Protected (Book 1 in the Ariya Adams trilogy) by Applegate Anna

Author:Applegate, Anna [Applegate, Anna]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Anna Applegate
Published: 2013-06-21T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

A pounding at the door woke me up the next morning. What on earth? I stretched out for a moment, trying to get ready to head to the door.

Caroline wasn’t in the room with me. She must have snuck Nick back in after I passed out. The sun wasn’t too bright through my window shades, so it had to be early still. I shuffled out of bed and walked to the door. I didn’t know who could be knocking so early, but it had better be good.

I threw the door open without even checking the peephole, not caring that I was in pajamas and my hair probably looked like a rat’s nest. James was standing there in the doorway. He looked distressed and his hair was much more tousled than usual. He was wearing sweatpants, which I think is the first time I’d ever seen that. I’d never seen him in something so casual. He was always so put together and well dressed. I was sure I had a look of shock on my face.

“Ariya. Hello,” he said in an irritatingly straight-laced manner.

I turned away from the door and decided I definitely needed coffee if I was going to deal with anything James-related. I waved my hand to come in without saying anything as I stifled a yawn. He followed behind me, closing the door.

“Why aren’t you answering your phone?” he asked, almost accusingly.

My phone? I thought. “It’s off. I turned it off before I went to bed last night. Why are you knocking? You never knock.”

“I thought it was better to knock than just barge in.” I almost laughed out loud. He basically pounded at my door in while I was asleep, and that was better than barging in?

“James, it’s really early and, to be honest, I’m still exhausted. Did something happen? Do you need me for anything?”

I had started the coffee and made a mental note to check my phone to see if he really had called or was using it as an excuse for something.

“I need to talk to you. Do you want to take a walk? It’s nice out.” He was being extremely short, speaking in staccato sentences.

“Sure, can I have my coffee first and maybe wait for the sun to come up a bit more? I'm sure you’d like that, too.”

He nodded, but didn’t laugh. I thought it was a funny joke, vampire, sun, apparently not. I was determined to show I was not hurting, so I was trying extra hard to be casually charming, which was difficult given the fact that I had been abruptly awakened by James’ knocking. I especially wanted to remain cool, calm, and collected after I had been graced with the presence of the beautiful ex. We’d just be friends now, James and I. Everything would be normal between us.

Taking a deep breath, I took in the smell of the coffee. There was something about it that made me feel ready to face the day. It was magic in a cup.

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