Painfully Ordinary Special Edition Read Online Free Page A

of my skin.
    Leah stared at
me with wide eyes. “Geez, Caiti. You have got to chill.”
    “I know, I
know. I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be so jumpy.”
    Talon rubbed
his hand up and down my spine. Every muscle in my back was a live wire and it
was doing absolutely nothing to help my nerves.
    “You have
nothing to apologize for. You have done nothing wrong.” The deep timbre of his
voice was incredibly relaxing and beyond sexy.
    We strolled into
Art and sat at our normal table. Usually it’s just Leah with me at our table, so
there was plenty of room for Jace and Talon. Yet another
coincidence. I twisted to my left to stare out the window and saw Morgan
at the table next to us, grinning widely.
    She was giving
me two thumbs up.
    Normally,
Morgan would have me cracking up at her antics, but today I was simply too
nervous. I gave her a weak smile and soon found myself biting my lip the way my
mom does.
    Leah tilted
her head to one side and furrowed her brow at me. Then she turned and faced Jace.
“Hey, did you two hear about the party next weekend?”
    Jace perked up
and leaned across the table. “A party? Now you’re
talking! Where? When? What’s
the story?”
    Wow. Leah
and Jace really were a lot alike—always looking for the next party.
    Leah was
throwing me sidelong glances. I guess she was still trying to make sure I was
okay. I couldn’t figure out what party she was talking about .
    “Things
don’t really get going until around ten p.m. Even though this party happens just
about every weekend, Caiti and I have never bothered going before, but I think maybe
it’s just what she needs.”
    No way!
    Surely, she wasn’t
talking about the bonfire parties they held out at Goat Man’s Bridge. Had she
lost her mind?
    She twisted
in her chair and grabbed my hands. “Come on Cay-bear—what do you think? We can
grab some dinner and then go out to the bonfire. It will be fun!”
    Yep. She was
talking about that party .
    She, of all
people, knew why I never wanted to go out there. It was one of Ryan’s favorite
places. What was she up to? Now was not the time for her to try to make a
point. Everyone was looking at me and waiting for my answer. Well, she had
effectively painted me into a corner. I really had no choice but to agree or
look like a jerk.
    “Sure,” I
said in a weak voice. “It will be fun, right?”
    Leah clapped
her hands together and addressed the boys. “Okay, it’s settled. The party is next
Saturday night out in Double Oak at Goat Man’s Bridge. We can meet you out
there around tennish, if you two want to go. Do you know how to get there, or
do you need me to give you directions?”
    They glanced
at each other quickly out of the corners of their eyes. If I hadn’t been staring
at Talon just then, like usual, I would have missed it.
    Talon spoke
up first “Actually, why don’t you let us pick you up and take you both out to
dinner? You have been extremely kind to us, and that way you can show us where
the party is.”
    I was
stunned. “You really don’t have to do that”
    Leah kicked
me under the table. Ouch.
    Jace gave us
a big, goofy grin. He was clearly enjoying this as much as Leah was. “Oh, no,
you aren’t getting out of this. You have to show us where the good restaurants
are.”
    Leah snorted.
“You better hope you like Red’s or Margarite’s, since those are about the only
places Caiti and I ever seem to go.”
    Talon
chuckled--such a warm, soothing sound that I relaxed at once. It was almost
involuntary.
    “Sounds great! We can meet you ladies around eight. Where
should we pick you up?” he asked.
    Leah piped
up. “I’ll be staying over at Caiti’s house, so you can pick us up there.”
    She gave
them directions to my house, while I sat there with my mouth hanging open. I
had completely lost control of the situation. Jace winked at me again. I couldn’t
help but like him. He was exactly the kind of person you could be best friends
with and feel perfectly at ease–no