The Academy - Introductions (19 page)

“And this stage could be used for bands on some nights.”
Luke stomped on the wood of the platform. “It feels solid.”

I tiptoed through the room. There was a slight chill in the
air. At least the air conditioning unit worked. I crossed my arms over my chest
and rubbed at goose bumps. There were exposed beams. I could imagine the lights
all working, a cozy setting with booths for customers. I wondered where the kitchen
was.

Luke’s materialized behind me, standing close with his
chest warming my back. I froze. I felt his lips near my ear. “Do you see it?”
he whispered.

I swallowed, nervous. I wasn’t sure if I could turn around
and look at him. I nodded. “It just needs the right tables.”

“And the door over there could be the official entrance,”
he said, moving to my side to stand next to me and pointing. “And the other the
entryway to the kitchen. We’ll have to get rid of the podium.”

“You should keep it,” I said. “You could paint it and
attach it to something so you could roll it in when you want to. You could rent
the place out for meetings.”

His eyes popped open wide. “I hadn’t even thought about
that.”

“And I like the garden and outside dining idea,” I said.

“There could be a bar over there,” he motioned with his
hand. “A big one.”

“And a case for pies and baked things you’d sell on the
side,” I added.

“And a jukebox.”

“With vases of flowers on the tables.”

His breath caught and his shimmering eyes sought out mine.
“What’s your favorite flower?”

I smiled. “I like roses. Chrysler Imperial.”

He grinned, showing his perfect white teeth. “We’ll have a
rose garden out front. We’ll be able to put roses out on the tables for most of
the year.”

I laughed, waving my hand in the air. “What about when the
roses die off in the winter?”

His mouth twisted and he turned partially away from me,
shifting on his feet. “We’ll light candles. Rose scented ones.”

My heart warmed. His imagination was intoxicating. I could
see everything he had suggested. Before my eyes, the dullness of the church
washed away and all I could see was a crowded diner. Luke would wear a serving
apron and would hold a tray steaming with fresh food. I even entertained the
idea of running the counter, serving coffee and helping people with their
purchases. I could see Kota and Nathan as customers, Victor playing piano on
stage, and Gabriel or maybe Silas helping in the kitchen.

I had turned to look at the large empty space again. I felt
Luke next to me. His fingertips brushed at the top of my hand. It was so
unexpected that I pulled my hand away before I had a chance to stop myself.

“You see it, don’t you?” he asked. There was a gleam in his
eyes, as if he needed me to believe in this as much as he did. Who was I to
tell him what he could or couldn’t do?

I willed my own voice to work so he could hear my honest
reply. I nodded, agreeing with him. Yes. I could see it. “It’s beautiful.”

With the smile that broke over his face, you would have thought
I said he’d just won the secret to eternal happiness.

“Let’s go find the kitchen,” he said. “I think it’s through
here.”

I followed him across the chapel and out through the other
door. The hallway on this far side was lit up by a few windows. I followed
behind him, my hand was on his back to make sure he knew I was behind him.
Since I was so close, I could breathe in that sweet fragrance he wore, like
vanilla and sugar.

He stopped and opened the door to what was the kitchen. He
tried the light switch, only when he flicked it, nothing happened.

“There must be a breaker down,” he said. “Want to stay
here? I think I know where it is.”

I nodded. He went off looking for the breaker box and I
stepped into the kitchen. There wasn’t much I could see, the window on the
other side was covered with a thick curtain.

I crossed the room, being careful as I couldn’t really see
the floor. The window was high up above the counter. If I was going to reach
it, I had to climb on top.

I put my palms on the flat top, pushing myself up. It took
some effort because the counter was pretty high for my size. I managed to swing
a leg over and get up on my knees. I felt for the wall, using it to steady
myself as I stood up. I reached for the curtain, grabbing the edge of it and I
tried pulling it aside. It was tacked along the edges. I blew out a breath,
placed both hands on the curtain and yanked as hard as I could.

“What the hell are you doing in here?”

The voice was deep, demanding, with an edge that caused me
to jump at the same time I was ripping. The curtain fell away from the wall.

I fell backward into the dark.

N
orth

I
teetered on the edge of the counter, my arms flailing. I only had a split second
to move and I was ready to twist my body so I landed on my hands and knees
rather than my back.

Hands grab me by the hips, stopping me, then picking me up
into the air and putting me down on the floor. I staggered at the suddenness
and arms went around me to hold me steady.

I blinked rapidly. The sun was now coming in through the
revealed window. It beamed into my eyes. His face was in the shadow but I could
see he had dark hair. The light left him in a halo glow. He was tall, not as
tall as Silas but almost. He had wide shoulders. I could see a gold circle
earring in his left lobe.

“Are you hurt?” he asked. The tone was still sharp, bold,
and deep.

I shook my head rapidly. I was too paralyzed by fear to
feel if anything did hurt.

He started to let go of me and moved until we were both
standing beside each other, the sun light shining over our faces. His eyes were
dark, his brows thick, and his jaw broad. His skin was tan. His face had coarse
hair from a day or two of not shaving.

Whatever I had thought about Silas being the person I
wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley at night, this person was exactly that,
only he could scare me in broad daylight.

“Who are you?” he asked. His booming voice radiated the
same power as his intense brown eyes on me.

“I’m...” My voice box squeaked. “I’m Sang.”

His face softened but it looked like he wasn’t sure if he
wanted to believe me yet. “How did you get in here?”

“Luke let me in.”

His lips pursed. Was he mad at me? Maybe I should have gone
with Luke for the breaker box.

The overhead lights above us turned on. They were dim but
revealed the large expanse of black and white tile on the floor. Most of the
tiles were cracked and there were a few missing completely. There was a
collection of old mops and brooms covered in cobwebs in the corner. The yellow
Formica counter tops went around the entire room, leaving a large space in the
middle. There was a normal-sized fridge sitting open and empty, and a single
stove, and a double sided sink in the middle. There was plenty of counter
space, but I knew no one could run a diner with just one fridge and one oven.

I turned back to the guy, who was looking me over. His eyes
went up from my hips to my eyes again. “Sorry I scared you. I’m North.” He was
wearing black jeans and boots with a plain black t-shirt. There was a cord
around his neck, dangling from it was something in Japanese that I didn’t
understand.

“Luke’s brother?” I didn’t mean to sound like I hadn’t
heard of him, only he didn’t look anything like his brother.

“We’re step brothers,” he said. “We’re still family.”

I nodded. “No, I get it. I just...” I felt like I was
fumbling. His eyes were so intense that it made my knees shake. “He told me
about the diner. I think it’ll be great.”

“My brother has unrealistic ideas,” he said, turning around
and walking toward the stove. He bent over, opening the door to it and checked
the inside.

I stepped up behind him, looking in from behind his
shoulder. The oven had a layer of ashes at the bottom. “It could be fixed up,”
I said.

“It’ll take a lot of work.”

“But once it was done...”

He let go of the oven door and it closed with a bang. I
leapt back, holding a hand to my chest.

He turned to look at me. “It might not work. Most
restaurants fail within a year.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond. His face was so serious. His
eyes held mine. Did he want me to agree with him? To say that there was no
hope?

“A good one can stay open for a long time,” I said softly,
my fingers lightly touching the base of my neck. “I supposed it depends on how
good the food is.”

He blinked at me. “My uncle’s the best.”

“Then what are you worried about? People will taste how
good it is and they’ll love it. I mean if you work hard and put your heart into
it, who wouldn’t love it?”

His head tilted back sharply and he squished his lips
together.

“Hey! You found her,” Luke’s voice drifted in behind me. I
turned to see him coming in, his smile still on his face. How different he was
from his brother amazed me. “What happened to the curtain?”

“She broke it,” North said.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to.”

North blinked at me again, looking perplexed as to how to
accept my apology. “It’s no big deal,” he said in a quieter tone. “Just be more
careful next time.”

“I like it like that,” Luke said. “I wouldn’t want anything
blocking the natural light.”

Having Luke back in the room eased the tension. I felt my
heart calming down a little but I still felt my skin tingling as North
continued to shoot glances in my direction.

The phone in my pocket vibrated to life. I had forgotten
all about it. I pulled it from my pocket and looked at it.

“Who is it?” Luke asked.

I wondered how much the two of them knew about me and my
situation. “It’s Kota. He’s wondering if I can come over.”

“We should go talk to him,” Luke said to North. “There’s
not much else to do here. We’ll have to start with cleaning it up.”

“We need to take a few walls down,” North said. “We
probably should gut the place before we spend too much time sweeping the floor.”

“Yeah,” Luke said, sounding excited. He pumped a fist in
the air. “Let’s break some walls.” He started out of the kitchen.

North rolled his eyes and followed.

I poked at the phone to let Kota know North and Luke were
with me and we’d be there in a second.

We found our way out of the building. There was a
motorcycle parked near the jungle gym. It looked like the bike had been a
custom job. I didn’t see a logo.

“Is that yours?” I asked North.

A dark eyebrow lifted. “Uh huh.”

“Take her for a ride,” Luke said. “I’ll walk.”

“What?” I blushed. “You mean, you’d let me?”

North looked uncomfortable. His hand lifted to the back of
his neck, rubbing. “If you want...”

I smiled, nodding. I’d never been on a motorcycle before.

The corner of North’s mouth went up a little. It was so
slight but it softened his scary face. Just a twinge. When he did it, he was
actually really handsome.

Luke smoothed a lock of blond hair from his face and shoved
it behind his ear. “I’ll turn the lights out and lock up.” Luke turned back to
the church, disappearing behind the door.

North headed toward his bike. I followed behind him. He
stopped short and turned to me. “You’ll have to hang on to me,” he said.

“Is that bad?” I asked, not understanding.

His lips twisted and he shook his head. “I was just warning
you.”

“Why?”

Again he seemed confused by my response. I felt like an
idiot. I had no idea how to talk to people. He said nothing but moved to the
bike and then got on it, kicking back the stand and balancing the bike between
his legs. “Come on,” he said, holding his hand out.

He instructed me on how to get on the bike. I dropped my
hand into his. Compared to my hand, his was massive, but also warm and in a
way, I felt safe that it was him driving. I slid into the seat behind him. It
felt awkward because I was wearing the skirt, but the material became tight
against my butt as I sat and it wasn’t going to fan out.

“Wrap your arms around my waist.”

I blushed but felt with my hands around his stomach. My
palms pressed up to his abdomen. I could feel his smooth strong body through
the material of his t-shirt. When I leaned in to press my stomach and chest to
his back, I could smell a light, musk scent. It tingled my nose when I inhaled,
warming me. My stomach flipped and my nerves jumped. Touching was difficult.

“Hang on,” he said, and he started the bike, the engine
roaring to life.