fingers in mine.
Chapter 10
Cadence
After Barrick drops me off at school, I
cannot concentrate on anything but him. Instead of being down and
out, I’m happy again. It’s funny how when one piece of your life is
missing, your world quickly crumbles. I didn’t realize until these
past two weeks how much he holds me up.
I make it to civics class on time, and take
a few extra minutes to study. It doesn’t work out as well as I had
hoped. All I can see is Barrick asking me the questions from my
review sheet, and that’s extremely distracting.
“Cadence, clear your desk,” my teacher
instructs and I put my review sheet away.
The test is easier than I had hoped, and I’m
thankful. As the bell rings, I head to the cafeteria for lunch and
run into Jade.
“Girl! Where were you this morning?” she
asks.
“Let’s just say that Gran made Barrick and I
call a truce. He brought me this morning.”
She stops in the middle of the hallway.
“Wait. You missed first. Where did y’all go? Spill it!”
“He made me talk to him about
everything.”
“Aw, did y’all kiss and make up?” she asks,
making duck lips and kissing noises.
“No, but we’re good.”
“Oh, I’m sure,” she says, nudging me as we
walk into the cafeteria.
Barrick sends me a text after lunch to let
me know that Gran’s appointment went well and she has been cleared
to resume normal activity. I’m so happy that everything will be
back to normal.
When Jade and I get to the
studio after school, Ms. Lyndsay asks how Gran is recovering. I let
her know that she is healed. She is relieved to hear the good news
and wastes no time getting us started. After three hours, we are
released and our limbs feel like Jell-O. We are both exhausted and
just want to crash, but I have to write a paper when I get
home. Why did I wait until the last
minute?
Jade drops me off and I notice that Barrick
is still at the barn. I leave my bags on the porch and jog toward
it. The paper has been waiting a week to be written, what’s a
little longer?
Sliding the door open, I find him replacing
a wooden board in one of the stalls. He pauses as he hears
something and looks over his shoulder at me and does a double take.
“Hey there,” I say as I walk toward him.
“Hey. Aren’t you cold?” he questions.
Suddenly, I realize I’m standing over him, in the dead of winter,
in booty shorts and an oversized shirt.
“Now that you’ve mentioned it,maybe,” I
laugh.
“Hold on, I’m almost finished,” he says as
he finishes nailing in the final two nails. I take a step back and
enjoy the view. Barrick Carpenter squatted down in a fitted pair of
jeans is easy on the eyes.
When he finishes, he takes the box of nails
in his hand and the hammer and places them on the shelf beside us.
I watch his every move and can’t stand it any longer. I follow
behind him and when he turns, I wrap my arms around him.
“I think I passed my civics test today,” I
say as I look up at him.
“That’s great,” he says but I can see that
his mind is elsewhere.
Leaning back, I look at him, “What’s going
on? I thought we were good,” I say, giving him a questioning
look.
A huge smirk escapes his lips as he looks to
me. “Cadence, we’re perfect, but you can’t come bouncing in here
half-naked. I can’t handle it.”
“What? Do I look bad? I know my hair is a
mess, but that’s what happens when you dance for three hours.”
He looks me in the eyes.
“That’s not the problem. You’re absolutely breathtaking just like
you are right now.” What? I’m sweaty, my
hair is a hot mess, and my shorts and top don’t even
match.
I look into his amazing eyes and kiss him.
When our lips meet, I realize how much I’ve missed them.
Barrick
Oh my good Lord. Those
lips. Her body. Minimal clothes. She has no
clue what she did to me when I saw her over my shoulder. I felt
something spark within my soul. I know I like her… a lot, but after
two weeks of not speaking to her, I know
Aer-ki Jyr
Donna Ford
Michelle Diener
Oksana Marafioti
Katie Lane
Brian S. Pratt
Sheila Bradley
Kathryn Harrison
Graham Greene
M. John Harrison