A Demon's Kiss (Young Adult Romance) Read Free Page A

trying to get it all fluffy again. Then I trotted over to Gage’s. I was only slightly scared when Mrs. Henshall’s cat leaped out from our bushes. I mean, I didn’t actually die of a heart attack. I just came close.
    When I got to Gage’s, his mom smiled warmly when she saw it was me at the door. What can I say, she likes me. She was on the phone, but mouthed, “Hi Michaela,” gesturing me to come inside.
    She put her hand over the receiver. “He’s in the basement,” she said aloud.
    I tiptoed downstairs, trying to sneak up on Gage, but he caught me out of the corner of his eye. “I was hoping you would come.” He put down his guitar. “I was afraid you wouldn’t. You’ve been...distant.”
    I sat on his bed, not wanting to get into this discussion. Addison was a wench and I could have wailed about her all night, but I didn’t want to talk about her. I didn’t want to talk at all, really. Sometimes words were hard for me. I just wanted to be near Gage. And play.
    I picked up his Gibson and tuned it. I was working on a song by Metallica. I almost had it down.
    Gage and I—we both play the guitar. Forever, we’d get together and jam. We’d been doing it since the fifth grade. Tonight started out the same as all the rest. Gage was helping me play, One . And I was finally getting the solo. But then...
    He leaned in close to me.
    At first I thought he was going to get gunk off my face—somehow I always end up with gunk. But then, his hands didn’t do what I expected. Before I knew what was happening, they were holding me gently. They were in my hair. And Gage, his pink, soft lips—lips that kept me up nights, wishing and wanting and yearning—were doing what I’d always dreamed. They pressed against mine, gentle and tender.
    GAGE KISSED ME!!! And I have to say, it was the softest, sweetest, most incredible kiss I’d ever experienced in my whole, entire life.
    I don’t know what brought it on—the dress thing from earlier, maybe. Maybe it just kept him thinking of me that way—as an actual girl. Or maybe my hair was still kind of fluffy and sexy looking. Or maybe... Who knows?
    When we pulled away, we were both breathless—and terrified. I mean, we’d crossed a line. We had never, ever kissed before. Ever. We weren’t like that. We were tight, yeah, the best of buds. But only buds. Sure, I wanted more. Dreamed of more. But I had never, ever expected more. And from the terrified look on Gage’s face, neither had he.
    “Sorry.” He looked like he truly, truly meant it.
    “No, uh, that’s okay.” My mouth started talking a mile a minute while my brain was stuck in—huh? “Um, it’s super late,” I mumbled, hunting for my shoes. “I should go.”
    He jumped to his feet, not trying to dissuade me from leaving. “I’ll walk you.”
    So, we walked the three houses to my home in silence. But before I went inside, he gently backed me up against my front door, and kissed me again.
    Again, it was the most tender, thrilling, wonderful kiss I’d ever encountered.
    “You’re getting good at the guitar,” he whispered as I went inside.
     
    ***
     
    Once I caught my breath, I started to float up to my room, but stopped, frozen.
    On our kitchen table was another long box. My stomach clenched.
    “Beth?” I choked out from the kitchen doorway. Or tried to choke out, but didn’t actually make a sound. It got caught in my throat, tangled with my pounding heart.
    Shaking, I swallowed, then tried again. “Beth?”
    But I knew there would be no answer. She and Summer weren’t home yet. I knew that. But someone had brought the box into the house and put it on the table. For a long moment I stared at it from the doorway, unable to move. But finally, Beth and Summer burst into the house, laughing and talking about the movie.
    “ Another gift?” Summer gasped, breezing past me into the kitchen. “I don’t get it. Why do you have a secret admirer? You don’t even talk.”
    Yeah, my half-sister adored