Shadows Read Free

her.
    And she needed to find her next class. Glancing down at her schedule, her eyes narrowed at the faded printout. Room 20…3? Or was it room 208? Great. West Virginia was where printers went to die.
    Shouldering her bag, she dodged around a group of girls huddled across from her English class. No stretch of the imagination to think they were waiting on the incredibly hot duo in her class to come out. Good God, she’d lived in Nevada her whole life and never once saw anyone who looked like that, let alone two of them.
    Who knew West Virginia was hiding such hotness?
    And those eyes, they were…wow. A vibrant, untarnished green that reminded her of fresh spring grass. Those peepers were something else.
    If she’d known this before, she would’ve begged her parents to move here a hell of a lot sooner just for the eye candy. Shame snapped on the heels of that thought. Her family was here because her uncle was sick, because it was the right thing to do, and not—
    “Hey, hold up.”
    The unfamiliar deep timbre of a boy’s voice rolled down her spine, and she slowed, glancing over her shoulder. She came to an abrupt stop.
    It was half of the incredibly hot duo. Calling to her, right? Because he was looking straight at her with those eyes, grinning with lips that were full on the bottom, almost too perfect.
    She suddenly had a mad desire to start painting his face with the new oil colors her mom had bought her. Snapping out of it, she forced her mouth to work.
    “Hi,” she squeaked. Hot, really hot…
    The boy grinned, and her chest did a little flutter. “I wanted to introduce myself,” he said, catching up to her. “My name is Dawson Black. I’m the—”
    “You were the twin sitting behind me in English.”
    Surprise flooded his face. “How’d you know? Most can’t tell us apart.”
    “Your smile.” Flushing, she wanted to hit herself. Your smile? Wow. She glanced down at her schedule quickly, realizing she had to go to the second floor. “I mean, the other one didn’t smile at all, like, the entire class.”
    He chuckled at that. “Yeah, he’s worried that smiling will give him premature wrinkles.”
    Bethany laughed. Funny and cute? Me likey . “And you’re not worried?”
    “Oh, no, I plan on aging gracefully. Looking forward to it.” His grin was easy, lighting up eyes that couldn’t be real. They had to be contacts. He continued. “ Cocoon is my favorite movie, actually.”
    “ Cocoon ?” She busted out laughing, and his grin tipped higher. “I think that’s my great-great-great grandmother’s favorite movie.”
    “I think I might like your great-great-great grandmother. She’s got good taste.” Leaning around her, he opened one side of the heavy double doors. Students veered out of his way as if he was a self-contained wrecking ball. “You can’t go wrong with it. Eternal youth. Aliens. Shiny things in the pool.”
    “Pod people?” she added, dipping under his outstretched arm—a nice, well-defined arm that stretched the material of his sweater. Cheeks flushing, she quickly averted her eyes and headed up the stairs. “So, you’re big on the golden oldies?”
    She felt him shrug beside her. In the wide stairwell that smelled faintly of mold and gym socks, he remained right by her side, leaving a small space for people to get around them.
    Dawson looked over her shoulder as they rounded the landing. “What class do you have next?”
    Holding up the schedule, she wrinkled her nose. “Uh…history in room…”
    He grabbed the paper from her hand, quickly scanning it. “Room 208. And it’s your lucky day.”
    Since a guy like him was chatting with her, she was going to have to agree. “Why is that?”
    “Two things,” he said, handing the schedule back to her. “We have art and then last period—gym—together. Or it could just be my lucky day.”
    Unbelievably hot. Funny. And knew all the right things to say? Score. He held the second door open for her, and she added