Free White Raven by J.L. Weil

excitement.
    I blinked.
    The spell was broken.
    Shit.
    I shook my hair, letting the breeze pick the loose strands off my face. The pooch, oblivious to what she’d interrupted, licked Zane’s face and I about lost it, until I saw the scowl. I was getting quite acquainted with that particular look. He shot to his feet as if he couldn’t wait to get away from me. Standing, I brushed the sand off my shorts and mumbled, “Thanks for the hand, dillweed.”
    Zane’s lips curled menacingly. It was infuriating that he constantly seemed to be laughing at me. “I think we can both agree that bad things happen when we touch, Princess.”
    What did that even mean? How harmful could the simple gesture of a hand be? It wasn’t like I was asking him to bang me on the beach, well not in words at least. What my body had been begging for moments before was another story. What the hell was wrong with me?
    “Oh, I’ll show you bad,” I snapped.
    “You should be careful what you say. I wouldn’t want to misconstrue your words.”
    “Blow me.”
    A single brow arched. “If you knew what was good for you, you would turn around, walk off the beach, and never look back. You would get off this island before…”
    Before what?
    At this point I was too furious to care. Emotions were high, and mine swiftly turned to rage. Oh, I’ll show him my back all right . “Kiss ass, Zane. And stay the hell off my beach.”
    I thought that was a heck of an exit. Score one for Piper. I gave myself a mental high five as I stomped in the sand. Zane Hunter didn’t have the first clue who he was messing with.

 
    Chapter 7
     
    Not even the walk from the beach to the manor did the slightest to cool my temper. Zane Hunter was the most infuriating guy I’d ever met. Just like the million other moments in my life, I wished my mom were here to listen to me vent, offer me advice, or at the very least, make me laugh. I may not be able to make a lick of sense of out guys like Zane, but a bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream loaded with all the fixings might help ease my wrath.
    It was what Mom would have done, stuffed our faces and made horrible jokes until whatever was bothering me no longer seemed important.
    I sighed and made my way down one of the hallways I hoped led to the kitchen. My hunt had barely begun when Rose found me. I cursed under my breath.
    To say I wasn’t in the mood was an understatement.
    “Piper,” she said. “Just who I was looking for.”
    “Oh, goodie,” I mumbled tartly. My rumbling belly was pissed, seeing my calorie indulgence fade from existence.
    “I’ve been meaning to talk to you. I know things have been hard…” she started until I slumped against the wall.
    Ugh. I didn’t want to have this conversation, not while my emotions were high and close to the surface. It wouldn’t take much to push me over the edge. As silly as it was, I did not want to cry in front of her.
    Rose sensed my hesitation and overall indifference to sharing my feelings. I was making it overly obvious. You would have had to be dumb as a rock to not get the message my body was conveying, and Rose struck me as anything but dumb. The old bag was as sharp as a razor. What did she expect? That I just pour my soul out to someone who suddenly decided to pop into my life? If that was the case, she should be talking with TJ. He had inherited my dad’s blabbermouth and sensitive genes; they kind of went hand-in-hand.
    I was cautious, guarded, and cynical. “We really don’t have to do this now. Or ever,” I added, pushing off the wall, hoping she would let me go.
    Rats. No such luck.
    “Since you’ve been here, we haven’t spent any time together,” she said. “I wanted to give you a few days to get settled and explore the island. Now that you have…why don’t we have ourselves a woman-to-woman chat?”
    Joy.
    My favorite kind.
    Spinning back around to face her, I dragged my butt, following her into the yellow room. I liked to color code each