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  “Got it,” he whispered above my lips. “I told you I’d kiss you again.”

  “Ugh!” I growled.

  He smirked, still hanging above me. “And you didn’t even push me away.”

  I was pushing now, but he was ignoring me. He lowered the scant few inches to kiss me once more, but this time I was prepared. With a glare, I bit him. Hard.

  “Holy—!” The slew of foul language that escaped from Jaden’s mouth as he jerked away from me would’ve made a sailor blush. I wasn’t a sailor. My face stayed stone cold. In fact, I was ticked. I was more than ticked. This was my turn for talking. I invited him up to my room to discuss things on my terms.

  What in the world does that idiot think he’s doing, trying to kiss me in my bed?

  If my daddy were here, Jaden Black would’ve been thrown outside on his head—werewolf or not. Boys weren’t allowed anywhere near our bedrooms at home.

  Now I know why. The jerk.

  “Are you through?” I smiled a short, tight smile at him.

  “Holy mother of Pete’s sake!” He made an obvious attempt to curb his temper as he stomped around, covering his mouth with his hand. “What’d you do that for, huh?”

  “That was only your bottom lip. Come near me again and I’ll bite your other one,” I stated calmly.

  “You wanted me to kiss you! I could tell.”

  The nerve. I took a deep breath to stay cool. “No. I didn’t. In fact, I was pushing you away.”

  “You’re lucky you didn’t draw blood.” He gingerly touched the swollen lip.

  “No, you’re lucky I didn’t draw blood.” I took an exasperated breath. It was ridiculous, going in circles with this guy. “What did you say to my parents, anyway?”

  “Nothing.” He stomped over to the chair and plopped down. “I was just teasing you about the werewolf stuff.”

  “You mean you didn’t tell my mom?”

  “That you thought I was a werewolf? No.” He leaned forward and pointed to his lip. “Do you see this? Do you? If I were a werewolf, my lip would already be healing!” He slumped back angrily into the chair. “No thanks to you, I’ve gotta walk around like this for forever now.”

  “Oh, please.” I folded my arms. “Besides, if you’re that mad at me, what are you still doing here?”

  “Good point. I have no idea, really.” He grunted and stretched his long legs out in front of him. “Since I’ve met you, my whole life has turned upside down. For some reason I must enjoy this torture—because beyond my gut instincts to run as far away as I can, I find your train-wreck possibilities fascinating. And believe it or not, somewhat endearing. I mean, what other guy can say he’s had smoothie dumped on him, tears smeared all over his shirt, a shouting match in the middle of Bluebird Avenue, a fainting scare, werewolf accusations, and a bitten lip, all within a forty-eight-hour period? See what I mean? I must be attracted to danger.”

  Good grief. “You’re not attracted to danger, just attention. And if you don’t start behaving properly, I’m going to give you some more attention, and I promise you won’t like it.”

  “You know, you’re starting to sound like my mom.”

  “Good! I’m glad to know that at least one of us is mature around here.”

  He grunted and scrunched down lower in the seat, but didn’t answer.

  “So, when did you read Twilight?” I asked him. “And who had to bribe you to do it?”

  “No bribes. Just got tired of hearing my mom and sisters talking about this ‘amazing’ series, and I never knew what they were talking about. Drove me nuts. So one summer, a couple of years ago—before Old Navy—I was bored beyond belief and read the first book in a day. Well, you know how that series is—you can’t stop once you start, so I read the rest. It took about a week. Way too emotional and sappy, if you ask me. And believe me, guys would never act like that in real life. But it was funny to read. I laughed the whole way through, actually.”

  “It is not sappy. And it’s not funny. And you know what? If guys acted more like Edward, they’d have a lot more real relationships.”

  He snorted. “Real relationships? With a vampire? Are you out of your mind?”

  You know, I was getting really sick of hearing that question. “No. For your infor—”

  My phone chimed, announcing a text. It was on the dresser right next to Jaden.

  Dang. I smiled. “Can you hand me that, please?”

  “What?” He looked surprised as he leaned over and snatched the phone. “Oh, you mean this?” He raised an eyebrow and held the cell phone up for me to see. “Are you sure you don’t want me to read it for you?”

  “Yes, I’m sure. Now hand it over,” I said through gritted teeth.

  “Hmm . . . I’m not sure it’s safe for you to read this—especially with how mentally unstable you are right now. I think I should check it out for you first.”

  “Jaden. Give. Me. The. Phone.” I was sitting up in bed, ready to spring at any moment.

  He mockingly turned the screen on. The phone chimed again. “Oh, look. Two messages. And they’re both from Tony. Hmm . . . Now that just raised the stakes a bit, didn’t it? Who’s Tony?”

  “Jaden Black, if you do not give me my phone now, I’ll make sure your lip bleeds.”

  He held his arms out wide. “Oh, you wanna come and give me another kiss. I understand you can’t bear to be apart from me.”

  “Ahhh!” I jumped out of bed. All teasing was gone.

  Jaden was on his feet in a flash, tossing me the phone. “Here. Take it. Don’t kill me!”

  He laughed when it slipped through my fingers and I had to fumble to pick it up.

  “Ha ha.” I faked a smile and scrolled through the texts.

  “So, is Tony your boyfriend?” Jaden asked as I climbed back on my bed to read.

  “Hmm . . . ?” Already my mind was far away.

  thnking bout u 2day. wishd u couldve come. fun game. missd u.

  “Wow! Look at you smile as you read that,” Jaden said with a frown. “He is your boyfriend, isn’t he?”

  I looked up. “Tony?” I grinned like a fool and then blushed because of it. “No, he’s not my boyfriend.” I opened the next text.

  srry ths may sound crzy but u ok? i got a funy vibe earlier. was wondring if something hppnd?

  Is he for real?

  “What? What happened?” Jaden crossed over to me. “Why are you making a weird face?”

  “Oh, it’s nothing.” I waved him away. Just my vampire checking in on me. How cute is he? I quickly texted back my reply.

  evrything fine. was a bit ruff earlier but im good now ur here.

  “I have to wonder if that’s what you looked like when you read my texts last night.” Jaden looked down ruefully at me. “I blew it today, didn’t I?” His voice had gone so soft, I almost didn’t hear him.

  I pushed “send” and put the phone down. He seemed like he really wanted to know.

  “Look, Jaden, truthfully? Yes. You blew it.” I sighed. “Girls don’t like to be scared. Guys do. And we’re all at different levels of scared toleration. The problem is, you hit my level. It wasn’t funny. So much so, I probably won’t go anywhere with you again. When you almost hit that kid, my heart left my body. I can’t begin to imagine what would’ve happened if you had run over him. And frankly, I don’t want to be anywhere near you when you do hit someone. You’re a nice guy—more werewolf than guy, actually.” I smiled slightly. “But nice. I just can’t think of you the same way I did yesterday. I don’t think I ever will.”

  Jaden sat down on the edge of Cassidy’s bed and stared at the wall for a minute before lowering his head and nodding. “I can see where you’re coming from.” He rubbed his hands on his knees as he released a swoosh of air through his teeth.

  My phone chimed again, announcing Tony’s reply. I ignored it.

  “Hey, I’m only here for the summer anyway. It’s not like we’d ever see each other again, right?” I tried to make a joke, but I don’t thi
nk it worked.

  Jaden stared straight ahead. “I would’ve lost it, had my sister driven with a guy like me,” he muttered. “Kind of changes things when you put it in that perspective, doesn’t it?”

  I was so surprised, I didn’t know what to say. “Jaden?”

  He stood up and walked over to me. Very gently, he raised his hand and brushed a strand of hair from my forehead. “I’m not going to give up.” He sighed. “There’s something about you that’s so different from other girls. Something alive—I don’t know. You just see the world differently, I guess. It’s kind of addicting, actually.”

  “Really?” I smiled a soft, slow smile. Okay, so he was a total jerk, but under that, he was really sweet.

  “Goodbye, Claire Hart.” He leaned forward like he was going to kiss me again. I didn’t move. “I’m gonna kiss your forehead. Is that okay?” His eyes were full of mischief. “I just want to make sure you don’t go for my throat with those teeth of yours before I can kiss you.”

  I grinned in response. “I can’t promise anything—I mean, I am mentally unstable right now.”

  Jaden threw his head back and laughed. “Dang, Claire. Why’d I have to go and ruin everything, eh?”

  I bit my lip, not sure how to answer.

  He looked me right in the eye. “I know it’s a long shot, but I’m going to try to win you back anyway. Just promise me you’ll warn me next time you plan bodily damage.”

  My eyes lowered to his swollen lip, and I winced. It was bad. “Deal.”

  He chuckled. “Yep. It hurts.” He leaned in, kissed me on the forehead, and whispered, “’Night, Claire. I’ll call you in the morning.”

  “Bye.”

  I watched as he quietly left, and wondered why my heart felt as heavy as it did.

  Thirteen

  New Leaf, New Moon

  “Okay, Mom. She’s right here,” Cassidy called through the door Jaden had just closed. A moment later, she opened it and waltzed in. “Yes, she looks fine. Yes, she’s awake. Yep, she wants to talk to you. Her eager hands are waving in front of her face, begging me for the phone.”

  I rolled my eyes and pulled my hands out from under the covers. Mockingly, I begged for the phone. Cassidy smiled.

  “Okay. Love you too. Buh-bye.” She handed over the cell and whispered, “Don’t blow it.”

  Like I planned to. Give me some credit. “Hi, Mom!” My voice was as happy as I could make it.

  “Wow. So you fainted, huh? Were you embarrassed? Tell me everything that happened.”

  I didn’t faint. “Look, Mom, it was no big deal, honest. Everyone else is freaking out, but I’m fine. Seriously. I could totally run the Boston Marathon tomorrow if I needed to.” Okay, so not the Boston Marathon—well, not any marathon, actually, but that was beside the point.

  “Really?” She didn’t sound convinced.

  I sighed. “Yes, Mom, really. I didn’t eat much at lunch, and I guess I had forgotten to eat breakfast earlier, and Jaden and I were supposed to eat dinner at the game, so maybe once the heat hit me . . .” I trailed off, letting her fill in the pieces herself. “Anyway, I was stupid. I promise I’m not going to do it again.”

  My mom paused a moment, obviously processing that information. She was really good at reading between the lines. I knew she knew I was embarrassed and didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. I also knew her main concern right then was the cause—and to make sure it didn’t happen again. I waited.

  “You know, your dad and I really like Jaden. He seems like a great guy.”

  They would.

  “He did tell us you seemed overly tired. Aren’t you sleeping enough?”

  I’m sleeping fine. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

  “What’s Jaden look like?”

  “Mo–om. He’s not my boyfriend.”

  “Yeah, but you almost went on a date with him. He sounds cute. Cassidy says he’s cute, Darlene says he’s cute, but I want to know what you think.”

  He looks like a wolf to me. I’m not attracted to wolves. “He’s cute, I guess. If you like guys who are tall, with dark hair, dark skin, and dark eyes, then he’s perfect.”

  “Tall, dark, and mysterious?” She giggled.

  I rolled my eyes again. “Mom, you read way too many books.”

  She laughed. “Look who’s talking!”

  I decided to ignore her. “I promise Jaden isn’t anyone special, okay?” So, let’s just drop it.

  “Oh, so you must like the other guy better, then? Cass was telling me all about him.”

  “Cass?” I looked up and glared at her. She wasn’t paying attention. She had New Moon open on her bed and was already reading. “She was, huh?” I leaned over and thunked her bed with my hand. She waved back at me but kept reading. “Yeah, well, he’s nice. You’d like him.”

  “Which reminds me.” Mom chuckled. “Since your father and I aren’t there to do the Dating Ritual, I told Darlene my backup plan, in case we were ever away from you girls and you went on dates.”

  You’ve got to be kidding me. “You have a backup plan?” I’d forgotten all about the Dating Ritual—my parents’ odd way of making sure guys were good enough to date their daughters. It was funny to watch my older sisters go through it, but me? That was a different story. All of a sudden, it didn’t seem funny anymore. I closed my eyes and rubbed my hand over my face. “So, what’s your backup plan?”

  “Nope. It’s a surprise! You’ll just have to wait and see.”

  I groaned. Mom is way too excited about this.

  “You know, missy, you should be very grateful that your parents love you enough to care about who you date.”

  Love me? Sure, if love is like mortifying and harassing your date until he never comes back. “I’m grateful,” I muttered. “Really grateful.” Now, can I just go die somewhere, please?

  Mom laughed again. “You know you’ll thank me when you’re older.”

  “Why do you always say that?”

  “Because it’s true! Now be a good girl for Darlene, okay?”

  Sheesh. Nothing like making me feel like I’m ten. “I am.”

  “Promise me that you and Cassidy are helping around the house, too. Oh, and you let me know if your sister isn’t cleaning that room.”

  I smiled evilly and looked around the place. It was pretty much clean. “We are helping. And yeah, she’s picking up after herself.” My sister looked up and gave me a confused look. “But I promise to tell you the second Cassidy messes things up.” She made a face at me and then started reading again.

  “Okay.” Mom sighed. “Don’t forget to say your prayers. Miss you girls like crazy. Everything’s quiet over here.”

  “Miss you too, Mom. And I promise to say my prayers. I love you. Tell Daddy I said hi.”

  “I will. Love you too, honey. Good night.”

  ***

  By Saturday, I’d almost forgiven Jaden—almost. At least, I’d forgotten to think about him and get angry again, which was just as good. Tony looked as cute as he could get in his coaching uniform when he picked me up to head to his YMCA soccer game.

  “Are you ready to go?” He smiled at me from the living room. I’d just come down the stairs.

  “Sure. Let me get my stuff.” I walked over to the hall closet and pulled out my super-cute pink baseball cap and tossed it over my long braid. I slipped my cell in my back pocket, then grabbed a few dollars and my lip gloss out of my purse. I shoved them in my front pocket and turned around. “Okay, ready. Let’s go.”

  “Wait! Wait!” Darlene exclaimed as she huffed her way down the stairs, still in her lounge pants and comfy shirt.

  “What’s wrong?” I paused on my way over to Tony. “Do you need me?”

  “You?” Darlene laughed as she approached the bottom step. “Oh, no! I don’t need you. I need Tony.”

  “Me?” Tony looked surprised. “Sure—uh, what can I help you with?”

  Darlene grinned a Cheshire cat grin and said, “Just a sec,” before she
turned around and hollered up the stairs, “Roger! Are you coming? These two need to go, so if you’re going to be here to watch this, then you’ve got to come now.”

  What in the world is she—? And then it hit me like a ton of bricks. The Dating Ritual! Dang. “Uh, look, Darlene. Tony and I are just friends.” I hurried over to her. “Honest. I’m sure my mom wouldn’t even consider this a date. I’m positive, actually. So, you really don’t have to worry about it.” I turned to Tony for support. He gave me a funny look. “Right, Tony?” I asked, nodding my head slightly in Darlene’s direction. “This isn’t a date, right?”

  “Uh . . .” Obviously, he wasn’t sure what his script was. I saw that panicked look in his eyes, and I knew it meant trouble. He improvised. “Some people may call going and watching a game a date, but I . . . uh . . .” He glanced back at me. “I don’t?”

  I smiled. “Of course you don’t!” Turning back to Darlene, I gushed, “See, everything’s fine! Thanks so much for thinking of us. We’re going to go.” I stepped up to her and gave her a hug. “You’re the best.”

  Just as I was making my escape, Roger came pounding down the stairs. “Okay, I’m here. Go ahead—you can do it now.” He looked so excited, you’d have thought it was Christmas.

  “Well, I’m sorry, Claire,” Darlene was saying. “I still consider this a date, and your mom did say . . .”

  That’s it. I’m so going to kill my mom.

  “So, Tony, if you’d come here, please?” Darlene was all giddiness.

  “Sure.” Tony gave me a confused look as he made his way over to her. Roger was standing right next to Darlene and even reached out to give Tony a friendly pat on the shoulder.

  The poor guy. What are they going to do to him?

  It was like watching a wreck. You want to look away, but you can’t. Instead, you stare in horror.

  Darlene began her speech. I could tell she’d been practicing.

  “So, Tony. I don’t know if Claire’s told you, but her family puts all their daughters’ dates through sort of a test to see if they can date them, you know? They call it a Dating Ritual. And since Claire’s mom isn’t around, she asked me to fill in for her.”