More Than Jamie Baker (Jamie Baker #2)

by Kelly Oram

  She took a deep breath and then glared at Mike. “Stay away from me.”

  She gave him a shove and then flung herself into my arms, burying her face in my shoulder.

  We’d missed our chance to cross the street, so I pressed the button again. I nearly smashed the stupid thing, pounding it over and over again as if that would make the light change sooner.

  Mike watched Becky with a pained expression. He opened his mouth to say more, but I stopped him with my best Ice Queen glare—the scary kind that could make the air around me crackle with energy if I wasn’t careful.

  Mike’s sorrow turned to disgust. “If you don’t want my apology, fine. You guys aren’t worth it anyway.”

  Mike whirled around to walk away from us, and in his highly inebriated state he stumbled off the curb. When he walked into the oncoming traffic, it was as if things went into slow motion.

  Technically, time didn’t slow down. My reflexes sped up. That’s the thing with superspeed; it’s not just my body that’s fast. My brain can process information so quickly that it feels like the world around me has slowed down, when in reality I’m just taking it all in faster than I normally do.

  The point is, Mike stumbled into the road and I could have pulled him back to safety before the SUV slamming futilely on its brakes plowed into him. I had time to recite the Gettysburg Address and still save him, but instead I froze.

  In that moment, my mind drifted to the dozens of eyes watching the scene unfold with me. I remembered the last time I’d intervened with fate. The series of events that had caused flashed in my mind. They were memories I’d rather forget, events I couldn’t repeat at any cost.

  Bam!

  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: sometimes superhearing can really suck. I may have been able to avoid the visual of the accident by closing my eyes, but there was no way to block out the sound.

  My sensitive ears took in every single gasp and scream along with all the tire squealing and glass shattering. I heard a number of different bones crunching and the heavy thud of flesh hitting pavement. I even heard the sound of blood splattering.

  Of all of that, though, the sound that was going to stay with me for the rest of my life was the single moan that escaped Mike’s lips before he went unconscious. It was the sound of pure pain—pain that I had caused. Okay, maybe I hadn’t caused it, but I had let it happen. I clenched my hands into fists, closed my eyes, and told myself my feet were cemented to the sidewalk.

  I didn’t save Mike Driscoll, and I didn’t do it on purpose. I stood there and let it happen.

  Mike was still alive—for now. His heart was beating, but it was frighteningly slow. Still, unstable as it was, it was music to my ears. It was the only thing I could focus on—the only thing that mattered.

  I don’t know how long I stood there concentrating on the sound of Mike’s heartbeat, but suddenly there were paramedics in my face asking me if I was all right. I wasn’t sure when they’d shown up or how they’d gotten me sitting on the curb with a blanket around my shoulders—or why I needed a blanket around my shoulders—but I didn’t snap out of my daze until after Mike had been carted off to the hospital and was far enough away that I could no longer hear him.

  Becky and I had to give our statements to the police, which we did while the paramedics poked and prodded at me, making sure that I wasn’t going to die of shock. By the time we were allowed to leave the scene of the accident, Becky had missed enough of her first game that we both decided to skip it and just go back to our room. We were sure Becky’s cheer coach would understand.

  As we started to leave, we were both tapped on the shoulder. I turned around to peer into a beautiful pair of eyes. Not the big baby blues I was desperate to see, but nice eyes that were vaguely familiar.

  “I know we just met, but I would feel much better if you would allow me to walk you back to your rooms. You’ve both had quite a traumatic day.” The stranger met my confusion with a concerned smile. “Especially you. You had us all pretty worried there for a while. Are you sure you’re all right?”

  “I’m okay,” I promised, even though I wasn’t sure that was true. “It’s just that car accidents and I have a bit of a history. I guess I don’t handle them all that well now.”

  That wasn’t a lie. When I was sixteen, I was in a terrible car accident that claimed the life of my first boyfriend and left me with a truckload of superpowers. As you can imagine, after that, I really don’t like accidents.

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” the stranger said. I took in his dark-brown wavy hair and smooth skin. He was a little on the pale side—and skinny—but he had the most adorable dimples.

  Oh!

  The stranger noticed the recognition spread across my face and gave me a big grin.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “I don’t remember your name.”

  “Teodoro Vivenzio,” he answered, playing up an accent that hadn’t been there before. “And you’re Jamie Baker.”

  I was startled to hear him say my name. “I don’t remember telling you that.”

  The guy blushed and shrugged a bit sheepishly. “I heard you give it to the police.” He then turned his charm on Becky. “And you’re Becky, right? It’s nice to meet you both.”

  He shook Becky’s hand, and surprisingly she didn’t automatically pull away.

  “So, can I walk you to your dorm?” he asked again, still clinging lightly to Becky’s fingers. “I really would feel better knowing you made it back okay.”

  Tongue-tied, Becky looked to me for help.

  “That’s very nice of you…um…” I totally blanked. His name just wasn’t coming to me, even though he’d given it like thirty seconds ago. “Uh…”

  The guy smirked. “Teodoro.”

  “Right. Sorry. Teodoro. Anyway, like I was saying, that’s really nice to offer to walk us back, but you don’t have to. I promise we’ll be okay.”

  “For my sake, then,” he insisted. “I’ve never seen anything as awful as all that. I could really use the distraction.”

  I looked to Becky and she sighed. “He has a point. Anything to keep me from thinking about…” Her gaze drifted back to the street and she shivered. There were dark stains in the road where they’d practically scraped Mike from the pavement.

  I shuddered too, and then relented. I tried to smile for our new friend, but couldn’t really manage it. “Okay. You can join us for some Magic Tea.”

  “Magic Tea?”

  “An herbal concoction guaranteed to make you relax.”

  “Sounds perfect.”

  . . . . .

  Becky and I let Dimples—I’d forgotten his name again—stay for a long time. I have no idea what we talked about, or if I even did any of the talking. I couldn’t think about anything but Mike. It was as if I could still hear his heart fighting to continue beating in my head. If he died, did that mean his blood was on my hands?

  A knock at the door pulled me from my angst. Becky answered it, and I knew from her gasp who it was.

  Ryan stepped into the room, crushing my best friend to his chest in a fierce hug. My heart took a giant breath of relief at the sight of him.

  Of course Ryan’s gorgeous—the epitome of the all-American boy next door with his blond hair, blue eyes, and babyface smile—but it wasn’t his looks that made him the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen in that moment. It was the simple fact that he was there. Judging from the sweat and mud stains, he’d come straight from the football field to be with us.

  I wanted to tackle him for a bear hug of my own, but I forced myself to wait. He and Becky had been best friends forever and she needed him right now, too. I would have him all to myself later, so I gave them this moment.

  “The cheerleader and the football player?” a dry voice asked beside me. “That’s a little cliché, isn’t it?”

  I’d forgotten we had company. Ryan does tend to make me forget about everything else around me, to my everlasting annoyance. “It would be cliché if they
were together,” I said.

  Ryan’s eyes flashed up at the sound of my voice. There was the blue I’d been waiting for.

  “You mean he’s not The Boyfriend?”

  I couldn’t be bothered to take my eyes off of Ryan as I answered our new friend with a nod. “Oh no, he’s definitely The Boyfriend.”

  Becky managed to let go of Ryan and stepped back.

  I had to concentrate on keeping my speed at a normal human pace as I threw myself at Ryan. I didn’t bother with a hug or hello. I crushed my lips to his, needing to soak him in.

  Ryan and I are somewhat known for our, shall I say, explosive relationship, and in that moment we did not disappoint. It was like our first kiss all over again. The second we connected we lost all control of ourselves. It’s sort of what happens when I lose control of my power and give him what I call a superkiss.

  That’s right. I, Jamie Baker, the world’s only superpowered girl, come complete with supersenses, deadly lightning bolts, and—you guessed it—the ability to superkiss someone.

  Evildoers of the world, beware.

  You see, I have all this crazy mutant electricity inside my body and before I learned how to control it, I would pass that energy along to Ryan when I kissed him.

  The energy sucks us together like we’re a couple of supercharged electromagnets. It amps up the experience in a way that puts fireworks to shame. Actually, as far as superpowers go, it’s pretty awesome.

  “Whoa. Are they always like that?”

  The words pulled me out of the moment, just before I accidentally caused a building-wide power outage.

  Becky’s response was a sigh. “Only since the very first time they met.”

  I heard the conversation, but I couldn’t look away from Ryan. His entire body was shaking from all the energy I’d accidentally pumped into him.

  Ryan rested his forehead against mine, working hard to catch his breath. He watched me with a worried expression. Even though our kiss had been epic, he knew how upset I was. As amazing as the superkisses are, I never give them out. Ryan complains about that regularly, but I’m not sure pumping him full of freaky mutant electricity is really good for his health, so I always stick to the regular old non-electric human kisses. Unfortunately, my emotions seem to be a trigger for my superpowers. The fact that I’d lost control of myself—something I haven’t done since I learned how to rein it in in the first place—meant that I was very, very upset.

  I shook my head at Ryan’s questioning look. He’s pretty hard to resist, but I couldn’t explain myself with other people in the room. I wasn’t really ready to talk about it, anyway.

  I ignored his concern and dragged him over to our guest. “Sorry,” I said with a sheepish smile. “This is my boyfriend, Ryan. Ryan, this is…” Yeah, I was on a roll with this guy’s name. “Is…”

  The guy cocked an eyebrow at me, but smiled good-naturedly. “Teodoro Vivenzio.”

  He stood and shook Ryan’s hand.

  “Right,” I said. “Sorry. Teodoro was there this afternoon and offered to walk Becky and me back because we were so upset.”

  Ryan shuddered and tucked Becky and me into his sides. We both hung on tight. “I owe you a thank-you, then,” he said to Teodoro. “I appreciate you taking care of my girls until I could get to them.”

  That reminded me. “It’s early,” I said. “Did you ditch out on the game?”

  Ryan nodded. “When I didn’t see Becky with her team, I asked her coach what happened. She told me about the accident and I couldn’t get it together after that, so coach pulled me. Don’t worry. He said I could leave.”

  “Let me guess. You’re the quarterback?” Teodoro asked. I could tell from the look on his face that he wasn’t all that impressed. Of course not. He probably liked things like Comic-Con and indie rock.

  Becky must have missed his disdain because she started boasting like a proud sister. “He’s the star quarterback! The dork actually turned down a spot on UCLA’s team in order to stay closer to us.”

  “And it was completely worth it,” Ryan said stubbornly.

  Becky and I had both tried to talk him into taking the Bruins’ offer, but even knowing that I could have visited him any time I wanted he wouldn’t hear of it.

  I was glad when Becky rolled her eyes. We both thought it was ridiculous that he’d given up so much for us.

  “UCLA?” Teodoro asked. This time he was a little more impressed, or maybe the right word was intimidated.

  Ryan shrugged. For some reason, his football skills are the only thing he’s ever been modest about in his life. “I would have been, like, third string,” he said. “I wouldn’t have seen any game time until I was a junior or senior.”

  “Still,” Teodoro said, “that’s pretty impressive. And with all your boy-band looks, you must have to beat the girls off with a stick, huh?”

  Ryan smirked and I groaned. “Please do not encourage the Ryan Miller Ego. I beg you!”

  Ryan laughed and pulled me tighter against him. “I’ve got the only girl I need.”

  “Wise answer,” I told him, but that only made him laugh more.

  Teodoro eyed Ryan and me curiously and then shook himself from his daze when he realized he was staring. “You must be tired after your game. Why don’t the four of us go find a café and relax for a little while? I, for one, won’t be able to sleep much tonight, and it seems we’ve already consumed all of Jamie’s Magic Tea.”

  Ryan smiled at that. He was the one who’d introduced me to the tea. I’d made fun of him for it, and now he teases me relentlessly for my addiction to it.

  “Actually, that sounds nice,” Becky said, surprising me. I glanced at her and she was smiling—albeit hesitantly—at Teodoro.

  I couldn’t believe she was showing interest in a guy. I really wanted some alone time with Ryan, but I couldn’t refuse Teodoro’s invitation when Becky was taking such a huge step.

  I was about to say yes when Ryan let out a long, tired sigh. “That sounds great,” he started, “but I’m not really feeling up to it.” He squeezed me and said, “I was kind of hoping to go see Mike.”

  I hated the look on Ryan’s face. I tend to forget how close Ryan and Mike are because of what happened with Becky. I hadn’t even thought about the fact that one of Ryan’s best friends was fighting for his life right now.

  “Of course,” I said.

  “Thanks. Do you know anything? I called his parents, but they didn’t answer their phones.”

  “You know the guy who got hit?” Teodoro asked.

  Ryan nodded. “He’s been one of my best friends for years.”

  Teodoro’s eyes shifted to Becky. “But isn’t he the guy who—”

  “Becky and I aren’t exactly friends with Mike,” I said quickly. “But we do a good job at not letting it interfere with Ryan.”

  I shot Teodoro my best “drop it” look. Thankfully, he seemed to get the hint.

  Ryan has no idea what really happened between Becky and Mike. Becky never told anyone the truth besides me, and that was only because I’d guessed. As many times as I’d tried to talk her into it, she never went to the police. She was embarrassed about what happened and since there was no proof, she didn’t want to go through some awful he said/she said trial and become “that girl.” She was afraid people would treat her differently if they knew what happened, and she just wanted to forget everything.

  She had especially never said anything to Ryan about what happened. He just assumed that Mike had dumped her and she was more than willing to let him keep on believing that. Ryan would be destroyed by the truth. He’d probably also tear Mike apart with his bare hands. If Mike wasn’t dead already, that is.

  I swallowed a lump in my throat. “He was alive when they took him to the hospital,” I said gently, “but it was really bad. We can go over there right now, if you want.”

  Ryan nodded and looked to Becky. “You want to come?”

  “That’s okay. You and Jamie go ahead. You guys probably
want the alone time, and I’ve got some homework to do, anyway.”

  I felt awful, torn between my two hurting friends, yet dealing with my own selfish needs, too. I hated to leave Becky alone tonight, but Ryan needed this and I needed Ryan.

  Teodoro cleared his throat and smiled at Becky. “I’m still up for going out, if you are.”

  “Oh!” Becky started to panic. “Oh, um…”

  “She’d love to.” I ignored Becky’s glare and pulled her close to me. “It’s not really a date,” I whispered. “Just coffee in a public setting. He’s really nice and super cute.”

  “But Jamie—”

  “You can do this,” I promised. “I have absolute faith in you. Keep your cell on, and call if you need me.”

  Becky took a deep breath and then nodded. “Okay,” she said quietly. “Sure, Teodoro. For a little while.”

  While Becky gave Ryan another hug, I walked Teodoro to the door. “That was nice of you.”

  “It’s my pleasure.” And there were those dimples again.

  We both glanced back at Becky, who was still soaking up Ryan’s comfort.

  “Look,” I said in a low voice, “I’m not going to pretend you don’t know what she’s been through. You heard what she said earlier.”

  That accidentally came out sounding dangerous. Teodoro looked startled. “Yes,” he said, surprise evident in his voice. “You don’t need to worry. I would never hurt her.”

  “She needs this,” I said, “but she needs you to keep your distance, too. Do not touch her. At all. Just being out with you alone will be hard enough.”

  “No problem,” Teodoro promised.

  My eyes narrowed on the guy in front of me. While he didn’t seem intimidating at all, he did strike me as the type of person who knew how to get what he wanted. I was sure there were a lot of brains underneath all that hair.

  I tried not to say anything, but I couldn’t help myself. “If you do anything to upset her, and I mean anything—intentional or not—you won’t just regret meeting her. You will regret ever being born.”

  His eyebrows flew up at my threat, disappearing beneath his dark, shaggy bangs. His mouth twitched with amusement. “You’re awfully protective.”