Shattered: A Salvation Society Novel by Bella Emy (pdf to ebook reader .TXT) 📕

more than likely make myself into a fool. I’m known for screwing up things like this.

Because I’m smooth like that.

Kalen clears his throat and nods. “That’s right. I moved from New York a few months back.”

“Oh, nice. Is that where you’re from originally?” Erin takes a scoop of her vanilla-strawberry treat and then shovels it into her mouth.

“Well, not originally, but for most of my life, yes.”

I want to ask him where else he lived before that, but the same little boy from before runs over to our table and taps Kalen on the arm.

We all turn to see the little boy with ice cream smeared all over the corners of his mouth. A round of laughs escapes us right as his mother runs over, chasing after him.

“Tommy! Come here!” She’s got long blonde curly locks, appearing to be in her mid-thirties.

Tommy snaps his head toward the sound of her voice and lets out an excited shriek. It’s adorable, we’re all laughing again.

“Hey, little guy… I think your mama’s looking for you,” Kalen says to Tommy.

“Mama?” Tommy repeats.

As she finally reaches us, she grabs Tommy before he can get away and scoops him up into her arms. She lets out a long, drawn-out sigh. “I’m so sorry. One minute we were sitting over on that bench, and the next thing I knew, he’s taking off.”

“It’s ok, ma’am,” Jason answers.

“We just had the most colorful day… he fell at daycare and cut the back of his head on the slide… apparently, he went down backwards before anyone noticed. He also managed to get a nice little cut right in the middle of his forehead. We’re actually just coming from the hospital. Ice cream was the only way to make him happy.”

“Oh my gosh, is he okay?” Erin asks.

“Tommy okay!” the little guy responds.

We all giggle at how cute he is.

Tommy’s mother nods, and he lays his head on her shoulder. “Yeah, doctors said he’s a tough kid, but we all insisted on taking him to the emergency room to get checked out… didn’t want to take any chances, you know? By the time we were seen and then discharged, it got so late…”

“That’s understandable. We’re glad he’s okay,” I respond.

His mother smiles. “Thank you, I appreciate it.”

“It’s nothing, really,” Kalen answers.

“Well, I’ll let you kids get back to it. My husband is waiting for us to get back to the car. You kids have a good night. Say bye, Tommy.”

Tommy waves at us. “Bye, Tommy.”

We smile.

“Bye, little guy. Feel better soon,” Kalen says.

A few minutes later, Erin and Jason both get up from their seats. He whispers something in her ear, causing her to laugh and then says, “So, Lexi, Jason and I are going to go for a walk. Can I come by your house after?”

She’s supposed to be spending the night at my house. I guess she and Jason are not ready to say good night just yet.

“Of course,” I answer. “I’m not going to bed any time soon. But I’ll leave my window cracked.”

Kalen leans back into me and whispers, “Good. Because I’m not ready to say good night to you just yet.”

I feel my heartbeat speed up, and my breath catch in my throat. Holy shit.

Slowly, Kalen straightens back up just in time as Jason grabs Erin’s hand.

“Okay, girl. I’ll text you before I come up,” she says. “It was nice meeting you, Kalen.”

“You too, Erin. Maybe before school starts, we can all meet up and hang out for a bit.”

Erin smiles. “Sounds good. See you guys around.”

“Later, Lexi,” Jason says.

I wave at them before they turn around and leave.

I keep my eyes on them because I can feel the weight of Kalen’s stare on me, and I don’t think I’m brave enough to look at him.

Because he’s beautiful.

Because he’s starting to make me feel all types of giddy on the inside.

Kalen turns his body and swings one leg over the bench so that he’s completely facing me. “Lexi…”

I slowly turn my head in his direction, and when our eyes lock, I feel my heart stop beating.

The way he looks right now. The way his green eyes are glimmering in the shadows of the night, with only the light from the moon illuminating them. The way his sly grin makes me want to do things to him I’ve never done to any other guy before.

God, I only just met him tonight, but I’ve never felt such a strong attraction and pull to anyone else before.

This is crazy.

This is intense.

This is a crush.

Like, I can seriously say I’m catching feelings hard for this boy, this man. He’s just so perfect, but I know so many guys are when you first meet them. It’s just that something about him feels different.

“Lexi…” he whispers again.

“Yeah?”

“May I walk you home?”

Wait, what? I thought he wasn’t ready to say good night? Maybe I’m fooling myself. Of course, I’m attracted to him. But here I was, assuming he was attracted to me as well.

But then what about his comments to me just now, about not wanting to end this night and not blaming Tommy for liking me, too?

“Sure,” I respond, trying to hide the disappointment.

If he did like me even just a little bit, wouldn’t he want to make this night last longer? I’d better take whatever I’m starting to feel for him and stash it to the side because obviously, I’m reading way too much into this.

We rise from our seats on the bench and walk toward my house. For the first two minutes, nothing is said between us. We just walk in silence without exchanging a word, side by side, as if we’ve done this so many times before.

Finally, he breaks the silence. “Are you excited about school starting?”

“Yeah, I’m looking forward to this year. I really want to do well on the SATs and hopefully get into a good college. I’ve had my eyes set on Stanford for the longest time.”

“Wow, that’s a very prestigious school. Good for you.”

I shrug.