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

makes everything feel so different between him and me. Maybe it’s because of his confession that he likes me and him kissing me. I need to see where this is going, where it’s going to lead if I let myself go and let things be without trying to control the situation. I need to. I owe it to myself to do so. If this feeling is anything like what’s meant to be with him, then dammit, I’m game.

“Where?” I whisper.

He smiles and kisses me softly before saying, “I’ll pick you up… be ready by seven.”

“Okay,” I whisper, holding myself back from smiling any harder than I am right now. But the way I’m feeling at this moment, I want to jump up and down and kiss him all over again.

“Okay,” he repeats. “I’ll see you then, beautiful girl.” He places another small soft peck on my lips and then one on my forehead before pulling away, and our hands let go.

The feel of his lips lingers on mine long after we kiss, and I go inside. Goddamn… he’s making me feel things I have never felt before.

I sneak inside not to disturb my mom, and thankfully, I make it all the way up to my room without her noticing. The house is dark, so I’m assuming she’s already in bed, even though it’s not super late. I lock my bedroom door, and as I do, I lean against it, reliving the evening with Kalen in my mind. His words took me by surprise. I could have sworn he’d kept his distance from me because he was filling his time talking to other girls. But when he said there was only me, and the way he looked into my eyes, I knew he was serious.

I take a step forward, moving away from my door and spin around. I feel like I’m on cloud nine right now, and I have no idea how I’m going to get to sleep tonight and wait for tomorrow to come when I’ll be with him once more.

“Do you ever come here?” Kalen asks as we stare out over the water of the creek flowing by.

It’s a gorgeous evening with the sun just starting to make its descent. There’s a soft breeze whooshing through the trees, and the leaves gently sway in its wake from side to side.

He takes a bite of his sandwich and then looks back at me. When he picked me up at my house earlier this evening, I was pretty surprised to find he’d packed a little picnic basket and we’d be dining on the grass facing the creek. That’s total bonus points for him. It was incredibly sweet, and I was not expecting it.

I swallow a mouthful of water and then answer his question. “Only when I’ve got things on my mind, but I really love this place. It’s serene and tranquil… I guess that’s where they got the town’s name from.”

He chuckles. “Agreed. It’s very peaceful out here. I love spending time here just thinking of things as well.” He pauses for a second and then continues, “But I do have to tell you, it’s so much better coming here with someone special.”

He smiles at me, and I can feel my cheeks changing to a bright shade of pink. Holy hell. Is it possible to fall in love with someone practically overnight?

His eyes roam over me, and as I’m about to open my mouth and speak, he beats me to it. “Hey, I want to show you something.”

“What?” I tilt my head, smiling, pondering over his statement.

His beautiful smile seriously makes my heart melt. What I would give to see him smiling at me like this all the time…

As my thoughts wander further and further, he brings me out of them and back to reality.

“Come on, follow me.” In an instant, he’s up on his feet and reaching out for me to grab his hand.

“Okay,” I say, placing my hand in his and letting him help me up.

We walk along the rocks lining the creek as his hand softly squeezes mine. It feels so good to be here with him. The excitement is making me feel giddy and silly, but I like it.

“Where are we going?” I giggle through the words as he pulls me along.

“It’s a surprise… we’ll be there soon.”

I’m usually not one for surprises, but if this means our evening doesn’t have to come to an end yet, then I’m all for it. And plus, Kalen telling me he has a surprise for me is kind of intriguing.

After a few moments, we reach the end of the creek that gives way to the lake. I typically don’t ever come out this far, but it’s beautiful and just as peaceful.

He tugs me closer to his side and my insides start trembling. How is it that he so casually makes me feel like I’m on top of the world right now? How did I go from pushing him away to wanting him to stay so quickly?

“Look, Lexi… over there underneath the willow tree…” he says, averting my gaze over to our right.

As I turn my head, I see it. A flock of swans swim gracefully down the lake, emerging from underneath the branches of the weeping willows.

My mouth goes agape and I gasp, taking in its beauty. “Oh my God, Kalen… they’re gorgeous. This whole evening has been so beautiful.”

“You’re what’s gorgeous, beautiful girl.”

His words catch me off guard, and I snap my head around to face him. His straightforward expression lets me know he’s not playing any games and he’s serious.

“Kalen, I—”

He cuts me off, bringing a finger up to his lips, shushing me. He softly pulls me against him as his back leans against one of the trees.

My body crushes gently into his as I look up into his eyes and he’s staring down at mine. His smile is evident once more. How the hell did I end up here with him?

He then cups my face in his