Adrian Read Online Free

bandleader, and he wasn’t the best at negotiation. He and our drummer, Brita, ran off to California together over holiday break, so I sucked in the other three Lindquist brothers and handed over the bandleader title to Aleck. He may be quiet, but he keeps us in line and has a knack for getting us what we deserve from club owners.
    I sigh. “I’m a little nervous about Friday night. Adrian’s brother Aleck composed a song for us, and he seems to think I have mad skills on the keyboards, because on one part I can’t seem to go fast enough.” I glance at Adrian. “I kind of lost it when I was practicing, and that’s why we’re here.”
    Adrian rubs my arm as he asks, “Keith, what was it like for you when you first tried to shift?”
    “Oh man, it sucked. There’s a reason parents joke about sending their preteens off to an island for a few years. It’s a mess.”
    Tori asks, “So you didn’t have control of your shift right away?”
    “God no.” He glances at me. “My first shift was so embarrassing. I was one of the first in my peer group to do it, and it happened in the middle of gym class when I got hit by a ball.” He sighs. “I couldn’t shift back, and the school nurse had to talk me down.”
    Tori says, “Oh, wow. How old were you?”
    “Fifth grade.” He shakes his head. “Kids are so mean. I endured snickers behind my back for weeks. I think it was two months before I could shift back to human on command.”
    Adrian glances at me, and I ask, “So is it pretty normal for full werebear to have trouble with shifting?”
    Keith nods. “Definitely. Annie and a lot of other girls had trouble shifting into a bear. Her twin, Brady, is my best friend, and the two of us had to make her mad for it to happen.” He grins. “That was pretty fun.”
    “Thanks,” I say. “You’ve made me feel better about my problem.”
    Keith says, “Good, because if you ask me, Tori and the other human women are the freaks for making it look so easy.”
    Tori’s touch on my arm makes me turn to her. “He’s right. And you have to remember, we don’t know what normal is for halves like us. This is brand-new territory.” Tori is referring to the fact that it’s only been a couple years that the Northeast Kingdom bears even knew halves could change.
    Adrian says, “You know, in polar bear clans, those that work the hardest to keep from shifting in the beginning are recruited as warriors.” He waggles his eyebrows at me. “Maybe you’re destined to kick my ass.”
    I speak in his head as I picture the perfect round globes of his backside with the hollowed-out sides I love to hold. “I’ve got plans for your ass, and it’s not kicking.”
    “Bring it, babe.”
    Tori clears her throat, and I guess she smells my arousal. She changes the subject back to music. “I didn’t get the music gene.” She grins at me as she says, “Did Ginny ever tell you how they wouldn’t let me sing in the car?”
    Adrian speaks telepathically to me. “See? We all have our gifts, babe.” He says to Tori, “Surely you’re not that bad.”
    Keith snorts and quickly takes a drink from his beer bottle. I say, “Oh, she is.”
    “I was tortured for it, and I refused to take music lessons,” says Tori. “So my mother let me go to math camp instead.” She chuckles. “And I came home to convince my sisters that math geeks were much hotter than band ones.”
    Keith says, “Hey. I was a math geek.”
    Tori winks at him. “I know.”
    I glance over at Adrian and think about how the girls fall all over his brothers and him when we play. When band geeks grow up to be rockers, they’re totally hot too.
    Keith says, “We’re invited to Annie and Tristan’s for dinner. Why don’t I show you where you’re staying so you can get settled before we go.”
    Keith brings us back down the hall toward the front door, and I glance into a large room that makes me think of fancy parties. I imagine gowns and tuxedos as champagne bubbles