Kiss of Fire (Imdalind, #1)(30)

“Sorry, Mrs. D.” Ryland slipped right into his normal voice, as if nothing had happened over the past few minutes. “I wanted to provide breakfast for my two favorite ladies.” He winked at my mom as he shook the doughnut bag, causing me to almost choke on the maple bar I had just bit into. My mom looked between us in some sort of amused frustration. I wished she would just laugh; it would make everything go a lot smoother.

“Joclyn, I have given some thought to what we talked about in the car on Tuesday night.”

I sat up straighter, swallowing my doughnut. I couldn’t believe she was going to do this in front of Ryland, but, oh well. I chanced a glance at him to see that he was just as attentive as I was.

“I will let you two have your movie night on one condition.”

I sat forward more; she had my full attention—this had to be good.

“No hoodies for the rest of the week.”

Not good.

“What?” I shrieked. I looked over at Ryland. He was smiling ear to ear.

“Thursday, Friday, Saturday. No hoodie.” She was firm.

I was doomed.

“Good one! I knew you’d get her out of those hoodies somehow!”

I rounded on Ryland; my face must have been terrifying because he flinched away from me.

“Please tell me you had nothing to do with this, Ryland.” My voice was a growl.

“Not a bit.” He winked at me and I felt my resolve lessen. Stupid hormones!

“Mom!” I pleaded with her like a child. This was not a compromise; this was torture.

“Take it or leave it, Joclyn.”

“Mom, this is so not fair! I can’t go to school without a hoodie. Do you know what will happen?” Yes, I was begging. I didn’t care. I couldn’t lose Saturday night, but this was unacceptable.

“People will see what a beautiful young lady you are. Oooh! Maybe you’ll get asked out on a date!” she said triumphantly.

I felt Ry tense behind me. I just wanted to melt into the kitchen floor.

“Whatever, Mom.”

“Joclyn, if you want to go with Ryland Saturday night, you need to do this for me.”

I felt the last of my resolve slip away. How many times was I going to get guilt-tripped this morning?

“Fine.” I think I sounded like a beaten kitten. “I’ll see you later, Ry.” I waved to him as I tromped off to my room. If I had to put some thought into my clothes, this was going to take a while.

“Actually,” Ryland began, stopping me in my tracks, “I am going to take you to school today. That’s what I came over to tell you.”

I swear my heart just shot right down to my toes. I was not sure if my mother laughed or gasped; either way, the sound that came from the kitchen was not very good.

Ryland looked at me with this heroic glee, like he had just won the best prize in the world.

“Fine!” I snapped and ran to my room, slamming the door behind me. I put some mindless music on a little louder than normal in an attempt to drown out the voices from the kitchen, and set to work.

I pulled out a pair of darker jeans that would fit snug, but still had enough room in them that I wouldn’t look like I was trying too hard. That left shirts. Okay, so brand new red shirt was out—I had to save that for Saturday. So that left a gray one with ruffles I never wore and a green one with fabric roses near the hem. Seeing as they would both get a turn, I grabbed blindly, draping the green shirt over the jeans. Grabbing the rest of the stuff I needed, I ran across the hall to the bathroom and took the world’s quickest shower.

Without the hood to help keep my hair in place, I had to do something to it to guarantee that ugly mark didn’t peek out. I brushed my hair before lifting the hair up above my right ear. There it was, the dragon, peeking out from beneath my ear to look at me. I dropped my hair and pulled it to the side into a sleek side braid, guaranteeing that no one would see it.

I shoved my clothes on, not bothering to look at myself in the mirror. I didn’t want to see myself and lose the forced confidence I had tried to rattle to the surface. I sprinted across the hall to my room, slamming my door behind me. Even my music couldn’t drown out my mother’s joyous laughter.

It was like my birthday all over again. I liked the way I looked; I just wished I felt more comfortable. I dabbed on some concealer and lip gloss before turning to the door, my hand freezing on the knob. It wasn’t just my mom out there; it was Ryland, too. Beyond that, what was I going to do when I got to school? My false confidence morphed into a full-blown panic attack and I found myself hyperventilating behind the bedroom door. The skin on my chest grew hot, as if my panic had ignited the necklace that was hiding underneath my shirt.

The knob twisted under my fingers and was jerked out of my hand as the door flung open in front of me. Ryland grabbed me around the waist and pulled me to him, burying his face in my hair. He cradled me against his strong chest, his hand wrapped around my waist as the other smoothed my hair. As his hand moved its way up and down my back, I found my breath slowing, the panic melting away.

“Shhhhh… it’s okay, Jos. Just breathe. I’m here.” I wrapped my arms around him as I came back to myself.

He moved me away from him; his hands never left my shoulders as his thumbs moved over the skin on my arms. I looked up at him in nervous anticipation, but his eyes didn’t leave mine. He didn’t look at what I wore. He didn’t appraise my uncovered body. He just stared straight into my eyes with a passion I had never seen before.