Free Betrayal (Blood Haze: Book Three) A Paranormal Romance by Tara Shuler Page B

paused.
    “Can I hug you?” Kai asked quietly.
    I looked up at him, and his icy blue eyes
were full of love and pain mixed together in a torrent of
emotion.
    “Of course,” I breathed.
    He approached me slowly, wrapping his arms
around me gingerly. I could tell he wanted to squeeze me tightly,
and I knew he’d never want to let go. But he was respecting my
wishes. He was showing remarkable restraint, and I could sense how
desperately he wanted to kiss me. But he didn’t.
    It felt so good to be there in his arms
again. I wanted to stay there. In truth, I wanted to kiss him, too.
I’d missed him terribly in the last few weeks. However, I had to
hold fast to my decision. I needed space, and I couldn’t let my
judgment be clouded over one sentimental moment.
    Kai must have sensed my reluctance, so he
pulled away from the embrace. With remarkable restraint, he brushed
my cheek softly with the back of his fingers, and he stepped back,
putting some distance between himself and me.
    “Thank you,” he said, looking at the
floor.
    “Thank you ,” I returned.
    Honestly, I’d wanted to hug him as much as he
wanted it from me.
    “No, thank both of you ,” Liam said in
a mocking tone, sounding as though he were about to cry, but
clearly just joking around.
    “Very funny,” I grumbled at him.
    Liam stuck his tongue out at me, and I
giggled in spite of myself. I spit a slobbery raspberry back at
him, and he grinned. He was clearly pleased with himself for
lightening my mood. Leave it to Liam to make me laugh when I wanted
to cry.
    “Hey, why don’t we watch a movie?” Liam asked
suddenly.
    “A movie? Now? Are you serious?” I asked.
    “Why not? There’s nothing else to do. We have
twelve hours to wait for Alexi, right?” Liam added.
    “Yeah…”
    “Then let’s make the most of it,” Liam
said.
    He stood up from the table, and he took our
food and disposed of the uneaten portions.
    “Come on, you two,” Liam added. “Let’s
go!”
    Kai and I followed Liam to the media room in
basement. It was a huge theater with reclining movie seats, a
popcorn maker, a huge screen, and surround sound.
    “What do you want to watch?” Liam asked.
    He pushed a button on the back wall, and a
small door opened. A wall of movies slid out of the main wall.
There must have been at least a thousand DVDs to choose from.
    “Wow!” I gasped.
    “This is just the main collection,” Liam
said. “Grandfather always had this stocked with the latest new
releases and our old favorites. He started doing it when Liam and I
were kids. We loved to watch movies with him when we were
little.”
    I could hear in his voice that he was still
missing his grandfather, and I put my hand on his shoulder. He
smiled weakly at me. I could tell he was trying to put on a brave
face for me.
    “So what’ll it be?” he asked again.
    I scanned the titles quickly. I saw dozens of
movies I was interested in, but my eyes stopped on one in
particular.
    “Oh no,” Liam groaned. “Tell me you’re not
looking at the one I think you’re looking at.”
    “What?” I griped. “What’s wrong with it?”
    “Seriously? Sparkling vampires? Who comes up
with this stuff?” he lamented.
    I crinkled my forehead at him, and he shook
his head in mock disapproval.
    “I like it,” I grumbled.
    “You would,” he muttered.
    “Hey, how about this?” Kai interjected,
pulling a movie off the shelf.
    “Pulp Fiction!” Liam and I both shouted
excitedly.
    “It’s perfect,” I said.
    “Agreed,” Liam nodded.
    Liam took the movie from Kai and pushed the
movie shelf back into the wall. He opened a control panel in the
wall beside the movie screen, and placed the DVD into a player. He
used the controls to dim the lights, and then he took the remote
control from the top of the DVD player.
    “Want some popcorn?” Liam asked.
    “Well, duh,” I said, as if the answer were
obvious.
    Liam chuckled. He took some supplies from
underneath the popcorn machine. He poured