Kiss of Fire (Imdalind, #1)(22)

“Not my boyfriend,” I reminded her, not bothering to lift my head.

“Well, everyone else thinks so, so you might as well ride it for all it’s worth.”

I had to remind myself that Wyn didn’t know me, no matter how much we hit it off yesterday. “Going with the flow” was not my thing, neither were PDA’s for that matter. My phone buzzed and I snatched it up.

What happened? Do I need to come and set some minds straight? ;)

I could feel the scowl creep into my forehead.

No! Stay away from me! You’re ruining my reputation!

“So, what’s wrong then?” Wyn asked.

“Just what happened earlier,” I whispered, not wanting to elaborate.

“Why? What happened?”

I looked at her skeptically. How could she not have heard? My attention pulled from her as my phone buzzed again.

No! People are talking to you! Acknowledging your existence! Scandal! I say, scandal!

I was torn between laughing and scowling more, his jokes wriggled under my skin even over text, but it wasn’t in a bad way.

“How’s Ryland?” Wyn asked, looking up at me from over her soda straw.

“What?”

“Ryland,” she continued, gesturing to my phone. “You’re obviously texting him; you are grinning from ear to ear.”

I shook my head, wiping the smile from my face. I hadn’t even realized it, but I was. This whole thing had become a weird, tangled mess of trouble, irritation, and entertainment.

Jos, I’m sorry. I thought it would help, and I was wrong. Tell me what I can do to make it up to you. Are you okay? His text was followed by a picture he had taken of himself, his face twisted into a pleading puppy-dog face.

I laughed aloud, his face wiping away a bit of my stress.

I think you owe me a movie.

“He’s fine,” I answered her question a little late, snapping my phone shut.

I looked up to Wyn, grinning widely and then stopping short, the smile disappearing. Directly behind her, the blonde-haired man stood, leaning against the window-lined wall.

I must have jumped because Wyn shrieked and dropped her soda. The dark liquid began spreading across the table, threatening another one of Wyn’s vintage band shirts. I grabbed a wad of napkins and began throwing them on the soda.

“What’s up with that, Joclyn? You scared me to death; I thought you saw a ghost!”

I moved my head to look around her, but the man had disappeared.

“I don’t know. I think maybe I’m being stalked.”

“Stalked?” I could hear the disbelief in her voice.

“Yeah, there was this guy in my English class. He just stood there, staring at me. It’s creeping me out.” I knew I sounded crazy.

“First, you’re dating the hottest guy I’ve seen in years, and now you’re being stalked. You’re one lucky girl.”

“Not my boyfriend,” I growled through gritted teeth.

Wyn just sat and smiled at me. Ryland always told me I was fun to tease; I guess he isn’t the only one to think so.

“So you’ve said. Maybe your stalker was just a teacher’s assistant, or even a janitor, who thinks you’re cute,” Wyn offered.

“I don’t know. The way he was staring at me; it was creepy, like he was trying to see inside my soul.”

Wyn raised her eyebrow at me. “See inside your soul?”

“Yeah, that sounded a bit crazy,” I said.

“Ya think?”

My phone buzzed and I picked it up, ignoring Wyn’s over-emphasized eye roll.

How about hamburgers from Sonnies, movie, my room, Saturday night. I found the perfect grade B movie – you’re going to love it! The Evil Dead.

I couldn’t help the smile from creeping back onto my face.

Sounds perfect, but you better throw in ice cream.

“Well, if you see any more soul-eating monsters, let me know and I’ll take care of them for you.”

“Seeing, not eating, Wyn.”

“Oh yeah, ‘cause that makes more sense.”

I knew it didn’t, but I still couldn’t help but laugh at myself.

“Darn it! We are going to be late!” Wyn jumped to her feet as the bell rang, throwing books and pencils into her bag. “Hey, do you want to come over tonight? I got a new movie in the mail, and my brother’s going to be out. We can pretend to do homework, too.” She looked at me so eagerly, I couldn’t say no. Besides, spending time with someone other than Ryland might help my mom say yes to our new plans for Saturday.

“Sure.”

“Great.” The tension dropped from her shoulders as if she were worried I would say no.

My phone buzzed one more time as we ran out of the cafeteria, Ryland’s message lighting up the screen.

Anything for you, sweetheart. I‘ll even splurge and get Superman ice cream :)

Sweetheart? When did things get so complicated?





Six


I don’t remember when I’ve laughed so much. That’s not to say that I have never laughed with Ryland, I have. Somehow, though, playing and joking with a girl—a girl my own age—was different. We could joke about things I would never bring up with my mother and never even dreamed about sharing with Ry. For the first time in my life, I regretted not seeking out a girlfriend; I had always felt complete with Ryland. Now, with Wyn, facing Ryland’s departure in a few months seemed bearable.