Expel by Addison Moore Read Free Book Online

names. We are all keeping our own identities and staying put. You can’t just flip it on and off like a light switch. You’re a Landon, Mia.”
    I knew she’d regret it.
    “So, are we going to Seattle?” I ask. Honestly, I just need for them to pinpoint a venue so I can properly plan my escape. There is no way in hell I’m leaving Gage even for a minute. No locale on the planet is lucrative enough to drag me away.
    “Nope,” Tad twists. “We’re staying right here on Paragon.”
    “It’s a stay-cation,” Mom offers a placid smile that springs up as quick as it dies down.  
    “Great.” This is so freaking stupid, but I don’t dare call them out on it. I think in all of their absurdity they actually stumbled onto something that borders on brilliant.
    “That’s right,” Tad nods, rather proud of the not so big reveal. “We’ll be enjoying the great outdoors right here on the island.”
    “Camping?” Mia crawls up on the couch as though Tad just unleashed a venomous snake into the room. “I don’t do camping.”
    “You do now,” Tad informs her. “Next weekend.”
    “That’s Valentine’s Day,” Melissa is quick to snip. “The school has a dance.”
    “OK, we’ll fit it in the following weekend. Consider yourselves warned,” Tad squawks.
    There’s a knock at the door that rattles through the house, abrasive as gunfire.
    “We’re a damn family, and it’s about time we start acting like one,” Tad storms off towards the entry. “Skyla, it’s for you.”
     

Chapter 8
    Arrive Alive  
     
     
    I prattle down the hall expecting to see Brielle, Dr. Oliver, or even Chloe’s menacing mug, but this—Logan’s beautiful face is unimaginably the best thing I could have ever hoped for.
    “Logan!” I jump into his arms and let him twirl me as he takes in my scent, kisses my neck, my cheeks, the spontaneous shower of tears on my face. The misty night air dusts a circle of approval over our shoulders, cool as a damp towel. His blonde hair glints under the silver dollar moon. His sharp features trap light and shadow with their perfection, spelling out the fact he’s a modern day Adonis. “You’re back, you’re really back.”
    “Come in,” Mom urges, pulling us inside by the elbow.
    “My dad wanted me to give you this,” Logan hands me a tube of white ointment.
    “Perfect, thank you.” I give him a puzzled look. Dr. Oliver is Logan’s uncle, well, technically his brother, but for practical purposes he’s not.  
    “I was thinking about taking Skyla out,” he nods into Mom. “You know, hang out, catch up.”
    Mom and Tad just stand there stupefied by this viral—alert, and very much alive-looking Logan.
    “So what happened?” Tad washes over him with suspicion. “I thought you were at death’s door, you look perfectly fine.” His voice drags as though he were somehow implying that the Oliver’s had purposefully deceived him about Logan’s condition.
    “Ship shape.” Logan taps his chest. “Just needed a tune up. Hey, they ever catch the bastard that ran me over?” He needles into Tad trying to maintain his sarcasm.
    Shit.
    Logan must have really hit his head in the wrong place.
    “You know what?” I take up his hand and jump in front of him. “I would love to go out with you. Maybe get a bite? And we can see Gage after.”
    Logan gives a reluctant smile.
    “Don’t stay out late. Tomorrow is school.” Mom hands me one of Mia’s jackets before I speed down the porch with Logan.
    I have Logan and Gage back, real and in person. I was so afraid that I would lose them both—that everything we built together would be reduced to memories, useless as pressed flowers.
    I pause just shy of his truck and wrap my arms around him, brush my lips against his beating chest.
    The world has righted itself. I can see and feel everything, and everything around me spells love.
     
    ***
     
     
    Logan barrels us down the road at breakneck speeds.
    “Slow down. I’m pretty sure