Read Online The Temptation (Kindred) by Alisa Valdes - Free Book Online

took his slick black leather wallet out of his back jeans pocket with great show and pomp, opened it, and flipped through the many crisp twenty-dollar bills he had there.
    “Not necessary.” Travis looked patient and unsurprised, his innate compassion evident and in stark relief against Logan’s arrogance. He took a step back.
    “Here,” Logan said, trying to hand Travis a few bills. It wasn’t nice, what Logan did; it was meant to put Travis in his place. I was sickened by the ugly gesture, and realized then I’d have to break up with Logan no matter what.
    Travis shrugged gracefully out of Logan’s grasp, ignored the money, and walked away. I wanted him to stay. I felt helpless and confused. My breath caught on the lump in my throat as he slipped out the door into the swirling snow. He shouldn’t be going alone. I should be with him.
    “You know,” joked Logan, picking up the money from the floor, “you really ought to be more careful who you crash in front of next time. I think that hillbilly freak kind of likes you.”
    “Lucky Shane then,” said Kelsey, her eyes narrowed in disgust at Logan. “He seems really nice, unlike some people.”
    Logan rolled his eyes. “Yeah, if you want to live in the sticks and your idea of fun is baling hay, he’s perfect.”
    I hurried to change the subject. “How was the tryout?” I asked Logan. “Tell us about it.”
    “Oh, man,” said Logan, quickly forgetting about Travis, his eyes lighting up. “It was awesome. I made the team, no sweat, but the coolest part was that at the end, I pegged a dove.”
    “Pegged a dove?” I asked.
    Logan pantomimed shooting toward the ceiling. “Yeah, I was aiming for the clay pigeon, and then the dove just came out of nowhere and flew right in the line of fire, so I nailed it, and got the pigeon, too!”
    Kelsey and I exchanged a look that was part worry and part disgust, masked by politeness. Logan kept talking.
    “Just knowing I’d gotten it, seeing it fall out of the sky . . . ,” he mused, with a strangely bloodthirsty look in his eyes. “It was awesome, that’s all. It was like it was some kind of a sign. Oh, and look!”
    Logan unzipped his backpack and took out a long rectangular wooden box. He opened it to reveal a huge, shiny silver knife, resting on blue velvet. It had notches in it, and was curved unlike any knife I’d ever seen, with what looked like an ivory handle.
    “It’s a bayonet military hunting knife,” he said ecstatically, almost lustfully. “I’ve wanted one for a long time. Dad was so proud I made the team, he got it for me. The handle is awesome. It’ll be awesome to use this someday.”
    “That’s great,” I said without any real enthusiasm. The knife scared me.
    “Awesome,” griped Kelsey, a vegetarian.
    “Yeah, right?” said Logan, completely missing the sarcasm in her voice.
    “Um, I’m sorry to interrupt, but I need to go to the bathroom,” Kelsey announced, gripping my arm with her hand. “Shane? Do you need to go, too?” She gave me a look that meant she wanted me to come with her.
    “Um, yeah,” I said. “We’ll be right back.”
    “Women,” said Logan, again rolling his eyes as he shut the knife back into its case. “Never understood why you always go in pairs. Whatever.”
    He didn’t seem to suspect anything. I was relieved, and got up to follow my friend.
    In the privacy of the locked women’s room, after Kelsey and I agreed that Logan was acting creepy, even for Logan, we eagerly unfolded the note Travis had given me. It read:
     
Shane,
I can’t stop thinking about you. I hope you feel the same way. Meet me at the crash site Friday afternoon at three. Sorry about the dream. You weren’t ready. Explain all later.
Travis
     
    I stood silently for a long moment, in shock. It had been real. The dream had been real? I’d known it was, but there’d been doubt, too—until then. He’d been there. It was right here in my hand, proof of it. My mouth went dry,