Unfaded by Sarah Ripley Read Free Book Online Page A

need to have my father thinking I’m heading towards the deep end of insanity.
                  “You should have woken me up,” he said as he picked up some paperwork and shoved it into a folder. There were some tools scattered across the counter and he gathered them up. “Seriously, Mai, I know you think I’m probably overreacting but you could have had a concussion. We could have at least just checked on you during the night to make sure you were alive.”
                  I made a face. “I’m fine,” I said as I pulled back my hair to try and show him the back of my head. “See! No lumps, bumps, or wide open gashes.”
                  “You can’t blame me for wanting to protect my only daughter,” he said with a gruff voice. Holding the tire wrench in his hands, he looked the part too. When I was younger a lot of boys didn’t want to talk to me in fear of my father. He still looked like the football player he used to be. And a dad with wide shoulders can be terrifying to a teenage boy. It took Connor about six months before he finally came to my house for dinner. I remembered he stammered whenever Dad asked him a question. I didn’t think he’d ever willingly come back again.
                  “Trust me,” I said. “I’ve got more than enough knights in shining armour.” Of course I was thinking of Connor when I said this but I’ll also admit a certain blue-eyed boy also crossed my mind. It wasn’t my fault that knights kept popping up in topic conversation.
                  “Just promise me next time,” he began and then paused. “Let’s just hope there isn’t a next time but promise me you’ll tell me.”
                  I nodded.
                  “Good, that settled,” he said. “Now I need you to man the phones, I’ve got a lot of work to do before I can call it a day.”
                  I tossed my backpack on the counter. “Sure thing.”
                  Pulling out my laptop I decided to check my email and maybe do a little surfing instead of immediately starting with homework. I was just in too good of a mood to study. A girl’s gotta goof every now and then.
                  I had no sooner clicked on my gmail when I found myself staring past my screen and out the window in the direction of the motel. I wondered if Kian was there and what he might be doing. I’d never admit it to anyone I knew but I had been impressed by how easily he’d recited Chaucer. Everyone has their own geeky secrets and mine was the love of old books. Kian was the first guy I’d ever met who actually had read some of the classics without being forced. Was it wrong that I found that incredibly attractive. Most of the guys in Addison were more interested in basketball or skiing. Connor’s idea of an intellectual evening was going to a movie that didn’t have blood and violence in the opening five minutes. I was right about Kian, he’d be the kind of person you’d find wandering the museums in Europe and he’d be the type you could have a real conversation with.
                  Someone came out the front door of the motel and my stomach fluttered before I realised it was just Thelma on one of her walkabouts. With an exaggerated sigh, I closed my laptop.
    As if on cue, my phone began to ring. It was Connor.
                  “Want to come over and watch a movie tonight?” he asked. “Mom’s at work and we’ll have the house to ourselves. I’ll even make you microwave popcorn.” For Connor, that was about as far as his expertise went where cooking was involved.
                  I frowned. What was I doing? Staring at motels and thinking of other boys while my boyfriend was thinking of only me. Tearing my eyes away from the window, I forced myself to study the first thing that my eyes fell upon—a Toyota manual. Oh great, that’ll keep me