Cursed (Enchanted Gods #1) - K.K. Allen Page 0,39
he’s not the only one. I don’t know whether to join them or cry from embarrassment.
“What an idiot,” Ava mutters to Iris.
Meanwhile, Trisha is cheering me on, and Alec is jogging across the room in search of the ball. When he comes back, he’s still laughing. He wraps his arms around me in a giant hug and squeezes. “Now, let’s just work on your control.”
I don’t have to see myself in the mirror to know my face is beet red with a blush. But we continue the game, watching as Iris and Brett pull ahead a few balls, leaving it up to Alec to save our game. Then it’s my turn again.
“Okay, Kat. You’re up. Keep the ball on the table this time.” Alec flashes a smile at me, and the heat rises in my face.
I eye the table, planning my next move, and notice a solid ball near the middle pocket. To get to it, I’ll have to somehow get the white ball around from behind a striped one. If I hit its side, it could bounce off it and hit the yellow solid right into the pocket. I position myself, eyes focused, figuring I have nothing to lose.
“Whoa, getting fancy,” Alec says when he sees what I’m about to do.
“Oh great,” Ava says dryly. “Everybody duck.”
As I pull back on the stick, I look directly at Ava and glare. My eyes aren’t even back on the ball when I push the stick forward, this time with much less force. The tip of my cue hits the white ball perfectly, pushing the white ball to the side wall so it moves around the striped ball, smacks directly into the yellow one, and sends the yellow ball into the pocket.
Alec cheers loudly from the opposite end of the table while Brett stands there with his mouth wide open. Iris and Ava stand off to the side, wearing incredulous expressions. I’m so shocked and elated, I yank the pool stick back from the table, not paying attention to what’s behind me. When the stick connects with something hard and all momentum stops, a shooting pain fires from my hands to my forearms. Horrified, I turn to see what I struck.
Johnny stands there, leaning over slightly, his red-faced expression filled with pain, and he’s clutching his stomach. I jolt toward him and place my hand on his shoulder without thinking. His arm stiffens before he shakes me off, but not before I can feel the strength beneath the fabric.
“I’m so sorry. I was excited, and I wasn’t paying attention.”
“You’re trouble.” He growls the words so low that only I can hear, and I hear his warning loud and clear. “Do yourself a favor and stay the hell away from me.”
With a glare, he leaves me completely shaken to the core.
As soon as my feet hit the sand the next morning, I feel free. I take off on a jog along the shore, breathing in the salty air from the bay as my legs ease into their natural cadence. After my mother’s death, I was in no mood to exercise, but after weeks of feeling like I’ve been locked in one place, my energy is practically bursting to break free.
I’m surprised by how quickly I find my rhythm. It’s like riding a bike, and it’s all coming back to me. At times, I feel like I can jog for hours. I get lost in my thoughts and let my feet take me where they lead. This feels like one of those times. Still, I try to pace my steps so I don’t overexert myself.
I continue past the neighboring homes until I reach the public beach just outside of Summer Estate. To the left, I stare down a strip of rock that juts into the bay and instinctively move toward it. I climb over the jagged rocks, one by one, taking cautious steps as water slaps over the rocks on either side of me. Once I’m at the end of the rock pier, I take a seat on one of the taller rocks and let my feet dangle over it. Water crashes the rocks around me, a melody fitting to such a turbulent past few weeks. This is the first time in a while I’ve felt anything close to peaceful. I can breathe.
“There you are.” Alec sits beside me, a smile on his handsome face and a twinkle of curiosity in his eyes. “Living on the edge, I see.”
I let out a light laugh