Tainted Legacy (YA Paranormal Romance) (7 page)

There had been one elated moment as she was getting out of the car when Gabe said her name and she’d slid back into the seat. He’d leaned toward her attentively but instead of giving her a kiss, he’d favored her with a request, asking if she’d be available Monday after school to spend some more time with him.
That
, Ava had decided, was possibly even better.

Molly’s eyes were narrowed at her friend. “But you wish it was a date.”

It wasn’t a question so Ava just made an impassive face.

Molly nudged her shoulder. “You do. Admit it.”

“Okay, yes,” Ava said with a smile.

“You are completely crushing on this guy,” Molly said with a great deal of satisfaction.

Ava sighed and tried to keep her smile in check. It didn’t work so well. “Completely,” she agreed.

Molly gave her a smug grin. “Speaking of Mr. Yummy—”

“Mr. what?” Ava snorted as an unladylike laugh slipped out.

Molly waved her hand dismissively. “Never mind. It sounded better in my head. Anyhow, he’s here.” She pointed to the curb as she appreciatively took in the silver sports car that had just pulled up. “And I am surely going to Hell,” Molly decided. “Because envy does not even begin to describe what I’m feeling right now. If you decide he’s not your type, you can pass him along to me. I’d make a great tour guide.”

“Well, then you can show Oliver around because he’s heading this way,” Ava said with a satisfied smirk.

Molly tossed a look over her shoulder and waved at Oliver who grinned happily back at her.

“Alright but then
you
keep
him
,” she said as she motioned to Gabe”oned to. The look on her face was so serious Ava couldn’t help but laugh.

“And no spicy food!” Molly shot after her.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Ava called over her shoulder as she made her way down the sidewalk.

“Are you ready to get out of here?” Gabe asked. He had gotten out of the driver’s seat so he could open the door for her.

“Definitely,” Ava decided as she slid herself into the car.

Ten minutes later they were parked in front of The Sugar Shack eating a complimentary plate of truffles from Becky, Ava’s boss. She had grinned at Ava with raised eyebrows when she brought Gabe in to introduce him and show him around. 

“This is the
best
place to work,” Ava told Gabe as she glanced up at the pale blue, Victorian-styled façade of The Sugar Shack. “I love to cook so being paid to make candy is so much fun. It’s like I’m being paid to do something that doesn’t even feel like work. And I get to sample everything. Sometimes I think I eat my weight in fudge during a shift,” she said with an embarrassed laugh.

“You sure don’t look it,” he said as he checked her over appreciatively.

She smiled as she felt her body tingle under his gaze. “I run with Hercules most nights so I figure if I want to sample new candy every day, I should be allowed.”

“Hercules?”

“He’s my neighbor’s dog. He’s the one I was running with when we met. Grier is walking him for me tonight though.” Ava explained the situation to Gabe.

“How did things turn out with Grier? After the carnival?”

“Manda is suspended. Molly and Oliver swore she pushed Grier and she denied it. Then a few other people came forward so Mr. McDaniel suspended her for a week,” Ava told him. She was surprised and pleased that Gabe had thought to ask her.

“That’s good, right?” he wondered.

“I suppose. Whether it will actually change anything? I doubt it,” Ava admitted. “At the same time, I’m glad Manda didn’t get away with it. She usually does.”

She blew out a sigh as she changed the subject. “Well, you know where to find Pizzaro’s, Cheaters, The Sugar Shack, the movie theater, our only florist and my favorite ice-cream parlor. I showed you the bookstore that you told me you’d never step foot into and the craft store where Molly works. Unless you want to check out Hudson’s Hardware or Nana Mae’s Quilt Shop, I’ve pretty much shown you the whole town. I guess my job is done.”

Gabe made a sad face at h toad faceer. “Does that mean I need to bring you home?”

“Nope,” Ava said with a decisive shake of her head. She had a huge stack of homework stuffed into the bag she’d tossed into the backseat but she’d find a way to squeeze it in no matter what time she got home. 

“Good,” Gabe said as he gave her a smile. “I’m not ready to be done with you yet. So where to?”

Ava laughed. “You’ve seen how severely limited our choices are. You tell me.”

“You’re the tour guide. Guide me!” Gabe teased.

Ava bit her lip, lost in thought for a moment. “How do you feel about baseball?”

“I don’t mind it, why? Do you like it?”

She nodded. “I like most sports. Around here, we take our entertainment where we can get it. Granville’s college team is playing tonight, if you’re interested?”

Gabe pretended to be thinking it over.

“Or we could go bowling,” Ava said with a laugh. “Those are pretty much our choices.”

“Baseball it is,” Gabe decided. He popped the last truffle into his mouth and then they were headed out of town.

“As long as we’re going this way, could we stop by the church?” Ava asked. She had snatched her purse up from where it was wedged between her feet. She was already rummaging around in it. Had she been looking at Gabe, and not in her bag, she would’ve seen the color drain from his face.

“Thanks, but I really don’t need to see the church. I’ve already driven by it a few times,” he replied with forced calm.

“I don’t actually need to go to the church,” Ava explained. She waved a white envelope, the item she had just procured. “Joshua lives next door. I just wanted to drop this off for them. It’ll only take a second.” She noted Gabe’s tension and relented. “Never mind. I can do it tomorrow.”

“No, it’s okay. We’ll stop,” Gabe decided. “What is it that you’re doing?” He glanced at the envelope. He noticed “
JOSHUA and JILLIAN
” printed in neat script across the front.

“After we left the carnival I won this in the raffle. It’s a gift certificate for Pizzaro’s. Julia brought it to me today. I thought I’d give it to the kids. I babysat for them one day last summer
when their daycare lady was sick and I took them to lunch at Pizzaro’s. They were so excited. They’d never been there before. They probably haven’t been back since.” She shrugged. “I thought they’d enjoy it way more than I would.”

Gabe pulled into the empty driveway and Ava darted out of the car. She had been hoping that no one would be home yet. She wasn’t sure if Joshua’s mom would agree to keep the gift. However, she lucked out and no one answered the door. She stuck the envelope in the screen door and then slid back into the car.

“Done. Thanks for stopping,” she told Gabe with a grateful smile.

“No problem,” he said as they set off again. “Any more errands to run? Do you have some drowning puppies to save? Do you need to heal the maimed? Feed the homeless and hungry?”

Ava slapped him across the chest. “Are you mocking me?”

Gabe burst out laughing. “Absolutely,” he admitted unapologetically. He glanced at her long enough to favor her with another flirty wink.

“Good,” Ava said, “because I only help with feeding the homeless on Tuesdays.”

Gabe turned to her with a surprised look.

“I’m kidding,” Ava couldn’t help but laugh. “So what exactly is it that you like to do in
your
free time, Mr. Castille?”

His gaze rested on her for a few moments before answering. “Hang out with you,” he finally replied as he gave her a heart melting grin.

Ava felt her body respond to that grin in a myriad of ways. Her cheeks became warm, her insides turned to goo once more and a smile flickered across her features even though she tried to give him a stern, no nonsense look.

She shook her head slightly, trying to regain her composure.

“So tell me where you’ve lived,” she demanded.

Gabe shrugged. “Here and there. All over,” he replied evasively. “Nowhere that really stands out. Nowhere that I’d really care to go back to. I’m just used to moving around.”

Ava spent the entire car ride to Granville trying to pull details of his life out of Gabe. He was an expert at deflecting the questions back to her. She wasn’t sure if she should be flattered by the attention—no one had ever seemed quite so interested in her before—or if she should be flustered by his subtle refusal to let her get to know him better.

By the end of the night, she had decided to go with “flattered”. Gabe had insisted on paying for their entire evening, just as he had done the night they’d gotten pizza. This time he purchased the tickets to the game and all of the ballpark fare that they could stand to eat.

With nothing else to do, they’d gotten to the ballpark early to watch the players practice. She had looked at him in wonder when he had—barehanded, of course—caught a line drive that flew through the gate someone had pansomeoneforgotten to close. She hadn’t been the only one to display her surprise. Everyone who had witnessed his amazing catch had commented on it in awe.

He’d smiled at her sheepishly when she’d lavished attention upon him. He insisted the ball wasn’t traveling nearly as fast as she had suspected. At first she hadn’t been convinced but after closely inspecting his hand, it seemed there had been no damage done. Not so much as a bruise
showed up by the end of the night. He insisted there was no soreness and his fingers were working just fine. Ava decided that he must’ve been right. While she enjoyed sports, she wasn’t exactly a fanatic and therefore, nowhere near an expert. If Gabe claimed the ball had little force behind it, it wasn’t as if she had reason to argue.

She was grateful for the scoreboard she had to keep glancing at. For the first time in her life, she hadn’t been able to track the score in her head. Her thoughts kept wandering to Gabe. She kept sneaking glances at him. He seemed to catch her each time, always favoring her with a warm smile that made it impossible to keep her mind on the game at all.

On the ride home, he had been awfully chatty. Not to mention flirty. When they’d pulled up to the front of her house, Ava had lingered perhaps a little longer than necessary. She hadn’t wanted their evening to end. Gabe simply turned to her, leaning back against his door so he could face her. He’d told her what a great time he’d had and asked if they could get together again. He seemed to be completely oblivious to the fact that Ava was silently willing him to place his lips on hers.

If it had been any other guy, she likely would’ve initiated the kiss herself. However, there was something about Gabe. He wasn’t intimidating, exactly. But the thought of being the one to make the first move felt too daunting to attempt.

Instead, she’d agreed without hesitation to get together with him again.

She’d lugged her backpack inside and greeted her family. She’d texted them to let them know of her plans and they’d showered her with curious questions about Gabe when she’d returned. She’d assured her parents and Grier that she had just been spending time with a friend.

After picking away at her homework for an unreasonable amount of time, she realized that she was no more able to concentrate on
it
than she had been able to concentrate on the game. She’d only met Gabe a short time ago and already she couldn’t get him out of her mind. Reluctantly, she put her unfinished homework aside, hoping she’d have better luck with it in the morning. 

She fell asleep with a small smile on her face. Molly was right. She did have a huge crush on Gabe. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a crush so intense and then she realized that…she never had.