by Sherry Soule
“Now, we’re all alone.” I grin wickedly at him. “Better?”
“Much.” Hayden cracks a smile. “You’re making me feel the need to rebel.”
“Good.”
Clasping the sides of my face, he lowers his head and his mouth hovers close to mine. His touch completely catches me off guard as he gently backs me up against the wall.
This is another total romantic movie moment. And I love when I have those.
“Am I crowding you?” he asks, his voice hoarse and low and oh-so-sexy.
For a second, I can’t speak. Can barely shake my head and wet my lips. “No…”
The sexual tension between us becomes a palpable, living thing. Hayden caresses my cheek with his knuckles, and my breath hitches in my throat. He leans in agonizingly slow until our lips are only inches apart. My heartbeat quickens. The primal look on Hayden’s face sends a warm thrill through my body. A blaze of lust and heat in his not-quite-human stare scorches my skin. Then he finally presses those firm lips to mine. My pulse goes into cardiac overload and fiery rivers course through my veins from the deep kiss. Even my thighs quiver. Eyes closed, all I can feel are his lips, his hands, and his body pressed into mine. And a soft warmth that spreads from my mouth to my chest.
My arms wrap around his body, pulling him closer—and all thoughts of judgy aliens and secret agents and disapproving parents instantly vanish. He kisses me hard, violently, with explosive feeling. He tastes tangy, almost like his spicy scent, and it isn’t anything like a normal human boy. His hands tangle in my hair, cradling my head gently. Yearnings of want and need flow through me. My body clenches in places I didn’t even know had muscles. Every cell in my body tingles and thrums with unnatural energy. Kissing Hayden is electrifying and intense. Maybe because I’ve never felt this way about anyone before.
Hayden slightly pulls back. “You belong to me now, Peaches,” he whispers.
For a second, his remarkable eyes fasten on mine, and he’s quiet. Then he touches my face, cupping my cheeks with his warm palms, and leans in close, brushing his lips against my mouth again. Almost sinfully erotic. He kisses me firmer this time, deeper. Stolen kisses that make my blood run hot inside me. Forbidden fruit. Lust and desire. Moth to a flame. Human to hybrid. It’s so wrong, but feels so wickedly right. Every part of his body—his lips, his hands, his scent—overwhelm my senses. I lean my whole body into his firmness, and by the feel of his passionate kisses, I know there will be no turning back now.
And kissing Hayden is mind-blowing perfection. Check.
Footsteps passing by in the hall pulls us apart.
What have I gotten myself into? With that one hot make out session everything’s changed. It’s been kicked up a notch. The stakes are not just the potential for heartbreak—there’s the possibility of losing the one person who makes me feel whole.
I swallow. “Maybe we should think this through. Your parents will lose their shit if they find out—”
“Screw them,” he says strongly. “I know we have to be careful around the other hybrids, but I’ll figure out a solution. Do you trust me, Sloane?”
“Of course. With my life…”
We stare at each other, and the atmosphere crackles between us. He grabs my hips and jerks me against him. One of his hands tugs at my hair, gently pulling my head back as his mouth claims mine again. My knees wobble. I put my hands on his arms to steady myself and kiss him back fiercely.
Hayden breaks away without taking his smoldering gaze from mine. “It’s too late to change our minds,” he says. “We sealed our fate with a kiss.”
TWENTY
The next day, Hayden and I have lunch together in the cafeteria. Determined to ignore all the inquisitive glances and critical whispers directed our way, I sit up straighter, my shoulders back. As if we’re rebelliously announcing to the universe that we want to be together no matter what anyone else thinks. Even if we have to keep up pretenses in public for now.
We sit far enough apart that it looks like we’re just friends having lunch together, but close enough to touch if we want. I have my calculus textbook open and my worksheets spread out, so if anyone looks over at us, it will just look like we’re studying together.
Yet every time I look at him, our gazes fuse with heat. And the way Hayden is staring at me, his eyes fiery and hypnotic, is sure to blow our cover. It’s impossible to concentrate on anything when he looks at me like that.
For a moment, I completely forget that we’re in the cafeteria surrounded by other students. I suddenly want Hayden Lancaster in a very primal way. For the first time in my life, I want to do naughty things I’ve only seen in movies or read about in books. But we can’t. At least not yet.
Those firm lips lift into an uneven smile—oh, his mouth is so damn distracting and makes me crave more of those sweltering kisses. I’m forever lost, looking at the incredibly hot boy who stares back at me with that impassioned look of pure want. My heart does a wild flutter, then finally settles in my chest.
Oh, man. I wonder if anyone would care if I took a cold shower in the girl’s locker room before my next class.
“Stop looking at me like that,” he whispers. “Or I might just grab you and teleport your cute ass back to my bedroom.”
My stomach somersaults. He wants me as much I want him.
I gasp, feigning innocence. “And what would you do with me, Mr. Lancaster?”
He grins wickedly, his expression heating. “More like what won’t I do with you, Miss Masterson.”
“Behave,” I say, lightly slapping his hand.
His burning gaze finds mine. “Never.”
We both crack smiles. I love this playful, mischievous side of him.
But our bubble of happiness bursts when I catch Zach’s hard stare from across the cafeteria, shooting missiles of hatred in my direction. His nostrils flare and his eyes flash. The unexpectedness of his glare takes my breath away. I lower my head and doodle a drooling zombie on my binder paper. I get that Zach thinks dating human girls is against his honor code, but dang, the boy needs to take a chill pill. It’s not like Hayden and I have decided to run off and elope.
“Hayden?” I open my Monster High lunchbox and take out my pastrami on rye and a juice box.
He swallows a bite of chicken nugget. “Yeah?”
I lean forward and lower my voice. “You never told me how those other hybrids or Agent Dixon knew about us.”
Hayden drops the half-eaten chicken nugget on his plate. “It must’ve been Zach who said something. But I don’t know what, and now he’s not talking to me. Must be the reason why my cousins came to Winter Haven for an unofficial visit.”
I glance down at the knotted fingers in my lap. “All because we’re friends?”
No response. His mouth presses into a hard line.
I wipe sweaty palms on my shirt and take a breath to slow my pulse. Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve come to really care about Hayden. I love his fearlessness, his strength, and even his dogged loyalty to his family that I know will someday take him away from me.
I peek at him through my lashes. “I mean, everybody already knows that we went to that party together, but people go to parties with their friends all the time. And they’d assume our friendship is platonic, so what’s the big deal?”
He gazes at me with a stoic expression. “Please don’t worry about it or my eccentric relatives.” He clasps my hand, grazing my knuckles with his thumb for the briefest of seconds. All the muscles in my belly clench tightly. “My brother can be an ass sometimes. He’ll get over it.”
But I’m not so sure. His cousins didn’t look too thrilled about our friendship, either.
I sip my juice box. “What about Agent Dixon?”
“He’s kind of cool. I helped him out with something once and he owes me a favor. He does checkups on all the families in the Bay Area every six months.”
“What did you do for him?”
“It doesn’t matter and I don’t like discussing this stuff w
hile we’re at school,” Hayden says quietly. “Do you mind if we change the subject?”
“Sure.” I fidget with a strand of hair, twirling it around my finger. “Um, I actually wanted to talk to you about something.”
He raises his brows. “Yes, Peaches?”
“Devin invited our club to his house this weekend to watch a zombie flick and all my friends are going. And I get that you guys don’t get along, but I’d like you to go with.”
“You really want to keep hanging out with that asshat?”
“Not really, but Devin’s never done anything to hurt me physically, and we’re in that club together. All my friends belong to it…”
He runs his hand through his long bangs. He looks frustrated, angry even. “Then why was he practically manhandling you the other day?”
“Devin’s got a stupid crush on me. Sure, he can be a jerk sometimes, but I really don’t want to start a big thing over it. Besides, there’ll be a lot of people around, including you, so he can’t try anything.”
He regards me closely, and then shakes his head. “Okay, then I’m down. Mainly because I don’t want him to have another chance to get you alone.”
A big dorky smile stretches across my face. “Awesomesauce.”
Hayden opens his mouth to answer, but just then Viola, Raymond, and Tanisha stride across the room to our table.
Hayden shifts in his seat and his leg bumps against mine. “Are they coming over here? I’m not sure your friends like me.”
I roll my eyes. “You don’t seem overly worried about your relatives finding out about us, but you’re actually stressing on my friends not liking you?”
“Well, when you put it like that.”
My crew sits down and make themselves comfortable. Raymond and Tanisha say polite hellos to Hayden, and then start eating their lunch.
“So are you ditching your old friends for new ones?” Tanisha asks, eyeing me.
“No,” I say quickly. “Hayden is just, um, tutoring me in calculus. My grade has slipped to a C and he offered to help.”
“Yeah, that’s what friends do,” Hayden adds.
“Okay! Don’t get defensive. I was just asking.” Tanisha shrugs and goes back to eating her lunch.
Viola smiles at me coyly. She’s wearing a red vinyl corset over a frilly blouse—so it doesn’t violate the school’s dress-code policy—and her black satin skirt sweeps the floor. “Hello, love birds.”
More like hybrids, but I don’t correct her.
I shake my head, frowning. “Cut the crap, Viola.”
She stares at me. Maybe she’s upset because she knows I’m not telling her everything about my friendship with Hayden. We’ve always been close and I hate keeping secrets from her, but I have no choice. This is super awkward. I don’t know what to do or say now. So I just sit there and thrum my fingers on my knees until a few uncomfortable seconds pass. I can’t stand this weird silence.
“Play nice,” I whisper to my best friend, and then shake my head at her in a please back off gesture.
Viola relaxes her posture, but still looks intrigued. Crap. I’ll have to spill some harmless details later.
“Sloane invited me to tag along to Devin’s movie-fest this weekend,” Hayden says casually, breaking the tension. “I don’t really know too many people here so I thought I’d go.”
“We’d love to have you.” Tanisha elbows Viola in the ribs. “V is coming with her new boy-toy, Brendan.”
Viola rolls her eyes. “Stop it. He’s cute and we like the same bands. It’s not like we’re getting matching tattoos.” She focuses on me with a teasing look. “So, Sloane, you’re actually bringing a date?”
“No, she’s bringing a friend, that’s all,” Hayden replies.
He has effectively slammed the door shut on that complicated subject. I know we’re still an ‘us,’ but we need to be cautious in public. Which majorly sucks.
Chewing a strand of hair in my usual nervous habit, I mutter, “What’s the big deal?”
“Nothing. The more the merrier,” Viola says, and shifts toward Hayden. “Are you into zombie films like Sloane?”
Hayden reaches across the table and places his hand over mine for the briefest of seconds, immersing me with a feeling so warm and peaceful, my entire body slowly unwinds.
“I prefer science fiction.” He winks at me, sharing our own private joke. “But I like all genres.”
Raymond slings his arm around Tanisha’s shoulders. “That’s cool.”
Viola takes a potato chip off Tanisha’s plate and crunches into it. When she reaches for another, Tanisha swats Viola’s chip-stealing fingers away from her food.
“After the movie, let’s all go dancing at Club Nocturne.” Viola tilts her head in Hayden’s direction. “Whaddya say, Lancaster, you in?”
“If Sloane wants to go—I’m game.”
I swallow a not-quite-chewed chunk of lunch meat and almost choke. “Fine with me, but please don’t tell Devin, it’ll just be all kinds of awkward.” I explain how the creepazoid gripped my arm all possessively—leaving a few bruises—and visually molested me.
They utter angry grunts and appalled groans. It makes me feel better knowing they’ve got my back. That Viola, Raymond, and Tanisha are my closest friends. But it sucks keeping secrets from them. Big fat alien hybrid secrets.
“Devin is a total creeper,” Tanisha says, peering through her dreadlocks, their unevenly cut tips ending shy of her bright red lips. “You should’ve had Hayden open up a can of whoop-ass on him.”
Viola snatches one of Hayden’s chicken nuggets off his tray and bites into it. He glances at her in surprise.
I smile. The lunch vulture strikes again!
“Actually, he showed up and told Devin off,” I admit, pulling the crust off my sandwich.
“Except I’m not some superhero coming to the rescue. I just don’t like it when people are rude to my friends.” Hayden chews his food slowly and avoids looking at me.
Viola is smiling in a way that makes me feel like she knows every single one of my innermost secrets. Gulp. I turn away and sip my juice.
“I can have Raymond talk to him. Right, babe?” Tanisha says.
“Sloane doesn’t need me to fight her battles. She’s got it handled,” Raymond replies.
“That’s right!” Viola points a partially eaten nugget at me. “You need to start being meaner to that jerk, Sloane. He needs a karate chop to the throat, if you ask me.”
“I guess.” I crumple my napkin. “But he’s the editor of the Haven Gazette, and I don’t want to make things weird between us when we have to work together.”
Viola rolls her eyes. “Why are some boys such idiots?”
“Genetics.” I shrug. “Sometimes they outgrow it.”
Hayden drops a heavy arm around the back of my chair and his musky, spicy cologne wraps around me. “As long as I’m around, she doesn’t have to worry about guys like Devin anymore.”
I cast a glance at...my secret boyfriend? My stomach flutters. I feel completely safe. With an alien half-breed. Go figure.
Viola puckers her lips. “Well, well, isn’t that all caveman of you,” she teases Hayden.
He beats on his chest with one hand. “Me keep female safe.”
Everyone laughs and goes back to eating their lunch. Thankfully, my friends have embraced Hayden and everyone seems to be getting along. If I want to be in a relationship with Hayden, then I need to be on good terms with his family, too. Now if I can just work on winning over Zach, and Hayden’s judgy cousins, life will once again go back to being relatively normal.
I spot Devin walking into the caf and staring in our direction with wide eyes. Hayden notices him too and shoots him a death glare. Ducking his head, Devin takes his sack lunch over to another table where some boys are playing chess. Good.
Turning, I catch Hayden’s stare. His gaze is so heavy, warm, and tantalizing, it makes me want to jump his bones right here. Being this close to Hayden is like sitti
ng in front of a mound of Godiva chocolate, and not being allowed to eat it. Too much freakin’ temptation.
I hazard another glance at Zach, sitting with his basketball teammates, and cradling a ball. My lustful thoughts vanish. He’s slumped in his seat and glaring at Hayden’s back. I have no idea how to smooth things over with a hotheaded crossbreed, but I have to find a way if Hayden and I are going to be together.
I rub my temples. No ready answers come to mind, but quite a few questions do.
What did Hayden do for Agent Dixon? Mystery.
A way to convince Zach I’m not the enemy? Mystery.
The hybrid cousins’ real motives? Mystery.
That’s why I like the horror genre. It’s so straightforward. In every plot it’s the same—kill or be killed. Sadly, life is never that simple.
TWENTY-ONE
In school, I’m totally distracted in class and barely take any notes. Every secret moment I’ve spent with Hayden has been etched upon my heart permanently. I’m preoccupied with fantasies about him, and I can’t help imagining my hands caressing his broad shoulders. My fingers stroking that warm flesh. Those velvety lips against mine—
“Listen up, class!”
My daydreams are rudely interrupted by my AP English teacher, Mr. Cooper. He has a medium build and shaggy hair, and a commanding voice that captures the room.
In his hands is an old leather book, which Mr. Cooper recites from, “Oh, Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father, refuse thy name, thou art thyself not a Montague. What is Montague? Tis not hand, nor foot, nor any other part belonging to a man. What’s in a name?” Mr. Cooper stops reading and looks at the class. “Shakespeare often embedded sonnets in his plays, so I want everyone to write a ten sentence poem in iambic pentameter based on Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet as your last big assignment. You’ll each take turns reading them aloud over the next six weeks.”
I slump in my seat. No need to go all “10 Things I Hate About You” with the homework and make us write corny poems because it’s close to the end of the year. Meh.
And read them aloud to the class? Seriously?