...it's hard for her to trust anything so easily...
Damn right.
"Why the hell did you do that!?!?" Sam yells as she backs up into the wall.
"I uh..." I reply with a smirk. She's too damn sexy with that don't-touch-me face.
Angela looks over at Sam, ready to hold her back. I bring my hand up to my cheek. It's tender but healing already.
"What's so funny? I barely wake up and you-" she harshly waves her hand to me, "-come in and kiss me! Which, may I add, was not a good kiss. It was anything but."
"Oh, so it was the best anyone could have. Thanks for the complement."
I wink at her with my best smirk. Her cheeks turn red and she lets out a huff of frustration before storming out of the room. I can't stop myself from looking just below her back-
"You idiot, what did I tell you last week?" Angela says, smacking me in the process and getting my attention.
"Hey, I couldn't help it! You can't blame a guy for being a guy! Besides, it was totally worth it."
She just narrows her eyes at me before saying, "Now she'll be even more skeptical about being your mate."
My mate. These words make me smile. Samantha will someday acknowledge she is my mate and let me in. Then Angela's words come back into my head and I curse under my breath. How can I be so stupid?
"Uh, I'll try to keep my distance for a couple of days." I murmur, trying to redeem myself. I know I can't stay away from her for more than a week, so I make it a couple days. Then I add, "No exceptions." to hint at how serious I am.
Raising an eyebrow she says, "Good. I'll go check on her. Try not to stalk her, she'd be freaked out to the point of locking herself in her- no, my- room." she says while starting for the door.
I just nod in reply, my face still a stupid smirk. As she leaves, she calls for Samantha and I shake my head at myself.
This is gonna be the most difficult few days of my life... How the hell am I supposed to stay away from Samantha?
I can already feel the persistent urge to run to her side. How am I supposed to ignore that? She's my perfect distraction and I'm not going to be able to concentrate in Combat Prep. What am I supposed to do?
"Sup, Darren!" Someone calls just as I turn the corner for the second floor stairs.
What the... Okay, I'm going to have to start paying more attention.
The guy that called me smacks my shoulder. I look up to see my best friend. "Hey man, what's up?"
"You alright there? You seemed a little lost."
"What? Oh, yeah I'm fine, just the usual... fantasizing about the girl that'll probably deny me." He gives me a look that I can't understand and starts walking down the stairs.
Thank God he changes the subject, "Since you asked, I was on my way to hang with Jesse and the guys but..." He looked around for a second, then pointed towards the room Sam was in. "Did Sam wake up?"
Ass.
I've told him about Samantha being my true love the night she was overwhelmed with her power. He almost had a heart attack when he choked on his cereal. When he was panting for breath, he told me I was gonna be a whipped womanizer. I smacked him so hard he got a bruise the size of a softball.
Glumly, I reply, "Yeah, barely."
"C'mon, dude. Stop looking so depressed. Let me guess, you kissed her, she freaked out, and now you can't see her." It wasn't a question. "And I'm right- Jeez, bro you can't just play Prince Charming." He said while stopping me with his arm.
Damn, he's good. I guess I have to add him to the list of 'People who ruin my mood'.
I didn't have to speak for him to know what was up.
Sighing, I turn to face him. "I know, Tito. Its just... When I saw her awake with no pain and right in front of me I... You get me?"
He pat my shoulder with a knowing look. "You need a distraction."
"You're a smart-ass when it comes to girls."
"Why do you think I'm considered a Lady's Man?"
"Shut up already and make your magic. This girl is driving me crazy already and she's not even around." I say while socking his shoulder.
His face looks thoughtful for a second before he smiles mischievously and says, "We're going to the shooting range, wanna come?"
"Shooting as in bullets or paintballs?"
"Paintballs." He says with a wide grin.
I bite the inside of my cheek. This could be beneficial for me... A paintball distraction, domination, and pizza and soda does sound like the thing to do right now. Especially since I can't think of anything but her soft honey-brown hair.
"You're thinking of her, aren't you."
"How do you- uh, okay. I'll go." I say sounding defeated.
Smirking, Tito walks the rest of the way down the stairs with me following behind. He pulls out his Nokia slide-phone and types on the keyboard. Next thing I know, Jesse and five other guys zip into the room and Jesse hands me a long paintball gun. The side of what looks like to be a shoulder rest has a mark the size of a quarter in the shape of an exotic panther.
"Ready to kick some ass?" he asks while I take the gun and sling it around my shoulder.
"Who are we playing against anyways?" I inquire.
"The Nighters and Legion of Ares. Legion's got some Smith & Wesson's so we have to watch each other's sixes." Jesse points to the gun I have. "That right there is an M16, a rifle. I have other types if you don't want to use that one."
With my eyebrows lifted, I stare at Jesse. "Um, that's okay. I'll stick with this one." A guy can get used to using this thing.
"Good. Now lets go so we can claim the hill, it'll give us an advantage." he comments nonchalantly.
Everyone began to move while saying things like "Alright!", "Finally.", and "To Domination!!".
Am I the only one who noticed how knowledgeable Jesse is? "Dude, why don't you go to battle class if you know all this stuff?"
Jesse smirks before saying: "Lets just say that I have...experience. Trust me when I say you don't want to know."
He leaves it there and continues to walk towards the truck. The way he said that threw a cold shiver down my spine. I don't think Jesse ever told anyone his life story. I imagine it was something war related and did not have a happy ending.
Oh, boy. Maybe going is a good idea. Distractions are needed... and not just for me.
**********
**Angela's P.O.V.**
"Sam!!" Stop running!! I wanted to add, but she was only striding really fast down the stairs. She was almost leaping down three steps at a time. I didn't know she had that in her. "Sam, slow down! Let's talk about what just happened!"
"TALK!? YOU WANT TO TALK!?!?!" She stopped in her tracks and spun around so fast I almost ran into her. "That sick excuse of a man kissed me. He kissed me!!" Throwing her hands in the air, Sam stepped onto the second floor and ran towards our room. I almost got my fingers chopped off by holding the door-frame and Sam trying to slam the door.
"You are not leaving me out here! We are talking no matter what!!" I push my other hand against the door, opening it just enough to fit through and fall to the floor with an "umph".
"Dammit Ange! Why do you always have to make me 'talk about it' when I don't want to?" She says while plopping on top of her bed, face down in her pillows.
I get up rubbing my forehead before sitting Indian style next to Sam's bed. "Because I love you and running amuck is NOT the way to get through anything! Tell me, why did you freak out?"
Sam peaked at me with pleading eyes to no avail. I give her my serious look and she sighs. She sits upright with her head down and now I can tell that something is off.
"Hey, are you okay?"
"No, Angela. I'm not okay." her voice broke a little bit and I can't help but hold one of her hands for comfort.
"What's bothering you?" I ask, as gentle as I can manage. She's not crying but her eyes are slightly wider than usual.
"I wake up after one week in the bed and instanty I can hear people's thoughts," she stops and clears her throat. "I can hear his thoughts, and..." now she's fidgeting with her fingers. Oh, gosh Samantha.
"Samantha I'm sure, whatever it is, it's probably not bad." I tell her, looking into her eyes.
She takes a deep breath before nodding. "Ange, I'm scared."
"Scared of Darren? Are you scared that he'll try to touch you again? If so, I can assure you that he won't do anything to you for a whi-"
"I'm not scared he's gonna touch me again." She interrupts me.
I furrow my eyebrows. "Then why are you scared?"
Sam bows her head again and in a low whisper she tells me: "I'm scared because.... because I- I liked the kiss."
*********
Thanks for your patience! This is my present to you and I hope you liked it. :D
What do you think happened in Jesse's past? Does Samantha's reason have you reeling? I'd like to know!
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-Janeslove