior, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared out at roaring waves. It’d been a while since she’d missed living in the Twin Cities, but she sure as hell missed it right now. She missed having a life that wasn’t complicated—a life where she didn’t need all these people looking out for her.
“You do realize it’s just a game,” Abel teased as he stepped up beside her. “Not everyone’s a rock star at Tetris like me.”
“It’s not the game,” Carly admitted.
Abel turned to look out the window, too. “We’re going to find that ruskah, Carly. I’m going to be out there every night until we bring it down. I know you don’t know me that well, but I wouldn’t lie to you. Gabe’s not the only one who wants to keep you safe.”
“Thank you, Abel,” she told him with a small smile. “That means a lot, really.”
“Well, you’re welcome. We all want to make sure nothing happens to you.”
“Yeah, I’m… starting to realize that.”
The doorbell sounded, and Howard announced that the pizza had arrived. That seemed to get everyone excited, and they all shuffled out of the room for the kitchen. All save one.
“Aren’t you hungry?” Gabe asked as he joined Carly at the window.
She hated how absolutely nervous he made her. Couldn’t he tell she needed space? “I’ll, um, I’ll just let everyone else eat first.”
Gabe let out a laugh. “That’s ridiculous. If you do that, there won’t be anything left. Come on, you should have something to eat.”
Carly conceded and followed him down the hall into the kitchen, but only so they wouldn’t be alone anymore. She hung back when they stepped through the door, content to watch everyone else eat. She’d never seen anyone devour food like this before, much less tiny teenage girls.
“We saved some for you,” Sharla said as she handed Gabe a plate. “And I saved you a spot at the table, too, right next to me.”
“Thanks, but I think I’ll let Carly have that seat,” Gabe replied, giving the plate back to Sharla. “And make sure she gets something to eat, too.”
Sharla flinched, staring at Gabe for a moment more before she walked to the table. “Sure. Carly, come on.”
Carly’s eyes landed on Gabe as she took the open seat between Sharla and Jeremy. Gabe gave her a small smile and looked away. Carly turned to Sharla, who seemed unusually chipper as she set a plate in front of her.
“You like sausage, right?” Sharla asked.
“Yeah, thanks.”
“Oh course. We have to take care of you, Carly.”
Carly noticed Gabe watching her, and didn’t know what to make of his mixed signals. He’d made it clear she was reading too much into their relationship and she was just a friend. But now, well, now he was looking at her the same way she’d been looking at him—like being just her friend was the last thing on his mind.
Carly turned back to her pizza. She barely finished an entire piece while everyone else had five or six. It made her long to shift, to finally be what she was supposed to be. It wasn’t fair that she was stuck in this human form while her friends had the freedom to change.
Sunset loomed as the meal came to a close. Someone suggested a movie, and soon everyone started to shuffle out of the room. Everyone except Gabe, and everyone except Carly.
Carly didn’t know why Gabe stayed, or why she had, for that matter. She walked over to the fridge and rummaged through it for a Coke, but came up empty-handed.
“Sorry, I think we wiped you out,” Gabe apologized. “I can run into town and pick up some more.”
“That’s not necessary,” Carly said, and closed up the fridge.
“Well, I’m going to take off then. Have a good night.”
“Take off where?”
Gabe scanned the open kitchen blinds. “Out there. It’s never too early to start patrolling.”
“But it’s not close to dark yet.”
“Like I said. I, um, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Gabe ducked outside, and for some fo
olish reason, Carly followed after him. He made it out past the back deck, halfway to the tree line, before she got the nerve to reach out for his hand.
“Gabe, wait,” Carly spoke, her skin sizzling as she wrapped her fingers up in his.
He jumped at her touch, but didn’t pull away. “Yeah?”
“Why didn’t you just tell me from the beginning?”
“Tell you what from the beginning?”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about. You would have saved us both so much if you’d just told me. And now we can’t even talk to each other?”
“That wasn’t my idea.”
“Yes, it was,” Carly insisted.
Gabe shook his head. “No, you’re the one who said we should stop hanging out.”
“Only because you made me feel like such an idiot.”
“Carly, I didn’t mean—”
“It doesn’t matter what your intentions were,” she cut him off. “I still feel stupid, and I don’t appreciate when a guy holds the power to make me feel stupid.”
“I’m sorry, Carly,” he apologized. “I just wanted to be honest with you—”
“Well, you were.”
Gabe pulled his hand away as he took a step back. “Look, I guess I was wrong, but I thought maybe… I don’t know, that you were starting to… to have feelings for me, too.”
Carly blinked as she stared back at him. Had she heard him right? “E-excuse me?”
“Carly, I…” Gabe cleared his throat as he scratched at the back of his head. “In case you haven’t noticed, I kind of like you as… as more than a friend. Much, much more than a friend, actually. And I was telling you all that stuff at the coffee shop because I wanted to start with a clean slate—to have it all out there in case you ever, you know, decided you felt the same way. I don’t ever want to keep anything from you, and I don’t ever want to give you any reason not to trust me.”
“But you…” Carly shook her head. “You said all that stuff about leading girls on, and I… I just thought…”
“You thought I was talking about you?”
“Y-yes,” she squeaked, a giddy mix of embarrassed and nervous and exhilarated.
“Carly, no, that’s not what I meant at all,” he clarified, reaching for her hand again. “I’m sorry, I thought I was being clear.”
She glanced down at their clasped hands, and the sparks shimmering between them. “Well, you weren’t. Clear. I thought you were trying to let me down in the nicest way possible.”
“I was trying to tell you how much I like you.”
“Well, you didn’t do a very good job of it.”
“Apparently not, if you stopped talking to me all week.”
Carly dared to move her thumb back and forth over Gabe’s, mesmerized by the tiny sparks igniting between them. “When you were talking about leading girls on and not wanting them to get the wrong idea…?”
“Sharla,” Gabe explained. “I was mostly talking about Sharla. She’s had a crush on me for a long time, and I’ve pretty much ignored it. But lately, I’ve been trying to show her that her feelings aren’t reciprocated. That they’re not going to be, because I like someone else. Because I like you, Carly—as much, much more than a friend.”
Carly grinned. “You said that already.”
“Yes, well, it needed to be said again. The question is, do you like me back?”
“As much, much more than a friend?”
“Yes, as much, much more than a friend.”
Carly’s gaze swept over Gabe’s refined features. He was beautiful both inside and out, her best friend, and in her dreams every night. She couldn’t imagine ever liking anyone as much as she liked him right now.
“Carly?”
“Yes.” She looked up to meet those enchanting eyes of his. “Yes, Gabe, I like you back.”
He moved his hand in hers until their fingers intertwined.
Carly shivered as a spark moved up through her arm. “Did you feel that?”
“Yes, I felt that.”
“Good, because I thought I was making it up.”
“It’s from the shifting,” he told her. “All the physical and chemical changes create excess energy that has to be expelled somehow.”
“Will it happen every time you hold my hand like this?”
“God, I hope so. You know, there’s something else that will cause a similar reaction.”
“What’s that?” Carly asked.
Gabe kept his eyes locked on hers as he met her lips in a sweet, slow kiss. It was every bit as electric as she’d hoped it would be, and her whole face sizzled as he pulled away.
Gabe grinned, and asked, “Well?”
Carly licked her tingling lips. “Maybe we should try that again.”
“You know, I was thinking the exact same thing.”
“Were you?”
“Yes,” Gabe confirmed, and brought his lips to hers once more.
twenty
Carly’s lips flamed with fire as she forced them from Gabe’s. It was almost sunset, which meant she had to let him go. Although, after what had just happened between them, letting him go was the last thing on her mind.
Gabe’s eyes were intent on her as he brushed his lips along her cheek. “You should go inside. It’s going to be dark soon.”
“Can’t you stay with me tonight?” Carly bargained. “Please, Gabriel?”
“You have no idea how much I want to…”
“But?”
“But I need to be out with the others, hunting,” he reasoned. “It won’t be fair to ditch them, even if it’s to hang out with you. I can’t forget why I’m here—not just at your house, but why I’m with you. I’m going to find that ruskah, and I’m going to make it pay for thinking it has any right to hurt you.”
“But there’s no guarantee you’ll find it tonight,” Carly argued. She knew she was being selfish for wanting him to stay, but couldn’t help herself. Things had certainly changed between them, and the thought of sending him off into the woods killed her. “I mean, you haven’t found it any of the other nights. You’ve been exhausting yourself, and for what?”
“For what?” he echoed, and found her lips in a gentle kiss. “This is all for you, Carly. What else do I need to do to show you how much I care about you?”
“Sun’s going down,” Abel announced from the back deck.
Carly turned with Gabe to meet Abel’s dark gaze.
Abel glanced to the dwindling sunset as he shoved his hands in his jeans pockets. “Howard wants us to leave soon. Carly, it’d probably be best if you head inside now.”
Gabe wrapped Carly’s hand up in his. “I’ll walk you in.”
Carly noticed Abel staring as Gabe led her back into the house, but wasn’t sure what to make of it.
“Oh, there you two are,” Howard spoke as they joined him in the kitchen. “Are we ready to head out?”
“Yes, sir,” Gabe said.
Howard’s gaze flitted to Gabe’s hand in his daughter’s. “I’ll meet you out back.”
“Of course.”
Carly watched her father walk outside, her eyes drifting back to Gabe. “I guess you should go, too.”
“Yeah, I should,” he replied.
She licked her lips, squeezing onto his fingers. “You’ll come back in the morning?”
“I’ll be back at dawn.”
She took that as his goodbye and pulled her hand out from his. “Be safe.”
“I will,” Gabe promised. “Try to get some sleep.”
“Yeah right,” she muttered.
“Try anyway,” he urged, and disappeared out the door.
Carly turned to start a pot of coffee, but was delayed when she saw she’d acquired an audience. Crystal, Esther and Sharla had all gathered in the kitchen.
Crystal planted her hands on her hips. “We’re going to need details, Carly.”
Carly stepped over to the counter, pulling out the coffee pot to fill it with water. “I don’t know what you’re
talking about.”
Esther snickered. “I don’t know if you realize it or not, but you and Gabe were standing right outside the family room window.”
Carly’s face heated up as she busied herself making that pot of coffee. “W-we were?”
Legacy: Bloodline Book 1 Page 20
