Read Online Touching the Surface by Kimberly Sabatini - Free Book Online

if left alone?”
    He blushed. “Would it be so bad to say a little bit of both?”
    “Nah,” d="BE6TT">R

10

    tilt
    I shouldn’t have cared one bit about who that idiot was kissing, yet Oliver’s words jumped into my head and repeated like a ticker tape in Times Square: He seems to think that you’re his soul mate.
    Thinking about it was causing a disorienting, warm flutter in my lower gut. Really? I visualized a fisted hand thumping me on the noggin. The ridiculous words rattled around momentarily like a shiny orb in a pinball machine and then dropped out of sight. Tilt.
    My temples throbbed. Julia and Trevor were still attached at the lips. “Oh, for God’s sake, get a room.” I instantly pictured walking in on a tangled pile of Trevor and Julia, and quickly added, “And I don’t mean mine.”
    Julia stiffened and peeked out from under Trevor’s arm. She looked like Dorothy after being blown into Oz. No clue as to how her little house had migrated from Kansas.
    Trevor turned around with calculated ease. He kept his grip on Julia, who seemed like she wanted to bolt.
    “Elliot, um, I . . .” Julia sputtered.
    I couldn’t stop staring at her mouth, puffy from being kissed. Without making eye contact I barked at her. “Spit it out—you’re in charge now. Remember?”
    Trevor released Julia and sauntered up to me. “I’m sorry”—his sarcasm had extra bite—“but is there some reason why this is your business?”
    I could feel the color drop from my face like an elevator with its cable severed. Why was it so hard for me to think things through before barbs started flying out of my mouth?
    “I asked you a question.” Trevor’s voice tightened.
    I stared at him, realization crawling over me like mold. The kind that you see in fast-forward on a National Geographic special. I was being invaded by the nasty green knowledge that possibly, maybe, I could be slightly, just a bit—jealous. What the hell? all my empty spaces.er through ll
    “Leave her alone,” Oliver said. He must’ve snuck up behind me.
    Leaving me alone seemed like the last thing that Trevor wanted to do. His face was anything but inviting, yet he waslooking at me like I had something that belonged to him and he wasn̵ off and heade

11

    revelations
    I braced myself, expecting to be swept away in his anger and hatred, waiting for the vise to tighten.
    “He’s my brother.”
    It was a quiet and simple statement and I couldn’t get a lock on the motivation behind it. Then I remembered Trevor’s despair at Oliver’s funeral, his crumpled form.
    Oliver tugged at my hand, but I let my fingers slip from his grasp. For the first time, I tried to see everything from Trevor’s point of view. I didn’t want to admit it, but his new memories must’ve been as shocking to him as mine were to me. It didn’t matter how big of an ass he was, his Delve to the gravesite had been heart wrenching.
    I decided to extend the olive branch. It was obvious that he’dbeen hurt too. Like Mel had suggested, maybe we were in this together. Besides, he didn’t have a Passenger watching out for him.
    I glanced up at Trevor. Correction. I obviously wasn’t in anything with anyone. Julia moved forward and entwined her fingers with his. The placement of each finger was like the tumblers of a lock falling into place. She was on one side and I was on the other, separated by a wall of Trevor. I focused on the newest slogan printed in neon across his chest. reason for being here. through ll
    HOW CAN I MISS YOU IF YOU WON’T GO AWAY?
    He was hateful! I was trying and he was so—
    I scrolled through my mental list of nasty phrases and they all seemed to apply.
    Arrogant.
    Destructive.
    Cocky.
    Insensitive.
    Rude.
    Conniving.
    Manipulative.
    Ugly—I threw that one in just because I felt like it. Finally, convinced I had enough anger in me to hold my ground, I faced him. His jaw was clenched so tight it pulsed, and I felt myself wilting under his gaze. All my