Read Online Dark Masterpiece (Serendipity Series 3) by Brieanna Robertson - Free Book Online Page B

eyebrows. “Aren’t I, more or
less, your teacher? Do you call all your teachers by their first
names?”
    She scowled. “Well, I don’t see you doing a
whole lot of teaching around here. Maybe when you start teaching,
I’ll start calling you Mr. Whitelaw again, but until then, it’s
silly for me to live here under such formalities.”
    “You are very impertinent,” he stated.
    She rolled her eyes. “And
you are a great big pain in my butt! Now that that’s out of the way, can we move
on?”
    He gave a small smile in spite of
himself.
    Evie gave him a warm grin. “Come on, Traevyn,
just go with us. I promise you won’t hate it and, if you do, you’ll
never have to listen to me again.” She studied him for a moment and
her eyes turned soft. “I want to see if I can get you to smile. A
real smile and not that quirky thing you do with your lips.” She
pointed to him as he half-smiled. “Yeah, that one!”
    He gave a soft chuckle. He didn’t understand
Evie. It seemed the more he tried to get her to leave him alone,
the more she bothered him. His cold demeanor had successfully kept
everyone else at bay, but she ignored it. She challenged him in the
most unabashed way. It was strange for him to be around someone so
open, so fearless.
    He looked at her. She stood with her arms
folded, waiting. She was so tiny. She only came up to his chest. A
tiny, little powder keg. She was not what he had expected the day
he’d so rudely accepted her into his home. She had stayed in her
room for an entire week. He had barely seen or heard her. Then,
when she’d had enough, she’d sought him out with boldness and
voiced her opinion of him. She had been continuing to voice that
opinion ever since. He was coming to realize that she had many
opinions. Their discussions on literature had proven that.
    With a sigh, he turned away from her and
toward the French doors. He admired Evie for the courageous way she
seemed to stride through life, but he couldn’t be like her. Not
anymore. His time had passed. He glanced back at her over his
shoulder and opened his mouth to speak.
    “A compromise then,” Evie announced,
stepping toward him. “We’ll get the pizza to go, but we’ll eat it
down on the beach, away from people. You can read or draw if you
want. You don’t even have to talk to us. Seth and I can entertain
ourselves.”
    He frowned and turned back to face her. ”You
want me to go and just sit there like a bump on a log?”
    She shrugged. “That’s entirely up to you. Do
whatever makes you feel comfortable. Just go with us, okay?”
    He gazed down into her
hazel eyes and had to look away. She had sensed what he was going
to say before he’d even said it. She had known he would refuse and
she sought to change her plans to make him comfortable. Why? He was nothing
to her, no one. Yet, all she seemed to care about was getting him
to have fun, getting him outside of himself, getting him to smile.
Smiling… Just a moment ago he had been sobbing. If only she knew
the sorrow he carried within him every day…He sighed in defeat and
nodded slowly. “All right,” he murmured.
    Evie blinked, as if wondering if she’d heard
him right. “All right?” When he nodded again, she grinned and
jumped, clapping her hands together. “Woo hoo! All right, come on
then. We’ll leave soon.”
    He smiled at her obvious enthusiasm. “Give me
just a moment. I wish to take a small canvas and my oil
pastels.”
    She nodded. “Just meet us downstairs when
you’re ready.” She met his eyes and flashed him a delighted smile
before leaving the room.
    Traevyn watched her go and sighed. The acute
pain he had been feeling moments ago returned. The shadows beckoned
him, waited in the darkness to consume any light his soul might
hope to steal. He closed his eyes and turned his back on them. Not
now. He would not return to them now. They would be waiting for him
later like they always were. For now, he would try to pretend.
Pretend he was human.