Spirits (Spirits Series Book 1) (11 page)

I’m starting to feel light headed and it isn’t because of Carson surprisingly. “I, uh,” my hands feel shaky as I dig through my purse.

“What’s wrong?” Carson watches me carefully.

“I haven’t eaten today and I’m starting to feel like crap.” I say wrapping my hand around the sugar tablet bottle and popping off the lid. “I have to get something to eat, I’ll catch up with you guys.”

“I’ll go with you, we’ll have lunch together.”

“But Carson,”
Dae whines, “You promised you’d help me pick out a dress.”

Carson’s cheeks turn blood red, “
Dae, come on. Blake can help you for a little while.”

“Are you kidding me?” She scoffs, “He doesn’t have the fashion sense you have.”

“It’s alright, go with her, I won’t be long.”

“I don’t want you to go by yourself, what if something happens?”

“I’ll go with her,” Blake grins, “problem solved little brother. I’ll call when we’re done.”

Carson starts to object but
Daelynn chirps in, “Great! See you guys in a little while.” She drags Carson away, literally. For her to be so tiny she’s surprisingly strong.

     “Please tell me you’re not a vegetarian or some crap like that.” Blake smirks down at me.

“No, I eat meat.”

He fights back a smile, “Good.” He says walking back towards the car. “You coming?” he asks over his shoulder.

I glance in the direction Carson and Daelynn went but they are lost in the crowd.  “Wait up!” I call out picking up my pace before I lose sight of Blake.  Actually that would be kind of hard to do, he’s super blond, tall and all I’d have to do is look for a group of drooling girls.  Yes he’s that cute but I’m not sure if he knows it, he doesn’t act nearly as confident as Carson.

     It’s quiet alone in the car with him, which doesn’t bother me, however I’m thinking he might find it uncomfortable.  He keeps glancing at me like he wants to say something but he’s not sure.

“I tried the whole vegetarian thing once, I let Kadence talk me into it.  I did great for a week then my dad grilled steaks and it was over.  He knew I couldn’t say no.  He was all like ‘not eating meat is unnatural, your body needs the protein’ and then I got an unwanted nutrition class.”

“He sounds like a smart man.”

“Yeah, he’s a surgeon, one of the best in his field.”

“My dad’s
a doctor at the local hospital.”

“Cool, mine starts there tomorrow.”

“Then I guess we’ll be seeing a lot of each other. They are always having some sort of get together which they take turns hosting.”

I close my eyes attempting to shake the feeling of unease caused by the thought of having a big party at my house.

“You didn’t pass out on me did you?” Blake asks touching my thigh.

My eyes fly open, “No, I’m fine.”

He chuckles and down shifts preparing to pull into a parking lot, “I hope you like burgers and fries.”

“Who doesn’t?”

He laughs, “Carson isn’t fond of them.”

“Oh.” I meant it as a rhetorical question but I guess it’s good to know.

“He’s not a fan of red meat, if you ever want to gross him out order a rare steak. The look on his face, priceless.”

“I’ll remember that.” I say following him in.

     The hostess blushes as we enter, “Hey, uh, two?” she fumbles over her words.

“Yes.”

“Right this way.” She says leading us to a booth.

Our waitress makes it over in record time.  And I thought I got good service with Drew around.  I chuckle at the thought but it doesn’t stay in my head like I’d planned.  Blake looks at me curiously and I want to hide under the table, he probably thinks I’m a mental case.

“Do ya’ll know what you want or should I give ya’ll a minute?” the waitress asks.

“Mountain Dew.” Blake and I say at the same time then we laugh.

“You first.” I tell him.

“No, ladies first, go ahead.” He smiles but quickly looks down at the menu.

“I just want a plain cheeseburger, ketchup, mustard medium rare and a side of mayo.” I say handing back the menu.

“Same but no mayo.” Blake
says smiling at her, “Thanks.”

“Uh huh.” She says walking off in a daze.

Blake slightly shakes his head. “So, you’ll be a junior this year?”

“No, a senior.”

He ignites a pair of mind-blowing dimples.

“What?” I ask.

“So am I.”

“I thought, never mind.” I shake my head.

“That Carson would be a senior? He’ll be a junior, so how is it that you’re a grade ahead?”

“You probably won’t believe this but I’m quite bright.”

“Why wouldn’t I believe you?”

“Well because…” I don’t want to state the obvious.

He chuckles, “It’s alright, I get what you’re saying. You don’t seem like an air head though if that makes you feel better.”

“Just a clumsy awkward girl.” I mumble looking down at the table.

He bumps my foot, “Hey, don’t worry about it. We all have our moments.”

I pull at a strand of my long black hair
feeling more that a bit self-conscience with him watching me.

“Do I make you nervous?” he asks.

“A little,” I admit peeking up at him, “but don’t take it personally, most people do.”

He pierces me with his green sparkling jewels and I absolutely see where Carson learned his moves. I really shouldn’t
be alone with either of them! I look away post haste.

“You have amazing eyes, they’re like sapphires. I’ve never seen anything like them.”

Calm, don’t freak. It’s just my luck that two hot guys show me attention, which rarely happens, and they turn out to be brothers. Faneffingtabulous! Ugh, I’m jumping to conclusions, Blake probably finds me amusing. I glance back at him, crap I should probably say something. “Thanks, that’s what my mom wanted to name me.” Ugh why’d I tell him that?! I could have kept that to myself!

“Sapphire?”

“Yeah,” I nod my head, “It’s more ridiculous than Journey.”

“I would have insisted you dance for me.” He says with a roughish grin.

“You would have been sadly disappointed, I’m not all that great at it.”

“Maybe you just haven’t had the right partner.”

“I haven’t danced since I quit ballet in middle school.”

“Ballet, really?”

“Yeah eight years worth.”

“Why’d you stop?”

“My mom put me in it when I had no say so and I just kept doing it because it made her happy.”

“But it didn’t make you happy?”

“I’m not going to say that, I still miss it at times but academics are more important than recitals.”

“You have no i
dea what a rare jewel you are do you?”

Oh no, not the butterflies again. I thought I was over this.

“Here you are.” The waitress sets down our plates. Wow I hadn’t even noticed she’d already brought our drinks.

“Thank you.” I say reaching for a straw.

“Can I get you anything else?” She looks directly at Blake.

He glances at me before answering and I shake my head no. “I think we’re good.”

I really want to inhale my food but decide against it for fear that I’ll choke on it and he’ll have to do the Heimlich maneuver to save my life.  That would top off the embarrassment I’ve inflicted upon myself today.

     “Thanks for bringing me to get some nourishment.” I say pulling out my wallet to pay for my part.

“Anytime, what are you doing?”

“Paying for my lunch.”

“Absolutely not,” he looks at me offended, “I’ve got this.”

“I don’t mind really, I never expected you to pay.”

“I know, but if you don’t mind I’d like to.”

“Okay…”

“My dad taught me manners, like when you take a girl out to eat you pay for it.”

“Though I don’t think that rule applies here I’ll allow it since you seem persistent.”

He smiles and puts the money on the table, “I,” his cell phone starts ringing and he groans softly as he looks at the screen, “guess we should get going.” He texts back as we walk out.

     “Blake, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“I don’t want to seem noisy, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.” I glance at him and he nods. “What’s up with you and Carson?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well you seem agitated at each other.”

“Huh, you picked up on that… He’s changed a lot lately.”

“People change as they grow older, it isn’t always bad.”

“It isn’t always good either. Just… be careful.” He glances at me as he parks the car.

“What do you mean?” I ask nervously.

He brushes my arm, “I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

So he thinks Carson is going to hurt me… as in break my heart?

His cell phone rings again, “Speak of the devil,” he grins. “Yes little brother.” He rolls his eyes, “Yeah, we’re here. Okay see you in a sec.” He says climbing out.

“I had a great time talking to you.” I tell Blake as we cross the parking lot.

“Me too. Maybe we can sneak off and do it again.” He looks at me hopeful.

“I’d like that.” I say quickly as Carson and
Daelynn come strolling towards us.

Carson smiles at me then glares at Blake, “Did you have a good time?”

Blake shrugs, “It was lunch.”

“Are you feeling better?” Carson asks.

“Much, I don’t feel like I’m going to pass out anymore.”

“Journey I can’t wait to show
you this mini skirt and top. Carson and I agree it will look amazing on you!” Daelynn beams, “You have to buy it!”

“I’ll look but I’m not promising anything. So did you find a dress and all for your party?”

“Yes and I look magnificent in um’. Stephen is going to be drooling.”

“Is he your boyfriend?” I ask as she drags me through the crowd.

“Ex, actually he broke up with me right before summer. Said he didn’t want to be tied down over vacation but we could still hangout and possibly get back together when school starts.”

“And you want to impress him?” If she says yes I’ll smack her in the head with her designer handbag!

“Heck no! I want to make him sorry for being such a dunce! I wouldn’t take him back if he groveled at my feet.”

“Good, he sounds like an
arse.”

She giggles, “Yes but he’s a cute
arse. Anyway I’m over it. I’m moving on to taller, better things, when can I meet your brother?” She grins up at me.

I start to tell her it’s a bad i
dea, because of Kadence although I’m not going to tell her about that, when I decide she might just be what Drew needs. “How about tomorrow?”

“Really, where?”

“I’ll drag him to the beach with me.”

She squeals excitedly.

Glancing over my shoulder I see Carson and Blake in what looks like a heated conversation.

“Don’t worry about them, they’ll work it out, they always do.”

I’m not sure what they’re arguing about but it doesn’t look like anything that will resolve quickly.

“I hope you don’t plan on wearing pants tomorrow.”
Daelynn pulls me out of my thoughts.

“No, I need to buy some shorts.”

“I know just the place.”

     “Where’s Carson?” I ask
Daelynn through the dressing room door.

“Still outside with Blake, they haven’t spoken to each other like that in a while.”

“What do you think?” I ask cracking the door open.

“Oh girl, he’s going to love it.”

“He who?”

She smirks, “Well they both will, which one of them were you hoping for?”

“Huh?”

She sighs and hitches her thumb over her shoulder, “My brothers, like you didn’t already know.”

I fumble with the hem of the white sundress trying to think of what I should say.

“It’s okay to like them both, you’ll decide eventually.”

“Am I that obvious?”

“Call it women’s intuition.” She giggles, “They are related to me but I’m not blind to the
fact they are good looking guys, I notice the way girls swoon over them and oh how they are going to be envious of you considering you seem to have caught their eye.”

Great, just what I need because being new isn’t bad enough.
A whistle snags my attention. It’s Carson giving me a lustful gaze as Blake smiles his approval of the dress. Oh I’m so glad I decided to shave my legs! I quickly close the door, them looking at me like that has my stomach doing somersaults.  No guy has ever made me this nervous. I change back into my own clothes and grab the other stuff off the rack.