Jake’s Pov
Kylie. I repeated her name in my head. It was nice. It fit her somehow. I mean, sure, I know nothing about her, but it just seemed like…Forget it. I’m going crazy.
We had left the clearing hours ago, and were now trudging home. I had been walking next to Kylie the whole time. She pretended like it wasn’t bothering her. I stared at her. She glared at her feet.
“Am I annoying you,” I asked, unable to keep the humor out of my voice. She flinched and moved away from me.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t want to be near my slimy self either. I haven’t showered since yesterday morning, too busy stalking Alana.” Nothing. Not even a twitch. Have you ever talked to a wall?
“Damien made us follow her. She wanted to go alone. They fought about it. In the end, they both got their way. She thought she was alone. He got to protect her. Yeah, those two are hilarious. Not normal mates, that’s for sure.”
Kylie flinched when I said that word.
“Is something bothering you, mate?”
She finally looked up at me, glaring. Wow, those eyes. They were brighter than most brown eyes. I wonder what they look like when she smiles.
“Has anyone ever told you how cute you are?” She snarled, showing her teeth. I couldn’t contain myself. I laughed.
“Of course, they have. I mean look at you. You look like a kitten with its fur standing up.” I tried pat her head. She bit my hand. I think she was angry.
“What I meant by that was, you look scary, damn scary, not like a kitten at all.”
Her growls stopped and she tilted her head at me. See what I’m saying? Definitely cute. I shoved her shoulder playfully, but I guess I didn’t realize how small she was. She fell over.
“Damn! I’m sorry. Are you okay? Did you hit anything…umm…other than the ground, I mean? Like a rock or something. Do you feel any pain?”
She punched me. It was more surprising than painful. Something happened when she touched me. I grabbed her hand, reveling in the shocks going up and down my arm.
“Do you feel that,” I asked. She snatched her hand away and stared at me with wide eyes. After a few minutes of silence I messed her hair a bit.
“No, of course you don’t.”
Alana’s Pov
I was watching Jake and Kylie. She punched him in the face. I was so proud! He didn’t even get mad. He just spoke softly then held out his hand to help her up. She ignored him and walked away. Poor Jakey. I ran over and nudged his shoulder.
“So, how’s your mate?”
“She’s like a kitten,” he said, “except she’s not like a kitten at all. Does that make sense?”
“Sure it makes sense, except it doesn’t make sense at all,” I replied happily. He smiled. Victory! Introducing, Alana the Clown; she can turn that frown upside down and please the crowd and sing out loud and milk a cow. Rhyming is hard!
“Alana!”
“What?”
“Did you hear me? I asked you what I should do.”
Oops. Well, okay, introducing Alana the therapist. I cleared my throat. “Be romantic. Show her that you’re still a man. Give her time. And…uh…love conquers all, except other countries. That’s called war. So…yeah.” Way to go, Alana, great therapying.
“Okay…Some of that was actually good advice.”
“Spontaneous,” I shouted suddenly, “Girls like guys who are spontaneous!” Thank you, magazines in the dentist’s office. You taught me everything I know.
“I can do that,” Jake said happily. He started walking away.
“And don’t forget the candles.”
“What?”
“Candles, Jake, candles.”
“What the hell do candles have to do with anything?”
“I don’t know. I read it somewhere. Just candles, okay?”
Why does everyone always look at me like that? I’m not crazy, am I?
“Yes, you are,” Damien spoke into my ear. I jumped.
“You can read my mind? You’re just like Edward Cullen.”
“Shut up about that stupid vampire! He doesn’t exist! You were saying all that out loud. People can’t read minds.”
“Aww…does someone have inferiority issues? It’s okay Damien. Not everyone can be a sexy vampire with perfect hair and a nice car.”
He growled, but didn’t say anything. We walked in silence for a few minutes.
“So,” he said.
Damn! He was going to talk about the kiss, wasn’t he? He probably wanted to know how I was feeling, but the thing is, I had no freaking idea! What should I do? Huh? Tell me, O Gods of awkward moments.
“Hey, Damien! Guess what? I heard this really funny story the other day. Yup, really funny. Oh! Would you look at the time! I’ve got to go…umm...wash my hands. So, bye!” In my panic, I may have been yelling. I ran away.