Chapter 23

Rachel

I fell into an easy rhythm the rest of the week. Living with Jennifer and Kyp wasn’t nearly as awkward as I’d been afraid it might be. Jennifer was almost like a cross between my mom and Clary. Part of her was the concerned mother figure, while the other part of her was like another fun older sister. It was a comforting combination that I realized I needed. And Kyp was the perfect gentleman. He made sure my needs and his mom’s needs came before his. He did a perimeter check of the house every night. He opened the doors for me. He let me have the shower first and never complained about my taking too long or using too much hot water. He was careful about touching me—especially when we were at the house. It was almost as if he was afraid to touch me at all if no one else was around. And I found that I wanted him to. Particularly when no one else was around.

School went like clockwork. Kyp and I rode to school together. Then he hung around and helped out as a volunteer on the sets after school while I worked with Luke on the finishing touches of the winter play and rehearsals. The play was set to run the week before Christmas break, and for once, we were ahead of schedule. We needed to finish up the sets and finalize two scenes. Our drama group was exceedingly responsible this year and everyone knew almost all their lines and all cues were nearly finalized.

I knew Thursday afternoon was going to be busy with set work. We were tackling the more complicated set for Scene III, so I made time to check in with Dad before I got tangled up in the project.

“Sweetheart!” Dad’s voice was happy but still strained.

“Hi Daddy. How is everything?”

“It’s going. Slower than we’d hoped. Joanie is…being stubborn.” He sighed and my heart fell to my toes.

“Why is she being stubborn? She realizes she almost died, doesn’t she?” I tried to keep the anger out of my voice. I wasn’t entirely successful. Kyp came around the corner then and I waved to him distractedly. He saw my phone and must have read my frustrated expression because he came up and quietly touched my elbow, silently offering his support. Wolf relaxed, and the human part of me might have melted a little, too.

“She is being stubborn. She was born stubborn, that girl, but she’s broken, too. Her body and her mind have been through as much torture as we have, only on a much more intimate scale,” Dad reminded me. My eyes slid shut as I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to quell my own irritation and remember that this was all a process. Joanie wasn’t going to just recover overnight.

“I know. Sorry.”

“It’s all right, Sweetheart. I know it’s hard. How are you doing? School okay? Staying with Grandpa working out?”

“It’s fine. We’re getting ready to work on the big set components tonight, so that should be fun.” I tried to deflect the living arrangement question. I filled him in on a few details of the sets.

“We’ll make sure we’re back for the play,” he promised. “We’re hoping Joanie will be progressed far enough along that we’ll be able to come home by Thanksgiving.”

“That’d be great, Dad,” I said, my stomach clenching. I missed my parents, but how was I going to explain my need for nighttime runs in fur? I did not want to be that girl who snuck out behind her parents’ backs at night. Although, I was hiding plenty from them now. I shivered and Wolf nudged her head against me in sympathy. It was a complicated situation. We said our goodbyes and I hung up with a long sigh.

“What happened?” Kyp asked quietly from my side, where he’d stood patiently the entire time.

“I’m frustrated with Joanie, and then I feel guilty for feeling frustrated with her.” I blinked rapidly as I felt tears prick the back of my eyes. I did not want to cry right now.

Kyp didn’t say anything. Didn’t try to tell me everything was going to be all right. Didn’t whisper platitudes to me while he held me and stroked my hair, although I might have preferred that. He took my hand, holding it firmly, grounding me to the present, and pouring his strength into me through our linked fingers. Wolf leaned toward him and I took control of myself with a calming breath.

****

The evening wore on, and it wore on me, too. Though the set was coming along nicely, and rehearsals happened with few hiccups, I felt incomplete somehow. My eyes kept tracking to Kyp, to see what he was doing, to see if he was watching me. Then I’d blush and go back to my task at hand. Wolf wasn’t helping. She wanted out. And she wanted Kyp’s attention, too.

“Rachel, do we have any more of this green paint?” Anthony called about five o’clock. There were a few things we were trying to finish up before all heading home for the evening.

“I think there’s some backstage by the props room. I’ll go check,” I offered.

The back of the stage was dark. The paint had to be way back in the back corner. It couldn’t be in the well-lit portion where everyone was working on the sets. I was grumpy and I knew I needed to get over it. I wanted to go home and let Wolf out. My foot tangled in a forgotten pile of rope used to hoist the different sets and I felt like cursing. I held it in and proceeded back to the recesses of the stage behind the curtain. There was just enough light peeking through the door to the classroom to make out the different shapes of the props.

“It’s awfully dark to be back here by yourself.”

I yelped and Wolf startled as a dark figure emerged from between two fake palm trees. My arms swung wide and I tripped over another pile of set rope but this time I couldn’t catch myself, and I went tumbling headlong into the shadowy mass.

“Oof!”

I crashed into the man and landed on top of him. I dragged in a lung full of air and startled, wide-eyed, as the narrow strip of light showed me Kyp’s face.

“You scared me to death,” I hissed.

“Yeah. I got that,” he quipped. His hands had wrapped around me in our rapid descent and I was suddenly acutely aware of their presence on my hips. One of my arms was braced on the floor beside his head, the other gripped a shoulder of nicely rounded muscle.

I knew I should move and get up, but something in his gaze held me there. My heart rate increased, and not from my sudden spike in adrenaline. I licked suddenly dry lips. Wolf went all giddy.

It then became apparent exactly what sort of effect I was having on him, positioned as I was. My eyes went wide, and I blushed to the roots of my hair. His eyes were steady, but his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard and his face heated. His fingers gripped my hips tighter, not pulling me into him, but I could feel the wanting in his hands. Kyp’s gaze darted quickly to my mouth and back to my eyes.

Adrenaline rushed through me and without another thought, I planted my lips on his.

I was too stunned to do anything more. I kissed him. I kissed Kyp. I was kissing him. I was kissing Alexander Kypson!

His lips were unsure but did not pull back. I was stunned, totally shocked. Kyp was kissing me back. Nerves attacked my stomach, sending it spiraling through my midsection. A thousand thoughts flew through my brain. I hadn’t been kissed much. Was I doing this right? Would he notice? Would he care? We were kissing! Should I open my mouth? Did he want me to open my mouth? My whole body felt hot, quivering with excitement, and through his thin T-shirt I could feel the muscles of Kyp’s body beneath mine, flexing as he maneuvered into a spot where he could better reach my mouth.

Before I could even decide how to respond, he was pulling away, and I hadn’t moved. I’m not even sure I breathed. His body didn’t relax beneath me, but one of his hands left my hip and carefully tucked an errant curl behind my ear. My heart was hammering in my chest, my hand reflexively gripping his shoulder tighter. Wolf sighed in contentment, basking in the attention. She gave her full approval. He looked back to my eyes, unspoken questions there in the shadowed light. I took a shuddering breath and glanced at his lips. I wanted to feel that again. I wanted to feel him again as he pressed his mouth to mine. We were friends. Friends who were obviously attracted to one another. I glanced back up to his eyes, not moving, wanting him to kiss me, my impulsivity be cursed, but unsure how to ask. Apparently, he got the message. His hand slid down my side back to my hip, leaving a trail of tingles in its wake as he inched his mouth closer to mine. I met him half-way, wanting him to know that I was a willing participant, wanting him to know that I wanted this, too. That I hadn’t kissed him because I had no impulse control.

Time slowed as we kissed. It wasn’t a wildly passionate kiss, but it was good. I stretched my body out, trying to find a better angle to reach him and he grunted, breaking our lips apart as his right hand slid up to my side. I started to pull back, embarrassed, realizing that I’d inadvertently pressed against him in a place I probably shouldn’t have, my face flaming all over again.

Kyp didn’t let me get far. His hand slid the rest of the way up my back and tangled into my hair and the base of my head, tugging me back down to his lips. His kisses were sweet and gentle. He wasn’t pushy, but he was definitely making a move well beyond the friendship line. The line I’d crossed first. Pleasant heat poured through me. He kissed me back.

He pulled away slowly. I was breathing harder than I liked to admit. His face was still solemn, but his eyes held an intensity that warmed me to my toes.

“Rachel, did you find that paint yet?” Anthony called from just the other side of the curtain.

In one movement, Kyp had flipped me over, straddled me for one second, placed one more lightning-fast kiss on my cheek and hauled us both to our feet.

“Um, yeah. I’ll be right there!” my voice came out unnaturally high.

Kyp’s lips curved upward slightly at the edges.

“Come on,” he whispered. “Let’s go find that paint before someone else comes looking.”

He tugged my hand, releasing it as I moved after him. Other than a new warmth when he glanced at me, he was acting like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. We were just back to being friends. I was more than a little thrown-off balance by his behavior. Had he wanted to kiss me? Did I foolishly make another impulsive move? Even though I’d been thinking about it for days? Had he just been excited in the moment?