Darkest Dawn. Katlyn Duncan

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СКАЧАТЬ stomach twisted. Damn him. He didn’t seem like the serial killer type, but I’d seen enough crime shows to know that most didn’t. I glanced out the pass through window into the dining area. He couldn’t kill me with witnesses present, right?

      “Pop, can I—?”

      His dad turned the music up. “Don’t be long,” he called over it and winked at me. “These dishes won’t dry themselves.”

      Jake indicated for me to follow him. He led us through a back door into the cool night. The heavy door closed behind us.

       There go the witnesses.

      We stood on a set of cement stairs. A small overhang protected us from the rain that had picked up since I’d last been outside. Cold air swept under my jacket and I shivered. I inspected our surroundings, hoping this wasn’t a trick. A large garbage bin and several smaller ones were our only company.

      Jake’s body was close to mine and I kept my hand at my side, feeling for the stun gun.

      He moved away from me, clasping his hands around the metal railing opposite from the one I dug my back into. I tightened my grip on the strap of my bag.

      The mixed emotions of relief and nervousness were etched on his face. “Sorry. I can’t think in there sometimes.” He leaned his head back, studying the overhang. “I know this isn’t the place to do this, but I couldn’t wait.”

      Now we were getting somewhere. “Tell me.” My voice was terse and strained, but I didn’t want him to move until he told me why I’d been brought here.

      He smiled to himself, almost shy. “I tried to think of the perfect place to do this. Then realized there isn’t a perfect place.” His smile was gone, replaced with a serious expression that struck me like lightning.

      He moved closer and I clutched my bag tighter. My chest bloomed with anticipation of what he was about to tell me. His smile was back, but this time it quirked the side of his mouth. His eyes moved over my face, a wake of awareness touching everywhere—my cheeks, nose, eyes—and finally his eyes settled on my suddenly dry lips.

      “It took me way too long to say it. But I think you’re incredible.” His fingers gently brushed against my cheek.

      I flinched. My body froze even though alarm bells rang in my ears. It was so wrong, yet my body remained still.

      “And beautiful.”

      My legs turned to jelly and I leaned even more into the railing.

      His fingers traced over my cheek. “I don’t think you should ever hide those eyes.”

      Before I knew it, his lips were on mine. I gasped lightly. And pressed my hand against his chest. A flurry of thoughts raced through my brain. Though I couldn’t pull any rational ones from the situation. I briefly wondered about the bacon burger and the effect it had on my breath. Finally my brain clicked on. I pushed him away with barely enough force to make him budge. He pressed his body against mine and my body betrayed me by melting into his, all thought of right and wrong disappearing from my thoughts. He deepened the kiss and I let him. Oh boy, did I let him. His lips were warm and each time they touched mine, the heat intensified, reaching down to the tips of my toes. I reached up, brushing my fingers over his shoulders.

      “Bri,” he murmured against my lips.

      My body froze, the name stinging me like a thousand bees across my skin. I found the strength to push him away, my hands frozen between us. What the hell was I doing?

      His eyes opened wide. “What’s wrong?”

      I shook my head, rattling some sense into my brain. The cool metal railing sent rational thoughts back to the front of my mind. I moved away from him, stumbling down the cement steps, stunned by the rain as it soaked me in seconds.

      “Bri. Wait!”

      “I have to go.” I backed away from him. I turned away. His hurt expression made my chest tighten. I jogged around the building toward the motel. I touched my pocket again. The further I got from him, the clearer my head became. What the hell was I thinking? I should have gone with my first instinct and fled the diner after I’d eaten. And who the hell was Bri?

       CHAPTER TWO

      Bri

      “Mom! Get your butt down here!” Bri Taylor called up to the second floor of the condo. She checked her phone for the hundredth time in five minutes and shoved it back into her bag. Abbey Taylor ran across the hall to the other side of the second floor, her robe flying behind her like a cape.

      “Oh no you don’t!” Bri dropped her bag and bolted up the stairs after her mother.

      The lock on the bathroom door clicked just as she grabbed the handle. Bri pounded on the door.

      “Two minutes, Brianna!” Abbey called, her voice muffled by the shower.

      “You have less than that!” Bri turned, sliding down the wall and sitting cross-legged by the door. It wasn’t like her mom’s snooze alarm hadn’t gone off three times.

      Bri unlocked her phone to check the time then scrolled around the screen to her text messages. She pressed Jake’s name to open their recent conversation.

       Come by the diner tonight. We need to talk.

      Bri had received the message around seven the night before. Her mom had already been passed out in bed. The papers she’d been reading were spread across her lap in an unruly mess. By the time Bri had stacked everything neatly on the nightstand, cleaned up after dinner, and done a load of laundry, it had been eight-thirty. And with the stupid laws that went with her driver’s permit, she couldn’t go anywhere in the car past eight without an adult. She’d contemplated dragging Abbey’s unconscious body into the car but did wonder how she’d get back in the house after. It was one thing going down the dangerously steep driveway; it was a different thing entirely getting back up.

      Her message remained the last part of the conversation. Sorry. Let’s talk tomorrow?

      She knew he could only get on his phone at the beginning and end of his shift. All night she wondered what Jake wanted to tell her. Lately their relationship had been leaning toward something more than the friendship they’d had since middle school. “Hello?”

      Bri shoved off the floor and leaned on the banister, her chin resting on her arms. Her best friend, Max, stood in the doorway, her short black hair pulled back in a tiny ponytail at the top of her head, with a thick curtain of bangs shading her already dark eyes. She arched an eyebrow at Bri.

      Bri shrugged. This wasn’t the first morning battle.

      “Mrs. Taylor!” Max called. “If I’m late again, Mrs. Brewster is going to kick my ass.”

      The bathroom door opened. Bri looked over at Abbey who was fully dressed and in the middle of pulling her hair into a bun as she walked back to her bedroom. “Watch your language, Maxine. And Madelyn and I are on the best of terms. I will explain your tardiness, if necessary.”

      Bri checked her phone again. They would be at the tipping point of being just СКАЧАТЬ