Evergreen (Mer Tales, Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

thought if he was going also, that would be a crazy coincidence. Right?”
    “He’s going to UCLA,” I lied, hoping she’d stop talking about him.
    “Really? Bummer.” Her eyebrows rose. “Well… you’re so right. FAU is going to be totally awesome and there will be much better guys for both of us—”
    So, true. You don’t know the half of it .
    “—so for the meet on Saturday, did you see what heat you’re seeded in?”
    The vision of Fin and me reuniting with a passionate kiss crashed and burned at the thought of the swim meet Saturday. “No.”
    “Seriously? It’s championships. You’re slated against Meredith again.”
    My back stiffened. Visions of the last race played through my mind: the tie, the broken record, Callahan sitting on the bleachers with my dad. I massaged the scar on my leg as it tingled.
    “You swam pretty good at practice yesterday.”
    My teeth clamped onto my lip to hide my smile. I’d purposefully tried to swim slower, but the water exhilarated me for some reason. I ended up swimming my best split with little effort. Maybe the mer blood still pumped in my system from when Fin healed me. I hoped it would last until Saturday. Beating Meredith Hamusek would be worth all the trouble.
    “Yeah… taking a break must have recharged me.”
    “I’ll say. Completely opposite of what happens to me. I stop swimming for even a few days and get all slow and mushy.”
    The whole time, the perfect excuse stared me right in the face. How could I have forgotten the meet? Though no-showing Colin seemed like the best way to dump him on his dorsal fin, I wasn’t sure if the persuaded had a choice once they were commanded to do something. But I could always leave him a note.
    As I contemplated my next move, Callahan and Jaime walked by, their laughter filtering through the noise of the cafeteria. He hugged her tighter as his glance caught the corner of my eye. I looked away, suddenly engrossed in the fraying hole in my jeans. Honestly, I couldn’t be happier he’d found someone else, but he appeared hurt. I needed to apologize, somehow.
    :::
    The note shook like flimsy butterfly wings in my cold hand. Fin’s explicit warning last night not to come near the house rang in my ears, but my feet moved forward anyway, creaking along the wooden boards of the porch. His memory hugged every square inch, haunting me. A deep longing for him to pull up in his Jeep grabbed me, turning my legs to JELL-O. Energy to keep myself from falling apart moment by moment rendered me emotionally exhausted, but finally being here, facing the past, I had to shove the pain further under that barrier I’d locked him in.
    As I looked for an actual place to leave my handwritten excuse for Colin, I contemplated the mailbox next to the door. Would mermen know about the postal service? I gave up the idea and squeezed the paper into the door jam when the door popped open with a creak.
    “Colin!” I heard a man say.
    My blood turned to ice.
    “What?” Colin barked.
    I didn’t dare move or breathe. He sat right there, on the couch beyond the wooden door that separated us.
    “Azor is coming here tomorrow, so get off your ass and pick up your crap. He wants to know what’s taking us so long, and inspect the house. And don’t you dare tell him about the girl.”
    “Of course I won’t! I’m not an idiot,” he yelled with a huff. “She’s not coming over until Saturday anyway.”
    At the squeak of the couch cushions, I willed my reluctant feet to move, to get me the heck away from there.
    The unknown voice interrupted my descent. “She better come, but before you do anything, I want you to check first and see if she has the mark. I don’t want you making a fool of us with the wrong girl.”
    “I know.” Colin tsked. “What do you think I am, a merling?” he said in a low tone.
    Approaching footsteps pinched my lungs. I pressed myself up against the siding, trying to blend into the topiary next to the door. How did