Protected (Book 1 in the Ariya Adams trilogy) by Anna Applegate Page B
Authors: Anna Applegate
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out.
Chapter 4
I woke up slowly, thankful that it wasn’t through a rough, jerk-awake. Crap, how long had my nap been? I could hear the T.V. in the living room, but it sounded like the party was over. I hadn’t meant to fall asleep and had only wanted to rest for just a minute.
I snatched up my clock and saw that it was 8 pm. That’s weird. I had been so tired lately. It really wasn’t like me at all. I walked out and saw Caroline, Nick, Riley and James all watching a movie.
“Hey , Sleeping Beauty, come to grace us with your presence?” Riley joked. I was still groggy from waking up and tried to smile, but it came out a yawn and I had to cover my mouth.
“Move over ,“ I said back to him as I wiggled my way between Riley and the end of the couch. They were watching a scary movie. I hate scary movies. I can never convince myself they aren’t real. That’s what people say to do. They say the movies aren’t scary because you know they aren’t real. Well, watching not-real things attack people still scares me. Things jump out, and people scream, which just gets under my skin.
“I’m going to have nightmares. W hat is this?”
“Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” Nick said. “Don’t worry, it’s almost over.” He flashed a grin at me and made me smile, too.
“Scar edy cat.” Riley brought his arm around my shoulder and ruffled his hand through my hair with the other.
“Hey , you guys wanna head over to McGrady’s after this?” Riley asked the group once he was done teasing me.
He was always looking for a party. McGrady’s was the local pub and it was considered the hot spot for college students on Saturday nights. Since this was the first Saturday back, it was sure to be jam-packed with people. Everyone chimed in that they wanted to go. I nodded, unenthusiastically. I looked over at James and noticed he had been staring at me. Oh calm down, stomach , I told myself when the butterflies seemed to be fluttering again.
He turned to Riley and sa id, “I might stay in tonight.”
“Aw , man, come out with us – we gotta get out since clearly Ariya is once again not going to take me up on having me as her man. I gotta find another lucky lady.” I rolled my eyes and shoved into his side that was exposed to me because of his arm being up on the couch. I think teasing me came as second nature to Riley. “Plus, it’s your first weekend here. You can’t hole up in your house already.”
“I know it sounds lame. I think I’m going to just take it easy. I’m sure there will be plenty of Saturdays to get into trouble with you.” James smiled, and I felt my own face burn up in response to his comment.
“Fine , goody-goody. I’ll help clean up before we head out. Let’s move it ladies! I got places to be and people to see.” Riley jumped up off the floor and headed to the kitchen to grab trash bags.
Not many guys would hang around to clean up before going out. He might act tough and too cool for things, but Riley was a stand-up guy.
We started shuffling around the apartment to pick up from the BBQ. I was sure I would end up cleaning thoroughly again tomorrow. If you let the carpets sit with beer on them for too long, the smell never leaves. I walked over to the Beer Pong table and started throwing the cups away. James came up, too, and held a bag open for me while he joined in picking up cups. After a couple minutes, he spoke
“If you would like, we could hang out tonight, only if you don’t want to go with everyone else. You just seem tired, and I figured if I was staying in anyway, and you were tired…” he trailed off.
It took every muscle in my body to hold myself together and not let my appearance betray the girly teenager wannabe inside of me who was jumping for joy. Maybe he was more interested than I thought.
“Sure, that could be fun.” Could be fun was an understatement, but I had to try to salvage my coolness somehow.
“Great.”
He took the bag around to the living room while
Chapter 4
I woke up slowly, thankful that it wasn’t through a rough, jerk-awake. Crap, how long had my nap been? I could hear the T.V. in the living room, but it sounded like the party was over. I hadn’t meant to fall asleep and had only wanted to rest for just a minute.
I snatched up my clock and saw that it was 8 pm. That’s weird. I had been so tired lately. It really wasn’t like me at all. I walked out and saw Caroline, Nick, Riley and James all watching a movie.
“Hey , Sleeping Beauty, come to grace us with your presence?” Riley joked. I was still groggy from waking up and tried to smile, but it came out a yawn and I had to cover my mouth.
“Move over ,“ I said back to him as I wiggled my way between Riley and the end of the couch. They were watching a scary movie. I hate scary movies. I can never convince myself they aren’t real. That’s what people say to do. They say the movies aren’t scary because you know they aren’t real. Well, watching not-real things attack people still scares me. Things jump out, and people scream, which just gets under my skin.
“I’m going to have nightmares. W hat is this?”
“Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” Nick said. “Don’t worry, it’s almost over.” He flashed a grin at me and made me smile, too.
“Scar edy cat.” Riley brought his arm around my shoulder and ruffled his hand through my hair with the other.
“Hey , you guys wanna head over to McGrady’s after this?” Riley asked the group once he was done teasing me.
He was always looking for a party. McGrady’s was the local pub and it was considered the hot spot for college students on Saturday nights. Since this was the first Saturday back, it was sure to be jam-packed with people. Everyone chimed in that they wanted to go. I nodded, unenthusiastically. I looked over at James and noticed he had been staring at me. Oh calm down, stomach , I told myself when the butterflies seemed to be fluttering again.
He turned to Riley and sa id, “I might stay in tonight.”
“Aw , man, come out with us – we gotta get out since clearly Ariya is once again not going to take me up on having me as her man. I gotta find another lucky lady.” I rolled my eyes and shoved into his side that was exposed to me because of his arm being up on the couch. I think teasing me came as second nature to Riley. “Plus, it’s your first weekend here. You can’t hole up in your house already.”
“I know it sounds lame. I think I’m going to just take it easy. I’m sure there will be plenty of Saturdays to get into trouble with you.” James smiled, and I felt my own face burn up in response to his comment.
“Fine , goody-goody. I’ll help clean up before we head out. Let’s move it ladies! I got places to be and people to see.” Riley jumped up off the floor and headed to the kitchen to grab trash bags.
Not many guys would hang around to clean up before going out. He might act tough and too cool for things, but Riley was a stand-up guy.
We started shuffling around the apartment to pick up from the BBQ. I was sure I would end up cleaning thoroughly again tomorrow. If you let the carpets sit with beer on them for too long, the smell never leaves. I walked over to the Beer Pong table and started throwing the cups away. James came up, too, and held a bag open for me while he joined in picking up cups. After a couple minutes, he spoke
“If you would like, we could hang out tonight, only if you don’t want to go with everyone else. You just seem tired, and I figured if I was staying in anyway, and you were tired…” he trailed off.
It took every muscle in my body to hold myself together and not let my appearance betray the girly teenager wannabe inside of me who was jumping for joy. Maybe he was more interested than I thought.
“Sure, that could be fun.” Could be fun was an understatement, but I had to try to salvage my coolness somehow.
“Great.”
He took the bag around to the living room while
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