Dark Kiss (Harlequin Teen) Read Free Page A

thinking about it.”
Carly hadn’t brought up what had happened—or, rather, not happened—with Stephen at the club. It was appreciated more than she knew. If I could, I’d take a pill to forget about the embarrassment of him walking away after our kiss and leaving me standing there all alone. My crush on him had officially been crushed.
“Hey, Samantha!”
I turned to see a boy from my history class waving at me—Noah. He stood in a line waiting to get into the next showing of Zombie Queen IV .
“Be warned, that’s a ridiculously bad movie,” I said as we passed him on our way out to the lobby.
“I’ll take my chances.” Noah grinned. “You’re looking good tonight.”
“Oh…uh, thanks.”
That was a strange thing for him to say. We’d never really spoken that much before. Maybe he was just being extra-friendly tonight.
Carly didn’t say anything until we’d moved out of hearing distance. “So what’s up with you getting hit on today? That’s the second time since we got here. Am I totally invisible all of a sudden?”
The first time was when a guy named Mike—someone else I barely talked to at school—had sat right next to me in the theater and offered me some of his popcorn after I’d eaten all of mine. I honestly hadn’t thought anything of it, but I guess Carly had noticed.
I frowned. “Who said that? I could have sworn I heard a voice, but I don’t know where it’s coming from.”
She swatted me. “You’re hilarious.”
“I have no idea what’s going on. Besides, he was just saying hi. That wasn’t exactly an official hit.”
“Well, if it doesn’t pass, remember to share with your best friend.”
I nodded solemnly. “Understood. I promise to share with you the wealth of boys who throw themselves at my irresistible feet.”
Irresistible. Right. I already had a theory about why Stephen had kissed me, not that I wanted to share it with anyone, Carly included. I’d decided it had been a dare from his friends to go kiss a weird high school girl who had a thing for zombie movies—not that they’d know that little detail about me.
My stomach growled.
Correction: the weird high school girl who liked zombie movies and was suddenly ready to eat her way through the city. Then again, I’d always been too skinny. “A” didn’t only describe the grades I was striving for, but my bra size, as well. Eating eight thousand calories a day would definitely solve that little problem. Pun intended.
Something smelled delicious. My skin tingled and my mouth watered. I closed my eyes and inhaled, seeking the new scent past the salty, greasy odor of popcorn that surrounded us.
Carly groaned. “I can’t deal with him right now. I’ll just wait over here, okay?”
“What?” I opened my eyes as she wandered toward a movie magazine rack near the concession stand. In her rush to get away, she banged against the island that held the napkins and plastic straws.
“Hope she didn’t leave because of me,” a familiar voice said.
Oh.
“How did you guess?” I turned my head to see Colin Richards, Carly’s ex-boyfriend, standing a few feet away.
Colin sat behind me in English and we’d forged a bit of a friendship since the semester started last month, which was awkward considering how much Carly hated his guts. He’d cheated on her at a pool party this summer and, understandably, she’d been crushed by the betrayal. Colin tended to do crazy stuff when he was drunk. One of the crazy things he’d done was Julie Travis, who’d allegedly had her eye on Colin’s broad shoulders, cropped sandy-blond hair and wicked sense of humor since they’d been in elementary school together. However, once he’d sobered up, Colin had realized his mistake, tried to make up with Carly and failed spectacularly. Carly was a lot like me in that way—she didn’t get over being hurt easily. She put on a good front, but I knew she was still heartbroken.
“New haircut?” Colin asked.
I touched my dark hair, twisting a