Push and Shove: The Ghost Bird Series: #6 (The Academy) by C. L. Stone Read Free Book Online Page B

her tennis shoes. Max crawled over until he cuddled in her lap. She scratched him behind the ears. “I swear, you’re a brilliant kid, but some days, I wonder where your common sense went.”
    I sank into the bean bag chair, pressing my palm to my cheek. Was Kota getting in trouble with his mother because of me?
    Kota did a small eye roll and a half grin. “I’ll try not to let it happen again.”
    She snapped her fingers at him and pointed at me. “Don't tell me. Go kiss her and tell her you’re sorry.”
    Kota started shaking his head, waving his hands in the air. “I don’t...”
    “Do it, or I will ground you,” Erica said. “I shouldn’t have to tell you how to treat a girl.”
    My cheeks radiated. If I said he didn’t have to, would she be mad at me for intervening? He seemed so embarrassed.
    “What’s wrong?” Erica asked. “You’ve been dating her this long and won’t kiss her in front of other people? No one is going to think less of you for being with a girl. You can be the boss and still date. That’s not some school rule, is it?”
    “No,” Kota said.
    “Sang, sweetie?” Erica said, dropping her voice into something a little more syrupy and Southern. “Would you be a doll and go give my highly apologetic son a kiss so he’d relax a little?”
    For a moment, I wasn’t sure what to do. I had flashes of myself kissing Kota on the lips in front of her. I had a feeling Erica was going to drag this out until we kissed. My heart thundered. My first kiss ever would be with Kota after I was told to do so by his mother.
    Could do worse.
    I popped up from the bean bag chair. Kota’s eyes widened, as if not expecting me to have obeyed so readily. I kept a palm at my cheek to mask my blushing. I walked a little funny, trying not to get polish on the carpet.
    I stood close to Kota, looking between him and his mother, suddenly unsure.
    Erica waved a hand in the air at us. “Go ahead.”
    I placed a hand on Kota’s chest, and went almost en pointe on my toes.
    Kota lowered his head, tilting his cheek to me.
    I almost huffed at him, but I remembered Karen telling me a boy should kiss the girl on the lips first. I wanted it to happen like that, like in the movies I’d seen. With the way Kota was acting, it was as if he didn’t want to do it. He was presenting his cheek as if this was as far as he was willing.
    Out of frustration, I leaned forward and kissed his cheek, close to his mouth. It was only a moment, but as I did it, I felt his chest shift as he inhaled sharply.
    I pulled back, dropping down and touching my finger to my lip, unsure of what I just did.
    Kota gazed down at me, in an expression that had me confused. I wasn’t sure if he was happy with me.
    “That was a good angle,” Erica said from the couch. When I turned, she had her phone in her hand as if she’d snapped another picture. “I can’t believe how cute you two are.”
    “I think that’s just Sang,” Kota said in a small voice.
    I blushed. Did he mean to call me cute?
    “All right, Mr. Smarty Pants,” she said. “Take her on up to your room. I’ll make dinner.”
    “But...”
    “No,” she said, holding her palm up and out toward him in a blocking motion. “I don’t want to watch my son making out with his girlfriend in the living room. There’s only so much of this I can take. You know I trust you. You can have Sang in your room, but you better treat her right. If I hear one negative word from her, I’ll send her home.”
    Kota rolled his eyes and nudged me in the shoulder. “You heard the woman. Upstairs.”
    I raced around the couch, eager to escape his mother. I liked her a lot, but I wasn’t sure I could take another request from her like that.
    Kota collected our book bags and my shoes and followed me. He shut the door behind us as I dashed up the stairs.
    At the top, I leaned against the wall for support. My legs shook. My palm pressed to my ribs over my heart that was rapidly beating in my chest. I’d