Shattered: A Salvation Society Novel Bella Emy (best ebook reader for laptop .TXT) 📖

As if reading my brain, he asks, “So, how’ve you been, Lexi?”

I almost choke as my eyes widen. “Good, you?” Good, and crazy, thinking about you, wishing you’d talk to me every time.

He smiles again. “Good, too.”

I place my empty cup on the table. “Are you sure you don’t want anything? Let me at least get you something to drink.”

He shakes his head. “No, really. I’m good. I just enjoyed getting away for a bit and hanging out with you guys. But should we get going?”

It’s getting late. That’s probably not a bad idea. “Sure, let’s go.”

We rise and begin our walk back home. As we cross onto the next block, my voice breaks our silence. “So Kalen, how are you liking school?”

I know it’s a general, stupid question, but it was all I could think of. I want to talk to him and break the ice barrier between us, but I didn’t know what to say. I don’t know all that much about him, and yet, I can’t stop thinking about him all the time.

“It’s different from my old school, but I really like it. Everyone has been so nice.”

Oh, yeah. I noticed how nice everyone was being at the beginning of the pep rally.

I scoff and he looks over at me. “I’m sure…”

He furrows his brows. “What do you mean?”

I shrug as we wait on the corner of the same red light as the first night I met him, and he turns to face me. Knots form in the pit of my stomach as he stands just inches away, staring at me. “I see the way the girls look at you, and I’ve heard the rumors. I saw Cynthia Jenkins talk to you before the pep rally started… she’s gorgeous.” I shrug again. “You’re very popular.”

Yeah, I’m jealous about it, even if he did obviously tell her no to whatever it was she asked him. But just knowing she had her sights set on him is enough to cause me this uneasy feeling in my belly.

He searches my eyes, and I wait for him to say something, anything. Now would be the perfect time for him to make a move on me, if he were at all interested in me, but I know he can’t be. There’s just no way. Wouldn’t he have done so by now?

The light changes to red and we walk across the street before another word is said. I’m disappointed. So fucking disappointed.

“Anyway, you don’t have to walk me all the way home. I’ll be fine on my own… I’m literally just a few blocks away,” I say and begin walking away from him. What am I standing around for anyway? It’s obvious this is not what I was hoping it would be. He’s not interested, and I’m just wasting my time hoping and wishing for something that will just never be.

“Lexi, wait!” he shouts.

I stop and spin around, and before I know it, he’s standing just a mere couple of inches away from me once again. Staring down into my eyes, he hesitates for only a second before saying, “There’s no one else I want more than you.”

What?! Have I heard him correctly? I don’t know if I have. My dark eyes widen, and my mouth forms an O. “What?”

He takes a deep breath and smiles nervously, pushing back his hair. “I want you, Lexi…. no one else.”

I consider his words carefully, and before I have a chance to back up or say something against them, Kalen leans forward, grabs my chin gently and slams his lips into mine.

Chapter Twelve

He’s kissing me. Oh my God… My whole body tenses as his lips land on mine, and then suddenly relaxes. As we pull away just a smidge, our foreheads touch and the two of us smile, then laugh. Is this what it’s like to be in love? Because, Jesus, if I don’t already feel like I’ve fallen down a rabbit hole that I can’t pull myself out of… And I don’t want to.

As the light changes, he grabs my hand, and we walk in silence once more for a while. Butterflies flutter around in my belly with each step we take, and the closer we get to my house, the more I realize I don’t want this night with him to end yet again.

I should have known there was no way in hell I’d be able to forget about him, not after the way he makes me feel. And Lord knows how much I’ve missed him talking to me during school. Seeing him around the halls for only seconds is not enough for me, and now, I realize that more than ever.

We reach my house minutes later, and as we stop in front of it, we turn to face one another. His hand reaches down and pushes my hair out of my eyes and then cups my face. God, it feels so good to have his touch on me. I place my hand over his. His green eyes are closed, and I could seriously stay right in this position with him for the rest of the night without getting tired.

He moves his hand from my cheek and grabs my hands in his. “Alexa,” he whispers, then pauses momentarily and says, “See me tomorrow?”

Dammit, the way it sounds as my name leaves his lips. No one really calls me Alexa besides my mother and only when she’s mad at me or telling me something serious, but fuck, he can call me it any time he wants.

I take in a deep breath. Tomorrow is Saturday, I’m totally free, but if I weren’t, I would gladly change my plans for him. Something about the way he kissed me, something about his words to me… something in me has changed. I’m no longer scared to give him my time. I’m no longer wondering about the what-ifs. Something about this very moment, with him standing in front of my house,