Havoc: Mayhem Series #4 by Jamie Shaw

Author:Jamie Shaw [Shaw, Jamie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2017-02-21T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 31

The way Mike’s fingers lace with mine—his thumb outside of my thumb, his fingertips snug against the top of my hand—it feels like more than just holding hands, but that’s what I keep telling myself: It’s just holding hands, it’s just holding hands.

As we walk, I ask him more about growing up with Adam and Shawn. I laugh at the way he describes a numskull teenage Joel. I get him to tell me about his mom, his dad who lives in Texas, his half sister and the turtle she had as a pet for a while. And I’m not sure why I ask all of these things, except that I don’t have the willpower not to.

Mike is like a book that I can’t stop reading. And even if I finished—even if I got to the very last line of the very last page—I’m pretty sure I’d want to read him over and over and over again.

We walk toward the cabin but never get there, since we turn around when it starts getting dark. It’s just a walk—a walk in the woods under a dusk-stained sky, with Mike Madden making me laugh. I’m in a pretty dress, and he’s holding my hand, and nothing can go wrong—until it does.

“Oh my God,” I blurt as my feet freeze on the path. My hand jerks from Mike’s, and I stand there in a blind panic. “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.”

“What?” Mike worries, looking around for a snake or a rabid raccoon or a chupacabra or something, while I just stand there paralyzed, staring wide-eyed down at my dress.

“My dress.”

In the low light, Mike follows my line of vision and spots the branch with its fangs lodged in a layer of my flawless red tulle. “Don’t move.”

“Oh my God.”

“Just stand still,” Mike orders, dropping to his knees.

“Oh my God.”

“It’s going to be fine,” he assures me. “I can get it out.”

“I ruined it.”

“When have I ever let you down?” Mike asks, getting to work. I brace my hands on his shoulders to keep my balance. I can’t believe I snagged Dee’s gorgeous, priceless, perfect dress. She didn’t even get a grade on it yet, and I destroyed it.

“I fixed your hoodie, didn’t I?” Mike reminds me as I stare up at the sky, praying for a miracle. “And I saved you from drowning in the pond. And I rescued you from that basset hound at the animal shelter.” I tilt my chin down to give him a confused look, and he smirks up at me. “That dog was an insatiable little monster. He probably would’ve eaten you alive.”

“Barb named him KissyPie . . .”

“Should’ve named him Cujo,” Mike counters, and I laugh.

“My hero,” I joke, and he flashes me another heart-stopping smile before returning his attention to my dress.

“So speaking of,” Mike starts as he gently maneuvers the red tulle. “I was talking to Luke last night, and I was thinking . . . when we get back from tour, I’d like to play a little show at his school.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.