Live for You by Marquita Valentine Page B

the—”
    “ Really, Rae?”
    Blowing out a breath, she
smiles, taking mine away. “Okay, so maybe you scared me a
little.”
    “ Please. I scared you a
lot,” I tease, but her smile falls away and those baby blues blink
up at me, ten shades of anxious in them.
    “ Yes you do.” She rises to
her feet, brushing off the back of her shorts and scooping up her
socks and shoes. “It was nice seeing you again. Bye
Kelly!”
    “ Bye, Rae!” Kelly shouts,
running and splashing through the water.
    Dammit. “Don’t go. I’m
sorry for the scared you shit stuff.” Motioning for Kelly to come
closer, I grab her towel and help her out of the creek. “Wrap this
around you and sit right here. Don’t go in the water.
Understand?”
    Kelly smiles at me, her
lips blue-tinged from the frigid water. “Yep.”
    I hurry after Rae, catching
her before she disappears down a path. “Wait.”
    She looks up at me.
“Yes.”
    “ Go out with me,’ I blurt,
like a first-rate asshole. What am I, fourteen?
    “ I don’t think that’s a
good idea,” she says and my heart sinks. “But, I might be back
here, at this very spot tomorrow at eleven.”
    I grin, keeping the
excitement all tampered down. If I don’t watch it, I’ll be doing
jumpy claps while shouting ermaigawd . Instead I make a big
production of rubbing my chin and jaw. “That so?”
    Rae shrugs, then walks away
again. “Have a good evening, Cole.”
    Watching her ass shake as
she walks away, my grin turns into a full on smile. I throw a fist
in the air and hear a giggle. “Didn’t I tell you to stay put?” I
ask, with a mock frown on my face.
    Kelly giggles again. “Cole
and Rae sitting in a tree—”
    I charge after her,
catching my sister easily and swinging her up in my arms. “You’re
in for it now, missy. No Simpsons for you tonight.” Yeah, another mark of bad
parenting, but whatever. Kelly’s heard and seen worse than any
quasi-family cartoon could ever broadcast.
    She sticks out her bottom
lip, little hands going to my face. “Puh-lease, Cole. Let me watch.
I’ll be good.”
    For the first time in a
really long time, I feel good. I feel excited and hopeful. I don’t dread tomorrow
and what it may bring, because tomorrow will bring Rae.
    “ Puh-lease, Cole?” Kelly
asks again. “With sugar on top!”
    “ All right. You win.”
Winking at her, I set her down and hold out my hand. “Let’s go
home.”

Chapter Eight
     
     
     
     
     
    Violet
    By taking the chance to
confide in Cole, I’ve either done something incredibly brave or
stupid.
    Sighing, I chase the
chicken casserole on my plate with a fork.
    I’m hungry, but my stomach
feels as though butterflies and hummingbirds have joined forces to
conspire against me. Usually I don’t get this nervous except right
before I go on stage. But revealing who I was felt exactly like
being in the spotlight.
    I sigh again.
    “ Three sighs and you’re
out,” Nana says and I glance up at her. “Anything you want to talk
about?”
    “ I saw Cole Morgan today,
down by the creek.”
    “ With his sister,” I
hastily add, though I’m not sure why exactly.
    Her shrewd eyes study my
face. “And how did that go?”
    I give her a wry smile. “I
wasn’t rude to either of them, if that’s what you mean.”
    She inclines her head to
one side. “He’s a nice young man, with a lot on his
shoulders.”
    Nice young man? That nice
young man licked me a couple of hours ago. Although, I’d have to concede it
was more than nice. My skin had tingled. I’d grown damp between my
thighs. Every part of me felt alive.
    But that wasn’t what had
threatened my defenses. Oh no. It was the way he held my hand, had
gently pried the rock away, and kissed my palm, my wrist. He had
touched me, not just my skin, but me . Inside.
    “ Mmm-hmm.” I shiver, goose
bumps appearing along my arms and legs. “He takes good care of his
little sister.”
    Nana nods, finishing the
last bite of casserole on her plate. “If you’d