Silver by Talia Vance Read Free Book Online Page A

must be seriously wrong with him.
    I don’t trust myself to resist him a second time, so I just turn away and walk outside. I need to escape. I send a text to Christy. After a couple of minutes staring at my phone, I send another one, in all caps.
    I glance back into the shop and catch Austin staring. His smile pulls at me. My hand is on the front door before I catch myself and spin back around. I nearly run through the parking lot.
    I move past the group by Blake’s SUV like a wraith. Blake never looks up even though I deliberately move close enough to invade his personal space. So my theory’s not totally dead. There’s a small measure of comfort in that, even if my heart breaks just a little.
    I end up at the park on the other side of the parking lot, where Christy and Jonah were headed. I turn down a path that heads to the man-made lake in the center. There are a few lights along the way, but it’s darker than the parking lot.
    There’s no sign of Christy, just some chirping crickets and my own footsteps. A cold breeze licks at the back of my neck, sending goose bumps along my arms. The sensation is eerily like the cold I felt when I fainted. Silver light flashes. No, no, no. I rub my arms, concentrating on chasing away the rising tide of fear of what’s coming.
    â€œBrianna,” Blake says from behind me.
    I stifle a scream as I turn to face him. He’s standing right next to me, even though I never heard him approach.
    â€œGod! You scared me. Where’d you come from?” I shake my head. Everything seems normal. Blake stands there on the path with his hands in his pockets.
    He cocks his head, like he can’t believe how different I look without the alcohol buzz. This supports my theory: the vanilla spritzer Haley applied to my hair masked my lack of pheromones. That, combined with the fact that Blake and Austin were both drinking, is the only explanation for what happened. Maybe Austin drank something before he came to Magic Beans tonight.
    Blake looks down at the ground. “I was hoping we could talk.”
    â€œNow you want to talk? What’s wrong? Did your date with the Boobsie Twins fall through?”
    He laughs. “You mean Sierra and Kendra? You think I wouldn’t mind a break from their inane chatter?”
    â€œIs that what we’re calling it these days? Chatting ? ”
    â€œIf chatting still means an informal conversation with one’s peers.” When it’s clear I’m not going to respond to his comment, he adds, “I didn’t come here to see them. I wanted to see you.”
    I want to believe him. I shouldn’t, but I do. “Right. That’s why you ignored me completely and hung out with the stripper sisters. Got it.” I walk away.
    Blake follows, his long strides easily matching my hurried ones. We come to a grassy bank at the edge of the lake. When I turn to face him again, he’s staring. It’s hard to breathe when I know he’s watching me.
    â€œAre you going to tell me how you’re doing that?” He asks.
    He’s caught me completely off guard. “Doing what?”
    â€œHiding.”
    â€œI’m right here.”
    He shakes his head. “It’s like you’re here, but you’re not. I can’t explain it. It’s brilliant. I would never have even known you were doing it if you hadn’t stopped.”
    â€œStopped?”
    â€œLast night, when you walked into the kitchen. Not this shadow of you, but you . Thank God I’ve learned to master my impulses. If I’d met you a year ago, I don’t know what I would’ve done.” His expression is dead serious.
    â€œI hate to break this to you, but you did meet me a year ago. And I’m not doing anything. The only person who showed up last night was me.” Which means that you are a psycho schizoid , I almost add. “Don’t blame your drinking binge on me.”
    He curves his lips so