Kiss of Death (The Briar Creek Vampires, #1) by Jayme Morse & Jody Morse by Jayme Morse Read Free Book Online Page A

night outside
with me.”
    “With the wild animal attacks that happen in
this town? No, thank you.”
    “Oh, come on. I’ll protect you,” he laughed,
his pearly white teeth gleaming in the moonlight.
    “I’m pretty sure the bear will take you down,
too. I have an idea though. There’s a carnival on Sunday. Why don’t
we go together?”
    His expression turned serious and anger
clouded his light blue eyes. “You don’t want to go to the carnival.
Trust me.”
    “Why not? What’s not to love about
Tilt-A-Whirl and funnel cakes?”
    His look softened. “I get nauseous on
Tilt-A-Whirl,” he teased.
    “That’s okay, I don’t do well with motion
rides either. We’ll skip it.”
    His smile disappeared again. “Lexi, I just
really don’t think it’s a good idea.”
    “Fine.”
    She got up and as she began to stomp her way
back towards the front of the house, Gabe called out to her. “Lexi,
I’m sorry. It’s just that –”
    “Gabe, let it go. You don’t owe me an
explanation. You don’t want to go with me and that’s fine. I’m
going to bed. Maybe I’ll see you at some point before I go back
home. If not, it was nice to meet you.”
    As Lexi climbed the stairs to go up to her
bedroom, she had a sick feeling in her stomach. She realized it was
because she suspected that Gabe was embarrassed of her. He didn’t
want to be seen with her at the carnival, yet he wanted her to
spend the night with him? What a scumbag.
    Lexi felt her chest tighten as she replayed
their last kiss in her mind. She really thought that Gabriel liked
her. At least, that kiss seemed to indicate he did. How could she
have been so wrong about him? He was just another one of those guys
who were only out for one thing. Well, he wasn’t getting it from
her.
    When Lexi had broken up with her
ex-boyfriend, Justin, she had made a vow to stay a virgin until she
met the right guy. At one point, Lexi had thought that Justin had
been the right guy, too, until she realized that hockey was all he
cared about. She wasn’t going to waste her virginity on someone who
didn’t really love her. Clearly, Gabe wasn’t going to be the right
guy, either.
    Once she got back to her room, she glanced
out the window that overlooked the backyard. Lexi’s stomach flipped
as she realized that the place where Gabe had been sitting was now
empty. For some reason, she had expected him to wait there for her
to come back outside. Who was she kidding, though? He had probably
moved on to another girl’s hammock by now.
    Glancing up at the night sky, she noticed
that it was just as beautiful as both Dan and Gabe had mentioned
tonight.
    Something small and black banged against the
window, seeming to fall into the flower-filled window box. It
recovered quickly and before flying back into the darkness. It was
a bat. Lexi used to see bats all the time when she lived here; it
was like they were everywhere. After never seeing a single bat in
New Jersey, she’d almost forgotten what they’d looked like in real
life.
    Lexi changed into her pajamas and sat down on
the bed. She knew that there was no way she was going to be able to
get a decent night’s sleep. She kept replaying in her mind every
interaction she had ever had with Gabe. Lexi felt stupid for
allowing herself to believe that he was a decent guy. Thinking of a
way to occupy her mind without a television or a computer, she
remembered the “Private” box in Austin’s room.
    Peeking downstairs to make sure no lights
were on, Lexi quietly hurried into Austin’s room. Without turning
on any lights, she grabbed the box from his bed and tiptoed back to
her room. She sure as hell wasn’t going to let herself be caught in
Austin’s room. Last time was too close of a call.
    Lexi placed the old shoebox on her pink
floral comforter, somewhat nervous to see its contents. “Sorry,
Austin. But if this helps me figure out what happened to you the
night you died, then it’s worth it,” she whispered, looking