Shift (The Neturu Chronicles) (29 page)

               
“Then I wish you luck.  I’m still going to be really protective of you.”

               
“I think that’s a good thing.  I need someone to look out for my best
interests.”

               
“All right, babe, I’ll be your guy then…in that aspect.”

               
Smiling, Kayla says, “Okay.  You sure you don’t want to sleep in here?
It’s a cozy bed.”

               
“I may be able to say no right now, but I’m still a guy and it's probably best
that I go.  I have to reset the alarm.  Try and get some sleep. 
Do you want to go out to breakfast in the morning?” Jackson asks.  “I can
pump you full of an entire Kiej plant.”

               
“Damien is cooking for me in the morning, but I promise we’ll go this week,
just you and me.  Not a date, obviously, just as friends.”

               
Jackson nods.  “Sounds good. Sleep well, okay?  And if I find you in
the hallway again, I’ll just carry you back to bed.”

               
“Okay.” Kayla yawns.

               
He walks to the door, and just before he leaves, he turns back toward her.
“Night, Kayla.”

               
“Good night, Jackson,” she whispers as he shuts the door.

               
Kayla wakes up the next morning and stretches.  She puts her face back
down on her pillow and grumbles, “I could kill my parents.”

               
She drags herself out of bed, and when she opens the door into the hallway, she
hears the beeping going off in Jackson’s room.  As she walks to his door,
she fixes her hair as much as she can.  His door is open, but she still
knocks.  When there’s no answer, she walks in.

               
The bedroom is empty.  Kayla walks over to the little box that is beeping
and presses the disable button.  The beeping finally stops.  She rubs
her eyes and yawns again. “Where are you, Jackson?” She sighs, scanning the
room for any indication of where he may be. A door across the room is ajar. She
opens it and is surprised to find a bathroom.

               
“Oh good,” she exclaims. “Must go to bathroom.”  She shuts the door and
locks it.  Finally using the bathroom, she sighs.  Being horribly
nosey, she scans the room.  There is a hamper full of dirty clothes. 
“Someone needs to do his laundry,” Kayla whispers.  When her eyes fall on
the opposite door, her curiosity is peaked.  She opens it and discovers
another room with a skylight in it, but it’s too dark to make anything else
out.

               
She listens to hear if anyone is in there.  When she doesn’t hear
anything, she turns on the light.  “Oh,” she exhales.  The room is
full of paintings.  Kayla covers her mouth in awe.  Most of the
paintings are portraits.  “These are amazing,” she whispers.  Kayla
looks at each one carefully.  “Why are you hiding this?”  When she
gets around to the easel, her eyes bulge a little.

               
There, sitting in plain view, is a painting of Kayla.  It isn’t finished,
but it’s apparent that it is a painting of her.  Kayla looks at it
carefully.  Jackson has captured her perfectly.  It actually makes
Kayla tear up a little.

               
“Kayla?  Are you in my bathroom?”

               
Kayla darts into the bathroom at the sound of Jackson’s voice.  She
flushes the toilet and as it’s running, she closes the door to Jackson’s
studio.  “Yeah,” she yells.  “Be right out.”  She turns the
water on, pretending to wash her hands.

Kayla takes a deep breath
and then smiles as she opens the door. “Good morning.  Sorry, I came looking
for you and found your bathroom.”

               
“That’s fine,” Jackson replies with a smirk.  “You can take a shower in
there if you want.  I washed your clothes.  They’re in the dryer as
we speak.”

               
“I’ll probably take you up on the shower.  I really need some coffee.”

               
Jackson nudges his head.  “Come on, there’s some in the kitchen. 
Damien is looking for you anyway.”

               
“Oh, great. I really need to brush my teeth.”

               
Walking into the bathroom, Jackson says, “Here, I have an extra toothbrush.”

               
“Was it used by an ex-girlfriend?”

               
“Umm, no, I was going to switch out mine, but you can have it.” 

               
Kayla follows him into the bathroom, and he hands it to her.  “Is there
anything else you need?”

               
“A brush. I look crazy.”

               
“You look cute, but here’s one if you want it.”

               
She takes the brush from him.  “Thanks.”

               
“Okay, watching people brush their teeth makes me gag,” he declares. 
“I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”

               
Kayla giggles.  “I’ll see you there.”

               
“I’ll start a new pot of coffee just for you.”

               
“That’s sweet of you.
”
Kayla
smears toothpaste on the toothbrush.
“
You
better leave because I’m going to brush my teeth now.”

               
Putting his hands up, Jackson exclaims, “I’m leaving.”  He turns and walks
out of the bathroom as Kayla starts to brush her teeth. 

               
As she walks to the kitchen a few minutes later, she hears Jackson and Damien
talking.  “So what happened when you took her back to bed?” Damien asks.

               
“Nothing,” Jackson replies.  “I tucked her in, and she went back to
sleep.  Didn’t wake up again until just now.”

               
She turns the corner into the kitchen and announces, “Good morning.”

               
Damien is standing by the coffee maker.  He smiles. “Good morning,
beautiful.”

               
“Is the coffee ready?” Kayla inquires as she sits down on a stool.

               
“Almost,” Jackson replies.  “Are you hungry?”

               
Kayla nods. “Very.”

               
“What would you like for breakfast?” Damien asks.  “Eggs, pancakes, French
toast?”

               
“Eggs, please.”

               
Waving his hand from side to side, Damien asks, “What kind of eggs: poached,
scrambled, fried, eggs benedict, an omelet, maybe?”

               
“Scrambled. Is there bacon?”

               
“Yes, I’ll get started,” Damien states as he turns to go the fridge.

               
Jackson looks at Kayla.  She smiles at him, and he smirks back. 
“So,” Kayla starts, “what’s the plan for today?”

               
“More training,” Damien replies.  “We’re going to take you into the woods so
you can shift and run around a bit.  Not that you haven’t done that
already.”

               
“At least I won't be running away terrified this time,” Kayla notes. 
“When will I change into something cooler than a dog?”

               
He pulls out a frying pan.  “When you can shift on the fly, like, while
you're running full speed on your two human legs.”

               
“You want me to shift while running, are you nuts?” Kayla asks.  “Why
would you want me to do that?”

               
“Because you need to be able to shift if something were chasing you or if an
animal attempts to attack you or you're confronted by humans.”

               
Kayla gets a terrified look on her face.  “Will I get hurt?  Can I
get hurt?”

               
“Yeah, you can get hurt,” Jackson replies.  “But you can shift back to
yourself and everything will heal.”

               
“Oh, that’s good to know,” Kayla exhales.  “Is there a limit on how many
times you can shift in one day?”

               
Nodding, Damien answers, “You’ll drain yourself, kind of like a battery. 
You need to recharge after a while, by sleeping or meditating.  Sleeping
gives you the biggest recharge.”

               
“Sweet, one more reason to take naps.”

               
The guys laugh.  Damien puts the bacon into the pan.  “How did you
sleep?”

               
“Other than waking up in the hallway, I was fine,” Kayla replies.  Her
eyes drift to Jackson; he quickly looks away.

               
“Good to hear.  Would you like some coffee?  I bet Jackson would be
nice enough to get it for you, unless he plans on being the douche of the day.”

               
Jackson shakes his head.  “I think I’m going to try and not be a jerk
anymore.”

               
“Oh, come on,” Damien retorts sarcastically. “You were making it so much easier
for me.  Kayla may end up liking you now.”

               
Shaking his head, Jackson says, “I don’t think you have to worry about that.”

               
“No, you don’t,” Kayla agrees.  “I’m all yours.”

               
“Really?” Damien remarks with a grin.  Kayla gives him a look. 
Damien shrugs his shoulders.  “I don’t plan on dating someone else.”

               
“So…what…she's your girlfriend now?” Jackson spits out. “You had one date!”

               
“Did I say that?  No, but I plan to continue dating her, so you can make
whatever judgment call you want.” Damien sighs as he flips the bacon.

               
Turning his attention to Kayla, Jackson gives her a look.  She awkwardly
glances away.  “So what have you boys been up to this morning?”

               
“Worked out,” Damien replies.  “Got to keep in shape.”

               
“Yeah, well you both have killer bodies,” Kayla declares as she walks to the
coffee maker.

               
“Do we now?” Damien chuckles. “Why, thank you.  You do look splendid
without your clothes on also.”

               
 “When did you see her naked,” Jackson yells.

               
“I didn’t,” Damien replies.

               
“No, he did not!” Kayla exclaims.  “Unless he saw me without my
knowledge.”

               
Jackson points his finger at Damien, his face twisted into a sneer. “I will
shoot you.”

               
“I’ll only see her naked if she wants me to.  I give her a few weeks,”
Damien sighs with a grin.

               
“Damien,
”
she scolds.
“
Keep dreaming.”

               
He looks up at her and laughs. “I love getting the biggest rise out of you
two.  You would think I was talking about Jackson’s girlfriend.  I
was only saying that because I saw you in your bathing suit.  You’re
gorgeous.”

               
“I would say I agree, but I couldn’t see her.  She was covered by your
body,” Jackson grumbles.

               
“You sound jealous,” Damien retorts. 

               
Kayla looks at Jackson out of the corner of her eye.  “No,” Jackson softly
exhales. “I’m just protective of her.”

               
“You don’t need to protect her from me,” Damien snaps at him.

               
“Okay, guys,” Kayla interjects.  “Pull the testosterone in a little bit.”

               
Jackson laughs.  “I don’t know what I’m worried about.  Kayla is one
strong girl, and I think she would hurt you more than I ever could if you tried
anything.”

               
“Damn straight,” Kayla agrees with a nod.

               
“I would actually let her,” Damien replies.  “Free shot, right to the
face.”

               
“I think she should let me have that free shot.” Jackson snorts.

               
Damien looks at him.  “It’s not a tradeoff.”

               
“He’s my liaison though,” Kayla says.  “At least, he was with Jude.”

               
“I would love to pop him in the face,” Jackson states.  “I'm uber jealous
you got the privilege of giving him a nose job.”

               
“No,” Kayla exclaims.  “Violence doesn’t solve anything, even if he does
deserve it.”

               
Jackson shakes his head. “If he mouths off again, I’m going to step in.”

               
“Umm, no,” Damien says. “That punk is mine.”

               
“You will both leave him alone,” Kayla snaps.  She thinks for a minute and
then says, “Actually…if you want to scare him to death, I’m okay with it. 
You know transform into something terrifying and corner him.  Don’t hurt
him of course, but you can strike fear into him.”

               
Clapping and rubbing his hands together, Jackson replies, “That sounds like a
mighty fun time.”

               
“What would you like us to shift into?” Damien asks.

               
Kayla taps her chin.  “It would have to be something plausible.  Like
there wouldn’t be any wild tigers roaming around the city.”

               
“Kind of a cliché, but we could go as wolves,” Jackson states.  “Both of
us…two big wolves…kind of scary.”

               
Giggling, Kayla says, “I think that would be awesome.”

               
“You should be there,” Damien exclaims.  “We could be your pets.  If
he ever tries to tell anyone, they’ll think he’s nuts.”

               
“That is the best idea ever,” Kayla yells.  “I love you two! Your ideas
are epic.”

               
“Awww, already declaring your love for me.” Damien sighs. 
“
How sweet.”

               
Kayla rolls her eyes. “I think if I said,
‘
I love you,
’
for the first time, it wouldn’t be while simultaneously referring to Jude.”

               
“It’s still nice to hear coming from your mouth, maybe one day.”

               
Jackson groans from across the room.  “Don’t make me puke.  I really
hope you’ll think long and hard before you express your undying love to him.”

               
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!
”
Kayla
says, throwing up her hands before the conversation gets even more out of
control.  
“
No one
said anything about undying love. I plan to take this whole relationship thing
slow.
”
  She looks
between the two of them. “Have either of you been in love before?”