Fearless The King Series Book One - By Tawdra Kandle Page 0,29
afternoon.”
As if any alternative was a possibility.
Lancer Park was about ten minutes outside the King town borders. I saw the large lake before we even turned into the park and tried not to think of what lived in it.
We parked on the grass at the edge of the beach and walked toward the lake. The water sparkled innocently in the late afternoon sun, but I was still wary. Michael took my hand and pulled me down on the sandy lakeshore.
“You’re safe here. Nothing’s going to jump out of the water and get you.”
I raised an eyebrow skeptically. “It’s on your head if a gator grabs me by the leg and drags me out to the middle of the lake.”
He smiled slightly. “I’ll take that responsibility.” My heart beat a little erratically as my cheeks felt warm. Without meaning to, the wall I kept between us slipped slightly, and I heard, “So pretty… what am I doing here with a girl like her? She’s going to see that I’m not good enough for her…” I pulled my gaze from his face and concentrated on not listening.
“What’s wrong? Are you really that freaked? We can go if you want.”
“It’s not that. I am just trying… not to listen. Sometimes it’s hard when it’s a more one-on-one situation.”
This time it was his face that reddened. “Are you hearing something you don’t like?”
Oh, great, Tas, I thought, way to help things out here. I decided it was better to lighten the mood.
“Not yet, I didn’t. Maybe I wasn’t listening hard enough?” I put my fingers to my temples and struck my best mind-reader pose.
It worked, and he laughed, bumping his shoulder against mine in a friendly way. I did notice, though, that he was still holding my hand from when he had pulled me down onto the sand. He followed my gaze.
“Does it bother you?”
I didn’t have to drop the wall to know what he meant. But I couldn’t quite articulate with my heart thumping and my throat suddenly feeling tighter. I just shook my head. He smiled then, and gripped my hand just a bit tighter.
We looked out over the water in silence for a few minutes, and then he began hesitantly, “Can I ask you a few things? About… you know, your talent.”
“Sure. Ask away. I don’t know how much I can explain, but I’ll try.” I bit the side of my lip and frowned slightly. I saw a reflecting frown on Michael’s face and his brow was furrowed.
“I don’t have to ask anything. You don’t have to tell me anything. We can just hang. It’s cool. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.” I could feel waves of uncertainty coming off him—he thought I was afraid he couldn’t be discreet.
“It’s not that. It’s not that I don’t trust you to keep it to yourself. It’s more—” I took a deep breath. “It might change how you feel about me. You could start seeing me differently. Acting differently around me.”
He was silent for a moment. I could tell that he was thinking about what I said, and it was a relief that he didn’t just offer me assurances.
“I don’t think it will make any difference. I already know the biggest part—I think, anyway—” he threw me a swift glance and I nodded in agreement, “—and it doesn’t make me like you any less. I just kind of want to know… more.”
I nodded again and took a deep breath. “Okay, so fire away. Unless you want me to just pick the questions out of your mind?” I meant the last part to be said flippantly, and he rolled his eyes at me.
“No, let’s do this the old-fashioned way, if you don’t mind. So, how long have you been able to read minds?”
“First, I’ll tell you it’s not really mind-reading. It’s more like hearing. Reading implies will; you don’t just walk around accidentally reading stuff, but you can definitely hear things you might not mean to hear. That’s more what it’s like with me. And it’s been all my life. As long as I can remember.”
His eyes widened. “Really? So even when you were a little kid? What was that like?”
I laughed without much humor. “It was just how I was. For me, it was normal. It was what I knew. So I don’t know what to say to that. I don’t remember any time when I couldn’t hear people.”