Absolute Zero (5 page)

My mind whirled. God. He knew almost everything about me. If I were him I’d freak out as well.

“Mandy? What’s up with Zach?”

I glanced at my sister’s big, blue eyes. “I think the excitement of dating a human popsicle has worn off.”

Chapter 6

“W
hy on earth do we have to move in on a Friday night?” Georgia whined. “Why not during the day so we can go out and find something fun to do in our new town tonight.”

I hoisted the TV I carried against my hip, and the three boxes I balanced in my other hand and snickered. “It’s not like I could do this in broad daylight. We’d totally get caught.”

She held the door open to the back stairs as a snicker rolled off her tongue.

“And plus, it’s Friday night. Pretty much everyone who lives here is a college student, so they’re out partying, which means we’re left alone to carry this stuff in here.”

“I get it.”

“You know how long it would take moving our boxes one by one? Much faster with me carrying five times what we normally could.”

“Show off.” Georgia led me down the hall.

Five doors down and the one on the right was ours. We’d propped the door open with a wooden wedge in the hinge so I could go to work lugging all the heavy stuff.

I set the three boxes on the kitchen table and plopped the TV on the wooden stand. “I can’t believe how much stuff two eighteen-year-olds have.” I coughed. “Wait. I take that back. I don’t have squat, this is all your crap, Georgia.”

Boxes three high surrounded our little living room. A brown suede couch—a gift from our sweet brother—was loaded up with rugs and more boxes, too.

“Be nice. I’ve lived in one house my entire life. I haven’t been the one on the run, unable to keep anything but a couple bags or boxes of stuff.”

“Jerk,” I said as I tossed a pillow at her.

Our living room opened into a small kitchenette. To the right was my bedroom. To my left was Georgia’s room. Each had its own bathroom, which was the selling point as far as I was concerned.

“But we’re going to have to hang some color on these boring beige walls, you know?”

“I’ll leave you in charge of the decorating. You’re the artist, remember?”

“Deal.” Georgia flipped open a box and stuck her hand in. “That was the last car load, right?”

“Just a chair down there. I’ll run get it. You want to order some pizza?”

“Sure. Just one? Or is Zach coming later?”

“His sister and her kids are visiting. His mom
demanded
he stay home and be with them.”

“Oh man. Really?”

“Between him working and
family
stuff, they’re doing a good job keeping us apart.”

“Except for the clandestine meetings in a certain dark lot…” Georgia winked.

Heat steamed my cheeks. “Hey now!”

“It’s kind of romantic, don’t you think?” She smiled. “Him sneaking out against his parents wishes because he loves you so much. It’s just like those dumb books I read.”

“If they’re so dumb, why do you read them?”

“You know what I mean.”

I stepped to the door. “Maybe having this apartment will free up some of his time and we can really be together. If he wants to, that is.”

Georgia scurried toward me. “What do you mean?”

“I told you about the other night in the car, and he’s not called since. Just a quick text about not helping us move tonight.”

“But he’s been working or with family, right?”

“Yeah. I guess.” I glanced out the open door. “I don’t know. I just think he’s second-guessing his choice to stay back and do the community college thing. I hope you’re not, too.”

“No way. I’m glad I’m here. Hell, it’s freezing at night out east already and it’s only the beginning of August.”

My shoulders slumped.

She smacked my arm. “It’s not just the weather. I couldn’t bear to be away from my twin sister. No way. I’m glad I stayed. Don’t ever think otherwise, you hear me?”

“Okay.”

“So, go get that last chair up here and we’ll sit around and eat pizza in our new apartment. I hope I can find some napkins and glasses somewhere in this mess.”

“Yeah, and dig out the Red Vines. I need my sugar fix, girl.”

“If it’s not M&Ms it’s Red Vines,” Georgia giggled as she whirled around into the kitchen.

I walked out into the hallway to the sounds of cabinets opening and pans clanking. I stomped down the stairs and out to the SUV. Georgia’s dad opted to not help us, and to be honest, he looked as if he’d aged fifteen years overnight. Lois’s leaving had really hit him hard.

Jasmine and Jess searched everywhere for Georgia’s mom, but found nothing. No trace of her. The note said we shouldn’t try and look for her, but to disappear off the face of the earth where even super-hacker Jess couldn’t find her…that had to be far.

Or…The Center had her. But we would have heard from them, right? I shook that nasty thought away and cranked open the back door.

One last chair. Georgia’s of course. I remember the old thing from her bedroom. Dang thing was heavy too, considering Georgia couldn’t budge it much. The flowery print made me think it should be in a grandma’s house more than our cute apartment. But hey, it was Georgia’s. She could hide it in her room so I didn’t have to look at it.

The parking lot behind the apartment was big enough to accommodate six or seven cars. Maybe eight if they were all compact. It backed up to a small river that the melting snow in the winter would run down. It was mostly dry right now but still pretty. The trees hung over the little stream and shaded the parking lot when it was sunny, but for now, only two small lights lit the lot.

I turned my focus back into the car once I saw the coast was clear. I leaned in and reached for the chair. The angle was awkward, so I could only lift a couple of inches, but it was enough to pull it out without scratching the fabric of the car.

Once it was at the edge of the back end, I hoisted it out and set it on the ground.

“Boy, that looks heavy,” a voice said from behind me.

I whirled around. My left foot caught the leg of the chair. My balance waivered, and my hands shot out to balance myself, but my shaky nerves made my legs feel like wet noodles. The seat of the chair brushed against the back of my knee and it gave out.

A pair of strong hands grabbed my elbows and steadied me. Two familiar amber-flecked eyes stared down at me. The light behind him shadowed one side of his face, but I saw a smile.

“Hey. You’re that guy—”

“You’re Mandy, right?”

I nodded. Again with the nickname, but still, I couldn’t bring myself to correct him. It sounded absolutely perfect coming from his mouth. What was that about?

“I don’t think I ever really introduced myself. Those jerks from the other night had me distracted. I’m Nate.”

His fingers still gripped my elbows, just less intensely as I regained my balance.

“I didn’t mean to scare you, Mandy.”

“Oh, it’s Aman—”

“I’ll help you with that chair. How’d you get that out of the car? Looks like it weighs a ton.”

Helpful little bugger but a tad interrupting. The one time I’d gotten the spine to tell him my name was Amanda, he bulldozed over me with his kindness and that smile.

Spine gone again.

“So, you’re the new one in B12?”

I glanced behind him. Had he come from the darkness back there? It looked like there were only trees and the nature preserve. “You live in this complex?”

He nodded. “Why are you moving in at night? That would totally suck. Can’t see anything back here.” He glanced around.

“Oh…um. It just worked out that way.” Can we say tongue-tied? This guy seriously unnerved me. Even more concerning, he made things tingle deep inside me that was so not cool considering I was totally dating someone.

Nate towered me by at least a foot. He should be playing Big Ten basketball somewhere or something. Chiseled, but lean, arms bulged out from his T-shirt as he stepped away, finally releasing his grip on me.

I felt the imprint of his hands still on my flesh despite him having moved away from me.

“Don’t tell me you’re moving yourself in alone?”

“My roomie’s upstairs.”

“Let me help you with this.” He stepped toward me, and I darted out of his way. “I can take this end if you take the other.”

“The other end?” I glanced down. “Oh. Yeah. Sure.” I slammed the door shut and beeped the SUV locked, then faced the monstrosity of a chair. I curled my fingers around the metal beneath the seat.

“Okay. On three.”

He counted, we lifted, we walked.

“This thing weighs a ton. How’d you get it out of the car on your own?”

“Mostly slid it out. No biggie. Glad you showed up to help.” My phone rang out the,
I’m a Little Teapot
song in its entirety since my hands were full and couldn’t shut it off.

“Interesting tone.” Nate grinned.

My face flamed with embarrassment. Zach had made me put that ring tone as a dare, and here he was finally calling me, but I couldn’t answer.

I really did have shit for luck.

Nate and I hoisted the chair up the two flights of stairs and into the hallway.

“Wow, you’re pretty strong. Barely even heard a grunt out of you.”

He on the other hand was a musical arrangement of sounds as he struggled up the stairs. I was even carrying most of the weight. “Don’t let my little size fool you. I’m wicked strong.”

“Don’t make me laugh. I’ll drop this thing and it’ll crack through the floor here and end up in the storage basement.”

Okay, my turn to laugh.

We approached my door, and he stepped just passed it. I pivoted and led him into the apartment.

Georgia peeked around the corner from the kitchen. “Hey, I—” She stepped into the doorway as we clomped by. “Oh. I didn’t—” She clutched a pink kitchen towel tight to her chest.

“Georgia. Nate. Nate. Georgia. He’s helping me with this terribly heavy chair you insisted on bringing to this tiny apartment.”

“Where’s it going?” he asked.

“We’re hiding this nine-ton nightmare in her bedroom. This way.” I tugged the chair toward Georgia’s room. She stared after us with big eyes, her bottom jaw open.

Georgia’s room was bright with three lamps already plugged in. Busy little beaver while I was down lifting the heavy stuff. “There. In the corner.” I nodded to the left of the bathroom door.

The chair thudded down, and a plume of dust from the thick padding filtrated to my nose. The tickles prompted four sneezes, one right after the other. I thought my eyes would pop out of my head.

“Please tell me you don’t have any more of these chairs to move.” Nate laughed.

“We don’t. I wouldn’t have brought this one if Georgia hadn’t insisted.”

“You two sound like a married couple.”

“Pretty much.” I stood in the middle of the cluttered room and planted my hands on my hips.

Nate combed his fingers through his chestnut colored hair and sucked in a deep breath, stretching the fabric of his shirt tight against his chest. His gaze hung heavy on mine, then flicked up a fraction. Probably to the blue streak in my hair. That happened a lot.

“So—um—which apartment are you?”

He pointed toward the ceiling. “C-12. Right upstairs. So, you two better keep it down, you hear?” He winked.

“Goes ditto for you, neighbor.” I stepped toward the door.

“Oh, wait. You have dust all over your arm.”

His hand grasped mine, then the other patted down my shoulder and forearm as I made my way through the doorway. I turned and backpedaled out of the bedroom with this beautiful guy pawing at my arm.

“Oh, hey.” I laughed. “It’s okay. It’s just a little dust. I—”

My back smacked into something hard, yet soft, too. I craned my head up, and Zach stared down at me.

Ah, hell.

Chapter 7

“P
izza!” a voice called out from the open door.

It was grand-freaking-central-station in this tiny, cluttered, box-filled apartment. Georgia shot me a wide-eyed look, then scooted behind Zach toward the door. She must have heard the rumbling Zach emitted. Sounded like a growl or something. Either he was hungry, or really pissed.

I was guessing the latter.

I shrugged out from Nate’s grasp and threw on the best smile I could muster.

“Who’s your friend?” Zach said, his voice low and controlled. A vein bulged in his temple, though, giving away his true state of mind. At least to me.

“Oh, hey. I’m Nate, a friend of Mandy’s. Who are you?” Nate offered his hand to shake.

Zach ignored it but raised an eyebrow at me. “
Mandy’s
friend?”

I turned my back to Nate, who withdrew his hand. Little circles of crimson painted Zach’s cheek. I’d seen that before, and yep, his anger was at epic levels. His dark eyebrows puckered together as he continued to stare at me.

Shit
.

“Zach. Wait. I—he—um—he was helping me bring up Georgia’s chair. The really heavy one? I couldn’t lift it by myself.”

More stares. He knew damn well no one needed to help me lift anything, but would he figure out that I had to let Nate help because he’d seen me use my powers?

“You should have seen her, she pulled that darn thing out from the truck by herself.” He batted my shoulder like we were old friends. So
not
what I needed at the moment. “She could have hurt herself.”

“I bet,” Zach said.

“But she’s a feisty one. The other night, you should have seen her jawing with three huge guys. They were drunk, and she—”

“Pizza’s ready,” Georgia called out from the kitchen.

I glanced behind me. “Nate. Um, you want some pizza? Go help yourself.”

His eyes widened, and he nodded. “Really? Sure. Can I bring you some, too?” He glanced at Zach. “I’m sorry. What was your name?”

“Zach.”

“Nice to meet you.” He smacked Zach’s shoulder as he passed by, into the kitchen. “Hey. Georgia. Nice to see you again.”

“Hi.” Georgia popped into the doorframe. “You guys—”

I put my hand up. “In a sec.”