Amaranthine (Willow Shadows Book 1) Read Free

near. Knowing he was close enough to hear the confrontation made her want to run and hide, but instead, she held her head up and tried to grasp complete composure, determined not to give Carey the satisfaction of seeing her upset or letting Luke know she was upset. Shaking on the inside, somehow she seemed to pull off the coolness she wanted on the outside.
     
    “You’re nothing but a whore!” Carey snapped angrily as he turned his back to storm off.
     
    The shock of what Carey said hadn’t had time to register when Khalida saw someone moving very fast toward them from her peripheral vision.
     
    Luke, awe, hell!
     
    She threw her books down and ran to get between Luke and Carey. Not that it really mattered if Luke gave him a good beating, Khalida just didn’t want to give Luke the satisfaction of coming to her defense.
     
    “What Luke, you jealous that I got with your girl? Or is this about something else?” Carey challenged Luke smugly.
     
    Crap!
     
    In a split second thought, she decided to back up.
     
    Why am I trying to stop Luke from beating the holy hell out of Carey?
     
    Just as she backed up, Luke sent Carey flying back with one punch.
     
    Serves the jerk right.
     
    “How you feeling now?” Luke said with a calming placidity as his lips crept up with a cocky lopsided tilt.
     
    Luke turned back to Khalida, his wild eyes revealed just how much he enjoyed putting Carey on his ass. “You okay, Khally?” He bent down and started to gather the books that she threw back on the ground.
     
    “Yes,” she said, lifting her chin stubbornly, still a little bitter about him rescuing her so to speak, “you didn’t have to.”
     
    “You really don’t want to go there with me, Love,” Luke said as he kept a careful eye on Carey even as he turned to walk away.
     
    “I’m going to call you tonight,” he spoke calmly with total confidence, ignoring the fact a confrontation took place just mere minutes before.
     
    She nervously glanced over at Vega who was already wiggling and dancing in place at the sound of Luke’s words to her best friend.
     
    She let out a low deep sigh knowing that fighting with him would only fuel his stubbornness more. Weighing her options, she knew she couldn’t keep fighting the feelings she had for him, “Yes, you can call me,” Khalida stuttered as she became painfully aware of how enthralled she seemed about him calling.
     
    “I didn’t ask,” he spoke as a sly grin tugged at his lips. She took her books from his hands, but before she turned to go, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her to his chest. Standing six foot three, he dwarfed Khalida’s five foot eight stance by almost a foot. He gently kissed her forehead, placing his chin on top of her head for a brief moment before releasing the hold he had on her as he turned to go.
     
    The scrawny blonde he was talking to before he came to Khalida’s defense stood by the double doors of the school with a look of disdain on her face. Flipping her hair, she turned and sashayed away without her prize.
     
    A smile threatened to form across Khalida’s face as she turned towards Vega who gleaming and bouncing for joy.
     
    “Eekkk!I told you he wants you. He wants you bad!” Vega’s perfect row of white teeth beamed from ear to ear.
     
    “What are we doing this weekend?” Vega asked, jumping around impatiently, wanting to get out of the school.
     
    “My mom has to work all weekend so she won’t be around. We can go rent some movies or maybe go down to the lake?”Khalida suggested overly eager for her normal self.
     
    “Oh, crap, I can’t. I forgot I have a date tonight with What’s-His-Face, and I won’t be able to come over…well, unless the date has a monumental malfunction and I decide to go home early,” Vega replied with a wide grin across her face as though she had just stolen candy from a baby.
     
    “A date? And you don’t even remember his name? You are such a harlot,”