Hold Tight (The Embrace Series) Read Free

know how much time it would save me to be able to blink the breakfast dishes into the dishwasher? I could zap the dust bunnies from under the kitchen table. My dad would get off my back about the chores piling up.” I tossed the elements book on the chair. “You have got to teach me how to do that!”
    He laughed. “We’ll work on it.”
    After an hour of trying to learn how the heck Isaac had managed to do his witchy-stare, poof- now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t trick, I gave up. I couldn’t even snatch a quarter off the floor without bending down and picking the damn thing up with my hands.
    We stopped at the grocery store on the way to my house. Isaac went to get pasta sauce and chips for his mom while I headed to the dairy section. I grabbed a gallon of milk and turned quickly, bumping into a guy in his late teens.
    “Sorry,” he said, grabbing the milk I’d nearly dropped.
    A surge of heat shot through me when his fingers brushed mine. Surprised, I yanked my hand away.
    “You’ll probably want this.” He held the gallon out to me.
    I took it from him, purposely touching his hand to see if what I’d felt was a fluke. His skin was warm, like he had a fever, but there was no shock to indicate he possessed the powers. He gave me a funny look, which made me realize I was staring.
    “Sorry.” I tucked my hair behind my ear. “I didn’t see you.”
    “No harm done.”
    I moved to my left at the same time he moved to his right. He smiled, his chocolate-brown eyes peeking out from under dark bangs. He had sharp features and a five o’clock shadow, and he was still in my way. I stepped toward the aisle, but so did he.
    “I’ll just—” I indicated with a glance what direction I needed to go.
    He turned sideways, letting me pass.
    “Thanks.”
    When I reached the chip aisle, I glanced over my shoulder. The guy watched me, his head cocked to the side. Not at all sure what to make of him, I hurried to join Isaac, who held a jar of marinara sauce in one hand and a variety of chips in the other.
    “Ready?” he asked.
    At the checkout, I paid first and then surveyed the store while I waited for Isaac to pay for his things. The guy I had bumped into was nowhere in sight, but I couldn’t shake the feeling something was off about him.

Chapter 3
    Playing with Magic
    The next morning, Dad opened Chase’s dresser drawer and figured out just how far behind I was on my chores.
    “How hard would it be to toss in a load of laundry once in a while?” His voice dripped with exhaustion as he sniffed the socks Chase had worn the previous day. Deciding they would do, he gave them to my brother to put on.
    Guilt nagged at me. I’d been too busy hanging out with Isaac to worry about clean clothes.
    “I promise I’ll do a load after school,” I replied without thinking through my choice of words.
    The school day flew by, and I was still kicking myself in the butt for making that promise because, with my powers, those two little words— I promise— meant I had to do laundry when I got home. No more stalling or pretending I hadn’t noticed our hampers were regurgitating two weeks’ worth of clothes.
    Isaac drove me to pick Chase up at the sitter’s and then dropped us off at home, bringing my inevitable appointment with the washing machine around way too soon.
    “It’s you and me, squirt,” I said as I stuffed Chase’s mittens into the sleeve of his jacket and hung it by the hood on the banister in the foyer. “How about you pick up your toys while I go upstairs to sort the laundry?”
    “No way! I want to finish the movie I started last night!”
    I placed my hands on his shoulders and turned him around. “You can clean while you watch TV.” When his head drooped forward in obvious disappointment, I added, “If you put away your Hot Wheels and stack Dad’s magazines into a neat pile, you can stay up until eight thirty. Do we have a deal?”
    “And eat ice cream for dinner?”
    “And have ice cream for