Shadowed Strength: Shadowed Series Book One by Wendi Wilson Page A

Jeremy,
especially now that they were together. Regardless of how silly it was, she
wanted complete honesty between them.
    “Mel, please, look
at me. Tell me you’re not mad.”
    “Jeremy, I’m not
mad,” she said as she opened her eyes and looked into his. The worry in his
eyes lessened slightly at her words.
    “You sure? I’m
sorry I forgot. It won’t happen again.”
    “Jeremy stop.
Please, stop apologizing. In fact, I need to apologize to you. Right now.”
    He looked
confused. “For what?”
    “For lying.”
    His eyes widened.
“About what?” He sounded leery.
    “I’m not really ticklish.
No wait. That’s not right. I am ticklish, but that’s not why I freaked out on
you the other day. I don’t hate being tickled.”
    “Wait, I’m
confused. If it’s not that, then why did you get mad? You didn’t want me to
touch you?”
    The hurt look on
his face almost made her cry. She needed to make him understand. She grabbed
his hands and squeezed.
    “Of course I
wanted you to. I was just…embarrassed.”
    “Embarrassed?
About what?”
    She wanted to look
down again, but resisted. She looked him straight in the eye and said it out
loud, for the first time, to someone besides Tara.
    “I was embarrassed
by my fat rolls and I didn’t want you to feel them when you squeezed my sides.”
    She looked down
and closed her eyes tight, trying to keep the tears in. When he released her
hands, her head shot up. She saw disgust in his eyes and was shocked. She
disgusted him now?
    Oh God. Can’t
breathe, she thought and tried to turn back around to
face her locker.
    Jeremy wasn’t
having it, though. He grabbed her hips and turned her back to face him. Then he
slipped both hands behind her and pulled her forward for a hug. “I’m going to
kill her,” he whispered.
    Melanie reared her
head back to look into his eyes, which were filled with heated anger. “Kill
who?”
    “Sissy,” he said
with contempt. “I know this insecurity is mostly due to her and her stupid
name-calling.” He took a deep breath.
    “Melanie, you are
not fat. You are beautiful.”
    She inhaled a
sharp breath. “And,” he continued, “there is nothing about you that I don’t
adore, from the top of your beautiful head to the tips of your beautiful toes.”
    Her smile was so
brilliant, it took his breath away. She kissed him quickly and pulled back to
peer at him.
    “So you’re not mad
at me?” she asked.
    “For what? Lying to
me about being ticklish?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Nah. I forgive
you,” he said with a roguish grin and tickled her sides.
    She jumped and
slapped his hands away. He laughed as she turned to open her locker and grab
her math book. When she swung the locker door open, a folded piece of paper
fluttered to the floor. She reached down, picked it up, unfolded it and read
it.
    “What is that,”
Jeremy asked in a teasing tone, “a love letter from a secret admirer?”
    Melanie shook her
head fast without responding. Tears filled her eyes as she finished reading.
    “Melanie,” he said
when he saw terror grip her, “what is it?”
    Her hand shook
furiously as she held the paper out to him. He took it in one hand and grasped
her quivering hand with the other. He looked into her eyes for a moment, then
looked down and read the note.
    “Hello, Little Girl. I haven’t forgotten
you. I will finish what I started. Wait for me. I’ll find you.
    Sincerely, Your Perfect Match”
    Jeremy looked back
up at her face for barely a second before he reached behind her with his free
hand, slammed her locker shut and dragged her down the hall. He led her to the
front of the school, out the doors and straight to his truck. Jeremy opened the
passenger door for Melanie and gently helped her in. He ran around to the
driver’s side, hopped in and cranked the engine.
    Jeremy didn’t say
a word, but held onto her hand as they drove around aimlessly. Finally, he
pulled into the mall parking lot and found a spot under a tree with no one