Read Online The Other Side of Envy: The Ghost Bird Series: #8 (The Academy) by C. L. Stone - Free Book Online Page A

he held onto me. He crawled over me, positioning himself to sit on my hips and poked me in the stomach.
    I squealed, slapping at his hands and wriggling under him. “No! I’ve almost won.”
    “Not yet you haven’t,” he said, and he let go of his controller. He hooked his fingers at the hem of my shirt, and pulled it up just enough so he could trace his fingertips over my bare sides.
    My lips split apart with a burst of giggles. I dropped the controller and then grabbed at his hands, hanging on. “No tickling!”
    Gabriel’s crystal eyes lit up. He snatched up both of my wrists and hovered over me to pin them to the floor above my head. With his free hand, he traced my side. “What? Big, brave Sang Sorenson can’t stand her own tricks?”
    I laughed until tears teased my eyelids. I wriggled hard against him. The cars in the game stilled. If he wasn’t going to win, neither of us was. “Stop,” I cried out. “I can’t breathe.”
    He beamed then stopped tickling me but placed a palm against my bare side. When my laughing subsided, his face hovered inches from mine. His eyes traced over my face. My heart tripped over itself, and I struggled to breathe evenly.
    “Gabriel,” I said softly. My mind was mush from laughing so hard and overwhelmed with him on top of me.
    His smile warmed. “Sang.”
    Was this too close now? I’d previously told Silas I’d be his girlfriend. Mr. Blackbourne said to get close to the others. How close would upset Silas? Did that mean I had to tell Gabriel to back off? I wished Silas had said something to the others to make it clear. If I wasn’t sure, they would know. My tongue glued to the top of my mouth. I was worried that telling Gabriel about Silas would hurt his feelings. I really liked Gabriel, too.
    Gabriel leaned his head down, his lips found my ear. “You can’t look at me like that,” he said softly.
    “Like what?” This had to be too close. He was kissing my ear. Silas wouldn’t like it. But then, Nathan kissed me, too, and I’d kissed North as well. Gabriel had once kissed my neck, but since then, he’d only kissed my cheek and now I was Silas’s girlfriend. Didn’t that make a difference? The conflicts inside me surfaced any time one of them got close or kissed me. I tried to let them guide the way, but it was hard not to consider their feelings.
    “Looking all beautiful and terrified at the same time,” he whispered, his warm breath on my skin giving me goosebumps. His hands tightened around my wrists as he kept me pinned. His lips touched my lobe. “It’s those eyes. They drive me crazy.”
    “Gabriel, I...”
    “Trouble,” he whispered, his lips meeting my ear again. “Tell me to stop.”
    I sucked in a breath, my spine tingling. Did he mean it? Why was he telling me to say no?
    Why wasn’t I telling him?
    He pulled back. His crystal eyes met mine. His hand at my side started gripping my hip. “Please,” he begged in a whisper.
    I didn’t understand what he meant. He was begging me to tell him to stop? If he wanted to stop, he didn’t need me to tell him.
    “Sang,” he said. His head dropped down, his lips met my cheek, kissing it. “You’re too good for me. You shouldn’t be here.” His lips traced across my cheek and he kissed my temple. “I can’t stop thinking about you.”
    I sucked in a deep breath. My eyes flittered to the ceiling, to the water stain in the corner. I had to tell him about Silas. This was too much. It’d be wrong to both him and Silas and they’d both be mad at me forever.
    His kisses trailed over my cheek. I parted my lips to say something.
    A woman’s voice shot through the silence. “Gabriel Joseph fucking Coleman! What the hell are you doing?”
    Gabriel jumped, letting go of my wrists and backing up until he was sitting on top of my hips again, looking behind him. I propped myself up on my elbows.
    A tall woman with bleached hair stood, staring at us from the kitchen. She wore tight shorts that barely