Serpent's Kiss: Book 1

Chapter 3

It was light out by the time Adair woke up the next morning, dressed in a pair of jeans and black-on-white, thin-striped t-shirt and heading downstairs; the smell of steaming coffee reaching his nose before he entered the kitchen where Lea sat at the island counter with a small pile of mail before her. He eyed the outfit she was wearing with a more than appreciative once-over. This time she was wearing a black-lace top slit at the shoulders and showing just the top of her chest where it began and a pair of blue-black jeans. There was a split second as he came down the stairs and entered the room where she was still reading, before she seemed to sense him enter and hastily shoved the letter back into its envelope. Her eyes flicked up and she smiled, as if he had been here the whole time and there was no strange letter she had only just read to make her face twist into a mix of confusion and disgust as it had.

"Morning, sleepyhead."

"Sleepyhead? It's 8 o' clock."

"I wake up at 5 with Dad." She said as she walked by him and bopped him on the nose with one of her letters, which she put down as she dug through the cabinet above the sink for a coffee mug, holding one up at Adair. "You drink coffee?"

He nodded and she poured him a cup, taking hers from the counter and doing the same.

"Black?"

"There's another way to drink coffee?"

"You're fitting in already," she said with a laugh as she took a sip from her own mug; sliding his over the counter to his side. "Okay, so, Dad gave me the papers this morning. I just need to bring them in for him. You ready?"

"Sure." They finished their coffee and Lea washed and dried the cups before stepping out, their only pause when Lea went up to her room with the letter, returning downstairs to Adair without it, the papers in her hand now instead. He frowned in thought, wondering what had been in that particular letter that had brought on that strange expression on Lea's face before shrugging it off like nothing. It had nothing to do with him. He at least figured that much about the letter from how she almost seemingly instantly switched herself back to normal once she saw him.

They walked out of the house. Lea locked the behind them before they started walking.

"How long have you been homeschooled?"

"Since I've been in foster. Not even really sure why, they probably thought I'd be... 'traumatized' by moving so soon after mom died or something." She laughed. "It couldn't have been that hard for you, though, right? Since you don't sound like you were ever homeschooled."

Adair shook his head. "It wasn't, but I made everyone wish they'd had me homeschooled instead, still am," he said with a slight waggle of his eyebrows at her.

"Was it all because of the girls?" She asked in a mock singsong voice.

"Awe, come on, you make it sound like all I'm good at is flirting."

"You probably are!"

"Wait until you see me when school starts. You'll be eating those words."

"Sure, and if I win?"

"Then I'll reconsider and admit I'm a flirt who's good at nothing but flirting."

"Where's the fun in that?"

"What?"

"Then you'll just say it so I'll back off. I know how you guys are." She bumped his side into him, walking along as they did. He bumped back into her.

"Please. You like that I'm flirting wi-"

"Hey, Lea, who's this?"

Lea and Adair looked in front of them, where two girls were heading their way, smiles on their faces and looks on their eyes that all but said they were looking at Adair.