Free Left Behind: Left Behind Series #1 by D. J. Pierson, Kim Young

Jade.
     “You
better be on your best behavior, Evan Pierce,” Jade warns, walking past me. I
follow her through her backyard over to where the hedge separates this yard
from the next one. The hedge is interrupted in one spot by a white archway
covered in a flowered vine.
    “Why
aren’t you hanging out by your pool?” I ask, looking back at the Quinn’s yard.
Before Jade can explain, the view I walk into speaks for itself. The
landscaping is amazing. Palm trees, tropical flowers, the pool, the view of the
bay are all spectacular themselves, but the house is what stands out the most.
Huge windows on both the lower and upper levels provide a picturesque view from
almost every room in the place. There’s a balcony off one of the rooms
upstairs, and there’s another room on the ground level which opens up onto a
patio semi-separated from the rest of the yard by a row of tall plants. Who the
hell can afford a place like this?
    Jade
doesn’t wait for me to keep up with her. She heads over and makes herself at
home on a lounge chair next to her friend. As I slowly approach, my eyes roam
over Kacie’s entire body, of which her blue strapless bikini gives me the
perfect view. She’s just as beautiful as I imagined she would be. Unlike last
night, she has her hair pulled up. Her eyes are hidden behind black sunglasses
and a book has her complete attention. Jade hands her one of the bottles of
soda and puts the bag of potato chips on the glass table between them. Kacie
never looks away from the page she’s reading, although she mumbles her
gratitude.
    When
I finally make my way to where they are sitting, words have escaped me. This
must be what it feels like to be intimidated by a girl. To be afraid of
rejection. I have to pull my shit together. This is ridiculous. I talk to
females all the damn time. Why hasn’t she looked at me? She has to know
I’m here. I clear my throat in hopes of drawing her eyes up. Maybe she’ll speak
first and make this easier.
    Jade
sighs and says, “Kacie, that’s Evan Pierce, who you may or may not remember
from the club last night.” Jade immediately goes back to looking at the
magazine she has just picked up. I sit down on the edge of the chair on the
other side of Kacie.
    Kacie
looks up for a second. “Oh, hey,” she says, then she’s back into the book. What
the fuck?
    “Hey.
What’s going on over here?” I try to strike up a conversation.
    She
holds the book up even higher as if I didn’t see it before and mumbles,
“Reading.” It sounds like Jade may be chuckling behind her magazine. This isn’t
going as well as I hoped.
    “Anything
good?”
    “Yup.”
Her one word answers suck.
    “What’s
with the Coke and potato chips so early in the morning?”
    “Hangover.”
    “Seriously,
you should try it, Ev,” Jade says. “Works every time.” Thanks for throwing me a
bone there, Jade.
    “Are
you doing any better since the last time I saw you?” I ignore Jade and attempt
to talk to Kacie again. This time, I nudge her leg with the back of my hand.
Man, her leg is smooth.
    Finally,
I found something to grab her attention. Kacie stops reading, but doesn’t put
the book down. She flips her sunglasses to the top of her head. “I am. Thank
you for asking, and thank you for the drinks last night. I really appreciate
what you did. Jade and I are planning on going out later. I was going to stop
by the club to pay for them.”
    “You’re
welcome to come to the club anytime you want, but you won’t pay for a damn
thing while you’re there,” I tell her.
    “You
don’t have to do that! You don’t even know me,” she says, looking puzzled.
    “You’re
Jade’s best friend. That’s good enough for me.” That and the fact that she has
me so turned on, I can’t think straight.
    She smiles,
nods her thanks, and goes back to her book. Jade glances over and sticks her
tongue out at me. Why doesn’t this girl want to talk to me? Once again, my eyes
leave Kacie’s face, linger