Shadow Kiss

Chapter 11

“Aerolynn!!” Luke shouted in excitement upon swinging open the door.
Zak and I jumped so far apart you could have fit the entire country of Russia between us.
Luke pulled me into a tight hug cutting off my airway.
“Ack, Luke…I can’t….breathe,” I squeaked out.
“Oh, sorry,” He laughed releasing his tight hold on me. I gasped for air reveling in the ability to breathe with ease again.
“I thought maybe you guys had gotten lost or maybe even something had happened to you, Aero,” Luke worried cupping my shoulders in his hands. “I’m just glad you’re ok.”
“Of course she’s okay,” Zak snapped at him. “She was with me. I told you I would bring her back.”
Luke noticed Zak for the first time. “I know you did,” he replied curtly.
I glanced back and forth between the men. There was a strange tension between the both of them. A tension I was pretty sure was caused by my presence. Had Luke seen me about to kiss Zak? But if he had, why did he interrupt when he knew how much I admired Zak? When he knew how badly I have wanted to kiss him since, like, the first time I had seen him on television? I narrowed my eyes and silently watched as Luke and Zak stared each other down.
“Alright, children, let’s head inside before a fight breaks out. All this testosterone is making me dizzy,” I joked playfully punching each of them on the arm.
Luke blinked a few times like he was snapping back to reality. He turned to me with a wide smile on his face.
“C’mon! I brought Twister from my house while you guys were out. Let’s play, Aero!” He grabbed my hand dragging me inside.
I tossed an apologetic look over my shoulder at Zak, but he had already turned his back on me.
I thought nothing was going to change, I thought sadly to myself.
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~~~~~~Zak’s P.O.V~~~~~~

I watched as Nick, Luke, and Aero twisted themselves around each other in an attempt to reach the colored dot that Aaron called out for them.
“Right foot blue, Nick,” Aaron called out. Nick made a failed attempt at contorting his leg around to try and reach the blue spot on the white mat. Unfortunately for him, his other foot slipped beneath him and caused him to fall hard face first on the ground.
“Nick, are you ok?” Aero asked concerned making sure she didn’t fall over Nick’s body. I scowled. Why was she so concerned over him?
Nick laughed and stood up. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just you two now.”
My scowl deepened. That bothered me more than it should have.
I picked up the cold slice of pizza I had been nibbling on since they had decided to start playing this game.
“Alright, Aero, left hand green,” Aaron announced. She groaned.
“Come one, Aaron, give me a break would ya?” she pouted. Aaron laughed and shrugged.
“Sorry, Aero, I can’t help what color the thing lands on.”
She sighed, but quickly flashed Aaron a smile to let him know she was just playing around. I watched as she took the hand that had been resting on the red dot next to Luke’s and move it back onto the green dot behind her. The way she was positioned almost made it seem like she was doing a dance move. She was crouched down; her butt centimeters from touching the ground, with her two feet spread apart resting on the blue dots with her right hand in between her legs on the same color. Then she had her left hand placed behind her on the green dot.
Luke had his right hand on the yellow dot next to Aero’s bottom, his left hand on a blue dot, his right foot on blue, and his left foot on red. I watched as Aaron spun the dial and called out Luke’s next move.
“Left hand yellow, Luke,” Aaron called out. I sighed in relief. All he had to do was move his hand back one space.
That’s when his eyes met mine and a slow smile appeared on his boyish face. I narrowed my eyes confused as to why he was smiling in such a way and then I noticed it. He had the opportunity to reach across Aero and place his body over her. My back stiffened against my bed’s headboard. He wouldn’t.
I watched in horror as Luke brought his hand off the blue dot and shifted his body to lean over Aerolynn’s as he brought his left hand down on the yellow dot beside her. I could feel the anger welling up inside me threatening to burst. How could she not notice this obvious display of affection?
I folded my arms over my chest. “It would have been much easier had you just moved your hand back one space,” I nearly growled.
“But then it wouldn’t be an exciting game of Twister,” Luke shouted over his shoulder.
“Hey, Aero,” I heard him say to her.
She laughed. She LAUGHED. “Hey, Luke!” she greeted back cheerfully.
How could she not see the way Luke looked at her? The yearning in his eyes? The obvious moves he made on her? Why was she so blind to his obvious feelings toward her?
Not able to handle watching any more of this, I jumped up off the bed and stormed my way out of the room. I slammed the door behind me and walked over to the ice machine a couple of rooms down. I threw open the door to the ice machine and stuck my head in the cool air to calm myself down. Why was I getting so angry? If Luke liked her, so what? It was no problem of mine. It’s not like I had any feelings for her. I was just mad because she needed to be focusing on preparing for the lockdown tomorrow night, not messing around by playing childish games like Twister.
At least that’s what I kept telling myself, but I’m not sure who I was trying to convince.
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~~~~~~Aerolynn’s P.O.V~~~~~~

I watched in confusion as Zak angrily slammed the motel door behind him as he left the room. I looked up at Luke who seemed to be triumphantly staring at the door. Had I missed something?
Brushing it off, we continued to play Twister until Luke finally made a slip up and fell to the ground knocking me over in the process. Nick, Aaron, Luke and I fell into fits of laughter over the silliness of it all. Everyone was having such a great time, so I couldn’t help but wonder what made Zak leave in such a fit.
While the men talked about some random video game, I gathered up the Twister mat and stored the game back in its box. Every few minutes, my eyes would drift over to the door expecting for Zak to come barging into the room; his large presence making the small room feel even tinier. But he never came back.
With a disappointed sigh, I stood up with the game in my hands and set it down on the bed next to Luke.
“I’m kind of worn out. I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” I told them yawning. Luke stood up prepared to walk me out, but I shook my head and told him to stay here and talk with them since my room was only next door.
After much convincing, Luke sat back down and watched me leave with worried eyes. I waved goodbye and quietly shut the door behind me. I was about to turn and head to my room when I noticed the door to the ice machine was open. I took a couple of steps in that direction when Zak’s head popped up out of the machine. He raked his hands back through his hair almost like he was frustrated with something before he stuck his head back into the ice machine.
Figuring it was best to leave him alone I turned around and headed for my room. As soon as I changed and got situated under the covers darkness consumed me.