Painting in Acrylic by
Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12
For those of you who missed the post of the release, I briefly explained how the series began as an idea for a Young Adult novel, and that I had in fact written what amounts to a novella taking place the summer before REBORN begins, and I decided to release it here on steemit.
BORN
Chapter Thirteen
“I was just going to change into something else,” she said lamely.
Austin crawled over to her and gripped her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. “You’re upset,” he said quietly.
She started to shake her head in denial but the concerned look in his eyes pushed her over the edge and the tears broke free.
“Hey, hey, what’s this?” He pulled her into his arms and she clung to him, soaking his shoulder.
“I’m sorry,” she stammered into his shirt, “please don’t be mad at me anymore.”
He made a sound that was half laugh, half grunt and held her tightly. “Shh, I’m not mad anymore, don’t cry.”
The shaking subsided and she took a deep breath before forcing herself to pull back from him. “I don’t like fighting with you.”
He shook his head and snorted slightly. “Yeah, it’s no fun for me either.”
She brushed her arm across her eyes and met his blue ones, forcing herself to smile. “So you and Gina huh?”
He studied her expression for a moment before nodding slightly.
“That’s cool,” she said.
He stared at her hard and she forced her smile to widen.
He frowned. “Cool…okay. Well if you’re alright I’m gonna get back out there.”
“Yeah go, I’m fine.”
He hesitated a moment before climbing back out the tent flap and she flopped down on the mattress. Cool…God that was definitely not the way she felt about the situation.
She didn’t feel less “cool” about anything else in her life right now. Except maybe the shadow men which she swore she could almost feel at the moment. Her stomach lurched and she clenched her hands into fists, forcing herself to breathe evenly. “You’re imagining things,” she whispered. It’s just because you’re so sure they’ll be here with the presence of so many people. She made a face, knowing what a load of shit that was. Of course they would be there-two of them had been at her beach last night for Godsakes. And thousands of people would be inside those gates, maybe even tens of thousands- she swallowed hard, feeling panicky. Maybe she was sensing them, maybe there were so many inside the festival…she wrapped her arms around herself and shook her head, the motion causing static on her flannel sheet. Okay. So what. They were here and it was possible she was sensing them, but she could still shut her eyes and will them away. They didn’t have to ruin anything, she was in control.
She sat up and laughed briefly. Well at least thinking of them provided a distraction from her other dilemma. Her nose wrinkled as her thoughts turned back to Austin and Gina. Yuck, those two names did not belong together. Austin and Anna. She smiled faintly. That had a definite ring to it. But was it what she really wanted? She loved him to pieces, he was her best friend. And he was good-looking and muscular and…perfect actually. Well not perfect, he had shouted at her…and yet that was the first time she’d felt physically attracted to him. Well maybe it had started with him punching Leo…jeeze, was something wrong with her? And suddenly she understood. Aggressive, protective, able to take care of business…he wasn’t a boy anymore, he was a man, and the woman in her was responding. For years she’d viewed him asexually, barely noticing the difference in their gender, but the lines were no longer blurred. He was…well HE. She giggled. She pictured him as he came at Leo, his handsome features twisted in a snarl, and something happened low in her tummy causing the giggles to fade. She swallowed. Whoa, she was…turned on. He Tarzan, Me Jane, she thought and the giggles returned full force. She bent over her knees and shook her head, wondering about her sudden bipolar issues. Which made her giggle even harder.
“Um…have you been drinking already?”
Anna’s head came up and she grinned widely at Macey as she came in, standing up as her friend dropped a duffel bag on the floor of the tent. She was small enough she didn’t have to hunch over in the small dome tent they were sharing.
“No,” she answered, “but I’m ready to.”
Macey grinned back, “Hell yeah, let’s go get our drink on!”
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