Song Chaser (Chasers) by Kandi Steiner Read Free Book Online Page B

shitty lines,” she says, turning to face the wall.
    “What? ! You asked for that one!”
    “Yeah yeah,” she says dismissively, waving her hand. “Okay, so what now?”
    “Stay right there.” I cross the room and stand in the corner directly across from her, and even though I know it’s only for a few minutes, I instantly want to be close to her again. What the fuck is wrong with me? No one has affected me like this since Paisley.
    Hell, I don’t even know if Paisley made me feel this way.
    “Can you hear me?” I whisper into the corner. I turn back and see Kellee’s head shoot up as she tries to figure out where my voice is coming from. She whips around and hesitates when she sees me across the room.
    “What are you doing?” she yells. I shake my head and point for her to turn back around before whispering into the corner again.
    “You didn’t answer the question. Can you hear me?”
    “Yes, I can hear you. But I don’t understand how. It sounds like your voice is surrounding me, but you’re across the room.”
    I laugh a little, “These are the Whispering Arches.”
    “The what?”
    “Whispering Arches. You can whisper into that corner and I can hear it clear as day over in this one, and same for you.”
    I peek over my shoulder and see that Kellee is doing the same. Her eyes are glimmering as she takes in the ceiling and walls and how they meet at each arch. Suddenly her voice is in my ear again, “Why? Why does it happen?”
    “I don’t know all the logistics, but I think it’s something with the sound hugging the walls and ceiling and traveling easier. The better question is, what secret are you going to tell me?”
    “Secret?” she sounds a little scared, so different from her usual cockiness.
    “Yes, secret. You can whisper into that corner and I’ll hear it, but no one else will. So, it’ll be our secret, and it’ll never leave this room.”
    She sighs and it vibrates around me. I know it’s frustrating her, but at the same time I’m hoping she’ll play along. My usual lines that work so well on other girls don’t do anything for her, but maybe this will.
    “Fine,” she huffs. “I’ll bite. But I don’t really know what to tell you. I don’t have that many secrets.”
    “That’s bullshit,” I whisper back. “It’s bullshit and you know it. But you don’t have to tell me your deepest darkest secret, just tell me something that no one else knows. Or something that I don’t know about you, something you haven’t told me yet.”
    “My favorite color is Macaroni and Cheese Orange.”
    I laugh a little, “Ha ha, very funny.”
    “What? That’s something you didn’t know.”
    I turn around over my shoulder and wait for her to do the same. When her eyes meet mine, I hold them there for as long as I can, hoping they’ll see what I want them to. She softens a little and sucks her cheek between her teeth before turning back to the corner.
    “You really want to know a secret?”
    I nod before realizing she can’t see me, “Yes.”
    There’s a pause, and I glance over my shoulder again just to make sure she’s still standing there when her voice finally finds me.
    “I’ m afraid of you,” she whispers, her voice cracking a little. “I’m afraid of being with you tonight, of falling for you, of you falling for me, and most of all I’m scared shitless that I might hurt you and break myself in the process.”
    I just stand there for a minute, my breaths heavy in my chest. For a brief second, Paisley’s face crashes into my mind and a jolt of pain shoots through my heart, but before her memories can catch me I push off the wall and walk with determined steps toward Kellee. I feel like what I’m about to do could ruin this, whatever this is – but I don’t give a shit. She turns around just before I reach her and before she can tell me not to, I crush my lips to hers.
    She hesitates and stiffens as I take her face in my hands, pulling her into me. “Don’t fight