Free Survival (Twisted Book 1) by Rebecca Sherwin Page B

didn’t celebrate it.
    “Too much for you, too?”
    My head snapped up when the smooth, raspy voice spoke and I gasped when I saw the man it came from. Tall, dark, handsome; broad shoulders, narrow waist, and he was casually leaning on the wall opposite. He had his hands in the pockets of his dark jeans, drawing my attention to his legs – long, strong, powerful. The cotton button-up coaxed my tongue to moisten my suddenly dry lips – a dusting of hair beneath the three undone top buttons, a chest that rose and fell precisely, cooly, confidently.
    “It’s too hot to eat Mexican in July,” he said whilst I continued to mentally undress him. “I damn near choked on my jalapeno.”
    I looked into his eyes, a dark hazel brown, and laughed coyly. I was spellbound, rendered speechless by the man before me.
    “Yeah-”
    I was entranced by his five o clock shadow as it darkened with the setting sun, and I was captivated by his eyes when they transfixed on mine and the corner of his mouth turned up into a smile. It was a core-melting smile, a soul-baring gaze; it had me relaxed but on edge. It had me confused. Who was this man?
    “You okay?”
    I nodded and smiled again. I didn’t know what to say. Every man I’d ever met beyond the sleezeballs in bars were at work, where I played a part. A role. A character. Here in Jose’s alleyway, as plain old screwed up Skye, I was tongue-tied, inside out and back to front. He was gorgeous; alluring, self-assured and I was instantly attracted to him.
    “Yeah, you just made me jump.”
    I dropped my gaze and his arms caught my attention as he clenched his fists in his pockets. With the sleeves of his shirt rolled up to his elbows, he looked delicious; I wanted to take hold of them and feel the muscles tense against my palms. There was just something about a man’s arms. I wanted to travel up, to feel his biceps that pulled the cotton taut across them, over his chest to the first button and pull. Hard. I wanted to watch the buttons scatter along with my mind. I’d never felt like that before – I’d never felt the urge to possess someone so instantly, and wondered what it would be like to be possessed by them in return.
    “Sorry,” he smiled when my eyes met his once more. “I can make it up to you.”
    “You can?”
    “Sure. Wanna see a magic trick?”
    My eyebrows shot up, my curiosity piqued, “Give it your best shot.”
    He slowly pushed off the wall and took the two small steps that closed the distance between us. Holding his hand out next to my ear, he snapped his fingers and produced a burnt orange rose. Orange was my favourite colour.
    “I’m Thomas.”
    “Skye,” I took the rose from him, lifted it to my nose and inhaled the heavenly scent. “That was some magic trick.”
    “Skye?”
    Thomas and I turned to find Penelope, Jenifer and Amanda at the end of the alleyway. Two men, one blonde, the other with a mop of black curls, stood behind them. All five faces stared towards us, wondering what we were doing. I wondered the same thing.
    Thomas cleared his throat and scraped his hand through his hair. I clutched the rose in both hands and stared at the ground. Our friends remained silent for what felt like minutes, but could have only been a few seconds and the awkwardness quickly fell over Jose’s alleyway. It was long enough to make me doubt why I’d stayed so long, why I hadn’t run away. The girls weren’t impressed; their puzzled expressions betrayed what they were thinking – what was I doing?
    “I…uh…I should go,” I began to step away. I didn’t want to leave, I knew I didn’t, but wouldn’t admit it.
    I turned to face Thomas and held out the rose. He could play the trick on the next girl he met.
    “Why don’t you keep it and come back inside with me?” He said, his voice vibrating through my ears, warming my blood and making my head light. “I’ll renew your margarita.”
    “I can’t,” I stuttered, stepping further away. I wanted to