Free Ember X by Jessica Sorensen Page A

beautiful.”

    “But did you get it, get it?” His voice hauntingly floats out like the night I first saw him. He sucks his lip up between his teeth, waiting for my response.

    “I’m not sure…” I can’t take my eyes off him, the need to touch him scorching inside my body like liquid fire in my veins. It’s intense, like standing at the edge of a cliff, preparing to base jump, but I’m not sure if the parachute will open.

    “Read it closer.” His eyes smolder as he releases his lip from his teeth and a small gasp escapes my mouth. He smiles, pleased at my reaction. “I think you’ll get it eventually.”

    I’d blush if I wasn’t so sexually riled up on the inside. “I’m sure I will.”

    Raven clears her throat and her tone is snippy. “Sorry to break up your guys’ little moment—since personally I’d love to see if you end up screwing each other.” She rolls her eyes. “But we gotta get going.”

    I blink at the sound of her voice. I’d forgot she was there. “Yeah, we should get going.”

    “Right…” He pats the car door as he ducks his head and steps away. “Maybe I’ll see you around later tonight, Ember.” He winks at me. “At the cemetery.”

    My stomach flutters with fear and exhilaration. “Yeah, maybe.”

    Raven rolls the car forward and he starts to walk away.

    “Wait,” I call out and he stops. “You never told me your name.”

    Raven cocks a reprimanding eyebrow at me. “Don’t you mean us?”

    “Cameron.” He flashes me a sexy grin. “Cameron Logan.” He waves and turns away from us, strutting up to the movers opening the back of the U-Haul.

    Raven rolls up her window and turns the car around, heading for the main road. “Okay, what the fuck was that about? Since when are you such a little slut?”

    “I wasn’t being a slut,” I protest, not taking it personally, because Raven calls just about anyone a slut. “I was being friendly.”

    “You never talk to guys like that,” she accuses, flooring the car to the end of our street, and then she veers to the right and speeds off onto the highway. “And how did he know your name? And where you live?”

    “They were on my journal.” I shrug, still dazed over what happened.

    “Still, it’s really creepy.” She flips down the visor. “And what poem were you guys talking about?”

    I roll down the window and let the breeze cool off my stifling skin. “The one he wrote in my journal.”

    “You mean that creepy one you just put up on the wall?” She frowns. “The one that sounds like it was written by a serial killer?”

    “That’s what you say about all poems,” I remind her. “And his was just deep.”

    “Whatever, Em. In my opinion, the guy is a total creep… looking at you like that… you practically had an orgasm.”

    “No, I didn’t,” I protest. “And why is he a creep? Because he knew my name and writes poetry?”

    She laughs disdainfully. “I’m not jealous of you.”

    I flip through the radio stations. “I never said you were.”

    She smacks my hand away from the stereo and cranks up some upbeat pop song, knowing I’m not a fan of that kind of music. She belts out the lyrics at the top of her lungs, waving her hands and bobbing her head. I rest my head back and watch the trees drift by. I’m almost asleep when she slows down the car.

    I open my eyes and start to unbuckle my seatbelt, but we’re stopped in a line of cars, not at the store. “Where are we?” I rub my tired eyes.

    “Stuck in traffic.” She impatiently drums her fingers on the steering wheel.

    “Wait, what… traffic?” I quickly sit up. The town is too small for traffic, yet there’s a row of cars lined each way over the bridge and down the road. Police vehicles barricade the street and uniformed policemen are sectioning off the center of the bridge with yellow tape and trying to detour everyone to the side.

    “What’s going on?” I mumble, rolling the window all the way down to get a