Read Online Shadowed Strength: Shadowed Series Book One by Wendi Wilson - Free Book Online Page B

shut up about this, and it was driving Melanie crazy, so she
might as well put an end to her torment and just talk to him.
    “Hey,” she said
quietly as she nudged his knee with hers. “Can we talk alone? Like, now?”
    He took a deep
breath and dragged his eyes off his pizza crust for the first time since he
apologized about the knee thing. She saw dread in his eyes. It wasn’t
encouraging.
    “Sure,” he replied
just as quietly. “Out in the courtyard?”
     She looked
out the windows into the courtyard. There were way too many students out there,
including Sissy Woods.
    “No, too crowded,”
she said. “Library?”
    He nodded and
stood. He took both their plates to the trash bins and dumped them. He held the
cafeteria door open for her and followed her into the main hallway toward the
library. She could feel him behind her and was starting to freak out.
    What am I
doing? What am I doing?!
    She walked into
the library and led the way to the back, behind the stacks. There was a seating
area with couches and chairs where students could read and study comfortably.
Melanie sat down on a love seat and Jeremy sat down right next to her, even
though there were several other options for him to choose from. The thoughts
flew out of Melanie’s head for a minute and she just stared dumbly at the empty
chair on her other side.
    Why didn’t he
sit there? she thought. If he didn’t like her as more
than a friend, than why sit so close? Why touch her knee? Why kiss her
forehead?
    No, she chastised herself. He is only concerned about what happened to
me because he feels responsible. He brought Sissy to that party, I left because
of her and got attacked. That’s it. Stop it with the wishful thinking. Get it
together, Mel.
    “Mel?”
    “Huh? What?”
    “You were off in
la-la land for a minute. You ok?”
    “Yeah, sorry. I
got sidetracked. I just wanted to talk to you ab…”
    “Mel, I’m sorry,”
he interrupted. “I shouldn’t expect anything out of you right now. You just had
a horrible thing happen to you, and here I am, pushing myself on you. I can’t
expect you to want to be with me or anyone right now. I’m sorry. I just really
like you and I thought… I don’t know what I thought, really,” he said all in a
rush.
    “Wait. Wait.
What?”
    “I’m sorry.”
    “No, not that
part.”
    “Something
horrible just happened?”
    “Nope, not that
either.”
    The corner of his lips
curved up just a bit. “I really like you?”
    “Bingo. What
exactly does that mean?”
    “What do you mean
‘What does that mean?’”
    “Well, I know you
like me. We’ve been friends a long time. You’re always there for me, and I try
to be there for you. Is that what you meant?”
    He looked down at
his lap, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It came back out in a whoosh.
     “No, that’s
not what I meant. Even though that’s all true, that is most definitely not what I meant.”
    He opened his eyes
and looked back up at her. Her heart was beating so fast, she thought it might
pound right out of her chest. Her hands started to shake as he pushed himself
up slightly and scooted closer to her.
    “It’s not?” she
asked shakily.
    “No, it’s not,” he
said, leaning even closer and staring right into her eyes. He was definitely
invading her personal space enough now that it could no longer be defined as
“friendly.”
    “Wha…” She cleared
her throat lightly. “What did you mean, then?” She was whispering by this
point. He was leaning in so close that their noses were almost touching.
    “What I meant,” he
whispered back, “is that I like you so much that I want to do this.”
    He tilted his head
and kissed her lightly on the cheek. Her eyes fluttered closed and she stopped
breathing.
    “And this.” This
time the kiss landed on her chin. Her breath came back all ragged, but her eyes
stayed closed.
    “And this.” She
felt his hands cup her face and his lips touch hers, ever so lightly.
    Melanie felt