First Kiss: The Ghost Bird Series: #10 (The Academy Ghost Bird Series) by C. L. Stone Read Free Book Online Page B

Silas, Luke and Victor were nearby in sleeping bags spread out along Kota's bedroom floor. I smelled them in the air: Kota’s spice, North’s musk, Luke’s vanilla, Silas’s ocean, Victor’s moss, Nathan’s leather, and Gabriel’s new blend, which I thought to be cranberry.
    To me, that was what smelled the best. I didn’t have to look to sense they were there, and they smelled wonderful. My heart fluttered, even while I was still partially asleep, warmed simply by the different scents blending together.
    It was winter vacation. We had two weeks to ourselves. Two weeks without a crazy principal and vice-principal looking over me, or sneering students trying to look into my life. It would be the longest amount of time I’d spent with all of them for any length outside of school, without having to work at the diner, deal with school work, or do anything for the Academy.
    “Everyone needs a break,” Dr. Green had said. I could almost envision him trying to lecture me like he did in class at school, but failing to hide the grin on his lips. “That includes you. We work hard, but we take holiday breaks very seriously.”
    My skin tingled with chill, waking me further. I hadn’t realized while sleeping that parts of me were almost numb. Despite the sheet and blanket, I was still freezing. It was usually moderately warm in Kota’s room; why was it so cold now? Perhaps the weather had changed quickly, and the heater wasn’t able to keep up.
    It felt odd to be upstairs, with Erica, Kota’s mother, and Jessica, his sister, sleeping downstairs and knowing I was up here with the boys. Maybe they didn’t know that I shared the bed with Kota, but Erica trusted the boys to not do anything “unbecoming of a gentleman” as she called it, with a laugh and a teasing wink at Kota. Kota blushed when she said that.
    I turned in the bed slightly, drawn to Kota’s warmth and peeked at him, trying not to get caught looking.
    His handsome face was still. His chest was bare, which surprised me because I thought I remembered him wearing a T-shirt the night before. The glasses were gone, although there was a spot on his nose, close to his eyes, where his glasses normally rested on his face. He didn’t open his eyes, but he must have sensed I was awake anyway because he started to move. He threaded his arm around my shoulders, inviting me in.
    I rolled into him and snuggled up against a firm chest and my legs folded near his, drawn to body heat. When I was pressed up against him, he tucked the blanket around my body. How the boys managed to keep their bodies warm when I ended up cold was beyond me.
    He didn’t say anything and I didn’t either. I thought I should be shy about snuggling with Kota when the others could wake up and see us, but if Kota didn’t have a problem with it, I wasn’t going to object. I was too cold to move away. The boys were still sleeping, too. It was probably the quietest I’d ever heard them when they were together.
    I settled and stilled. I thought maybe I’d fallen asleep again, but was listening to their breathing.
    As I was listening, something caught my attention. My eyes opened a little, staring at Kota’s chest, unsure of what I was hearing though I’d heard the sound before. My half-asleep state wasn’t putting to words what it was. It was a very delicate sound, soft, crackling like a fire hissing...but softer.
    There was also a familiar taste in the air.
    I knew it. I knew it in my bones.
    Excitement surged through me. I forced myself to still, grinning against Kota’s chest. “Guys,” I called, nearly cooing, the sound muffled against Kota.
    Someone grumbled, though not Kota.
    “Guys,” I said louder, pulling my head away so I could be heard.
    A grunt. A rustle of a sleeping bag as someone flipped over.
    “Guys, wake up.”
    “Go back to sleep, Sang,” North said, his voice gruff and deep, sleepy. “It’s too early to get up.”
    That was a first. I was usually the last one in