Destiny (Absent Shadows Trilogy Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

before noon. She wore a black leather jacket with matching fur trimmed gloves, a black top, skin tight black jeans and high-heeled black leather boots. There wasn’t a bit of colour on her.
    ‘You’d better get ready, they’ll be here soon,’ she scolded me as she strutted into the room, throwing her gloves on the sofa before plonking down on it.
    ‘Oh, well, I … sort of am ready. This is alright, isn’t it?’
    I had on my favourite pair of faded Levis, a grey t-shirt under a faded blue hoodie, and my heaviest jacket over the top of that. My outfit was finished off with my old hiking boots.
    ‘Oh … well, if that’s what you want to wear … never mind—I suppose you didn’t bring all that much with you. That’s fine.’ It was obvious that she was not impressed with my clothes. ‘This is going to be so much fun. I’m so glad Tom suggested it. I would have, you know—if he hadn’t. I mean, I really wanted to go out with him again, and this is perfect. It’ll be so much fun. And you’re going to love the game.’
    ‘Maybe we should go downstairs and wait for them out front?’ I suggested, wanting to go before she changed her mind about what I was wearing.
    ‘Oh, okay. That’ll save them having to park,’ she said, standing up. She gave my outfit one final look then shook her head as she walked to the door.
    Just after we walked outside, a huge silver SUV pulled up, and Tom called out to us. Claire and I jumped in the back and off we went.
    It didn’t take long to get there. Tom parked and we all climbed out and started off on our short walk to the stadium. We hadn’t gone far before Tom put his arm around Claire’s shoulders. It made me feel awkward, but I just put my hands in my pockets. When I glanced at Sam, he seemed nearly as uncomfortable as I felt.
    When we finally got to our row of seats, Tom went in first, followed by Claire. Sam stood back, gesturing for me to sit next to Claire, then he sat beside me.
    Luckily the game had already started, so there was lots of noise and action—eliminating any need for small talk. The stadium was gigantic and the noise was almost deafening.
    Tom did a pretty good job of explaining the game to me. Every now and again he’d reach across Claire to grab my arm, and tell me to yell ‘BALL’ as the crowd roared. It was fun watching how animated he became, particularly toward the referees. His energy was exhilarating.
    As for Claire … well, she seemed in heaven. Every now and then she’d lean over and whisper in my ear as she pointed out the best looking players. But most of her attention was directed at Tom. They giggled a lot, at private jokes I suppose. Anyway, it was cute—they seemed to be a good match.
    And then there was Sam. He was relatively quiet throughout the game, but he did speak to me occasionally, explaining some of the penalties when I must have looked confused. He didn’t carry on the way Tom did, however, and he appeared to be deep in thought at times. I found his presence unsettling, especially when he’d accidentally brush my hand, or when he’d lean across to talk to Tom over us girls. Each time he did I could feel my heart skip a beat. I tried to watch the game, but my peripheral vision kept tempting me, and I found myself constantly sneaking looks at him—way more often than I should. I could swear he was more focused on Tom than the game, and it felt like he was on edge.
    When the game finally ended we all stood up and walked to the stairs. Tom took Claire’s hand as we walked toward the exit, and I followed with Sam just behind them.
    It was cold and getting dark as we left the stadium, and the wind had picked up. I shivered a little as the wind whipped around our faces.
    ‘You’re freezing. Here,’ said Sam, taking off his jacket to drape it over my shoulders.
    This was unexpected. I mumbled an apology—something about not being used to the cold weather yet, but he just shook his head and gave me a slight smile.
    I