Soulsearch (Teen Paranormal Romance Series) (The Soulmate Series: Teen Paranormal Romance Book 2) (16 page)

“Yay!” Paige replied and clapped her hands, realizing he was giving in, then dragged him over to the circle of people forming around them.

Cody was enjoying Zach’s embarrassment immensely as Zach and Paige wiggled their arms and legs in and out of the circle and tried to turn around without falling.
 
His heart swelled with love for this girl who had brought such joy and excitement to their lives.
 
He wished he could express his emotions to her without having to speak through Zach, and he wondered if she shared even a hint of the affection he felt for her.
 
Obviously she was falling for Zach, but did her feelings extend to him too?

“Zach, you better treat her right,” Cody warned his companion and Zach was taken aback by the seemingly random admonition, but not all that surprised.
 
He knew all too well how Cody felt about Paige.
 
Cody wished desperately that he could be the one Paige longed for instead of Zach, and he wondered who she would choose if she actually had a choice.

“I’ll take good care of her — as long as you don’t screw it up,” Zach snarled.
 
He didn’t like the rivalry it inspired between them, but he couldn’t help but feel like Cody’s attraction to Paige was an invasion of his territory.
 
The DJ switched from the “Hokey Pokey” to “Jealous” and the two boys empathized as Nick Jonas sang.

“I’m exhausted; let’s take a break, okay?” Paige asked as they neared the exit to the concession stand.

Zach readily agreed and soon the two were sipping sodas and chewing on hot dogs while they rested their weary legs.
 
Paige wasn’t the type of girl to eat two bites and say she was full; she scarfed down her hot dog and was eyeing the extra one Zach had bought for himself.
 
He offered it to her and she tore off half of it, stuffing it into her mouth with a smile.
 
He loved the way she didn’t try to impress him by acting like someone other than herself.

“Are you going to work at Sundae’s this summer?” Paige asked, fantasizing about a job that included all the ice cream you could eat.

“Yeah, the store gets really busy in the summer.
 
Hey, would you like a job?
 
We can always use more help.”

Paige pondered his suggestion.
 
“Would I get to work with you?”

“I think that could be arranged,” Zach smiled, imagining spending all day with Paige, and hopefully the evenings too.

“I want to make my own flavor,” Paige declared, nodding excitedly.

“Oh boy, I can only imagine what that would be!”

“Probably something with big chunks of chocolate in it,” Paige decided, “and maybe a caramel swirl.
 
Oh, and some cookie dough and Oreos!”

“That sounds like a diabetic coma waiting to happen,” Zach teased.

“Well, what’s your favorite flavor?”

“Hmm, I don’t know.
 
I like them all pretty well,” Zach shrugged.

“Well, then what’s Cody’s favorite?”

Zach faltered.
 
He had no idea what Cody’s favorite flavor was.
 
He had never thought to ask.
 
Hanging out with Paige was making him realize how self-centered he had been.
 
Her concern for Cody’s welfare was so natural and so obvious, it made him feel terrible about the way he had treated Cody all those years.

“Tell her I like rainbow sherbet,” Cody responded.
 
“It’s colorful and wild and tangy, just like her.”
 
Zach rolled his eyes but told her anyway and her hearty laugh made him glad he did.

“Let’s go skate a little more before we have to leave,” Paige begged, pulling Zach up from his chair.
 
They made another dozen high speed revolutions before the DJ dimmed the lights and declared a “couples only” skate.
 
Zach reached for Paige’s hand and pulled her close as he crooned along with the song.

So honey now

Take me into your loving arms

Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars

Place your head on my beating heart

I'm thinking out loud

Maybe we found love right where we are

The twinkling lights of the disco ball made it easy for Paige to imagine they were under the stars, and Zach’s heart was beating so loud it was easy to hear it with her head on his chest.
 
Zach made the moment complete by leaning in for a kiss and the two stopped skating as the world paused for one perfect moment.
 
Only the end of the song broke the spell and Zach pulled away to stare into Paige’s eyes.
 
“You’re perfect, you know that?”

Paige ducked her head in humility.
 
“No one’s ever thought that before,” she replied with a twinge of pain.

“No one’s ever given you a fair chance then,” Zach declared and pulled her in for another long kiss before taking her hand and leading her off the rink.

chapter eleven

Zach paced nervously back and forth across his bedroom, practically wearing a path in the carpet as he contemplated what he was about to do that day.
 
He had rehearsed a dozen different versions of the conversation, but couldn’t imagine himself going through with any of them.
 
How do you tell a stranger you think the child they aborted in now living inside you?
 
No matter how he phrased it he sounded like a madman.
 
Paige was expecting him at her house in a few minutes, but he couldn’t work up the courage to risk losing the safety of his own predictable life, even if it meant getting answers to the questions that had plagued him for 17 years.

“What’s the worst that could happen?” Cody asked, irritation coloring his tone.
 
He couldn’t imagine anything more exciting that finding the answers they had always wanted.

“Uh, she could think I’m a crazed lunatic and call the police!”

“Don’t be so dramatic.
 
This woman knows something; I’m sure of it.
 
She’ll probably welcome you with open arms — long lost son and all that.”

Zach rolled his eyes, but he had to admit that Cody was probably right.
 
Jessica Reynolds was the
 
key to who they were.
 
He just had to get her to talk.
 
If only he had enough guts to approach her.

Desperate to take his mind off his anxiety, his thoughts turned to Paige and the fun they had had together that week.
 
In between multiple phone conversations with Rachel and Rider who were quickly becoming Zach’s best friends, they had gone go-cart racing (Cody’s idea), seen a chick flick (surprisingly Zach’s idea), and even played video games together.
 
It didn’t really matter what they did, they always had a good time with each other.
 
Paige was fearless and open to anything and her playful encouragement somehow managed to ease his control freak nature.
 
She also didn’t whine like prissy girls did when he suggested more masculine forms of entertainment.
 
As long as they were together, she was happy to try anything.

Cody had never been happier, either.
 
He was absolutely infatuated with Paige, mainly because she treated him like a real person.
 
She never failed to include him in the conversation, speaking directly to him like he was standing right next to her.
 
She made just as much effort to listen to Cody’s thoughts and opinions as Zach’s, maybe even more so.
 
Whenever Zach expressed his feelings, she always asked Cody if he agreed.
 
Zach had become closer to Cody in the week he had know Paige than in the previous 17 years of sharing a body with him.
 
Paige had a knack for getting the both of them to share their innermost thoughts in a way that felt completely natural — things they would have never considered voicing out loud to anyone else.

Paige’s personality was almost as fascinating to them as her body.
 
Zach had never had a girlfriend before, never even really been friends with a girl; he had only admired them from afar.
 
Hanging out with Paige was like a constant battle between the two parts of his brain.
 
The civilized, adult part of him enjoyed her friendship when his raging caveman hormones weren’t obsessing over her satiny skin and soft, sexy curves.
 
The thought of touching her again was enough motivation to snap Zach out of his fear and send him hustling out the door to see his woman.

When he arrived, Paige, Rachel and Rider were huddled in Paige’s bedroom, anxiously awaiting his arrival.
 
They practically attacked him with their excitement as he walked through the door.
 
Paige leapt into his arms and planted a sloppy kiss on his lips before releasing him just long enough for Rachel to give him a friendly hug and Rider to slap him on the back and shake his shoulders in anticipation of the day’s events.

“You’re freaking out, aren't you?” Paige asked almost instantly, seeing the expression on his face when he was finally free to respond to their greetings.

“Maybe a little,” Zach admitted with a sheepish nod.

“Don’t worry, babe.
 
We’re going to be right there with you.
 
Well, hiding around the corner at least!” Paige encouraged him, taking his hand, her bright eyes sparkling.

“Do you have a plan for what you’re going to say?” Rider asked seriously.

“I don’t know, man, it sounds wacked no matter how I say it.
 
I think I’m just gonna wing it,” Zach admitted.

Rider wasn’t sure that was the best plan, but he sympathized with Zach’s insecurity and had encountered the same dilemma when he tried to imagine the conversation.
 
They just had to hope that Jessica Reynolds would be willing to share her secrets with a strange boy that knocked on her door claiming to be her son.

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Jessica was watching a sappy movie on TV and drowning her sorrows in a bowl of ice cream when the doorbell rang on Saturday afternoon.
 
She definitely wasn’t expecting any company — Michael had been there the week before and it would probably be months or even years before she saw him again.
 
She had a few girlfriends, girls who worked at the club with her, but they didn’t hang out too often when they were off the clock.
 
Never had one of them shown up unexpectedly at her door.
 
She figured it was Jehovah’s Witnesses or the Avon lady, but on the off chance it was Girl Scouts selling cookies she decided to at least take a peek.

Her eyes widened in surprise when she opened the door to a handsome teenage boy with dark red hair and nicely defined muscles.
 
The nervous look on his face made her instantly suspicious, but she decided to hear him out.
 
“Hello,” she said, keeping the door open just enough to show her face.
 
The boy wiped his face anxiously with his hands then shoved them in his pockets.
 
Rocking back and forth on his feet, he opened and closed his mouth several times, but no words came out.

“Can I help you with something?” Jessica prodded, curious as to what had this practically full-grown man so flustered.

“Ma’am, are you Jessica Reynolds?” he finally blurted.

“Yes,” she answered slowly, eyeing him suspiciously.

“I’m sorry, I know this is really weird, but my name is Zach Pasquetti, and I think we might be…related,” Zach explained, running his fingers through his hair.

“Oo-kaaay,” Jessica responded skeptically.
 
“How so?”

“Um, would it be okay if I came in so we could talk?” Zach asked, shuffling his feet.

Remembering Michael’s suspicion about the last people who knocked on her door, Jessica decided to play it safe, even though the cowering boy in front of her did not appear to pose a threat.
 
“How about if we sit on the porch?” Jessica suggested, emerging from behind the door.
 
She realized belatedly that there were no chairs to sit on, so instead she took a seat on the top step.
 
The boy nodded and joined her, sitting as far away as the narrow stairs would allow.
 
Jessica waited patiently while he fidgeted, trying to get comfortable on the hard cement.
 
The boy peeked at her from down-turned eyes before finally raising his head to make eye contact.

“Ma’am, there’s just no easy way to ask this so I guess I’ll just say it.
 
You had two abortions like, 17 years ago, right?”

Jessica’s jaw dropped open and she stared at Zach, uncomprehending, for at least a half a minute.
 
“How did you know that?” she finally whispered, her face still a mask of shock.
 
“I’ve never told anyone that.”

Zach decided not to go into all the details of his friends’ reconnaissance mission and instead focus on what really mattered.
 
“Ma’am, I know this is going to sound crazy, but please just hear me out.
 
I don’t think your babies actually died.
 
I mean, their bodies did, but their souls are still alive.
 
Their souls found homes in other people’s bodies.”
 
What the boy was saying sounded absolutely insane; only his unexplainable knowledge of her secret abortions kept Jessica from dismissing him immediately.
 
She had no idea how to respond, though, so she just stared at him, waiting for something he said to make sense.