Free Bite Me! by Melissa Francis Page A

clear, the more layers of cling wrap I had to fight. My gut knotted and my heart hammered as I worked to force any thought of Noah out of my brain.
    But I couldn’t get rid of him. The more I struggled, the more I felt suffocated by my own apprehension.
    I pulled into the driveway to find Ryan waiting for me.
    â€œWe need to talk,” he said as I closed the car door.
    â€œCan’t this wait?”
    â€œI don’t think so. C’mon.” He grabbed me by the elbow and escorted me to the backyard. A tire swing swayed gently in the breeze, practically inviting me to sit down. So I did.
    â€œI’m tired, Ryan. I really don’t have anything to say.”
    â€œAre you okay?” he asked, his brown eyes dark with worry.
    â€œNever better.” I laughed bitterly and toed the ground, launching the tire into a creaky sway.
    â€œCody Littleton came to see me today,” Ryan said. “He thinks I beat Noah up and left him unconscious.”
    â€œYeah, I got that feeling. He came to see me, too.”
    â€œI wanted to kill Noah, but I didn’t.”
    â€œI know that. You don’t have it in you to hurt someonelike that. If you were that guy, I wouldn’t have ever gone out with you in the first place.” Much less let him under my shirt.
    â€œI’m really sorry about Saturday night.” He paused. “I miss you.”
    I missed him, too. I looked into his dark eyes and sighed as a blanket of chills covered me. It would be so easy to forget today. To forget Noah and the possibility that I was evil in a short skirt and just run away with Ryan like my parents had done. Of course, we all know what a good idea that had been.
    â€œRyan, I—”
    Ryan stopped the swing and pulled me into a hug. I breathed in his scent. Earthy, spicy, and magically delicious. He pulled back, took my face in his hands. I closed my eyes and brought my hands to his arms, waiting for a kiss that shouldn’t happen, but one I needed with every drop of blood in my body.
    He leaned in and I mirrored the motion, sliding my palm along his arm to his hand. I felt him flinch and it startled me. I opened my eyes and pulled his right hand off my face and glanced at his knuckles.
    My heart fell when I saw the bruises and swelling. Grabbing his left hand, I removed the Band-Aids thatcovered his swollen knuckles. Dried blood crusted around the open wounds.
    â€œYou lied to me.” The irony of the situation hit me in the gut like an iron mallet.
    â€œNo.”
    â€œYes. You did. And I covered for you.” My hands were shaking. My voice cracked.
    â€œI never asked you to do that, AJ.”
    â€œI told Cody you left with me last night.”
    â€œWhy would you do something so stupid? Now it just makes me look guilty!”
    â€œIsn’t that what you are?” My insides were a jumble of live wires sparking and shocking their way through my system. Had I been wrong about Ryan? Did he beat Noah up and leave him there for me to suck the remaining breath from his unconscious body? Were we like some anti-superhero duo, working together to spread our evil stepsibling karma across the planet?
    â€œI covered for you! I lied for you! I hate liars and now you’ve turned me into one.”
    â€œI never asked you to cover for me, AJ. Don’t blame your stupidity on me. Living a lie can be a bitch, so either come clean or deal with it.”
    Who the hell was he talking to about living a lie? Iwas the queen of dichotomy. Perfect little human girl on the outside. Raging out-of-control vamp on the inside. I knew lies. I just didn’t like liars. (Yes, I know. I’m also a hypocrite.)
    â€œOh, that’s rich coming from you. I hope you’re ready to take your own advice. So you want me to call Cody and tell him, or are you going to, as you put it, ‘come clean or deal with it’?”
    â€œI didn’t kill Noah,” he said quietly.
    â€œAre you