“Mom, this isn’t what it looks like.”
Mom put her hand on her hip. “It looks like a group of boys wrestling on the floor of your bedroom while you watch. Wearing a towel.”
“Okay,” I admitted, “it is what it looks like, but it’s not—”
“Sexual?” She raised her eyebrows.
“Mom!”
Luna stuck her head under Mom’s arm and sucked in a breath. “She’s gone from a love triangle to a kinky sex pentagon.”
“Rose stood in the last faint beams of sunset.
“Whoa!”
“Is he wearing a leather cat suit?”
“Holy Mother!"
“Dude!”
The guys all quickly averted their eyes and raised their hands to further block any chance of catching a view. Anything to not see Rose in his painted-on leather one-piece that left absolutely nothing to the imagination.
“Stunning, right?” Rose spread his palms as far as the cuffs would allow.
“Oh, I’m stunned.” Ayden looked ill.
Rose looked down at himself with admiration. “Not many males can pull off this look.”
“No male can pull off that look.”
"Actually, his finely sculptured physique would be considered the perfect complement for this type of anatomically revealing attire which accentuates his—”
“Bloody hell, Jayden, shut it!”
“Dude, this is so not right.”
“I feel like it’s looking at me.”
“Feel like what’s looking at—? Oh. Oh! Ugh, now I feel like it’s looking at me too.”
“How can it be looking at both of us?” “Are you serious?”
“I’m gonna be sick.”
“Someone please gouge out my eyes.”
“Oh, my God! Why are you in a towel?” Ayden sprang forward and ripped off his leather jacket. He led us both in an awkward sidestep to my closet. “Take your time. Get clothes on. Lots of them.”
He shoved me inside and closed the door. In the pitch, dark I reached for the light switch, but the door opened again. “Sorry.” Ayden’s hand slid in, groping for the switch, found it, and flipped it on. “Don’t come out until… lots and lots of clothes.”
“I require your assistance,” a male voice whispered.
My mouth fell open.
“Ahhgaluhg!” I gagged — near drowned — on a slew of water and lost my balance. The pink shower curtain proved no leverage whatsoever, and I ripped it down with me, rod and all, slopping into the tub with a splash, irritated squeal, and shuddering thud.
“Jay—!” I stifled a scream and hissed the second syllable through clenched teeth, “—den!”
“Have you sustained injury?” Jayden’s face hovered over the tub.
“Not until you showed up!”
“Taking awfully long to deliver a package!” Dad said.
“Because you make him nervous!” I motioned for him to go inside.
“That should make him faster,” Dad pointed out. “What is it anyway?”
“Uh.”
Rose whispered, “Tell him it’s the Kama Sutra book you ordered.”
I yelled over my shoulder, “It’s the Kama Su—” I turned to Rose. “Wait. Isn’t that the—”
“Ancient text of sexual pleasure?” he nodded. “Yes. Quite riveting. I’d be happy demonstrate. My skills are legendary.”
“Oh, thanks very much.”
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
“No!”
“You know, maybe I meant more that you
seemed...uninterested. In, ah, in ahhh,” I moved my palm in circles in the air in front of me.
He lifted one brow. “Uninterested in your…chest?”
“What?” I realized my hand had been circling right over my boobs. Nice move, Aurora. I rolled my eyes. “No! Not…that!”
“Good.” His dark eyes glittered with amusement. “Because I can assure you I find your chest very interesting. At times, downright mesmerizing.”
“Aurora,” Mom sharpened her
tone, “I thought you were having
dinner. Why are you in the parking
lot?”
A new voice on the phone
snorted, “Parking, obviously... Sorry. This pregnancy is
frying my motherboard. And
speaking of babies—”
Here it comes.
“—that’s what parking with your
boyfriend leads to, Aurora. Save
yourself the agony. My bladder will
never be the same.”
“I’m not parking with my
boyfriend!” I screeched.”
“Murder might do wonders to relieve my stress.”
“Mrs. Grant glanced at her
husband. “She’s always so fidgety.
Like a canary.” She narrowed her
eyes at me. “I hate canaries.”
I squeaked again. But not like a
canary. I hoped.”
“I know what I’m doing.” “Nothing good ever comes after that statement.”
“He had such faith in me. It was so adorable. And so utterly stupid.”
“I looked down at my chest, figuring there had to be a bullet hole. Or an arrow sticking out. Something to explain the pain. But then I realized it was just my heart. Breaking.”
“Aurora,” Mom sharpened her tone, “I thought you were having dinner. Why are you in the parking lot?”
A new voice on the phone snorted, “Parking, obviously... Sorry. This pregnancy is frying my motherboard. And speaking of babies—”
Here it comes.
“—that’s what parking with your boyfriend leads to, Aurora. Save yourself the agony. My bladder will never be the same.
“I’m not parking with my boyfriend!” I screeched.”
“Only when the mighty willingly fall into the depths of their fears can they truly be reborn to the freedom of their greatness.”
“I picked up the largest of the rocks that littered the ground and chucked them at the flaming metal balls. “What are you doing?” Logan said. “Going low-tech.”
“The front door slammed and Dad said, “Aurora, sure you aren’t expecting a package?”
I leaned back to find him army-crawling under the window in the living room. Like all dads do. “Already told you no, Rambo.”
“The new mailman is back.” Dad reached up and pulled the curtains closed before standing up and peeking out. “Won’t come to the door.”
“M shot a tranquillizer dart at the last guy.” Mom gave a tired look at M who shrugged unapologetically. “The fact that there’s a new one willing to be on our sidewalk is a miracle. Don’t scare him off, Clyde.”
Dad tried to block me when I went for the curtains. “He won’t let me sign for your package. Demanded you come out in person.”
“I’ll get my tranq gun!” M made for her room.
“Don’t you dare!” Mom chased her.
I swished back the curtains to get a look at the petrifying postman.
“I find his interest in my teenage daughter creepy,” Dad grumbled.
Oh, he had no idea.”
“Logan looked up at the big guy. “Do you ever hear yourself?” Blake beamed. “I’m my biggest fan.” “Your only fan,” Ayden said. “Hurtful, dude.”
“I know what I’m doing.”
“Nothing good ever comes after that statement.”
“The drenched fabric clung to every sculptured line of Ayden’s torso and revealed in detail how his muscles flexed to hold the weight. It was glorious. If you were into that sort of thing. And based how my breath caught at the sight, I was.”
“You’re right,” Ayden said. “Course I am.” Blake folded his arms. “About what?”
“I’ve got a plan!” “Not interested.” Both whips wrapped around a demon’s neck and the head popped off. “It puts me in mortal danger.” Matthias’s eyes slid my way. “I’m listening.”
“There was a scream. From Logan. He stood just inside my open window. At the sight of me — and after the scream — he spun around and tried to duck out. In his panic, he miscalculated and slammed his forehead into the edge of the frame. The impact reeled him back. He stumbled and landed on his backside, holding his hand to his head, moaning.”
“Before I could retrieve the bullet off the floor, Helsing jumped down, grabbed it in his mouth, and raced to tuck it under the purple pillow in his bed, where he also kept Gloria’s feathers. Then he crouched, glowering, as if daring any of us to take it away. Great. My cat was a hoarder.”
“can often be confused with,” he looked me dead in the eye, “lust.”
“Whatever. So how is all this brilliant knowledge supposed to help me control the explody thing?” “Explody thing?” Jenny said. I nodded. “It’s a technical term.”
“Um.” Oh, jeez, were his shoulders shaking? Yikes. “Ummm. Okay. Yeah, sure.” Should I pat his back or something? No. He might bite. And I wasn’t sure he’d had all his shots. His”
“Yeah, I do. Matthias is right.” Wow. That tasted like battery acid, mixed with jalapeno cyanide and shoved down my throat with a spiked spoon.”
“I scrambled for cover. Saw my backpack on the ground. Had a hand on it. Was going to use it to block the attack—because nylon was so robust against steel—”
“She couldn’t believe losing someone you had known such a short time could feel like losing part of yourself, that it could make food taste wrong and colors seem dull.”
“I never met the boy, or his parents, but I see kids like him every day.” Sonia tells Connor. “Their world is shattered, and they’re so desperate for validation that they’d blow themselves up to get it. Any parent who disowns that boy after what he did, and didn’t do . . . doesn’t deserve to have children at all, much less a child to give away.”
“Bean finds the best apple in our tree and hands it up to me. "You know what this tastes like when you first bite into it?" she asks.
"No, what?"
"Blue sky."
"You're zoomed."
"You ever eat blue sky?"
"No," I admit.
"Try it sometime," she says. "It's apple-flavored.”
“Gli parve che l'unica soluzione potesse essere la follia, nessuna speranza se non la perdita della speranza.”
“There is no good talking to him," said a Dragon-fly, who was sitting on the top of a large brown bulrush; "no good at all, for he has gone away."
"Well, that is his loss, not mine," answered the Rocket. "I am not going to stop talking to him merely because he pays no attention. I like hearing myself talk. It is one of my greatest pleasures. I often have long conversations all by myself, and I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying."
"Then you should definitely lecture on Philosophy," said the Dragon-fly.”
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