by Anne Thomas
"Levi, when I look at you I feel like I can do so without discrimination. Normally when you look at someone, it's rude to stare. A hot guy walks past and you hide behind mirrored sunnies. You stare at them when they can't tell you are. It's awkward if you get caught. I have been sitting here staring at you for this entire epic conversation and not once have I felt the need to awkwardly look away. I don't know if I've ever said these words to you, but you're one of the most gloriously good-looking guys I've ever met. And it's not just in the physical sense - yeah you're pretty hot in face and body but there is something that shines through, your pride maybe. Your dignity and strength. Your independence despite your blindness. I don't know. But I feel like I could stare at you for... a really long time. For the rest of my life, maybe."
"I wish I could do the same. I wish I could see you." The longing is very apparent. It's written on every angle of his body. It's evident in every syllable he utters.
"You see me better than anyone. With your hands you see me clearer than anyone ever has."
He reaches out a hand toward me and I know this is it. The moment when I get up and leave or the moment when I reach back and I take a risk. It's a no brainer, really. He had me figured from the moment I knocked on that door. Levi knew what my answer would be. He could have taken the answer from me so easily without this whole conversation. If he'd just grabbed me and kissed me I would have been gone. I would have been his. He knew that. He had to have - but instead we sat down and we said all of these things to each other. We said everything. And now the time for talking is done.
I catch his fingers in mine and thread them together. "Levi, I want to be with you and I want to be happy." I whisper this so quietly I'm afraid he might not hear. I'm still apprehensive that these two things might be mutually exclusive. Naturally, though, with his almighty blind guy ears, he hears it, probably clear as a bell.
"Nothing would make me happier than to hold this hand forever." He answers, tugging on my hand. I relinquish all control and allow him to pull me across the distance between us. He falls back onto the grass and I fall on top of him. With my free hand I pluck his glass off and toss them aside, staring into his blank but all-knowing eyes and with the other I pin his arm onto the grass above his head.
"And now, something I have dreamt about doing more than once..." I whisper into his ear, my lips touching his lobe ever so slightly. I feel Levi's sharp intake of breath and the tingle of my skin when his free hand pushes my singlet up my body, coming to rest on the small of my back, holding me firmly to him. I smile against his cheek and then I begin to look at his face... with my lips. I kiss every part of his stubbly cheeks and solemn forehead. I bite the tip of his nose and his earlobes lightly and run my tongue along his jawline. I press my lips to his eyelids in turn and finally I reach his mouth, tentatively and for the first time in far too long, touch my lips to his.
– – – * * * – – –
Ours is not the greatest love story ever told, but it is the only one we will ever need. Levi is still a bit of a twat at times, but he is who he is.
I am still monumentally useless at times, but we cannot change the very core of our beings.
All I know is that I could sit nestled into his side until I am cramped and sore and I still would want keep his arm around me.
I know that every time he touches me it feels like the world is on fire and I know that every time I touch him his muscles quiver and his whole body instinctively wants to wrap around me.
I know that we can sit and talk about nothing and everything for hours, just as we can sit quietly in each others' company for just as long, with just as much contentment.
I'm not sure if this is the meaning of true love, but it sure feels like it.
And that, my friends, is the end. I hope you enjoyed reading The Scent of Colour, I certainly enjoyed writing it. Please, leave me with your parting thoughts!
Read my Box Set of Three Novels! :More Than Friends
220 000 words!!!
Be romanced by six unforgettable heroes...
This captivating collection includes three contemporary romance novels from sweet to sizzling that will warm your heart, touch your soul, or scorch your sheets. When hot men and strong women collide, nothing is ever easy. Follow this stories of friends as they fall in love, face tragedy and loss and ultimately find themselves.
Join my VIP email list and I'll personally send you an email reminder as soon as my next book is out! Click here to sign up:
Subscribe to VIP email list
Anyone Else but Love
Matt and Evie are convinced that their friendship will last forever. However, they didn't count on falling for each other and all it takes is just one moment to change the course of their life.
"You are always trying to keep it real, I'm in love with how you feel. I don't see what anyone can see, in Anyone Else But You." - Evie
Scandal on the Set
He was the new star of Hollywood. She was the industry veteran. They were the duo that burned so bright that when they burst, it was like a perfect Oscar movie.
The Gravity of Love
Two friends are coming to face the realities of life: bills need paying, work has to be done, car payments have a deadline, and the secret love that the two have harbored needs to be dealt with whether they like it or not, no matter how hard they resist.
Ready to be romanced? Enjoy this fantastic boxed set and prepare to fall in love!!
Bonus!
Read the first chapter of my novel Anyone Else but You (next page)
Matt and Evie are convinced that their friendship will last forever. However, they didn't count on falling for each other and all it takes is just one moment to change the course of their life.
Prologue
"Does anyone want me to do another example?" The entire class groaned out loud at the prospect.. He merely rested his chin on his hand. There was no way he could handle another one.
She looked around the room before turning off the overhead. "I'll write the homework assignment up on the board then."
He let out a sigh of relief and flipped to the next empty page. Barely looking up at the board, he hastily scribbled down the assignment and shut his textbook. He quickly double checked that he had the right page and the right problems. The last time that he did not, he ended up doing twice the problems and earned a major headache. Not cool.
Notebook and book in hand, he left his desk and headed to the back of the room where there was an empty seat.
"How many times did you fall asleep today?"
"Not once," he stated proudly as he sat in the desk. He looked over to see her shake her head, a smile on her face. "You can quiz me on anything from the lesson."
"Alright," she said, turning to focus her attention on him. Her green eyes twinkled with mischief and he gulped, wondering what he had gotten himself into. "In order to find zeros, what is the first step you have to do?"
He stared at her; he did not remember that part of the lesson. "Okay, I lied," he confessed. She only smirked at him. "But I didn't fall asleep."
"Sure you didn't." With that, she returned to her homework. He sat there a moment, watching her.
Her nose was scrunched up in concentration and she tapped her pencil against the paper. A piece of her blonde hair came out of her ponytail and he reached out and tucked it behind her ear.
She froze and he froze. He pulled his hand quickly away and she resumed tapping her pencil. Releasing the breath he had been holding, he turned in his desk to face the front of the room and not her.
His fingers tapped the surface of the desk, slowly speeding up. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her pencil tap with more ferocity and he could tell that he was annoying her. So he continued the tapping. Without warning, her hand shot out and grabbed his.
He looked over at her, slightly surprised. A faint blush crept up her neck and settled in her cheeks. She pulled her hand away and he smirked at her. Her response: sticking out her tongue
like a four year old would.
The moment he rolled his eyes, the bell rang. "Finally!" he cried, standing up. "I'm free!"
"For another five minutes, you dolt," she laughed and his stomach jumped when she spoke. He shrugged and picked up her books as well as his. "Why thank you, Sir Matthew."
"Only for you, Lady Evie," he replied with a slight bow. As they exited the classroom, an idea came to his mind. "Follow me."
"I hope you aren't suggesting that we skip class," Evie muttered, adjusting her bag.
"No, my dear, you are." She rolled her eyes and he only laughed, linking his free arm through hers. A shiver went up his spine at the contact but he tried to ignore it. He led her through a mostly empty hall and began searching for his secret room. Not even Evie knew about it.
"Where are we going, Mattie?" she asked and he could hear the nervousness in her voice. She could not stand skipping class, even though he had made her many times before this.
"Somewhere," he commented vaguely as the corridors became more and more empty. They had not even seen a janitor around.
"There aren't even any janitors here," she replied but still stayed by his side. He did not know why she trusted him, to be honest. Clearly she did not remember the Let's Get Locked Inside of an Attic Episode of 2004, where he thought they would be able to sneak back out. No such luck; they were stuck up in that dusty attic for hours before his parents even began to wonder where they had gotten too. There were so many spiders in there he thought he was going to ruin his pants. She thought it would be funny to put them in his hair. It wasn't.
"Here it is!" he said proudly, coming to a stop just outside of a door labeled 'JANITOR.'
"I'm skipping class to go to a janitor's closet?" she scorned. He rolled my eyes at her comment.
"This isn't just an ordinary janitor's closet, it's…"
"Where you take your latest prospects?" Evie raised an eyebrow in his direction and he felt his face heat up.
"N-no," he stuttered, dropping his arm from hers. She shook her head and he could tell she did not believe him.
"Then what is it?" She tapped her shoe, getting impatient. She looked so cute when she was impatient. He really needed to stop thinking these thoughts.
"Why are you kids over on this side of the building?" came a rough voice from behind them. They both turned around to see an older man making his way down the hallway. "You do realize the bell is about to ring."
"Of course we do sir," he replied smoothly, not moving from his spot. She shifted her feet and did not dare look at the man.
"Then why are you here?"
She looked up at him but he did not return her gaze. "We were just going for a stroll." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her roll her eyes. He held back his smirk as he watched the man in front of him.
"A stroll through the back halls."
"Yes sir. It is our free period and we want to study." He resisted the urge to laugh at his own statement and from the twitch in her lips, he could tell that see could barely hold back hers.
The man looked at the two of them: Matt, standing proudly and carrying two sets of math textbooks, and Evie, standing with her eyes watching the floor so she would not laugh. He let out a sigh. "Fine, but don't let anyone catch you." The mischief in Matt's eyes was enough for the man to walk away with a twinkle in his own eye.
"How did you do that?" she asked after the man had rounded the corner.
"Do what?" Matt asked innocently, turning to face the door.
"Get away with that?" Evie gestured toward the hallway that the man had disappeared down.
"Oh, that's just Mr. Larson. We go way back." And with a wink, he opened the door. She hesitated and he grabbed her arm, pulling her into the dark.
She was so close to him that he could smell the shampoo she had used. He inhaled sharply and directed his hand toward to the chain that was hanging from the ceiling. Tugging on it, the closet flooded with light. Her surprised gasp was enough to let a smile replace the smirk that was still on his face.
Matt watched her make her way about the small space. He saw her trace her thin fingers across the books that lined one of the walls. Surprisingly, he had read every single book that was in this room. He would never tell her that instead of reporting to study hall, he retreated here to read his latest book.
"Wow…where did you get all of these books?" she asked him, still scanning the many titles.
"They were already here when I found the room," Matt shrugged and it was the truth. Did she honestly think that I would go through all the trouble of buying those books only to hide them away in a secret room?
Evie's gaze left the books and landed on the cabinets. She smirked as she saw what they contained. "Pop Tarts, cheap fruit snacks, Skittles, M&Ms, Teddy Grahams…you've got quite the healthy choice of foods in here, Mattie."
His stomach did a little flip at the sound of his name. "Healthy foods are overrated," he commented, making his way over to the beanbag in the corner. She raised an eyebrow in his direction and shut the cabinet door quietly.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the assortment of photos on the last wall. It was a collage of her and Matt. There was one from their first trick-or-treat outing, her in her princess outfit and he in his red Power Ranger outfit. Another showed them attempting to build a snowman, with a picture of them tackling each other in the snow. She laughed out loud at the memory, her laugh making him smile in turn.
As Evie scanned the photos, Matt stood up and made his way over toward her. He felt slightly embarrassed that he was letting her see his secret place. It was a place that only he, aside from Mr. Larson, knew about. Matt was not sure if he should have brought her here. Then he remembered why he brought her to the room.
"Shall we get to studying?" he asked her jokingly and she turned to face him, laughter in her eyes.
"You didn't bring me here to study, Matt," she reprimanded, sidestepping him to plop into the beanbag he had just left.
"Hey! I believe that's my seat!" he protested, crossing his arms across his chest in mock anger. Evie only laughed and he did his best to keep an angry face. But he could not last against her laugh. It was too contagious. "Then, I guess I'll have to sit on you."
He heard her mutter something just before he sat down but could not make out what it was. "Oomph!" came from under him. Matt leaned back amidst her protests of not being 'able to see, let alone breathe.' He merely ignored her and closed his eyes.
Without warning, she pushed him off of her and onto the space beside her. He turned to see her triumphant grin and pushed her right back. Evie's mouth formed a surprised "o" before she quickly retaliated with a shove of her own. "Didn't your mother tell you to not fight with girls?"
"Of course she did, but when do I ever listen to my mother?" he shot back, tackling her and immediately beginning to tickle her sides.
She shrieked in protest and he only laughed. "Get. Off. Of. Me!" she said in a strained voice and pushed him away from her but to no avail.
"Afraid that I'm going to mess up your hair?" he asked, ruffling her hair for effect. He let out a loud laugh.
As he laughed, she caught him off-guard and flipped him over. "Pinned ya," she taunted, a smirk forming on her face. He stopped laughing and stared at her. She let out a triumphant "HA!" and looked back down at him, her ever present smirk there.
Without thinking, he pulled her towards him and brought her lips to his.
Chapter 1
Four months earlier...
She kicked at the rock that lay before her on the sidewalk. It flew across the cement and she watched it come to a stop right where his car supposed to be. She inhaled slowly, leaning back on the bench. The ticking of the second hand on her watch was so loud that she felt like ripping out the batteries.
Evie let out the breath she had been holding and reached down into her purse to pull what Matt liked to call her 'nicotine': a Tootsie pop. She held the sucker in front of her, examining the red wrapper. The momen
t that she unwrapped it, he would come hurtling down the street in the hunk of junk that he referred to as his baby.
Biting her lip, Evie decided to anyway. Her fingers carefully peeled off the wrapper and she stuck in her mouth. As the cherry flavor settled on her tongue, she flatted the wrapper with both hands and began to search for the star.
A loud, roaring sound filled the street, causing her to abandon her search. Around the corner sailed Matt's car and she rolled her eyes. Of course he would show up now.
The brakes squealed as the car came to a quick stop at the top of the driveway. She raised an eyebrow at him as he sat in the car waiting for the song to finish. Evie decided it would be best wait it out before she got up.
Listening to the lyrics, she tried to guess the song in her head. They were singing something about T.N.T. but she could not quite pick out the title. She had it narrowed down to AC/DC or Led Zeppelin. Closing her eyes, Evie tried to search for the title as the song continued.
The music ended suddenly and her eyes flew open to see Matt grinning at her from inside of the car. Her stomach fluttered at the sight of his smile. What was that about? "What?"
"Oh, nothing," he replied, grinning at her. "Figure out the title yet?"
She stared at him. "Maybe I have, maybe I haven't."
Matt only laughed at her and she wanted to smack him for it. "If you had, you would have said it right away, followed with an 'in your face' for effect." A smirk made its way onto his face.
Evie glared at him, crossing her arms across her chest. "What if I just don't want to tell you?"
"That is a lie and you know it," he said, shaking his finger at her. She let out a sigh and stood up, swinging her bag over her shoulder. Damn him. He was right and he knew it.
