Reborn(43)

Sam had taught me a long time ago that if I was going to lie, to lie as close to the truth as I could. In my life before the Branch, I’d been an only child, but that life didn’t count as far as I was concerned. Sam, Cas, and Anna were as close to family as I was ever going to get. “Two brothers and a sister,” I answered.

A redhead took a sip of her drink and asked, “How old are your brothers?”

“One older, one younger.”

“Ohhh,” Chloe said, and flashed a smile that was all teeth. “Are they coming here? New meat gets snatched up quickly in Trademarr.”

“No.”

The group murmured their disappointment.

Chloe got up and went over to the boys. I got the sense they were bullshitting about me.

“Will you walk with me?” Heather asked, threading her fingers through mine. “There’s a really cool cliff just over there.” She pointed over her shoulder. “I could show you.”

I turned to Elizabeth, but she was already pushing me away. “Go ahead. If you want. The view up there is great.”

“Come on.” Heather tugged on my arm.

I wasn’t sure if “cliff” was code for “stick your tongue down my throat,” but either way, it didn’t matter. I did want to be alone with Heather, if only to get out some of this pent-up tension. Being so close to Elizabeth set me on edge and made me think things about her that I didn’t want to think.

“Are you sure?” I asked Elizabeth. “I came here with you.”

She smiled and shook her head. “It’s all right. Really. I need to refill my drink anyway. Go.”

“Come on,” Heather said again. I got to my feet as Elizabeth turned away and Evan grinned at her.

Suddenly, I didn’t want to leave.

Heather led me to a path in the woods that ran close to the lakeshore. We followed it through some dense pine, then right along the shore, then back through the woods again, where maple and oak trees lined the path.

Heather stopped at the top of a hill and pulled me beneath the overhanging branches of a maple tree. She grinned and pressed her back against the tree’s trunk, her hand still intertwined with mine.

“What about the cliff?” I asked in a voice that said I didn’t really care about the cliff.

“Do you really want to see it? Because it’s not as great as I made it sound.”

I got in close to her. “I’ve seen a lot of cliffs. Missing one won’t hurt, I suppose.”

She giggled and wrapped her arms around my waist. Good thing I’d left the gun in the truck. “So are you and Elizabeth, like, together?”

“No. She’s just a friend.”

“Good.” She went up on the tips of her toes and brought her lips to mine. All the shit filling my head disappeared. Her mouth tasted like beer, and she smelled like fruit.

I slipped my hand beneath her shirt, and she practically purred, arching her back. I lowered my other hand to her ass, pulling her closer.

“God, you’re so hot,” she whispered against my lips.

I responded with a laugh and kissed her again. A fire built in my gut and raced lower, between my legs.

“When I first saw you with Elizabeth, I was, like, ‘What a waste of such a fine ass.’”

I pulled away. “What do you mean?”

“She’s, like, crazy. You know?” She kissed me again, then let her lips trail along my jaw. I barely noticed. The fire had all but burned out.

“You have no idea what Elizabeth went through,” I said.

Heather drew back but kept her hands on me, running them up and down my sides. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Anyway, let’s not talk about Elizabeth.” She leaned in again, pushing her chest into me. “In fact, let’s not talk at all.”

I stepped away and turned toward the bonfire and the clearing.

“Hey! Where are you going?”

I didn’t answer.

“Nick!”

She trailed me all the way back to the clearing, cursing at me as she did. When we hit the group again, she was downright pissed, and she stomped away.

Evan frowned. “What happened?”

“Nothing,” Heather said. “Except that guy is a jerk.”

Elizabeth came over to me. “Everything okay?”

“She was…” I trailed off and ran my hand through my hair. I didn’t know how to talk my way out of this one. I couldn’t stand the thought of embarrassing Elizabeth here, in front of her friends, so I decided staying silent was better than explaining.

Except Evan wouldn’t let it go.

His fingers dug into the sides of his plastic cup, denting it as he came over.

I had at least five inches on him. And easily thirty pounds. Not to mention everything else I had that he didn’t.