The Stone Sisters: Lyssa (The Stones Sisters Book 1) (9 page)

“We should get going.
 
It’s late and we don’t want your family thinking I kidnapped you.”

Her gaze widened in surprise and she looked away.
 
Maybe a little hurt.
 
That wasn’t what he wanted either.
 
She got in the car and held onto her bag with the tee shirt he bought her.
 
When he got in, she was silent.
 

Softly he asked, “Next Saturday, can I have date number two?”

“You still want to do that?”
 
She asked, looking away from him out the window.

“More than ever.”

She turned to him quickly and studied his face.
 
The hurt erased and she smiled, “Sure.
 
What time?”

Chapter 7

As
Lyssa stumbled down the stairs on Sunday for her morning cup of coffee, she had a little smile on her face.
 
He didn’t kiss her, but he wanted a second date.
 
Part of her screamed that getting involved with a human boy was a bad idea.
 
She was currently ignoring that part.
 
Last night when she had gotten home, Lexx and Lyssa had talked about the date the whole night.
 
Lexa’s opinion was that it was good that Kyle hadn’t kissed her.
 
He was waiting for a more appropriate time.
 
Lyssa was worried that she wasn’t kiss worthy.
 
It was a strange thing for her.
 
She wasn’t arrogant about her looks but she knew she was attractive.
 
Now, she was worried she wasn’t attractive enough for Kyle to kiss her.

However, there had been so many times that he seemed really into her.
 
The way he’d touch her hair or how he had stared into her eyes.
 
All of those things had made her think he had wanted her.
 
But, he hadn’t kissed her!
 
Lyssa sighed.

As she poured her coffee, she was grateful that every time she had looked ahead for Lexa, there had been no trouble.
 
Even when he had gone for popcorn, she had taken a good long look and there had been nothing.
 
Lyssa had been nervous when they went so far away from home.
 
She had been tempted to look ahead on their date before they left.
 
Now she was glad she hadn’t.
 
It would have ruined Kyle’s well thought-out surprise.

Lyssa frowned and shook the carton of cream.
 
Was it empty?
 
“Lexa?”

She was answered with silence.
 
With a huff, Lyssa called out even louder, “Lexa!”

With her eyes down cast and a sheepish smile, Lexa walked in from the front porch, “Yes?”

“Are we out of cream?
 
We just went to the store a few days ago!”

“I know.
 
I’m sorry.
 
I just had been so excited the girls were coming over I didn’t even think about the fact that we needed cream.”

Lyssa did most of the cleaning, but Lexa was in charge of the kitchen.
 
And that meant making sure the two of them picked up any needed foodstuffs.
 
Lyssa hated cooking and Lexa loved it so that was her responsibility.
 
Other than the occasional times Lyssa made pancakes.
 
For a moment, Lyssa stared, hands on her hips and then she sighed.
 
Grabbing her keys, she headed for the door.

“You’re not going like that are you?”

“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?
 
I’ve seen human girls out in just this outfit.”

“Not with the berries!”

Rolling her eyes, Lyssa headed out calling, “I’m just going to the convenience store at the gas station.”

Deciding to fill her tank while she was at it, Lyssa parked at the fuel station closest to the store and hopped out.
 
Her bone straight hair was in a messy ponytail but she didn’t care.
 
She sung to herself and swayed her hips a bit while she filled her tank with premium and reveled in the somewhat cool morning.
 
It wasn’t too cool or she would have been freezing in the clothing she had on.
 
Well, if she had been human she would have and that would have made her standout.

Making sure her gas tank cap was on tight, she jogged over to the store to get some cream.
 
She was smiling for no reason.
 
Her mood was the best it had been in four years.
 
Or more.
 
However, what she should have been was cautious.
 
She should have listened to Lexa.

“That is some outfit.”

At the sound of the eerily familiar voice, Lyssa could feel her skin go several shades of red.
 
Why hadn’t she gotten real clothes on?
 
Instead, she was mortified.
 
Lyssa always slept in a sports bra, panties and that was it.
 
In the morning, before she’d join Lexa, she’d put on some sort of pajamas.
 
Today, she had simply put on a pale pink tank top that was super tight.
 
That was only a little embarrassing.
 
What was worse was the flannels she’d chosen for the morning.
 
They were baby blue with strawberries, blueberries and raspberries all of them with leaves and vines.
 
And her hair.
 
Her hair was in a sloppy ponytail.
 
She hadn’t even brushed it yet.

“You going to turn around?”

Lyssa had washed her face before bed, so it was bare of all makeup.
 
But that wasn’t what bothered her.
 
It was that she’d not washed it yet for the day.
 
Why of all people did she have to run into him looking like this?

“So, um, this is where you work?”

Grinning down at her were chocolate eyes, the flecks of gold in them seemed to sparkle with amusement.
 
Kyle slowly ran his gaze from top to bottom of her.
 
Now her skin was in blush overdrive.
 
Could she literally die of embarrassment?

“This is where I work.
 
You dressed up for a hot date?”

Lyssa looked away, unsure how to even handle being teased, “We’re out of cream.”

“And fuel, huh?”

She blinked up at him as realization hit her, “You… you were watching me out there?”

With a sexy rich laugh, he leaned onto the counter, “Oh yes.
 
You were so cute, bouncing around out there, singing to yourself.
 
What song was that by the way?”

She looked away, “Cherry Bomb.”

Kyle laughed and Lyssa walked a little closer, “Hey.
 
Don’t laugh!
 
It’s a great song.”

“It is.
 
It’s just that everything with you is old.
 
Old books, old movies, old TV shows.
 
And now old music.
 
The only thing not old about you is the car.”

“So sue me.”

“No.
 
I like that about you.”

Lyssa raised her eyes to his and smiled.
 
He was staring down at her as if she was the sunset.
 
And he seemed to really like the sunset.
 
For a long moment, they just stared at one another.
 
Then the bell rang as someone else entered the little store and she hurried off to find some cream.

Once the older man finished paying cash for his gas and walked out, she made her way over the counter with the cream.
 
She couldn’t help it, when she saw a chocolate bar she grabbed that too.
 
Her eyes kept roving the store, she was too nervous to even look at him while he rang her up.

“You know, I don’t know which I like more.
 
That tank top that looks like it belongs on your sister and not you or the flannels which are cute as hell.”

She turned her gray-blue gaze up at him, “Don’t tease.”

“Why not?
 
You’re easy to tease.
 
You don’t know how to handle it and I find it cute.
 
And fun.
 
Let’s not forget about fun.”

“Ha. Ha,” she said in monotone.
 
However, her cheeks were burning and she couldn’t hide that she was mortified at him seeing her like this.
 
He searched her face and suddenly she felt like ice cream.
 
His ice cream.
 
Which really made her blush.
 
What the hell was wrong with her?
 
And why was she suddenly thinking such pervy things?

Shaking her head, she left the counter, “Um.
 
I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”

“I’ll be waiting.
 
Maybe you should wear that top to school.”

“Oh yeah, coz I really need a trip to the principal’s office.”

His rich laugh followed her out the door.
 
It took everything not to run to her car.
 
Instead, she made her way slowly to it.
 
She slid into the driver’s seat deliberately and drove off slowly.
 
Once she was on the road, she returned to her usual speed.
 
But the blush didn’t leave her.

Parking out in front of her house, she jumped out of the car and headed up the front steps.
 
She didn’t get very far when Lexa asked, “What happened?”

“Kyle works at that gas station convenience store.”

Lexa’s laugh followed her into the house.

The back room had been converted into a training area.
 
The room was large, with two picture windows that looked into the backyard.
 
They didn’t worry about neighbors looking in because of the trees, which surrounded their property line.
 
Lyssa would often force Lexa to train with her some.
 
That was always an argument.
 
But not today.
 
Today, Lyssa and her punching bag were bosom buddies.

Windows open, music on and Lyssa still in her pajamas as she danced around the bag and struck at random intervals.
 
Today Lyssa was working on not being rhythmic, not being predictable.
 
She struck the bag with random hits and it rocked under each one.
 
Lexa was in the corner of the room, trying to do her homework that was due tomorrow.
 
Every so often, Lexa would ask a question and Lyssa would counter with a question to help her look at the problem another way.
 
This way was much better than tutoring Lexa.
 
Lyssa knew that her sister was smart, but Lexa didn’t seem to realize Lyssa knew this.
 
It didn’t help that sometimes Lexa just seemed to want Lyssa to do the work for her.
 
Which was why this little routine was the best way to help her.
 
Lyssa was far too busy focusing on practice than whether or not Lexa got the questions right.

This went on for an hour and then Lyssa stopped and started to stretch.
 
Lexa turned off the radio and watched her sister.
 
Though she didn’t want to push, Lyssa felt Lexa needed to work out more and practice.
 
What if Lyssa wasn’t there to protect her?
 
Nevertheless, she had to be careful how she broached the subject.
 
If she did it wrong, they’d end up in a fight like the one they had last week.

Lyssa devoted two early morning hours to working out in the morning and an hour and a half before bed each night during the week.
 
On the weekends, she’d vary depending on her schedule or desires.
 
On the other hand, Lexa would practice three times a week maybe.
 
She’d always complain how she wasn’t as strong as Lyssa.
 
But Lyssa knew there were things she could do to defend herself.