Connection (Le Garde) (33 page)

Once it was quiet and we were alone, I cleared my throat. “Steven.
 
.
 
.”

“
What?” he asked, his gaze on me.

I took a deep breath. I wasn’t sure how to say it.
So, the funniest thing just happened.
“Well, I.
 
.
 
.”

“
Just spit it out, you’re making me nervous.”

“
Look, I really like you. You’re great and—”

“
Wait a minute. Is this.
 
.
 
.” He groaned, leaning forward to put his elbows in his knees. “I knew this was coming. I don’t even know why I’m surprised.”

“
Steven, I—”

“
Especially after tonight, with him throwing himself on Jordan. He’s like your knight in shining armor.”

I closed my eyes. “I didn’t want it to happen like this.”

“
It’d be easier for you if I did it, right? If you didn’t have to break up with me.”

“
No, Steven, that’s not.
 
.
 
.” I sighed. “I don’t know what to say, okay? At that party in San Francisco, I told you I wouldn’t be with you if I wanted to be with Aaron and I can’t do this anymore. It’s not fair to you or me or Aaron.”

He didn’t respond at first. “So, what is it about him, huh?”

“
I don’t know, he’s just.
 
.
 
.he’s my best friend, and I—we have this connection.”

“
And you forgive him for last year?”

“
Yeah, I do. He apologized. More than once.”

“
So that’s it,” he finally said.

I frowned. “I don’t want that to be it. I’m sorry. I didn’t.
 
.
 
.”

“
It doesn’t matter, does it? You chose him.”

I bit my lip at the hurt in his voice.

He looked over at me, and as much as I wanted to make excuses, I knew they’d fall flat. He didn’t want to hear them, and I wasn’t going to make stuff up. He was right—I was in love with Aaron and nothing about Steven could change that.

“
I’m sorry,” I repeated. I wanted to add something about being friends, but I didn’t want to make things worse.

Steven shifted his crutches. “I think I need to find a ride home.”

“
You can still come with us,” I said. Sam had driven us all here.

“
No, I saw Jacob down there.” He didn’t look at me as he pulled out his phone.

I wasn’t sure if I should stay here or if we were done or what.

“
You can do back to Aaron now,” he said, his tone sharp. “He’s probably waiting for you.”

“
Steven, I don’t want it to be like this with us. I want us to be friends.” Oh, great, I’d said it.

He scoffed. “That’s not gonna happen, Anna.”

I winced, but I don’t think he saw it. His phone lit up and he looked down at it. When he stood, the whole bench rocked back and forth. He adjusted his crutches and turned to the house.

I got to my feet. “Here, let me get the door.”

“
I’m fine.”

I ignored him, opening the door. He shuffled past me, his jaw tight. Jacob, one of Steven’s lacrosse friends, was coming into the kitchen. Another friend, Nick, leaned on him, his eyes unfocused as he laughed about something.

“
You ready?” Steven asked Jacob.

“
Yeah, let’s get outta here,” Jacob said. “Someone called the cops. I’ve got some stuff back at my place if you want to hang out.”

“
Sure,” Steven said.

“
You coming with us, Anna?” Jacob asked. I’d been to Jacob’s house a few times since Steven and I started going out.

I shook my head. “Thanks, though.”

Steven didn’t even look at me as he went back outside. Jacob nodded to me, the confusion clear on his face. Once they were gone, I stood in the kitchen with my arms crossed, fighting back sudden tears. I may have ruined a good friendship today.

A few other kids walked past me to the door, muttering about people who had called 911. Two of them were Vickie and Wendy. Wendy studiously avoided my eyes as she put on her brown jacket. Vickie shot me a vicious look, muttering under her breath as she pushed by me, “Slut.” It was so quiet I doubted anyone but the two of us could hear it.

I tensed, gritting my teeth. Chandler’s parents came up from upstairs as the girls left out the front door. They started pouring out beer cans and throwing away empty bottles. His mom started muttering about parties and teenagers and how she was never making this mistake again. I stepped forward to help when outside, sirens sounded.

Chandler’s mom jumped, dropping an empty bottle of Smirnoff.

“
Relax, Lorraine,” Chandler’s dad said. He was a big guy, big enough to have pulled Aaron off of Jordan downstairs. He picked up the bottle, threw it away, then took her hand and led her outside. Neither of them even noticed me.

Aaron came up from behind me. I glanced at him over my shoulder. “Where were you?”

“
The backyard.” He pulled me into a hug. I closed my eyes as I set my head on his chest, his arms around me. This was where I belonged, at least right now, in this moment. His heart was steady against my ear and his affection for me covered me like a blanket on a cold night.

We pulled away after a moment and sat down on the couch. His cheek was bruising. I wanted to touch it, but I kept thinking of the cable in the yard, sparking and flopping around. He reached for my hand, but I pulled it back. “Aaron,” I said, narrowing my eyes.

“
Anna,” he said in mock-seriousness.

“
We can’t—it’s too dangerous.”

He groaned. “We can control it.”

I looked around. Empty kitchen, empty living room. Just the music and laughter from the basement and the voices of people outside. Out the window, I could see a firetruck with its flashing lights. I turned back to Aaron. “What part of we-almost-burned-the-neighborhood-down do you not understand?” I whispered.

He smiled as he leaned toward him. “You really think I’ll be able to keep my hands off you?”

My face heated up. “Of course you can. I have friends who didn’t even kiss until their wedding day.”

“
I do not have that much self-control.” He brushed a curl from my face, tucked it behind my ear. He pulled his hand away after only a moment, even though I wanted him to keep it there. Even though I knew we had to be careful.

“
You’re going to have to. Remember what Kristina and Drew said about attracting attention to ourselves.”

He nodded, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. No skin touching. I leaned my head on his shoulder.

“
Speaking of Kristina and Drew, I think Drew would be pleased to learn you dumped your boyfriend.”

I poked Aaron in the stomach. “I didn’t dump him!”

“
You were heartless.”

I sat up, but he kept his arm around me. “No, I wasn’t!”

He laughed. “I know, I know. It was killing you. You’re too nice. He’ll move on.” Aaron’s grip tightened on my shoulder. “He’ll probably want to kill himself for a little while since he lost the most awesome girl in the world, but eventually he’ll realize you were too good for him.”

“
You are such a suck-up,” I said, even though I was grinning.

“
Of course, you’re way too good for me, too.”

I shook my head, smiling. “No, I’m not. I think we’re perfect for each other.”

l’épilogue

Aaron

Perfect for each other, huh? I couldn’t help the huge, goofy grin that spread across my face. I wanted to kiss her so badly, but the lights from the firetruck lit up the wall of the living room in reds, blues, and I knew we couldn’t risk it. I touched her knee, the denim between our skin.

“
You think so?”

She nodded. “I know so.”

“
Do you have any idea how much I want to kiss you right now?” I whispered.

“
I know a little bit.” She motioned between our foreheads. “You know.”

I looked down at her lips, and she took her bottom one in between her teeth. I cleared my throat. “We should practice our powers more so we can know how to control them.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Or we could just sit here and enjoy each other’s company.”

I huffed. “I didn’t mean right now.”

She smiled, snuggling into my side. “Oh, good.”

We sat there talking for hours. Eventually, Chandler’s parents came in and told us about firefighters and the utility pole that would be fixed tomorrow. Apparently a few houses in the neighborhood had lost power because of it. They were surprised Chandler’s wasn’t one, but when Anna and I had held hands and put out the electricity routing to that cable, I’d seen exactly to which houses it went.

“
He said a fire could have started,” Chandler’s dad said, “but for some reason it was a dead cable. Didn’t make any sense to him.”

Most things where Anna and I were concerned didn’t.

Anna pulled me downstairs around midnight, saying she’d ditched her friends long enough. Only about a dozen kids were still hanging out. Sam was drunk on tequila and dancing to bad dubstep music with her cheerleader friends, Chandler and Kaylie were flirting as Chandler taught her how to play drums, and Stacey, Chandler’s ex-girlfriend-for-now, was glaring daggers at them from across the room.

We hung out with Chandler and Kaylie for a little while, then somehow, Anna talked me into dancing. Probably because we were in a dark corner where no one could see me making a fool of myself. I didn’t really get it: she wanted me to show self control and then she put my hands on her hips and rocked back and forth.

“
Come on, it’s not that hard,” Anna said, putting her hands on my shoulders. “Just move to the beat.”

“
Yeah, my body doesn’t really do that,” I said with a strangled laugh.

“
How can you be a musician and not dance?” A smirk played at her lips.

“
They’re not really dependent on one another.” She was right, it didn’t really make sense that I was a musician and couldn’t move my body to the rhythm to save my life. I could write songs and play half a dozen instruments, but I couldn’t move the way she wanted me to. “They’re not intrinsically connected.”

Her hands tightened just the slightest on my shoulders, and she smiled. “Not like us.”

I smiled, too, and pulled her closer, her hips bumping against mine. She laughed, and I could feel the joy radiating off of her. “No,” I said, “not like us.”

la fin

(à suivre)

Acknowledgments

I’m always amazed at what a book goes through when being prepared for readers. I have such a great support system of authors, fans, friends, and family. Thank you to my editors, beta readers, and critique partners who helped shape Connection to what it is today: Amber, Nicole, Esther, Diane, and Jackson.

Thank you, Chris, for the beautiful artwork and your support. Thank you for your love, which inspired much of the romance between Aaron and Anna.

I thank my family, especially my sisters who motivate me to write more when I hear how much you enjoy my stories.

Last, but not least, thank you to the readers. I am grateful for every person who reads my books, whether they end up loving or hating it. Out of all the books you decided to read, mine made the list, and I hope it was worth your time.

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About the Author

Emily Ward is the author of the
Le Garde
series,
Finding Fiona
, and
The Protectors
series. One of her first stories featured a young girl whose doll came to life. The rest is history. When it comes to fiction, she writes mainly young adult, contemporary, and fantasy. Aside from writing, she’s also a content editor for Entranced Publishing. She loves reading, traveling, sociology, religion, and Reese’s sticks. Currently, she lives in Salem, Oregon with her husband Chris and their crazy cats.