Shift (The Neturu Chronicles) (51 page)

               
Damien wraps his arms around Kayla’s waist and pulls her onto his lap. 
“So you’re my girlfriend now?”

               
“Noooo.” Kayla laughs.  “I didn’t want to correct him.”

               
“Whatever, technicalities. So you met my father.  What do you think?”

               
“Very nice. I think we should call your little sister.”

               
He chuckles. “She’s in school right now, but we will later tonight, if you
aren’t too busy with Tracy.”

               
“Oh!  She should be here soon.  I want to go to Shima and go drink a
shake and eat a ton of brownies, so I don’t have to worry about shifting while
she’s here.”

               
“Okay, we can do that.  First, kiss me.”

               
Bending down, Kayla places her lips on his.  She tilts into him, and for
once, they don’t let their kissing spiral out of control.

Finally, two hours later,
Kayla buzzes at the idea of seeing Tracy. Damien watches her, unable to wipe
the smile from his face.

               
The doorbell chimes for the second time that day, and Kayla runs down the
hallway.  When she gets to the door, she throws it open.  “Oh no,”
she yips backing up.  “What do you want?”

               
The gentleman looks at her with a confused expression.  “Um, I’m
delivering a car to a Damien Blakely.”

               
“Oh! My car. Sweet,” she exclaims.  “DAMIEN!”

               
“I’m right here, geez,” he says from behind her. 

               
The delivery driver tilts his head toward the driveway.  Kayla grins and
runs out to her car.  “It’s freaking amazing,” she yells.  “Look at
it!  I can’t believe it’s mine.  Are you sure about this?”

               
“What?  You want me to make him take it all the way back to the
dealership?” Damien laughs. “Yes, it’s yours.  Once you turn eighteen, it
will be in your name.  Right now, it’s in my father’s name.  You’re
insured and everything.”

               
“This is so cool,” Kayla cheers as she checks out her car. 

               
“You have a lot of pent up…enthusiasm.”

               
Just as he says that, two cars pull up next to the house.  Kayla runs
straight to Tracy’s car and pulls her door open.  “Hey,” Tracy says with a
smile, “Excited to see me?”

               
“You have no idea, but come on, I
have
to show you something.” 
Kayla grabs Tracy’s hand and pulls her out of the car.  “This is my
present from Damien.”

               
Tracy looks at the car, then at Damien, and then back to Kayla.  “He
bought you a car?”

               
“She doesn’t like jewelry.” Damien chuckles.

               
“It’s completely electric,” Kayla gushes.

               
Damien crosses his arms across his chest, looking proud of himself. “It goes
zero to sixty in under five seconds.”

               
Tracy raises her eyebrows. “How much did this cost?”

               
“I have no idea,” Kayla says, turning to Damien.

               
He grins. “I’m not telling.”

               
“Come on, tell me,” Tracy retorts, batting her eyelashes.  “I want to know
how much you spoiled her, because this is ridiculous.”

               
“Nope, sorry.”

               
Kayla steps up to him and runs her finger down his chest.  “If you tell
me, it will mean only good things for you later.”

               
Damien laughs.  “Oh, now
you’re
trying to seduce me?”

               
“Of course, if you want my lips anywhere near you later, you’ll tell us.”

               
“Ooh, blackmail.”

               
“Don’t tell her,” Jackson says, walking up next to them.  “Keep it to
yourself.”

               
Turning to him, Damien replies, “You just don’t want her to kiss me.”  He
looks down at Kayla.  “Are you going to freak out if I tell you?”

               
“What?  Why?” Kayla asks.

               
“It was 85,000 dollars.”

               
Kayla’s jaw drops. “Excuse me?”

               
“Holy cow,” Tracy squeaks.  “That’s a lot of money.”

               
“It’s more than my car,” Jackson says.  “That doesn’t surprise me,
though.”

               
Kayla shakes her head, unable to conceive of having that much money, much less
spending it on a car. “I can’t accept it, Damien.  Don’t be ridiculous!”

               
“We bought it.  It’s here and it’s yours.  Enjoy it, Kayla. 
Look past the money.  You know you really want it,” Damien counters with a
grin.

               
“That’s a lot of money.  I had no idea,” Kayla whines.  “Do you know
how many poor people we could help with that money?  How many starving
children we could feed?”

               
Putting his finger up, Damien states, “Okay, I’ll make you a deal, if you keep
the car, we will make a large donation to any charity or charities that you
want in the same amount as the car.”

               
“You would do that?”

               
“Yes, I would.”

               
“That is amazing!” she says, jumping into his arms. “Thank you.”  Kayla
gives him a big kiss on the cheek.

               
“I need a boyfriend that will buy me a car,” Tracy quips.  “You better
show him your gratitude later.”

               
Kayla
’
s head spins in
Tracy’s direction.  “Tracy!”

               
Tracy shrugs her shoulders and playfully draws out, “Wwhhaatt?”

               
“You can show him your gratitude by kissing him,” Jackson interjects. 
“There’s no need for anything else.”

               
“Really, Jackson, is that any of your business?” Damien sighs.

               
Jackson stares down Damien.  “Don’t try to use this to your advantage.”

               
Damien narrows his eyes and steps toward Jackson.  Kayla grabs him. 
“Come on, let’s look at the car.”  She drags him to the passenger side.

               
They spend the next hour checking out the car.  Kayla takes everyone for a
ride and then lets Damien drive to show what the car can really do, before heading
back toward Jackson’s house.

               
“All right,” Kayla exclaims, clapping her hands together.  “You boys go
find something to do; we are going to have girl time.”

               
“I want to watch this girl time,” Damien states, rubbing his hands
together.  “Will there be pillow fights?”

               
Tracy grins at him. “Only if you join in, and then there will be lingerie.”

               
Kayla smacks her friend on the arm, “Stop it.  Jackson, make sure Damien
stays away.”

               
With a smirk, Jackson replies, “I’m not his keeper.  I have stuff to do.”

               
“Do it for me, please,” Kayla begs as she walks over to him.  Batting her
eyelashes, she whispers, “As my friend, will you preoccupy him?”

               
Jackson exhales loudly. “Fine.”

               
“Come on, get your stuff.” Kayla giggles at Tracy.

               
Kayla drags Tracy to her room.  “This place is gorgeous.”

               
“It is,” Kayla gushes.  “They have a pool, whirlpool, and sauna.”

               
“You’ve landed yourself two wealthy men with God-given good looks.  How
are you so lucky?” Tracy murmurs as they walk past a few paintings.

               
“It’s not even like that.  They are both so kind and gentle.  Damien
is all about passion and really connecting with a person.  He’s
incredible.”

               
Tracy looks at her friend. “And Jackson, what about him?”

               
“Jackson is more difficult to talk about.”

               
Tracy grabs Kayla’s arm and yanks her to a stop.  She looks from side to
side to make sure the guys aren’t around and then whispers, “How do you feel
about him?”

               
“I like him; he’s a really good friend,” Kayla chirps with a smile.

               
“There’s more that you aren’t telling me.  You feel something for him,
don’t you?”

               
Kayla opens her mouth, closes it, and then says, “I can’t have any feelings for
him.”

               
“What do you mean?”

               
“It’s complicated.  It’s something between our two families.  We just
made a pact to not have feelings for each other.”

               
Tracy crosses her arms.  “I know you, and I can tell you have feelings for
him.  Why not act on it?”

               
“It’s not like that.  I like Damien.  He’s my—”

               
“Boyfriend?” Tracy squeaks.  “Already?”

               
Kayla shakes her head.  “No, but we’re dating.  He’s sweet to me and
very caring.”

               
“And he bought you a very expensive gift.”

               
“That’s not why I like him,” Kayla snaps.  “I liked him before that. 
Come on.”  She takes Tracy’s hand and drags her to the bedroom where Kayla
shuts the door. “Did you bring your laptop?”

               
Tracy puts her bag on the bed. “I actually borrowed my brother’s tablet. 
Why did you need it?  They don’t have computers here?”

               
“No, I want to stalk their Facebook pages,” Kayla quips, sitting down next to
Tracy’s bag.  “Get it out.”

               
Tracy grabs the tablet and sits next to Kayla.  “Give me your password,”
Tracy says.

               
“Umm, yeah right, give me the tablet.”

               
“Oh come on, I wouldn’t do anything too awful.” Tracy giggles.  “You don’t
trust me at all.”

               
“Not when it comes to a social forum.  You have some horrible pictures of
me.”

               
With a wink, Tracy says, “True, but since you’re dating such a hot boy, those
will be kept secret.”

               
“You should see him; he is so gorgeous without his clothes on.”

               
A wicked grin passes over Tracy’s face.  “You’ve seen him naked? 
Well then, props to you girl.”

               
“No!  Tracy, really, I haven’t!  We went swimming together.  It
was like seeing him undressed.  Actually, we both had to strip down in the
pool.  You wouldn’t think that was a big deal, but it made me feel like I
was getting naked.”

               
“I bet he wishes you were getting naked.” 

               
Kayla clicks her tongue. “He’s already seen a lot of naked girls.  That is
not what’s going on with us.”

               
“So he isn’t a virgin, I take it.”

               
With a snort, Kayla retorts, “Umm, no, he
’
s
been around the block a couple dozen times.  It makes me uncomfortable,
but he said he’s not like that anymore, so I’m trying to move beyond it.”

               
“At least he’ll know what he’s doing if the time comes.” Tracy giggles.

               
“Yes, because that’s what I’m worried about.  Anyway, let’s look at Damien’s
page first.”  She types in her information and click’s on Damien’s
name.  “Okay, these are his family’s photos.  His sisters are
awesome, and he’s really close to them.”

               
“Yeah, yeah, cute family, let’s look at the other stuff,” Tracy says, pushing
the icon for the other pictures.  Dozens of pictures appear featuring
Damien and a bunch of different girls. “Um, well then,” Tracy whispers.

               
Kayla stares down at them.  “He told me he didn’t keep pictures of the
girls he slept with, so who are all these girls?”

               
“He looks like a big partier,” Tracy says, scanning through the pictures.

               
“Yeah, I got that impression from him too, but this is more than I thought.”

               
“Let’s see what’’s been posted on his page,” Tracy states, pressing the back
button.  “Oh look, he just posted something: I wish I knew what my girl
was saying about me right now.  She’s on Facebook, which only leads to
trouble.”

               
Laughing, Kayla shakes her head.  “Should I respond?”

               
“No, he’ll know what you’re doing.  Just check him out.  Go down and
see what people write.  More so, see what girls write.”

               
They scroll down his page. Kayla points to a semi-familiar face.  “That’s
Courtney, his sister.  She says Victoria wants him to come home…with
me.  That’s sweet.”

               
Tracy indicates another post. “That one is not from a family member. 
Betty says,
‘
Why
haven’t you
called me, you promised.  Where are you?
’
”  Tracy stops reading and looks
at Kayla.  “He’s a playboy, huh?”