The Second Sign (7 page)

Gabby pulled into herself again. A warning blasted
through her to stay put.

Pat sensed it and cocked a brow. “Gabby, how many
times do I have to apologize?”

Before she could pull away, he cupped her hand in
his. They were soft, marred only with a circular scar on his palm.
She sensed nothing. No impression from him and it felt good. She
broke from his intense, blue eyes to Jake, who was staring at her,
his brow drawn together, his lips a tight line as he and Alexi
coasted toward the platform. Alexi leaned over and whispered
something in his ear. With a grin, he maneuvered the WaveRunner
further out into the lake, bypassing the platform, and Gabby,
completely.

So much for the pick-up, Gabby thought and returned
her gaze to Pat. “Okay,” she said. She didn’t want to let Jake go
just yet.

Pat led her to his WaveRunner and she straddled it,
holding onto him tightly. He jetted toward Jake and Alexi, moving
fast. Water sprayed all around her and the wind rushed by, making
her eyes water. She found herself looking for Jake, who managed to
maintain a good lead. In their wake, the craft bounced hard against
the waves. Pat lifted himself off the seat as the WaveRunner
bounced up, soaring high. Gabby saw blue sky before crashing into
the water, hard. The impact took the breath out of her, and she
kicked up to the surface. The hard waves brought her down again,
and she felt as if her lungs were going to explode. She broke
through and coughed.

Alexi’s curt laughter filled the air. Pat was
already swimming toward her, reaching for his craft, and climbing
on.

“Crash and burn,” Jake said, reaching for her, his
wet hair falling around his face.

“What happened?” she asked, wiping her hair from her
eyes.

“We crashed and burned too.” His eyes lifted to
where Pat already rode away.

Gabby looked at his hand, feeling the familiar
regret settle through her.

“What, you can’t touch me but you could touch Pat?”
Jake scowled, his eyes stabbing her like daggers.

Ouch.
She did want to touch him, but she
didn’t want to know his future or past. She didn’t want to be given
his private images and thoughts, scared by what she might find
there. Though the impressions were a result of direct contact with
people, touching hands meant giving over control of the amount of
time spent touching to the other person. After Sheriff Miller had
refused to release her hand last year during the investigation of
the fire that had taken Kyle's life, she had sworn off handshakes.
She had felt stark, cold hatred during that contact and had been
sick for a week. Nope. Hands were off limits.

Without waiting for an answer, he pulled his hand
back. “Hop on then before you drown.” He sighed.

She swam toward him and pulled herself up, using his
shoulder as leverage. Touching his bare flesh sent ripples of
electric shock under her flesh, and she pulled her hand away from
him. Straddling the craft, she wasn’t sure where to put her hands.
He waited until she cupped the waistband of his shorts before
following Pat.

They found a strip of secluded beach sandwiched by
cliffs. Gabby couldn’t help but to feel a sense of panic at being
confined in the narrow gap, but she swallowed it. She wasn’t about
to make things worse with Jake by telling him to take her home. And
she didn’t want to ride with Pat.

Jake stopped the craft and turned off the ignition,
getting off and pulling it to shore. He didn’t even look at her.
Once he secured the WaveRunner, he called out to Pat and pointed to
a ledge on the cliff and began climbing up the ridge. His muscles
flexed as he climbed in only water shoes, knowing exactly what he
was doing. Gabby remembered his fascination with heights and
falling off of high places. Perched on a very narrow rock ledge, he
peered out into the lake. So far away, he was unreachable in every
regard. And Gabby couldn’t understand why she felt a sting in her
chest by that realization. Almost as if he swallowed up all the
light around her, leaving her in the dark.

Pat reached the narrow ledge, and Gabby felt panic
swell inside her. Pat pointed to the water below them. Gabby
couldn’t see it from this angle, but she was sure there must have
been rock below them.
Was Pat coaxing him to jump?
She was
about to yell up at him when Alexi spoke.

“Hey, sorry for stealing your man. He’s just so
cute.”

Gabby broke her gaze from the guys. Alexi was the
cover swimsuit model of the year.

“He’s not my man so you wouldn’t be stealing
anything from me,” Gabby said, and when she looked back up, both
guys were gone. Having jumped into the water, they were swimming
for shore. Gabby had never had a man, and her first kiss had ended
up in disaster. And that had been with Pat. She sighed. No, Jake
was not her man.

The sun burned her pale skin as she lay back on the
coarse sand. She’d regret it tomorrow. She’d never tan, burned
usually, but no tan. Closing her eyes, she listened to Alexi
clapping and cheering as the guys waded to shore. “I want to try,”
she cheered.

Gabby hoped she’d hit the rocks on her way down,
just before she drifted to sleep and dreamt of fire. Burning. Pat
laughed at her, his sincere, all-American boy laugh that infected
everyone around him, and soon everyone was laughing as they watched
her burn. Her flesh began to sizzle. Then coolness covered her
flesh and a sweet scent wafted through her senses. Jake was there
with her, protecting her. “Jake,” she whispered just as her eyes
flew open to a shadow over her. Gritting her teeth, she grabbed at
his wrist and pulled herself on top of him, ready to punch when her
eyes cleared. Jake smiled from under her.

“Well, if you wanted it rough you should have told
me,” he mused with a smile that tore through her heart.

Feeling heat rise to her face, she rolled off of him
and rubbed her arms, wondering if she had called his name in her
sleep. Did he hear her call his name?

“I’m sorry, I was rubbing some sunblock on you
before you burn to a crisp.” He sat beside her, his knees drawn up,
his wrists on top of them, squinting as he looked at her, his face
already glowing with a tan. He leaned into her, bumping her
shoulder. “Were you dreaming about me?” His smile broadened, and
she felt more heat rise to her cheeks.

“Don’t you know it’s rude to touch people without
permission?” she snapped, feeling desperate to take things back
under control. Whatever the hell was happening to her had to stop.
Now. Knowing him for two minutes shouldn’t bring these feelings to
the surface. These cheesy, gooey feelings he made her feel. His
smile vanished, and his eyes narrowed. She regretted being
so...so...mean.

“Don’t you know it’s rude to fall asleep on a date?”
he snapped back.

“And who exactly am I on a date with? Last I saw you
were taking Alexi on a ride.”

“She wanted me to drop her off at the platform where
I was going to pick
you
up, before...”

“Before what?”

“Before I saw you touching Pat. I thought you didn’t
like him.”

Touching Pat? She wasn’t touching Pat. “I don’t,”
she said.

He scowled. “Well you coulda fooled me, especially
since you are very selective about the people you touch and you
were all over him.” Dropping the lotion beside her, he stood up,
wiping his hands on his bathing suit, his face drawn into tight
angles and lines.

Was he really jealous of her and Pat? Were they
arguing? She stood up, anger boiling, ready to leap. “I wasn’t all
over him. And you should learn to read people better.” She poked
him in the chest.

“And you should stop being so defensive all the
time.” He gripped her hand, tight.

She tried to squirm away from him, but he laced his
fingers between hers and wouldn’t budge, pulling her closer so that
their chests were touching, their fast heartbeats melding into one.
Inching her head up to look at him, she found it difficult to
speak.

“If what you had is OCD, then you wouldn’t be able
to touch him. What’s so wrong with touching me?”

His deep voice penetrated through her. She did want
to touch him, to melt into him. The feeling to rise on her tiptoes
and kiss him overwhelmed her. Who was he? Why was he here? She
couldn’t beat the feeling that he was her better half. But it
didn’t make sense. They’d just met. She knew nothing about him.

Words found no space in her throat, so instead she
dropped her head and leaned on him. She waited for the visions of
his past and future to assault her as they had with so many others,
until she decided she didn’t want to know anyone. People were
filled with so much pain and hate that Gabby wondered why they
lived at all.

But she didn’t get anything from Jake. Maybe she
didn’t have to hide her hands anymore, cured. “I don’t even know
you,” she finally said, lifting her eyes so that she was looking
into his deep, green ones. Captivated by him, she could no longer
fight.

“Well, then, get to know me.” After his eyes trailed
the contours of her features they rested on her lips.

Gabby held her breath.

“Hey!” Alexi ran toward them and grabbed Jake by the
arm, pulling him away. “It’s time to scoot. I think we’ve been
made.” She pulled Jake toward the WaveRunner.

Pat came out running behind her. “Yup, definitely
Mr. Crabsky. Let’s go.” He straddled the craft and looked at Gabby.
Alexi was already on with Jake, so Gabby reluctantly made her way
toward Pat.

Big Mistake

Jake had to resist the urge to drop Alexi in the
water and snatch Gabby away from Pat. Another thirty seconds and he
would’ve had that kiss from Gabby. Not usually a jealous person,
not for a girlfriend, not for a friend—and unsure where Gabby fell
along that line—the feeling surprised him. Gabby had somehow
reduced him to a pathetic, middle-grader with a crush. But this
crush was breaking him severely. Regret at accepting Pat’s invite
knotted his stomach. He should’ve taken Gabby somewhere else,
alone.

After coasting to a full stop, he anchored the
watercraft and helped Alexi out.

“I hope you’re going to stay a while,” she said,
leaning close to him.

The urge to pull away from her exploded to ash after
watching Gabby take Pat’s hand as he helped her out of the craft.
“Sure,” he managed with a fake smile plastered on his face.

Pat came up behind Alexi, sweeping her away, his arm
around her waist as he led her toward his house. Gabby trailed
behind, pausing for Jake. The sun’s light still under her skin, her
violet eyes dark.

“Have a nice ride?” he asked, jealousy creeping into
his usually manly voice, hoping she missed it.

She nodded but didn’t meet his gaze and continued
past him toward the beach where she left her bag. A soft, blue hue
spread out on the surface of her skin and quickly vanished after he
blinked. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. A definite trick
of the light would explain it. Jake had never been the type to be
at a loss for words, but with Gabby he couldn’t even think
straight. The burning desire to hold her or strangle her leapt into
his heart, and he wasn’t sure which emotion was stronger.

Unable to think about being without her just yet, he
jogged up to her as she lifted her bag from the sand. “Are you okay
with staying for a little while?”

She shrugged. “Sure, but I need to change.”

He flicked his thumb back to the house. “Why don’t
you change in the house?”

Her eyes grew darker when she looked at the house,
and she pressed the bag closer to her chest as if waiting for
something to tear at her.

Jake felt the fear seeping from her pores. “What
happened here? You look like a ghost just stepped over your
grave.”

He reached out and rubbed her arm softly with his
thumb, hoping to snap her back to him.

She looked behind her at the lean-to which lay in a
heap, having collapsed in on itself, and sighed.

“Come on, I won’t leave you alone,” he promised. And
with Pat on the prowl, it was one promise he intended to keep.

She seemed to startle and gave him a weak smile.
“Okay,” she managed and they walked in together.

A few people mulled aimlessly around the house. Most
of the couples were outside enjoying the night waves and quiet that
the shore seemed to provide. Jake wondered where Pat’s parents
were, if they left him stranded here every summer, parent-free, to
do whatever he pleased. Jake’s dad had done the same to him, and
only Jenna volunteered to come with him. She wanted a quiet place
to work on her art. Dad hadn’t seemed pleased with the idea of
Jenna coming along, but once Jenna made up her mind, the gods
wouldn’t change it. Jake was grateful she was here. Despite their
dad’s fear that Jake would corrupt her, Jenna anchored him to
reality. She would also frown upon this party with its no adult and
free drink rule.

It bothered him that Gabby seemingly knew the place
well. She’d been there before and he wanted her to spill the truth,
but it’d probably freak her out. So he just followed her up the
stairs to the occupied restroom.

“Why don’t we find a room?” he asked. She cocked a
brow at him. “So you can change,” he added with a smirk.

Though truth be told, he wouldn’t mind fooling
around with her. The image danced behind his eyes and heat sifted
to his cheeks. She was still staring at him, and he quickly turned
away from her, leading her down the narrow hallway to the far room
on the left. After no one appeared when he knocked, he went in,
pulling Gabby along with him.

“Nice.” The room had a four poster bed, a tall
chest, and mirror. He knew by the surfboard, and littered clothes
all over the space, that this was Pat’s room.

Turning to Gabby, he found her pressed against the
door, a haunted look on her face. A shiver coursed up his
spine.