First Kiss (Heavy Influence) by Ann Marie Frohoff Read Free Book Online Page B

spoiled brat and I don’t know if I can deal with that.” He sat down next to me.
                  “What’s going on with you, Alyssa?” he probed.
                  “Well, obviously not too much, since I’m only fourteen.” I blurted it out without wanting to, like vomit.
                  He was silent and I couldn’t look at him. I was embarrassed. I could feel him staring at me, burning a hole into my head. I heard him breathe deeply and felt his bed move. He tipped back, lying flat. I glanced over and his hands were over his face, covering his eyes. His shirt came up, exposing his stomach, and all I could do was stare at his smooth skin. I wanted to touch him. He looked through his hands and caught me staring at him. I didn’t move. Reaching over he touched my arm, tracing it with the tips of his fingers all the way to my hand and held it. I was frozen. My heart raced and tunnel vision took over. The lump in my throat almost choked me. I was worried he’d feel my hand starting to sweat.
                  “Look, I only said that to calm her down.” He let go of my hand and sat up. “Alyssa, you’re like family to me, I mean come on, what’s going on here?”
                  Did he really want to know that this morning he kick started something in me I’d never felt before and I wanted him to explain to me what it was? Did “family” members do that to each other? I was grossed out at the thought.
                  “Jake,” I said, standing up, “It’s nothing, I just felt a little stupid – like I was a kid or something when you said that. I’m not a child. You know, I have feelings too. I’d better go. This was obviously a bad idea, me coming over here and hanging out. I didn’t mean to cause problems.”
                  What the hell was I doing? Fuck, I just kept puking all over the place.
                  “Alyssa, I don’t want you to leave, I really want you to stay.” He stood up, towering over me. His strong arms embraced me in a hug. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. It was unintentional.”
                  “But I heard you tell Rachel that you’d call her after I left. So she’s probably waiting to hear from you soon…”
                  “Alyssa, I don’t wanna see her.” He sat down at his desk, facing the screen. “She just rubbed me the wrong way. I’ll call her in a little bit to tell her it’s a no go.”
                  He banged at the keys and brought up some music; it filled the air and took the edge off.
                  “The cool thing about you is I know where you stand. You were always very open and opinionated, even if the timing was inappropriate.” He smiled broadly at me with his perfectly white straight teeth.
                  “You’re teeth are so white.” I marveled.
                  “Oh, yeah, my mom makes me use those white strips,” he said rolling his eyes.
                  “Well, it makes you that much more sexy ,” I said, laughing at myself for emphasizing the word “sexy” with hand quotations as I mocked Rachel. Jake face bent with amusement. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t make fun.”
                  He shook his head. “A little fire in you, I see. I can never underestimate you, can I?"

6
    Alyssa
     
                  Jake and I sat in his room for hours talking about music and his past tours. When I expressed interest in playing the guitar he insisted on teaching me. I was energized when I got it pretty quickly. When I finally looked over at the clock it was 5:30 p.m.
                  “Shit, the time!” I panicked. “Um, I should probably get going. I left my phone at home in my bag. The units are probably wondering where I’m at.”
                  “Shit! And I forgot to call Rachel.