Golden Blood Read Free Page B

want to see you get hurt again.
I know-”
    “Mom! Justin’s cheating!”
    “I am not, you little brat!”
    Helen closed her eyes with a sigh. Harrison
patted her shoulders and turned to leave.
    “Harrison.”
    He glanced back and felt his spine ripple
with unease. There was that look. Her eyes were glassed over in
memory and he wondered yet again if she was seeing his father. She
never spoke of him.
    In the past, one look like that would have
sent her into a week’s depression. They usually moved a month or so
later. Harrison felt his insides hitch.
    “Mom! Justin, stop it!” Sam’s demand was
followed by a sharp yelp.
    Helen’s eyes snapped back into focus. She
cleared her throat and gave her son a shaky smile. “Don’t be late,
okay?”
    “Yes, ma’am.” He gave her a wink followed by
the grin that always made her smile. It worked.
     

 
    Chapter Three
    Ponte Vedra Beach,
Florida - 2011AD
     
    Gemma sprinted the last hundred meters and
stopped in the sand by the wrought iron gate leading to the pool
area of her house. She checked her watch as she walked to the
ocean’s edge and back, pulling in large gulps of air. Six and a
half minutes faster than yesterday.
    She didn’t want to admit why she had pushed
herself so hard. Her father would go into a lengthy lecture if he
knew how much her limbs were burning right now. If anyone had seen
her tearing down the beach that fast, she’d be in big trouble. They
weren’t supposed to show their true colors in public.
    Shaking out her arms, she rolled her neck and
walked down the beach access pathway to the back of the house. The
pool looked inviting, but she didn’t think her legs would cope with
a swim. Her body had also adjusted to southern Florida’s heat and
the idea of swimming in January now seemed ridiculous.
    She paused by one of the blue and white
striped loungers to stretch. Placing her left ankle on the back of
the chair, she folded her body over her long leg and winced at the
pull. Her hamstrings would be paying her back big time in the
morning. She was such an idiot.
    Stupid Harrison Granger. He was ruining
everything!
    She cut her stretching short, another insane
decision, and headed for the glass doors leading into the games
room. Grabbing a hand towel from the linen cupboard, she wiped her
face down and headed through the main entrance and up the
stairs.
    She was happy before. She had resigned
herself to this life, but now… Flinging her towel into the laundry
hamper, she walked through her large closet and into the bathroom.
With a huff, she sat on the lid of the toilet to undo her
shoelaces.
    “Ugh, Gemma you stink.”
    Her older sister, Ruby, came through the
doorway of her own walk-in closet, her delicate nose scrunched in
disgust.
    “I’m just about to have a shower.”
    “Wait until I’ve finished my hair.”
    Gemma leaned back against the cool tiles and
watched Ruby pull out the hair dryer, styling her dark locks with
precision. If people at school thought Gemma was pretty, they
thought Ruby was stunning. The girl had model written all over her
and she knew it.
    Her curvy frame was wedged into a pair of
skintight jeans and a purple top with a plunging neckline. Her
voluptuous breasts were pushed together by a lacy purple bra that
could just be detected through the fine fabric of her shirt.
    Looking at Ruby dressed that way made Gemma
all too aware of her non-existent breasts. She had always loved
being small chested, it was easier for training, but every now and
then she wished for some shape. She could never look sexy.
    “Hot date tonight?”
    Ruby wrapped the cord back around the hair
dryer and grinned. “You need to ask?”
    “Who is he?”
    “Marcus Wright. You know the tall blonde with
longish hair and muscly arms.”
    Gemma could picture him strutting the
hallways like a peacock. He was an egotistical, second string,
quarterback with the annoying habit of pointing and winking at the
pretty girls. Ruby would make a meal of