Briar Rose by Jana Oliver Read Free Book Online

Joshua? Why are you even talking to me? You know we’ll get into trouble.’
    ‘I . . . ahhh . . . have something for you. I was going to give it to you at the battle today, but . . . it’s . . . a birthday present.’
    ‘What?’ she said, completely caught off guard. ‘Do your folks know about this?’
    He shook his head. ‘Best you don’t tell yours, either. There will only be hell to pay.’
    And then some.
Her suspicions rose. ‘Why would you give me a present?’
    ‘Because we used to be . . . friends,’ he said, continuing to twist something in his hands. Somehow the answer felt incomplete.
    Why would that matter to you?
    Joshua stretched out his hand. A curl of silver sat in the middle of his calloused palm.
    Briar gasped.
    He lifted up the charm bracelet and held it in the air with two fingers. ‘Please, take it. Act like I’m not a Quinn, just for one second, OK?’
    He was so sincere that she’d feel awful if she turned him down. But if she accepted the gift and her mom found out . . .
    I don’t care
. When Briar flattened out her palm, he dropped the bracelet into it. The metal tingled against her skin, like it had a faint electrical charge. She leaned closer to
study it, moving it about with her fingers. Once she realized what she was seeing, her eyes met his in wonder.
    ‘All these charms are from a fairy tale. How did you know?’
    ‘I remember you read them all the time at the library,’ he hedged. ‘I hope you like it.’
    ‘Ohmigod, it’s awesome, Joshua. Thanks!’ She hesitated. ‘I don’t understand. Sure, it’s my birthday, but—’
    ‘This is just between us,’ he said solemnly. ‘I don’t care that my mom hates your mom or the other way around. That’s their thing, not ours.’
    ‘This afternoon you said—’
    ‘Doesn’t matter what I said. I was . . . upset.’
    He had been, but he wasn’t now. If anything, he was hopeful. ‘I don’t want you to get in trouble for this.’
    ‘Same for you,’ he said.
    ‘Briar? Where’s those plates?’ Pat called out.
    The dude’s timing sucked. This was way awkward.
    Though she wanted to hurry over to Pat, she put on the bracelet and watched the little charms twirl round on their jump rings.
So cool.
    ‘Briar?’ Pat called out again.
    ‘Ah, sorry, I gotta go,’ she said. ‘But thank you. I
really
love it, even though I have to disavow any knowledge of where it came from.’
    ‘You’re welcome. Happy birthday, Briar.’
    As he walked away, Joshua looked back over his shoulder, a faint smile in place. For a brief moment Briar wondered what it would have been like to kiss him.

CHAPTER FIVE

    If Pat had seen what had gone on between her and Joshua, he didn’t act like it. Instead, he led her further down the lake to an empty picnic table. Fortunately the moon
was fairly bright and it cast a lovely glow over the woods and the water beyond.
    Just like in a fairy tale. But in this one the princess dies.
    Where had that come from? Briar shoved the ridiculous thought as far back in her mind as possible, not wanting to ruin the moment. They settled in at the table and she watched Pat eat. Briar
tried not to be nervous, but it was futile. This was the guy she’d been dreaming about since the first time she’d seen him in the school hallway, leaning against the lockers. Even then
he’d looked as if he owned the place.
    ‘So what did the horse dude want?’ Pat asked before loading more chips into his mouth.
    That hit an unexpected nerve, especially after the awesome gift. ‘His name is Joshua.’
    ‘I know, but he’s always on that old nag so that makes him a horse dude.’
    Joshua’s mare certainly wasn’t a nag. If anything, Arabella had been a race horse in a previous life.
    Though aggravated at his attitude, Briar bit her tongue, not wanting to mess up their time together. She knew the other girls were just waiting for her to make a mistake, and then one of them
would swoop in to claim him.
    ‘Joshua gave me