Page 160 of The Otherworld

Adam falls silent for a moment, then nods. “All right. I’ll speak with him.”

“Thank you.” I grasp a handful of his shirt and gently pull him down to my level. “Thank you, my love.” I take his face in my hands and kiss him.

It’s the last time we’ll be alone together for a while, and somehow just knowing that makes this last moment more fragile and precious.

Our lips part softly for each other, familiar with the rhythm of this dance. Adam holds me with sweet tenderness, as though I am a mere vapor that could vanish away. I interlace my fingers behind his neck to remind him that I am not going anywhere, not yet. He can take his time; he can love me slowly.

In one effortless motion, Adam lifts me off my feet. I am weightless in his arms—my fingers clutching his shoulders, my legs wrapped around him.

He never stops kissing me; I never stop kissing him. He sets me on the workbench, shoving tools aside with a graceless sweep of his hand. I laugh, surprised by his bold, hot-blooded urgency. I tasted a glimpse of it last night in bed; I felt the warmth of a fire burning under his skin, singing my name. Now that fire is spilling out of him, breaking free in the form of kisses, frantic kisses—racing down my neck and over my collarbone as I run my fingers through his hair, my body curling into him. He whispers my name, his breath trembling and warm against my neck. An indescribable feeling floods me like liquid gold, making my heart swell with love for him.

Suddenly, the door bursts open.

I look up just in time to see Jack storm into the hangar, murder in his eyes.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

49

World War 3

JACK

I wake up to a hammer knocking against my head.

BANG, BANG, BANG.

When I open my eyes, I find myself sprawled across the front seat of my Mustang, my head tipped against the driver’s window. My neck is sore, and there’s an empty bottle of Heineken in my cup holder.

That’s when it all comes back to me: how I spent last night at Matt’s house with a couple of other guys from school. Would I rather have been out having a hot date with Orca? Hell yes. But thanks to Adam, she was all upset last night. Shut herself inside her room and wouldn’t even let me talk to her. Just told me to go away. And then Mom was all, “Leave her alone,” and Adam kept glaring at me like I was some kind of villain.

I couldn’t take it anymore. If I stuck around the house for a minute longer, I knew I’d explode. So instead, I spent the night getting drunk with my buddies. I must have passed out around two o’clock in the morning, but now I awaken to the sound of Matt knocking on my car door.

I twist around in my seat and put the window down.

“What time is it?” I groan, rubbing a hand over my face.

“Seven.”

“What the hell, Matt? I thought you told me to sleep it off.”

“Yeah, well, my dad’s giving me shit about your car sitting in the middle of the driveway. He needs to go to work.” Matt gestures across the driveway. “You can pull over there and go back to sleep, man.”

I shake my head, reaching for my keys. “Nah, I need my bed.”

“You good to drive?”

I pass him the empty beer bottle through the window. “I am now.”

Matt laughs and slaps my shoulder. “Later, Stevenson.”

On the drive home, I wonder how Orca is doing. Maybe a good night’s sleep was all she needed to put yesterday behind her. Even though my head is splitting, I’m still going to take her out today. I want to make her laugh and forget about her troubles. Maybe I can talk Dad into letting me test-drive another boat, and this time I can bring Orca farther up the coast. We can disappear all day, go whale-watching or swimming, or lie in the sun and imagine we’re sailing around the world like we talked about. Maybe we’ll stay out all night and watch the stars together, and when the moment is right, I’ll kiss her.

Maybe she’ll kiss me back this time.

When I pull into the driveway, I notice that Adam’s truck is gone. Hopefully he hasn’t taken Orca to meet some new not-dead relative she didn’t know she had. Inside, the house is quiet—except for the drone of the vacuum cleaner coming from Mom and Dad’s room. I wander down the hallway and knock softly on the guest room door.

“Orca? You awake?”

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