Golden: A Paranormal Romance

by Ellis Marie

  “I figured that if I’m going to kiss you, then I might as well know what you’re going to taste like.”

  Well then.

  He finishes speaking and looks me dead in the eye, his tongue slightly touching his sharp canine that flashes briefly under the fairy lights and everything in me clenches. Visions of his mouth in other places light up in my mind, and I thank God that he can’t read my thoughts.

  Although, I’m sure the heat creeping up my neck doesn’t make it hard for him to guess.

  I watch as his nostrils flare as he takes in a deep breath. When he opens his eyes, I swear that their golden hue is darker—almost like a shadow has cast itself over them. I take a step forward to get a closer look, but before I can, there’s an awful sound from below me. I halt, scared to step on anything.

  I hear Kristie’s sigh and immediately know what’s happened before I even have to glance down.

  “Tom was just sick, wasn’t he?” I mutter as I look up at the sky and take a deep breath. “Please tell me it’s not on my shoe.”

  “Um . . .” Kristie’s voice trails off, but I don’t miss the slight shakiness of it that gives away her withheld amusement. When I finally look down, I realise why and my own body starts to shake.

  “I-I’m—” Tom stutters, his voice wobbling with either laughter, fear, or just plain drunkenness. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Oak Tree, I did not mean to spew on your roots.”

  After a second, I look at the tense figure whose eyes are closed in a meditative-type state. I can’t hold the laughter in as I take in his defeated stature; his slouched shoulders confirming what has just happened.

  “You’re not wearing any shoes, are you, Trent?” I giggle. I can’t help but laugh even more when his eyes snap open and glare at me with his jaw clenched. “I mean, at least that’s easier to wash?” I offer, but it does nothing but set Kristie off in a round of hysterics as well as Tom.

  “I can try to spit on it to wash it off, if you’d like?” Tom offers. I quickly shush him while simultaneously trying to shush Kristie’s giggling, too, but the alcohol in their systems makes it impossible.

  “I appreciate that offer, Tom,” Trent mutters. “However, I’m going to use the perfectly good body of water situated behind me.” He nods at us. “If you’ll excuse me.”

  Without another word, he turns and walks away. He seems to be heading straight for the water, but as he passes a laughing Cole and a couple other guys, he pauses.

  I can tell that Cole knows his mistake immediately because he moves to run, but Trent is quicker, kicking his legs out from under him in a second and no doubt spreading Tom’s love all over them.

  There are screams as the boys disperse in a hurry, all moving away from the towering man with a puke-covered foot, but he doesn’t seem to notice them as he continues on his way and calmly treads into the water.

  I watch him for a second, clenching and unclenching his hands under the moonlight above him. I look down at Kristie, and she is still giggling with Tom, who is now thankfully drinking the cup of water that someone has placed in his hands.

  “I’m going to go see if he’s okay,” I tell them with a sigh. “We don’t know what kind of germs you’ve got, Tommy.”

  “Only the good kind!” Tom shouts after me as I walk away. I can’t help but laugh at the mess of him; he really is a lightweight.

  Now that I’m not so focused on my mission of kissing Trent, I now realise that with his shirt off, I can see the entirety of his back and the tattoo that is splayed across it.

  When I saw the small section of it in the English classroom, I thought that it was one wolf howling up at the sky, but I’m wrong. On the other side of his back, mirrored perfectly, is another wolf, howling upwards at the exact same thing, and it’s not a moon. It’s a woman.

  My feet slow down as I get close to him, taking in every detail of the beautiful ink that decorates his skin. The designs all flow into one another so naturally that it’s difficult to see where it starts and where it ends.

  Trent’s head turns a little towards me as he notices that I’m approaching, but he doesn’t say anything; he just turns back to the landscape before him, tilting his head up slightly at the moon. Just like the wolves.

  My feet hit the water. I gasp a little at the coolness of it, but my limbs quickly adjust. I head towards him, grateful that Kristie stopped by hers and gotten us more suitable clothing for the party than what we had been wearing to school. I stop beside him as the water rises to just above my knees. I look up at the same moon as him, only now noticing how bright and clear it seems to be.

  East Bay really is a remarkable place.

  “It’s so beautiful,” I murmur, mesmerised by the glow of it. Trent sighs.

  “It is, but it can also be dangerous,” he replies. I look at him in confusion.

  “The sun, you know, is dangerous to look at. It hurts you as soon as you do it, there’s no hiding it. You learn to not stare at it or else you’ll suffer.” I stare at him as he speaks, watching the way his eyes do not blink and his jaw does not release, his mind clearly far away in thought.

  “But the moon, it may surprise you. If you were ever to look at it in a solar eclipse . . . it blocks out the sunlight, it controls the waves, it can cause you harm that lasts a lifetime.”

  I’m not stupid, I know he’s not just talking about the moon. No one talks like that about the moon, but whatever it is he’s talking about, he doesn’t want to share right now, and I’m okay with that.

  “Well,” I begin, nudging him on the side. “I do believe that tonight, the remains of Tom’s stomach have caused you more harm than the moon, so maybe it’s him that you should be worried about.”

  Trent’s sombre expression disappears. A small smile graces his lips as he glances at me. I shrug in response and roll my eyes.

  “I’m just saying, the moon did nothing to you tonight. Tom, meanwhile, could have definitely killed you with a disease or two.”

  Trent laughs and looks away from me. He glances back out towards the water. “I suppose that means you wouldn’t kiss an infected man?” he asks slyly. I smile down at my feet as I watch them in the water, glistening just below the surface.

  “I suppose we’ll have to see,” I tease, glancing up at him while expecting him to be still focused on the moon. Instead, he’s staring down at me with a softness over his expression.

  “I suppose we will,” he echoes, taking my hand gently in his and everything inside me melts.

  F*cking swoon.

  A crash interrupts the moment between us. I want to scream in frustration, but instead, I turn around and glare at Tom’s stumbling figure as people try to help him up with laughter bubbling through the crowd.

  “He’s so drunk.” I sigh, watching him collapse again with Kristie disappearing under him. “He can’t go home like this,” I murmur to myself.

  “How come? Parents not into alcohol?” Trent asks. I sigh, shaking my head.

  “He has younger siblings. His mom would flip if he woke them up, and he can’t stay at Kristie’s because her dad is home for the first time in forever, and he can’t stay at mine because . . .” I trail off, glancing nervously at Trent who frowns at my lack of explanation, but I quickly move past it. “So basically, we’re going to have to find a twenty-four-hour diner and sober him up.”

  I want to groan at the thought. We’ve done it before for each other, and although it’s a bit of a hassle, we never complained.

  Friendship at its finest.

  “Or . . .” Trent startles me, interrupt my planning. “You guys can all just stay at ours. There’s plenty of room and, trust me, he won’t annoy anyone.”

  My heart stops in my chest.

  Did he just invite us to his house?

  “Oh no,” I reply, my hands shaking a little. “We couldn’t intrude like that. Honestly, we can—”

  “Elle,” he stops me, squeezing my hand. Immediately, I shut up. “You don’t have to say yes, I don’t want you to f
eel uncomfortable,” he begins, watching me carefully. “But you’d never be intruding to me, or to any of the boys, trust me. You’re more than welcome.”

  I hesitate in his offer as it dangles in front of me. His now bright eyes sparkle patiently, waiting for an answer. As I look back at the heap that is a flailing and drunk Tom in the grass, I sigh.

  “Okay, we’ll stay at yours.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  When Trent tells me that we will be walking to the house through the forest, I think he’s joking, but upon seeing the small path leading through the trees and up the hill, I now know that he’s being serious.

  It’s a good thing that I trust him.

  The walk to the house is most definitely taking longer than it should. I don’t like to point fingers at anyone, but if I have to say why, then my educated guess would be that it’s down to the drunk idiot who is screaming at almost anything that rustles in the trees around us and the people around him who are laughing in hysterics.

  “Tom, it was literally a leaf,” Kristie gasps with her hand over her stomach. “Like legitimately, you stood on a leaf. It’s not going to kill you.”

  Tom grumbles something in response. Kristie almost falls over as he leans against her. She’s struggling to walk, let alone carry someone. I make a move to help her, but Trent holds his arm out and stops me as he motions behind me.

  “Guys, give her a hand, would you?” he asks two boys that are walking in the opposite direction to us having appeared out of nowhere. They nod in response, immediately heading for her without so much as a complaint.

  Well, they seem accommodating.

  Trent chuckles as the boys each take one of Tom’s arms and lift him up onto their shoulders like he weighs nothing. His large body dangling between them as if it’s hung on a washing line.

  “Ooft,” Tom exclaims, leaning his head back. “And who might you two fine gentlemen be?”

  I shake my head at his antics and turn away, my focus back on watching where we’re going. My eyes follow the dimly lit path as I try not to fall over anything.

  “So let me get this straight,” I begin. “You and your friends have a giant . . . clubhouse? And you guys just stay there alone? Without anyone minding? For free?”

  Unlike me, who apparently just didn’t question people enough, Kristie drilled Trent and Cole for information about where they stayed before accepting their invitation for us to spend the night. According to her, she wanted to check that it isn’t a frat house and that we would actually be safe to spend the night without any incidents. Trent informed her—and us—that every person in the house is completely safe, and we will be welcomed guests.

  That, along with the promise of a fully stocked fridge and warm blankets, is enough to convince Kristie that we should stay there for the night. Plus I think the thought of hanging out in our local diner for another night, waiting on Tom to sober up, isn’t a very appealing option.

  “Pretty much.” Trent chuckles with a shrug. “All our families are pretty close, and we all spend so much time together anyway. We didn’t see why we all shouldn’t live together. People can come and go as they please, but most of them choose to spend their time in the house.”

  I frown, still not quite understanding it. “But don’t parents want to check up on them? Make sure they go to school and do their homework and eat properly?”

  There are a few chuckles from behind me. I frown at the two boys who are trying to cover it up, but they halt as soon as Trent looks back, a glare taking over his expression.

  “What?” I ask, feeling a little embarrassed. “Is something funny?”

  Trent shakes his head, his mouth twitching a little. His hand reaches out and takes mine gently, entwining our fingers together so easily that it’s like they are made to fit with one another.

  “No, not at all,” he assures with a sigh, lowering his voice. “A lot of the boys that stay here are going through things—difficult things. Things that parents maybe can’t help with or don’t want to totally deal with. So they come here. It’s kind of like a support system, I suppose.”

  My eyes widen at his words. It takes me a few seconds to process them, rolling over the details in my head repeatedly. It sounds like a house full of teenage boys with problems. Fantastic.

  “So . . .” I smirk, pushing a hanging branch away from my face. “What issue is it that you have exactly?”

  The snorts of laughter behind me echo again, and Trent’s hand clenches a little in mine, but he doesn’t turn around. Instead, he just shakes his head with a smile.

  “I don’t think you’re quite ready to hear that story yet.”

  For some reason, despite the fact that a very large man has just told me this as we’re walking to an unfamiliar house in the middle of nowhere, I’m not afraid. He doesn’t make my stomach clench the way Matt used to, and the light smile on his lips lets me know that he’s joking.

  I hope.

  I look down at our hands and my fingers tingle, making my heart skip a beat.

  “This place must be pretty big then,” I state, clearing my throat. The cheeky grin he gives me makes my stomach flop as I try to ignore the feelings rushing through my body. It’s just a fricking hand.

  “See for yourself.”

  He stops moving as he speaks. He pushes back a large gate that I haven’t noticed before because it’s almost as if it has been decorated to blend in with the trees around it. I don’t really pay much attention to it, however, because as it swings open, I finally get a look at the house.

  And I’m right; it’s huge.

  I gasp at the sight of the gorgeous building towering in front of us, it’s size making me feel as if I have just walked into a fairy-tale and this is the land of the giants. The house is made of stone. Its grey colour is lit up by lights decorated upon it, shining upwards and stretching across the pointed roofs that reach for the starry sky. The arched doorway stands at the front of it, bold and proud, welcoming us in with its strong wooden design. I can see the lights on inside and figures moving around, some shouting and having fun. It’s as if someone has taken a chunk out of the forest, flattened it, and placed a house straight in the middle, enclosed by the branches wrapping around.

  “It’s incredible,” I state, not believing the sight in front of me. “How on earth could you guys afford this?”

  Before Trent can reply, gasps come from my best friends. They start gushing over the building, Kristie practically screaming at how gorgeous it is. She grabs my hand, dragging me closer.

  “This is quite possibly the most beautiful thing I have ever seen,” she squeals excitedly, her eyes bright as she smiles at me. “I love you for bringing us here.”

  I laugh and shake my head. “I mean, you should really be saying thank you to Trent.”

  She rolls her eyes and smirks at the boys who are all now carrying Tom. Trent stands shaking his head at them, laughing.

  “Yeah, somehow, I think he wouldn’t have offered quite as quickly if you weren’t around.”

  I blush at her words and can’t help the smile that takes over my lips as I watch him wrap his arms around Tom, hauling him up the grass and across the lawn towards us. The slight incline seemingly causes no issues for him.

  “By the way,” she whispers, our eyes both trained on the approaching men. “I do hope you realise that staying here means that you need to decide your . . . sleeping arrangements.” I spin around and look at her in shock, my laugh turning into a gasp and she grins at my reaction.

  “Kristie!”

  “What?” she asks innocently. “All I’m saying is that—”

  “Now is my chance to climb him like a tree?” I offer sarcastically. She abruptly stops, her eyes flying behind me. Now that I’m not laughing, I can hear the breathing behind us and the moaning from Tom.

  Slowly, I turn around, holding my breath as I pray that I’m wrong, but when I see the shocked faces of the two boys and Trent’s amused one, I want to die on the spot.

>   Kill me.

  “Like a tree, huh?” Trent asks, his mouth itching to break out into laughter. All possibilities of me forming words disappear as my body goes up in flames.

  Unfortunately, not literally.

  “I-It’s, um . . . it’s a joke. Kristie . . . she s-said it before . . .” I trail off. I quickly clear my throat, shooting my best friend daggers as she stands with her hand in her mouth, biting down on her finger to stop herself from laughing. “Shouldn’t we get Tom inside?”

  Much to my relief, Trent doesn’t make me flail for any longer and nods, a chuckle the only response to what has just happened as he moves past us and up to the house, leaving me standing with a racing heart.

  I can see Kristie’s hand reach out towards me in my peripheral vision. I slap it away, shooting her a look that makes her laugh but also step back, allowing me to storm past her and up the stairs to the front door.

  I’m not really that annoyed. I just need to find somewhere to get rid of the red on my cheeks and the racing of my heart.

  I’m not going to be climbing any tree, but what if he thinks that I’m going to be? Is that why he invited us to stay?

  All thoughts are forgotten as I step into the house, my eyes automatically following the large windows up to the roof and out to the back with the view of the mountains glistening in the distance. The ceiling is tall. I can see the balcony that hangs over the edge inside and out. I struggle to completely process what I’m seeing.

  It’s like something out of a dream and the minute that I’m standing in the house and the door shuts behind me, a strange feeling washes over me—one that I have never really experienced before. The necklace under my top seems to almost heat up.

  Home.

  “I’m going to put Tom in one of the rooms over here, okay?” Trent tells me, motioning to one of the many corridors heading off from the main entry point. I just nod in awe, still not completely grasping the magnitude of the place we are in. There’s a moment of silence and I take a deep breath.