MIDNIGHT DIVINE (The Helio Trilogy Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

stomach. He looks over his shoulder to back out. His baseball cap creates
shadows across his face, making him even more dark and mysterious. I sense
myself being drawn to him and eager to see his green eyes again. Riding a few
minutes in uncomfortable silence, I play with my cellphone to appear distracted
as I enjoy the way he handles his ca r . Fast . Smooth. Aggressive .
    Jack brakes the silence,
“So, I’m guessing that Evo is yours?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Sick,” he responds.
    “And is this car yours?”
I'm curious how he paid for it.
    He chuckles. “Yeah. It gets
me around.”
    “Let me guess. Your parents
bought it for you?” I'm irritated he pretends it ’ s just another
ordinary car and not the speed monster it deserves to be recognized as.
    “Hell, no!” he bellows,
peering at me with petulance. I think I offended him….Good. “I work my
ass off for what I have.”
    “Oh.” I'm surprised because
he comes off as just another trust fund kid, the type that doesn’t appreciate
the things they have and throw money away at the same rate they flush toilet paper.
    “What about you? Did daddy
buy your car for you ?” he counters.
    “No.” I try to keep my
answers short. His mention of my ‘daddy’ brings up corrupted memories of my
adoptive father. His drunken bouts of anger and physical violence flash in my
mind.
    Jack seems to notice my
uneasiness and attempts to apologize without verbalizing it, “Well, it’s pretty
sweet. Do you know much about cars?”
    I feign ignorance, “Not
much.” Deciding not to come off as a complete ditz who can’t take care of her
own car and needs a man to do it for her, I add, “I mean, I know the basics. I
can change my oil and a flat.” Jack smiles. It's truly charming.
    We arrive at the pizza
joint, choosing a booth in the corner of the restaurant, and Alice and Eric
come through the doors soon after. I don’t want to sit in uncomfortable silence
after we order, so I excuse myself to go smoke a cigarette outside. The evening
is forming into a double date, and I'm uneasy about sitting in such close proximity to Jack. He's effecting me on an anatomical
level. My body tingles when he's inches from me, my stomach does flip flops,
yet I'm at ease. It's confusing.
    “Mind if I join you?” Jack
requests, stepping into the humid night air with me.
    “Sure.” I didn’t know he
smoked.
    Jack lights up a cigarette
and leans against the building next to me. “So tell me, Sunshine, why do I get
the feeling you’re uncomfortable around me?” he muses without pretense.
    Whoa. I didn’t see that
coming. Guess I’ll have to pull out my inner bitch after all. “For one, my name's Ivy. And it’s not that I’m
uncomfortable, but I constantly feel like you're hitting on me.”
    He blows out a puff of
smoke and smirks. “That’s because I am.” He waits for my reaction to his
forwardness.
    Fuck. “Look,” I throw down my cigarette and crush it with
the toe of my shoe. “I don’t play games. So, I’m going to give it to you
straight.” I hesitate to look up at his shadowed face and try to force the
butterflies in my stomach to still. “I’m not interested. I came here to focus
on my music and graduate. I have no interest in dating. And by the looks of it,
you don’t date. Either way, I’m not interested in a hook-up either.” I shoulder
past him to go back inside. This is going
to be an unpleasant evening if I don't walk away from the situation.
    “Ivy,” he calls out, and I
whip around to face him. His baseball cap covers his face as he looks down at
his feet. Then, he looks up at me and continues, “If you’re not interested in
me… that way… I’ll back off. But, I still want to get to know you. Can we start
over?”
    Throttled by his honesty
which I'm inclined to believe, but could also be a lie, I'm compelled to ask,
“Why are you so interested in me, anyways?”
    He pauses before answering.
“When I saw you at the race yesterday, I had to know