Branded (The Branded Series) Read Free Page B

Anna added before I hung up. “I have something for her from
Africa. I think she’ll like it.”
    “What’d I get?”
I teased.
    “Me,” she
giggled, making my heart do something strange and fluttery. “Aren’t you lucky?”
    How should I
answer that? Strangely, I did feel lucky to have her.
    “I was
kidding,” she said, reminding me that I had left an air of awkward silence.
    “I know,
sorry, I was just thinking about something.” I’m such an idiot!
    “I’ll see you
at school,” she said before hanging up.   
    What was going
on? Why did I get tongue-tied talking to her? We were used to talking for hours
on end about nothing. Why was I suddenly nervous to see her again?
    “I’m ready,”
Abby called from the front entry, sounding a lot like a faker.
    “Feeling
better?” I teased as I met her in the hallway and gave her a little jab to the
stomach.
    She pulled
away quickly and put her serious face on. “Hey! Don’t mess with the look!” She
straightened her outfit and fixed her hair.
    “Come on, you
faker.” I pushed her out the door and chased her to my car.
     
    I pulled up next to
Noah’s car just as he was getting out and we walked the path to the school together.
    “Where’s
Anna?” he asked casually.
    “She’s coming
with Lexie,” I answered with as much indifference as I could muster.
    “I didn’t see
Lexie’s car, so I don’t think they’re here yet,” Noah said. With this new information,
I stopped searching for her and focused on the school which was getting closer.
    “So how did
last night go after you dropped me off?” Noah asked, nudging me slightly.
    I rolled my
eyes and took a deep breath. “Listen, man, you have got to stop talking
like that. You’re messin’ with my head and it’s not cool.”
    Noah held his
hands up. “ Sorry ! But seriously, it’s bothering you for a reason, dude.”
    “Apology
accepted,” I said, ignoring his follow-up.
    “Hey, gents!”
The annoying voice of Eric Hartlen echoed across the parking lot. He jogged
over to us as Noah and I both let out a simultaneous groan.
    “What’s up,
Eric?” Noah said. I just nodded.
    “Big party
this weekend, boys!” Eric pushed his way between us and slung his arms over our
shoulders.
    “Oh yeah?” I
said, uninterested and annoyed with his cocky presence.
    “Wentworth
Lodge. My parents scored us some rooms for the last official ski weekend of the
season,” he bragged. “It’s gonna be rockin’!”
    We had spent
many weekends at Wentworth after Eric’s parents bought the ski lodge a few
years back. That’s where most of us learned how to ski and snowboard. All of
our trips were next to free because of Eric’s connections, which was one of the
few things that Eric was good for.
    “Who’s going?”
Noah asked.
    “Monica and
Tyler, Lexie, you guys, and I’ll ask Anna when she gets here. She’s back now,
right?”
    “Got back last
night,” Noah said. “She’s coming with Lexie today. They should be here soon.”
    “So you coming
or what?” he pressed.
    It was a tough
one to answer as it was honestly going to come down to whether or not Anna was
going. My mind was still on her and on figuring out why I couldn’t stop
thinking about her.
    Noah nodded.
“Sure, I’m in.”
    We sat down on
our usual benches, along the school wall, facing the football field. Eric kept
talking about the Wentworth weekend and how much fun it would be.
    A few
irritating minutes later, Lexie’s car pulled into the parking lot. I stiffened
as Noah nudged me. “Nervous?”
    “No!” I
snapped. “Shut-up about it, would ya?”
    The girls got out
of the car and slowly walked toward us, apparently talking about something
amusing.
    Eric suddenly
stopped in mid-sentence and gawked in their direction. “Is that Anna ?”
    “Yup,” Noah
answered with a grin. “Africa was good to her, eh?”
    “It sure was!”
Eric slid off the bench and jogged over to meet the girls.
    “What the hell
is he doing?” I