Sidekicks Read Online Free PDF Page B

about me?"
    Could the guy be more exasperating? "Of course I did. I care. Now answer my question."
    "I was both, but not for the reasons you probably think."
    I glanced at my watch, vaguely noticing that Tyler and Brynn had just stepped out of the building. "You have thirty seconds. If I'm late to calculus again, I'll get D-hall."
    "Okay. All right. I was sad because I knew I'd have to lie if you starting talking about our sidekicks. I was glad because..." He hesitated as if dreading what he had to say.
    "Oh my God. Out with it!"
    Instead of answering, Cooper swooped in for an open-mouthed kiss that shocked me stupid. So when I immediately melted into him, it was probably nothing more than reflex. But pure desire prompted me throw my arms around his neck and really go for it, pressing my body close and tangling my tongue with his.
    "Geez. Get a room." Tyler's taunt was followed by a pained yelp and Brynn's squeal. Cooper and I broke apart. I saw that my friend, undoubted distracted by us, had missed a step or maybe two and now lay sprawled on the sidewalk.
    Brynn dropped to her knees beside him. "Holy crap, Tye. Are you okay?"
    "Yeah."
    As she helped him to his feet, I shifted my attention back to Cooper. I kept my voice low so only he could hear me. Didn't want to deal with my friends just then. "Meet me right here after school."
    "You've got it."
----

Chapter Four
    I was an honest-to-goodness wreck by last period. Though tempted to hope Cooper's kiss meant he was madly in love with me, his behavior the past week wouldn't let me go there. So when the bell finally rang, I actually dragged my feet a little getting to the door. One step into the hall revealed that Cooper was right outside the English room dodging students hell bent on leaving. How'd he know my schedule?
    Then I remembered. The boy had connections.
    He grabbed my arm. "I was thinking we could go to the park or something instead of talking here."
    "I have riders."
    "If you trust one of them to drive your car, I can take you to it when we're done."
    "All right." I headed to my locker with Cooper one step behind me. From there, we went to the parking lot, where Tyler waited. Brynn hadn't shown up yet. I tossed my keys to him. "Do not wreck my car. I'll pick it up later."
    "Sweet." His grin told me he was all about the guy doing the driving.
    I followed Cooper to his ride, a black Dodge Ram. He drove us straight to one of the city parks. After getting out of the truck, we walked to a wooden bench by ducking under a canopy of low-hanging limbs laden with vibrant leaves. The air actually had an autumn bite to it for a change, so I zipped my hoodie before I sat next to Cooper.
    He leaned forward slightly, his forearms resting on his thighs and his gaze on the grass beneath our feet. "Here's the deal. I never completely lost my sidekicks. But after my dad died, I hid them because every time I saw a spirit, Mom would ask me if it was him. When it wasn't, she'd start crying, which made me feel like I was a failure or doing something wrong."
    I gave him a side-arm hug in sympathy. "That must've been awful."
    "Baby, you have no idea. When we moved from Birmingham to Martinsburg to live near her parents, they kept dogging me about my powers. They had this idea that anything paranormal was a sin, though if you really think about it there's nothing weirder than angels and demons, and they had no trouble with those." He sighed. "The bottom line is that I pretended I'd lost my abilities so they'd get off my back. Then Mom started dating Marsh, and the minute she did, Dad showed up, trying to tell me something. Of course, I told Mom. I mean, what if he was trying to warn us about the guy? And this was just what she'd been hoping for all along, right? Unfortunately, Marsh heard my confession. He flipped out."
    For some reason, that didn't surprise me.
    "He told Mom that I needed to see a shrink. And while she had the good sense not to go there, she still made me promise to never