Jessica Meigs - The Becoming Read Online Free PDF Page B

laugh from Gray.
    “Hey, Jack likes it, and it’s the best place to go to play pool and drink,” he said. “I can deal with crappy music for a while if I get all the benefits of hanging out with a good friend.” He stopped beside his car—a beat-up old Chevy Cavalier that had been the only thing he could afford at the time—and fumbled his keys out of his pocket. “So where did you want to go again?” he asked. There was no way she wanted to actually hang out in his dirty car, of all places. He slid the key into the door, nearly dropping the keys on the pavement in his drunken clumsiness.
    “Right here is fine,” April assured him. Her hand grasped his jacket, and then she pulled him around and stretched up, pressing her mouth to his. He grunted faintly at her sudden attack, but once his brain caught up with April’s actions, he returned the kiss enthusiastically, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her tightly against him. Her lips were soft and tasted like watermelon lip gloss, and her waist felt small, almost fragile, in his hands. As he smoothed his hands up her back to brush them over her thick hair, she smiled against his lips.
    “Could have warned me that that was what you had in mind,” Gray mumbled.
    “Why would I want to do that?” April replied. Then she kissed him again, sliding her leg up Gray’s to rest her knee against the car behind him. He let go of her waist long enough to fumble behind him for the car’s door handle, and once he’d managed to turn the key, he eased April to the back door and tugged it open.
    “Get in,” Gray said. He was surprised at how his voice sounded: low and husky, hoarse with tension and suspense. He resisted the urge to clear his throat. April looked up at him, winked, and then wasted no time obeying his order. Once she was inside, he climbed in behind her and pulled the door shut. Then he tugged her back into his arms and grinned. “So, where were we?”
    April giggled and climbed into his lap, resting her knees on either side of his legs. The position made her dark skirt ride up her thighs and show several inches of her gorgeous legs. He grinned and leaned in to kiss her again, even as he smoothed his palms up those legs. Her hands wiggled into his jacket, pushing it back off his shoulders and helping him shrug it off. “Seems like you’ve got some really interesting things in mind,” he half-joked as he tossed the jacket into the front seat. Then he started in on the tiny buttons lining the front of April’s blouse.
    “Only if you’ve got a—”
    A loud thud against the outside of the car made Gray jump. He felt April startle against him. She looked at him with wide eyes. “What was that?”
    Gray shook his head and sighed. “Nothing. Probably some drunk guy falling against the car. Don’t worry about it.” He lightly nipped at the side of her neck as he managed to unfasten another one of her blouse’s buttons.
    Another thud against the car. This time, it sounded like a fist slapping the fogging glass near Gray’s head. “Fuck,” Gray breathed. The word came out in a soft gasp. He looked to the window as someone outside began hammering against it, beating on the window over and over.
    “Maybe it’s your friend,” April suggested. Gray could hear a twinge of annoyance in her voice—a sentiment with which he could definitely agree. “Maybe he thinks he’s being funny or something.”
    Gray grimaced and reached for the door. “I swear to God, if it’s Jack trying to pull some stupid bullshit, I’m going to tear him a new one,” he said. He slid over the seat and unlocked the door, pushing it open and already speaking as he climbed out. “Jack, you are seriously the most immature—”
    Gray realized it wasn’t Jack outside the car only when the man who was there—a tall, dark-haired man who was much larger than he—grabbed him by the front of his shirt and slammed him against the car with enough force to knock most of the