From Gods (Descendant Prophecies Book 1)(5)

Mason gave her the strangest look as if she had just told him she was  from outer space. He leaned in, making her pulse race. "You . . .  remember me?" His words were slow and soft, almost mumbling, as if he  didn't want others to hear. He even made a downward motion with his  hand, gesturing to lower her voice as he looked over his shoulder to his  brother.

"Yes, of course," she said flatly, but when he prolonged his stunned  expression, she thought twice. Puzzled, she asked, "Shouldn't I? You  pulled me over and looked inside my trunk as if I was a thief, hiding  something. I mean . . . look at me. Do I look like a thief to you?" She  couldn't believe she had found the courage to say those things to him.  Mason being out of uniform looked a lot less intimidating. It was easier  to speak up to him.         

     



 

Mason gave a quick smile, seemingly amused, but looked distressed  shortly after. Without eye contact, he spoke nonchalantly, "You must  have the wrong guy. I didn't pull you over. If you'd like, you can  pretend that I did." Then he walked out the door without his brother.

What did he just say? Skylar seethed with anger. If possible, fire  would've blazed from her body. What nerve. What a jerk. Her eyes stayed  rooted to the door he'd walked out of.

Recalling the night before, she was almost certain his name had been  Doug, not Mason. Skylar began to wonder if she was losing her mind. Was  it a case of mistaken identity? It couldn't be. The voice, the face, the  body, the pull he held over her by his mere presence-everything was the  same. So why had he made her feel like an idiot? What a disappointment.

"See you tomorrow," Nick waved to Skylar on his way out, chuckling as if  he was in on some private joke only he and his brother knew about.

Nick was built similarly to Mason, with nicely toned muscles in all the  right places, but his hair was a lighter shade, and he was apparently a  lot nicer. Other than a slight resemblance, Skylar would have never  guessed they were brothers.

Giving a forced smile to Nick, she turned to see Kayla practically  tackling her. She wore a huge grin, trying to contain her excitement,  knowing there were customers around. "Oh my God! Your cop was gorgeous,  but so was his brother. Did Mason ask you out? It seemed like you two  were hitting it off."

Skylar didn't want to burst Kayla's bubble. "No, I guess I was wrong. He's not the cop."

"Oh."

Skylar wanted to say she was as puzzled as Kayla seemed to be from the look she had just given her, but she kept it to herself.

Kayla brushed it off. "Well, looks like we have dates tomorrow night."

"You mean YOU have a date tomorrow night. I don't feel like going to a party with a bunch of strangers."

"But Nick asked both of us to come. Come on, please? Just go this once and see what happens. For me? Pleeeeze?"

"You know how much I don't like the water."

"It will be dark so you won't be able to see it. Besides, you don't have  to swim. We don't usually swim when we go to the beach," Kayla tried to  reason.

"True." Skylar pursed her lips. She could never say no to her cousin.  They hardly spent time together, except during the summer and holidays,  and those times were special to her. It wasn't worth the argument. Maybe  he wouldn't be there. If he were, she would just ignore him and give  him the cold shoulder-like he'd just done to her.

"Yeah, I'll go with ya." She suddenly became anxious to see him, just so  she could give him a piece of her mind-maybe even a piece of her fist,  though she wasn't prone to violence.

"Whoo-hoo!" Kayla shouted. "I'm so glad Mom made us work today."

"Girls," Mona scolded, gesturing for them to keep their voices down.  Then she walked over to Kayla. "Too bad I can't go with ya. Those boys  were hot."

"You couldn't go even if you were young. You'd scare them." Jack chuckled at his own joke.

"Watch it, Jack, or I'll show you something to be scared of," Mona retorted.

"What do you mean? You already did by looking at me." Jack busted out with laughter.

More customers entered the diner, interrupting their teasing and joking.





It was a beautiful Sunday morning. The cloudless sky was nothing but an  endless turquoise blanket hovering over the earth. Since the heat was  unbearable with the temperature reaching over a hundred, the girls  decided to head to the local mall. Sunday was their official day off  work, so they were ecstatic just to hang out.

When Skylar opened the main entrance door and stepped inside, the cool  draft from the air conditioner blasted her. The scorching sun had been  beating down on them from the parking lot to the door, so any cool air  would have been a relief. Since it was noon, they decided to have lunch  before a fun-filled day of shopping.

At the food court there were too many places to choose from. The  combined aromas from the variety of food confused Skylar as to what she  wanted to eat. Finally, she opted for Mexican-two tacos, rice, and  beans, while Kayla chose Chinese food. The two of them sat at the only  empty table available, at the back end of the food court. Noting how  crowded it was, Skylar guessed everyone had come up with the same  idea-go to the mall to escape the heat.

While taking a bite of her taco, Skylar looked around. She couldn't help  but steal a glance at a couple of guys sitting at a nearby table who  kept looking her way. Unsure if they were looking at someone behind her,  she turned, but there was nothing there other than the wall. If they  thought she was cute, that would be a compliment, but if they were  looking for some other reason-well, she didn't care to know anyhow.         

     



 

One of the guys had dirty-blond shoulder-length hair. His friend's  dark-brown hair was slicked back, exposing his forehead. They were both  good-looking so she didn't mind too much, but when they acted  suspicious-whispering, glancing at her, and then whispering again-it  gave her the creeps so she turned away. If only she could hear what they  were saying.

"So are you sure Mason wasn't the cop?" Kayla asked, taking a sip of her drink. "I mean, you were so positive it was him."

"I don't know. It was dark. It doesn't matter," Skylar muttered,  although she was almost positive that it had been him. She tried to  recall that night, but after Mason's rude comment, the thoughts turned  the hot cop into an ugly cop and the excitement of seeing him again was  no longer there.

"You're okay with going to the beach tonight, right?" Kayla asked  hesitantly. "Because if you feel uncomfortable about it, especially  being around people we don't know, I don't want you to go on account of  me. We can go see a movie instead or just hang out at home."

Skylar took a bite of some beans she had just scooped up with her fork  and then she poured more salsa on the ones left on her plate. Her mind  was so preoccupied with Mason's rude comment she had only heard half of  Kayla's words.

"Skylar? Hey, Skylar?"

Skylar looked up, meeting Kayla's gaze. "Oh, sorry. I was just thinking.  No, I'm totally fine with it. We can go. I was uncertain at first  because we don't know them. But we'll be out in public, so I'm sure  it'll be fine."

Kayla smiled, looking delighted. "Great. It'll be fun. This is going to be one of the best summers ever."

"Sure," Skylar agreed, but something in the pit of her stomach told her  otherwise. She brushed off the feeling. She didn't want negative  thoughts to get in the way of having fun. Then out of curiosity she  subtly turned her body and used her peripheral vision to check out the  guys, but they were gone.

After the girls ate, they headed to the nearest store. Upon entering,  excitement rushed through Skylar just from looking at all the clothes.  Feeling carefree, she listened to the background music, skimmed through  the racks, and picked out a bunch of different styles of clothing. So  did Kayla.

With stacks of clothes draped over their arms, they headed to the  dressing rooms together. The attendant gave them rooms across from each  other. They had so much fun trying on different outfits that it was like  having their own mini fashion show.

After spending about an hour in the store, they walked out with only one  bag each. Skylar bought some shorts and T-shirts, and Kayla bought  shorts and a light sweater. Then they headed to the next store. When  they were finally tired of shopping, they decided to get some frozen  yogurt.

Just before they entered the yogurt shop Skylar noticed the guys from  the food court standing a distance away. The thought of possible  stalkers gave her goose bumps. Surely, she was overreacting. They had  the right to be there, after all. They had been sitting at their lunch  table first. They might have been standing near the yogurt shop first as  well. Either way, their persistent staring made her uncomfortable, so  she entered a shoe store just to get away. When she looked again, they  were gone. After a full day of shopping, she and Kayla went to the diner  to grab some dinner.