The Need Boxset

by K. I. Lynn

  by

  K.I. Lynn

  &

  N. Isabelle Blanco

  Need

  Copyright © K.I. Lynn & N. Isabelle Blanco

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  This work is copyrighted. All rights are reserved. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior written permission of the author.

  Cover image licensed by shutterstock.com/ © Gabriel Georgescu

  Cover design by L.J. Anderson/ Mayhem Cover Creations

  Editor

  Marti Lynch

  Publication Date: March, 3 2015

  Genre: FICTION/Romance/New Adult

  Copyright © 2015 K.I. Lynn & N. Isabelle Blanco

  All rights reserved

  She’s not a little girl in cat ears anymore.

  I’m not a rambunctious boy with skinned knees and muddy clothes.

  Kira’s a woman, I’m a man, and this is our story—the whole messy, fucked-up tale.

  Let me start from the beginning, from the moment I first laid eyes on the only woman who means a damn to me. She is my everything, and I’ll do anything to make her mine forever.

  June 21, 2003

  We’re gonna be late.

  I should’ve known not to trust Mom when she told me to wait outside. Dad had that scary, serious look on his face, and I know what it meant.

  What it always means.

  They’re probably in there fighting again.

  They’re always fighting lately, and it’s because of that I don’t get to do fun things anymore. Can’t even have my friends over because they’ll embarrass me if I do.

  We’re probably not going to make it to the park.

  Sliding my hands into my jean pockets, I stare at my feet as I kick up loose dirt with my red Converse. I broke one of Mom’s plant pots last week, and there's still some of the dirt left on the porch.

  That started a fight, too.

  Man, I want to go in there and hurry them up. All of my other friends are already at the park. It’s not fair.

  I don’t really want to go in there, though.

  I’ll never tell anyone, but they scare me so much when they fight. It’s like they hate each other or something, and I don’t understand. They’re my mom and dad. How can they hate each other?

  A fly buzzes by my face. I swat at it, more annoyed now than before.

  The door to the house next to ours opens, and the new kid runs outside. His name is Ryan Roth and he just moved in. I met him earlier this week. Everyone thinks he’s cool people. He’s ten—my age—and likes all the same things I do, which makes him freaking awesome.

  Ryan stops in front of his mom’s minivan in the driveway. He waves at me and I wave back.

  I wish I could invite him to my house to play Xbox. Maybe Dad or Mom will be nice and let me go to his house instead.

  “Ryan, you dumb butt! I told you to wait for me!” a little girl screams from inside the house.

  Ryan told me about his little sister, but I haven’t seen her yet. Curious, I turn to stare at their front door.

  A tiny pink and black blur flies out of the house. She’s running so fast that her foot slips on the first stair and she almost falls off the porch. Catching herself on the rail, she glares down at her feet like it’s their fault she almost fell.

  Are those ballet shoes she’s wearing?

  Ryan starts laughing, holding his stomach and pointing at her.

  She raises her head and glares at him. They look alike. Same hair and eyes. “Shut up, stupid!” Huffing, she adjusts her black and pink skirt, then reaches up to do the same to her—

  The girl is wearing small black cat ears.

  “You are such a jerk, Ryan! I’m gonna tell Mommy!”

  Ryan stops laughing immediately, eyes going wide. “No! She always believes you. Stop getting me in trouble, dumbass!”

  Kira stops halfway down the driveway and gasps. Then, her little finger shoots up to point accusingly in Ryan’s direction. “You said a bad word! To me! Now I’m definitely telling Mommy!”

  “I didn’t call you an ass—”

  “Yes, you did!”

  “Kira," Ryan's shoulders fall as he whines, “this isn’t fair. She won’t let me go to the park!”

  Kira crosses her little arms, flips her long hair over her shoulder, and stomps her foot. “And what will you do for me if I don’t tell her? Huh?”

  Ryan’s mouth falls open. Like he can’t believe she’s asking him that.

  Before I can stop myself, I’m throwing my head back and laughing really hard. I can’t help it. I recently learned what the word blackmail means in school, and that is definitely what Ryan’s sister is doing to him.

  Ryan’s glare catches my attention. I force myself to try to stop laughing.

  It isn’t working.

  His sister, Kira, turns and sees me on the porch. Immediately, her expression morphs, and she gives me this big, happy smile, her eyes twinkling.

  I shut right up, frozen.

  “Hi!” she calls happily, waving at me. “You’re Brayden, Ryan’s new best friend, right?”

  I nod. Can’t speak.

  Her eyes are so bright.

  “Cool.” Her smile gets bigger and she does that thing where she flips her hair over her shoulder again. “You know that means you’re now my new best friend, too, right?”

  “No he isn’t! Leave him alone!” Ryan screams.

  “Okay,” is all I can make myself say.

  Why do I feel so . . . weird? My heart is beating so hard it hurts.

  “Hah!” Kira sticks her tongue out at Ryan. “You heard that? He’s mine, too!” She smiles one more time at me, then starts running toward the car. Her mom steps out of the house, holding her purse.

  I swallow, scared, watching Ryan’s sister running away. My heart is beating faster, and her words are ringing in my ears.

  What is happening to me?

  One Year Later

  July 2, 2004

  This is so stupid. “Come on, let’s go!” I stomp my foot. Ryan and I were finishing up our tree house, about to have our first climb up, and now we’re stuck waiting for Kira because Ryan’s mom says we have to play with her.

  As far as girls go, she’s not so bad, but that doesn’t mean I want her up there. The tree house is supposed to be a boys-only zone. A refuge for Ryan and me.

  I’m still annoyed when Kira comes running out the back door to her house. She’s wearing jeans, for once, and a black and purple tank top that’s super loose on her. Freaking skinny little thing. Nothing ever fits her except her frilly dresses.

  She adjusts the cat ears on her head and throws me a huge smile.

  Suddenly, I’m not so annoyed anymore. I know it’s the cat ears. It’s kinda stupid that she’s always wearing them, but they're so cute and funny.

  In other words: so her.

  “You are the most annoying younger sister in the world.” Ryan pouts at her as she gets closer.

  I’m amazed again at how much they look alike. Even without their rare reddish-brown hair and matching yellowish-green hazel eyes, you can tell they’re related.

  Kira stops and glares at him, but I don’t miss the flash of hurt in her eyes. “I have no one else to play with. Why do you have to be such a jerk?”

  “Ease up,” I say, slapping Ryan on the shoulder lightly. I don’t like seeing that look on her face. Don’t like
that he put it there. Actually, I don’t think I’d like anyone putting it there. I love Ryan. He’s my bro. But I’m not letting anyone hurt Kira.

  “I was only kidding!” Ryan walks up to Kira and drags her into his side. “You know I love teasing you, punk.”

  The way Kira’s lower lip juts out makes me want to hug her next. “Sometimes you seem like you don’t want me around.”

  Ryan sighs and rolls his eyes at me behind her back. “You know that’s not true, runt. It’s my job to annoy you.”

  “You’re so good at it.” Kira refuses to look up, her head tilted down and eyes locked on the ground.

  They make their way back over to me. I step in front of Kira and chuck her under the chin softly, so that she looks up at me. “He’s just being a jerk. Don’t pay attention to him.”

  “Hey!” Ryan cries.

  Kira's lips twitch. She’s holding back her smile, trying to pretend she’s still mad. “Well, sometimes, so are you.”

  “Hey!” I mimic Ryan, which makes him laugh. “That’s it.” I bend at the knee and lift her into the air. Jesus, she weighs absolutely nothing.

  “Brayden!” She kicks her feet, freaking out as I hold her up. “What are you doing?”

  I walk right up to the ladder Ryan and I built and deposit her on the third step. “You wanted to play with us. Go on. Get your girly cooties all over everything.”

  “You are so stupid!” she laughs, grabbing onto the ladder.

  “He has a point, actually.” Ryan stops next to me, watching his sister tentatively climb up. “This was supposed to be a boys-only place. Girls not allowed.”

  “I’m not a regular girl, dummy!” She’s halfway up the ladder now, climbing with no fear.

  For an eight-year-old little girl, she’s pretty badass. Not that I don’t worry. I grab onto the ladder and start climbing up after her, assuring myself that if she falls, I’ll be there to block her way down.

  “Yes, you are.” Ryan starts climbing up behind me. “You wear pink, and purple, and love those damn Bratz dolls—”

  “I’ll start wearing black!” Kira yells down from inside the tree house.

  I climb up through the opening, amused at their stupid argument.

  “Yeah, well, the dolls will still be around,” Ryan mumbles, following in after me.

  “Those I’m not giving up for you. Or anybody.” Kira crosses her arms with a haughty air that makes her seem like a little princess.

  “Not even for me?” I ask, pretending to be sad.

  She stares at my face for a few seconds. “I’ll think about it,” she mumbles, and Ryan scoffs behind me.

  “Seriously? You’d do it for him, but not for me? What the heck?”

  I can’t stop smiling.

  “Ask her to do it, then. I’m tired of stepping on those freaky detachable feet.”

  Kira scowls at Ryan before turning to take a look around at what we’d built. “Whoa. You guys put this together all by yourselves?”

  Ryan and I nod.

  She turns around in a circle, silently scanning her surroundings for a few.

  My breath feels weird. Like it’s having a hard time coming out. I’m impatient all the time, want what I want when I want it, and waiting for her opinion is driving me nuts!

  She stops in front of us and gives us this grudging nod, smirking. “Good job, guys. I’m impressed. Maybe you two aren’t so useless after all.”

  I laugh with relief. Freaking smartass. I’ve known her for a year and I still haven’t gotten used to it.

  Ryan shakes his head at his sister. “I tell you all the time, but you never believe me.”

  “That’s because I live with you and know what you’re like.”

  Ryan scowls and opens his mouth.

  “Ryan Xavier Roth! You come down here right now. I told you to put away your socks before you could play and they’re all over your bed!” Mrs. Roth screams up from the ground.

  Ryan groans and rolls his eyes upward.

  Kira giggles. “Go on, Xavier. You know how she gets.” She salutes him. “We shall keep your academy safe for you while you’re gone, Professor.”

  X-Men references. Man, she’s so freaking cool it hurts sometimes.

  “Shut it, Paisley,” he throws her own middle name back at her, sulking over to the tree house opening.

  “Shut up!” Kira all but screeches. She hates her middle name, loses her mind anytime anyone mentions it. She swears she’s going to change it once she’s older. “And the name is Mystique to you, fool!”

  I like my friends equally. Most of the time. Sometimes, I like Kira more. Especially when she talks X-Men.

  “Mom, Kira called me a fool!” Ryan whines on his way down.

  “You are one for thinking you could get away with not putting those socks in their right place,” Mrs. Roth grumbles.

  Kira giggles again, turning her smile on me. “Guess it’s just us guarding the academy now, Wolverine.”

  Scratch that. When she calls me that, I like her more than Ryan. Coolest best friend ever. “Yes, but how do I know this isn’t a trap? We all know you work for Magneto, Mystique.” I play along, standing straight and puffing out my chest, trying to imitate Hugh Jackman’s stance in the movie.

  “I’d betray him for you any day,” she says softly.

  I feel like someone just rammed their fist into my gut. “You . . . you would?”

  “Absolutely.”

  And then we smile at each other, the same smile we always give each other when we’ve just finished tricking Ryan. It’s that smile that says, We got away with it. But I have no idea why we’re giving each other this smile now, what we managed to accomplish.

  Suddenly, she walks right up to me and throws her little arms around my waist, hugging me.

  She always hugs me. And I like it, so I always hug back. Like now. I wrap her in my arms and use my cheek to push her cat ears out of the way so I can rest my head on top of hers. I don’t know how long we stand like that. Feels like forever.

  Eventually, though, Kira pulls back, looking confused. “Is it me, or is he taking way too long to get back here? I mean, they’re just socks.”

  I shrug, annoyed that I don’t want to let her go. What’s wrong with me? I don’t know any other boy that likes to hug girls as much as I do. Well, not girls. Just her. “Maybe he got stuck in the toilet.”

  She laughs happily, making her way back to the opening. “Yeah, well, let me go check on him.”

  That’s another thing I like about her. Ryan might annoy her sometimes, but she adores him. And anyone that adores him earns points with me.

  “Kira, wait. I’ll come with you.” I walk to the opening and kneel down to follow her.

  The ladder snaps and all I hear is Kira screaming.

  “Kira!”

  Terror shoots through me and I throw my body down on the floor. I reach out the door on instinct and sigh in relief when I find her hand gripping the edge of the platform. She’s hanging on by one hand, whimpering. Scared, tear-filled eyes look up at me as one of her flip flops slips off her foot and falls to the ground.

  I wrap both hands around her wrist and pull, but I’m not strong enough to pull her up by myself. What the hell? She weighs nothing. Why can’t I lift her? My heart is roaring in my ears.

  “Gimme your other hand.”

  She looks up at me and shakes her head. Fear has her frozen and she’s slipping from my grasp. I brace my feet against the wall and try to pull her up that way, but she’s dead weight. Why? Oh God, why can’t I lift her? I just did it a little while ago with no effort.

  “Dummy, gimme your other hand!”

  She’s still staring at the ground crying but throws her other hand up in a movement that almost jerks her other one out of my hand. All of her weight pulls me forward and she drops. Her scream pierces the air, but I’ve still got her.

  “Kira, you need to calm down.” She’s struggling, freaking out, making it harder for me to lift her. I adjust my legs
, pressing one knee next to the opening and the other higher to give me some leverage.

  “B–Brayden!”

  “Listen to me.” I need to calm her down so we can get her up. “Put your feet against the tree.”

  “What?”

  “Put your feet against the trunk. Can you do that?”

  Hiccupping whimpers come from her, but she moves. On the first attempt, her foot slides and her body swings back.

  “Kira!” Ryan’s back and his eyes are wide, locked on his sister.

  “Go get a ladder from the garage!” I scream down at him.

  He nods and runs across the yard.

  “Everything’s going to be okay.”

  “I’m scared!”

  “I know, but I’ve got you. I’ll never let you go.”

  Her bottom lip trembles. “Promise?”

  “I promise.” My shoulders ache and my hands are getting sweaty. It’s such an awkward position, I’m not sure how much longer I can hold it. If only I could get a better grip.

  She almost slips out of my grip again and her scream pierces through me.

  There’s no way I can let her fall.

  No way I can let her get hurt.

  If something happens to Kira, I’ll never be okay.

  Ever.

  What if she dies falling from this height?

  I can’t live without her. I just freaking can’t!

  A rush goes through me—of anger, of strength, I don’t know, but grunting, I throw my upper body back and heave her up through the opening, yanking on her arms so that she flies right onto me.

  She lands on top of me, crying, trembling.

  I trap her in my arms, squeezing down on her with all my might, shaking just as hard as she is. Whimpering, she hugs me back, sprawled on my lap, alive. Okay.

  I got her. I saved her. “You scared the shit out of me, dumbass.”

  “You’re not supposed to cuss at me, dumbass.” Her reply is shaky, but has enough of her trademark attitude in it to make me smile.

  I’ve never felt this light-headed. Tightening my arms around her, I press my lips to the top of her head. Her cat ears must have fallen off. “You can’t do that ever again. Can’t scare me like that. I thought you were going to die.”