“Well, I’ll let you girls have some time. I’m going to go read a book inside for a little while.” He stood off the swing. I wanted to call after him to stop but instead, I stopped myself.
Lexie hopped off the swing to sit by me. “What’s going on? Everything was fine until you came over and then he shuts up and you hardly even look at him.”
“Can we go somewhere else to talk?” I glanced up at the door then whispered, “I can’t talk about it right here in front of his house.”
She nodded, “Okay, let’s go back to my house and we’ll talk there.”
We rose off the porch and headed down the road to her home. We passed Jackson’s but he wasn’t there. Most likely he was putting Kale in a house somewhere or showing him where to go in the mornings. I followed Lexie into the house and plopped down on the couch.
“So what’s going on?” She laid out on the floor next to, propping her face up with her hands.
“If I tell you, you have to promise not to laugh or judge me!” I glared at her.
She laughed, “Me? Judgmental? Yeah, okay,” she rolled her eyes.
“It’s a serious problem to me and I feel...torn...ish.”
“What has gotten you so torn...ish?”
“Now you’re mocking me!” I buried my face in a couch cushion. “I think I have feelings for Kellin...not Kale...but I don’t know,” I mumbled out in a garbled mess through the fabric.
“Okay...I thought this was going to be something shocking and worth my time.”
I peeked up and looked at her. “You’re not surprised?”
She snorted, “No, why would I be? I’ve been able to see the building...whatever it is...between you and Kellin. Who hasn’t?” She rolled over and laid on her back with her hands cradling her head.
“That obvious, huh? What am I supposed to do about Kale? I really don’t remember our life together and I don’t know if I ever will. Do I give up Kellin in the hopes I can remember and try to love Kale again or do I give up Kale because I can’t remember our apparent love for each other?”
She shook her head, “Nope, I can’t answer that for you but I will tell you this from what I’ve observed- you and Kellin are like two peas in a pod whereas you and Kale seem a little off kilter and awkward with each other BUT that could be entirely because you guys have just kind of re-met, so to speak. Okay, let’s play a little game.” She sat up and crossed her legs, facing the couch.
“What kind of game?”
“Don’t think about the answer just blurt out the first thing that comes to mind like if you had turrets. Who makes you laugh?”
“Kellin.”
“Who makes you smile?”
“Kellin?”
“Who confuses you?”
“Kale.”
“Who can sweep you off your feet in a heartbeat...if you had one?”
I froze and didn’t answer. My mind was drawing a blank while it tried to force itself to answer with one. I shook my head. “I’m not sure.”
“Okay that was supposed to kind of, ya know, give a clue as to who you really want and even though Kellin came to your mind...so did Kale. Talk about a love triangle.”
I threw a pillow at her. “It’s not a love triangle, you ass.”
“Then what do you call two guys pining away at one girl while she tries to decide who she really wants?” she raised an eyebrow to me and had half a smirk on her face.
I hesitated for a minute and twitched my eye, “Okay, maybe that’s what it sounds like, after all,” I mumbled under my breath.
“Go home. Get some sleep. Whoever you think of first thing in the morning is the one you really want to be with.” She pulled me off the couch while standing herself to her feet. I was ushered to the door where she gave me a hug and forcefully pushed me out.
I stumbled to the pavement below. “Hey!”
“Good night! Sleep tight! Don’t let your two lover boys bite!” she laughed and then laughed harder.
I rolled my eyes and walked away; embarrassed by her outburst in front of who knows that was in close hearing distance. My head hung down while I was watching the pavement pass me, I climbed my stairs and was about to walk in when someone talked.
“Hey, where have you been?”
I looked up and smiled, “Hey Kellin. Lexie and I were just at her house for a little bit.”
“Can we talk?” He looked down sheepishly and ran a hand through his hair.
“Sure. Do you want to come inside?”
“Yeah, I’d like that.”
I opened the door and held it while he went in. “Is something wrong?” I asked him after I closed the door behind me.
He sat on the couch and sat back; sighing heavily while shutting his eyes. “Yes and no.”
I sat next to him and folded my legs underneath me. “What’s going on?”
“First of all, I’m sorry for the way I acted and treated you earlier. You didn’t deserve that from me and I apologize.”
“No apologies needed. I can understand why you acted like that.”
“I don’t think it’s fair for you to be in the middle and have to pick between us.”
My dead heart felt like it sunk to my feet and a feeling of nausea filled me. “What do you mean pick between you guys?”
He opened his eyes, sat up, and grabbed my face in his hands as he slammed his lips against mine in an electrifying kiss. At first, I was stunned but then I melted into it.
I latched on to his wrists as he scooted closer and kissed me harder. His lips traveled down my chin and planted themselves on my neck. I closed my eyes, licked my lips, and then bit the bottom of my lower lip.
One of his hands cradled the other side of my neck. His lips then traveled back to mine and pressed lightly at first before his tongue begged entrance and both of ours danced around with each other’s.
I climbed onto his lap. The only thing that would have made that moment absolutely perfect was if I could feel the heat coming off of his body, off of his lips.
He slowly pulled away and looked into my eyes. His were captivating and held me prisoner. “I’m sorry. I can’t seem to help myself when I’m around you.”
“I would think the Creator would think negatively of lust, don’t you think so?”
He shook his head, “No, it’s not lust when it’s love.”
I wasn’t expecting that response. It took me by surprise. “Love?”
“Well, that’s what I feel anyways. I don’t know if you do or not but it’s not my concern right now. Right now-” he paused and ran a hand through my hair while pushing it behind my ear, “-my concern is your happiness and wellbeing. You can’t be happy knowing he’s around and trying to figure out things between you guys with me here trying to get you to fall for me. He was yours first and I can’t come between that.” He kissed my lips soft and sweetly but quick. “I’ll see you tomorrow to give you your list. Hope things go well between you guys and I won’t act like an ass like I did today, promise.”
He stood off the couch and walked to the door, never looking back at me. I sat on the couch, still stunned at his confession. Maybe it was best. Maybe it was horribly wrong. Not like I had a say in the matter since he made up my mind for me.
Chapter Six
There was knocking at my door and I shoved my head back under the pillow. “Wake up, sunshine! We have some souls to bring back!” Lexie let herself in and opened my bedroom door, walking over to the window, shoving the curtains apart and spinning around with a smile on her face.
“You are way too bubbly this early,” I moaned, “Why are you smiling so much? You’re making me want to punch you.”
“You didn’t hear, obviously.” She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot.
“Hear what? I’ve been dead to the world...well, more dead to the world.” I looked her up and down until my eyes settled on her hand that was cradling her elbow. There was a petite ring on one of the fingers. An important finger. Like. Wow. I shot up in bed.
“What’s going on!?” I asked her while grabbing her hand to examine it closer.
“Well we may be stuck here for eternity but we’re still permitted to fall in love and well, I have,” she beamed.
“Jackson,” I grinned at her.
She nodded, “Yup. There’s a ceremony to unite us tomorrow. It’s nothing big and fancy. They don’t go crazy with weddings up here but it’s the Creator doing something simple and then a party afterwards. I figured since word gets around quick, you would have known by now. So, who was the first person you thought about when you woke up?” She sat down on the bed next to me.
“You.”
“ME!?” Her eyes went wide with horror.
“Yeah, you banging on my door kind of made me want to punch you really, really hard.”
“Oh! Whew! I thought you were about to say something else because I don’t swing that way, hun,” she laughed.
“Kellin did come by last night,” I told her as I ran my fingers over my lips remembering his world spinning kiss.
“How did that go?”
“He said he doesn’t want to make me pick between them so he walked away from it. He said he loved me, Lex.”
“And you just let him walk away!? What the hell is wrong with you, Devalynn Rose!?” She threw her hands up as she flew back on my bed.
“He said it was Kale before him. He didn’t want to come between us trying to figure out if Kale and I still have something or not.”
“I’m going to go with NOT. You have so much right with Kellin. UGH!” She stood from the bed. “Come on. I’m not going to say another word about it. You’re getting my blood pressure up.”
I giggled, “You don’t have blood pressure.”
“If I did, it would be up right now because of you, I’m just saying!” She stormed out of my room and waited on the front porch for me.
I shook my head as I got dressed and brushed out my hair. I decided to wear it down that day. Don’t know why. I always wore it up for work.
“Knock, knock,” a male voice called out.
“I’m coming!” I bolted out of the front door and Kale was smiling at me. I smiled politely back at him. “Hey, what are you doing here?”
“Just thought it’d be nice if I walked with you today. I didn’t get to see you after you dropped me off with Jackson. Kind of felt like a little kid,” he laughed.
“Yeah, you’re going to be busy while you’re training so we won’t see much of each other for a while.” I glanced around and Lexie was nowhere to be seen. “Where’s Lexie?”
“She wasn’t here when I got here but walked off,” he shrugged.
I put my hands in my pockets as we walked to get our lists for the day. “Hey, I’m sorry if I’ve seemed kind of off since you got here. I’ve just got a lot on mind and I’m still trying to figure you out. Most of my memories haven’t come back and I honestly don’t know if they ever will which means...I don’t know if my feelings will either,” I whispered, looking at the ground.
“I understand. It sucks, but I understand. I don’t want to force you into anything you’re not comfortable or ready for.” He grabbed my arm and pulled it out of my pocket, lacing his fingers with mine. “This was your favorite thing to do; to walk down the road and make everyone jealous of the perfect couple. They all wanted to be us.”
My eyes floated down to our joined hands and it made me smile to think about what he said. “I do like this,” I replied shyly.
We walked in silence with our hands clasped together until we were at the doors where I snatched mine back without thinking. I didn’t want Kellin to see and rub salt in the wound. We waited in two different lines for our lists.
Kellin saw me and smirked a little. “Good morning, Devalynn. Here’s your list. You’ve got a load today. Seven total. Don’t wear yourself out.”
I got lost in his eyes and couldn’t move. “Morning, Kellin. Glad to see you’re well today. Seven, pffft, I won’t even break a sweat with that,” I grinned.
He leaned in, “I know I said I would give you space, but can we talk later after you’re done?”
I smiled, like freakishly big, at his request. “Sure. Are you okay?”
“I will be after I see you,” he winked.
My heart fluttered...wait, no it didn’t, that was me wishing it did. I sighed. “See you later.” I took the list from him and walked out to where Kale was waiting on me.
“You seem like you’re in a better mood.”
“I like having a lot of work to do. It makes the day go quicker.”
“You don’t have to lie to me, Dev.” He dipped his head and stuffed his hands in his back pockets.
“What do you mean? Lie to you about what?”
“I see how you look at him. I already told you, I understand.”
My heart sank- if it could’ve- to the floor. “I’m sorry, Kale. I was kind of starting to see him before, well, before you came back into my life. I mean my afterlife now. We aren’t going anywhere with exploring a relationship. He’s just a friend now. You and I on the other hand, need to figure out if we have a spark because if not, we don’t need to waste the other’s time.”
“I’m not worried at all. I’m not trying to say you’re sneaking around.” He took my hand again. “I want to try and get back in your heart. You loved me at one point. And I love you still.”
“Thanks. I’m sorry I lied,” I looked away.
“Hey, I’m not some uptight guy and I’ll get you to remember that. I don’t want to force you into something you don’t want. I want you to fall back in love with me on your own.”
“Well, how about before work tomorrow, you come over and tell me about the memories you have of us. Maybe it will trigger some to come to mind for me.”
His face lit up with a smile from ear to ear. “Sounds good.”
“Kale! Come on! It’s day one and you have a lot to learn, bro,” Jackson waved for Kale to go to him.
“Guess I better go. See you tomorrow, Dev.” He leaned over and kissed my cheek really quick.
I waved as he walked off. “See you tomorrow. Hope today doesn’t whoop your ass too bad!” I laughed.
Jackson and Kale disappeared through the portal. I looked down at my list and shook my head.
“Guess who got assigned with you for the day!?” Lexie bounced down next to me and draped an arm around my shoulder.
“So now I need a chaperone, huh?” I teased her.
“Guess so. Last time you went bat shit crazy down there,” She squeezed me.
“Let’s go get some souls then! We’ll have these knocked out in no time. I only have seven today.”
“What are the crimes?”
“The usual- murder, abductions, theft.”
“Sounds like a rather boring day. At least we should be finished by what, lunch time? What do you think?”
“I think we should just go and see what happens.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” We went through the portal and landed in the middle of a snow storm somewhere north; very, very north. “So, you’re meeting Kellin tonight after work, are you?”
“He told you!?” I shot her a look of amazement.
“No! I was standing in line behind you but you were too head over heels talking to him you never even heard me or felt me flick your hair or felt me try to trip you.”
“Wow, you’re cold. Really, were you behind me?”
She rolled her eyes, “Yes, I was there, I heard the conversation and saw the way you looked at each other. You should just drop Kale while you’re ahead.” We began to walk as the irregular heartbeat became clearer to our ears.
“I feel bad for him. It’s not his fault I lost all my memories and I’m sitting here like a moron trying to figure out my feelings. I did tell him about Kellin. More like he knew. He said he could just tell.”
“If he can tell, trust me, you’re done. Don’t drag it out and make it worse for the poor boy. Give him a chance to find someone else and not be all h
ung up on you while you’re hung up on Kellin.”
“I thought you weren’t getting in the middle of this?” I eyed her teasingly.
“I never seem to be able to mind my business especially when it comes to what I know is right for you,” she laughed.
“I don’t know. I need some time to figure it out,” I shrugged.
“You don’t have time. If you’re going to break it off with Kale, just do it. Don’t drag it out and make him think he has a chance when we both know he doesn’t,” she said a little more seriously, crossing her arms over her chest.
“You don’t know that,” I retorted. The thumping of the heart beat got louder. I raised a finger over my lips to silence her. We both listened to the lub lub sound and walked around the corner of a building. A man was pulling the knife out of another man, letting his body fall to the ground in a heap. “Wow, a stabbing? Really? You’re going to spend the rest of your eternity in confinement over this?” I glared at the middle aged man staring back at me with his eyes wide and mouth dropped open to the floor.
“It’s not what it looks like! He robbed me at gun point and I think he was going to kill me when he was done,” the man sobbed into his hands.
“The Creator doesn’t send us after souls that were protecting themselves. You honestly think we believe that?” Lexie tapped her foot with her hands on her hips.
“I swear it. I’ve been staying out of trouble and being good for the past three years since my second chance,” he replied, feebly with his head down.
“Well, you finally messed up, haven’t you?” Lexie retorted.
“Lexie, stop!” I hissed at her.
She glared at me with ice cold eyes. “Stop what? We’re here to do a job, Dev! Now, reclaim him!”
“He was defending himself! How is this justified! He was just supposed to die and not protect his own life!?” I yelled at her.
“How do you know he’s not lying?” She got in my face and wouldn’t back down.
“How do you know he is?” I said without raising my voice as the tears fell again.
Reclaiming Souls Page 6