Read Online The Breakers Code by Conner Kressley - Free Book Online

death when I met Andrew,” she said. She only ever called him Andrew when she was talking about before I was born, otherwise it was always ‘your father’.
          “He was involved with this redhead. She was drop dead gorgeous but the poor thing was so stupid she needed help tying her shoes.” She wiped what I hoped was a happy tear from her eyes. “Anyway, I was sure he wouldn’t go for somebody like me.”
         “Mom, you’re a stunner,” I said.
         “I must have been, because three weeks after meeting me, the redhead was out the door. And a good thing too, or else I wouldn’t have you.”
         She brushed blond bangs out of my eyes just as Owen’s phone started to ring in my pocket.
         “Are you going to get that?” She asked when I didn’t move.
         “No. It’s probably just Merrin,” I shrugged.
         “Who’s Merrin?” She went back to scouring the cabinets.
         “She’s Owen’s redhead.”
         I figured Mom would be confused. She didn’t know I had Owen’s phone on me. But she just grinned, seemingly understanding enough.
         It wasn’t until the doorbell rang that I realized the smoke alarm had quieted. I tensed up. That was Owen. He was early. Or was he? Stupid me. I shouldn’t have gone to sleep. I should have prettied myself up instead. No telling what I looked like now. The doorbell rang again.
         Mom shot me a look; a bag of Ramen noodles in her hand. “Want me to get the door?”
         “No,” I’ll do it,” I said, fixing my hair in the reflection from a hanging stove pot. “Just, you know, try to find something that doesn’t have the word ‘microwavable’ in the title.”
         She gave me a mock sneer as I headed into the living room. The bell rang a third time and I pulled it open, plastering a wide smile on my face.
         If I thought tonight was going to be an inhaler free evening, I knew differently as soon as I caught sight of Owen. He was standing on my front porch, dressed in a pair of blue jeans that looked like they were molded onto him, a tight blue shirt, and a matching blazer that made his deep blue eyes positively lethal.
         God was definitely showing off.
         He was looking at the sky, or maybe my roof, but he turned to me as soon as he realized the door had opened. He smiled at me; one of those deep electric smiles, and suddenly I was grateful I had the door to prop me up, because my knees had turned to jelly.
         “I don’t want to alarm you, but I think the smog monster from Lost just escaped through your back window.”
         A sharp high laugh escaped my lips and then a snort.
         Smooth, Cress
     
         “That’s what happens when my mom tries to braise something.”
         “That’s adorable,” he said.
         “Try telling her that. She’s in there right now, scrambling for a replacement meal.” I pulled the door completely open; my hand at its familiar place twisted around my locket.
         “Not the cooking,” he said, brushing past me and into the living room. “Your little snort.”
         I mustn’t have blushed near as much as I thought, because if my face got even half as fevered as it felt, he’d have immediately rushed me to the hospital. Instead, he said, “Tell your mom not to kill herself on my account. I’ll eat anything,” and reached his hand out to me. For the first time, I noticed a brown paper bag in it.
         “What’s that?” I asked, grabbing it and trying to act cool.
         “An eggplant. My mother always told me a good guest brings something.”
         “So you brought an eggplant?” I took it. It was heavy and a deep, almost black, shade of purple.
         “It’s a Scorpio food,” he shrugged. “Your mom’s a Scorpio, right?”
         “I guess.” The truth was, I had never thought about it, but then again, I wasn’t nearly as into the whole Zodiac thing as