Chapter 37 Bonus Chapter
Bonus Chapter
Raiders of the Lost D'Arc
Cordelia -aged fifteen
It was an idea that started in the middle of a chocolate overload while we were lying on the Sol’s carpet in front of their TV, screaming the words to a musical where a teen girl fell in love with the popular boy from school.
It was a ridiculously stupid idea.
We should have stayed in our makeshift beds, camping out in the lounge room.
The knowledge of who even came up with the idea has been lost, and only the old ghosts of the Sol house would have the answer.
But that idea has us creeping up the Sol staircase at the dark and quiet hour of 10 pm. The elder and younger Sol’s departed to their beds almost two hours ago. I glance back at the whiteboard and see the figure-eight symbols of Sofia’s older brother, Sebastian.
I’ve never really paid much attention to him; he’s just her older brother. But Sofia doesn’t care about him; no, she’s after something wilder. His best friend, who is also sleeping over tonight.
Devon Hart.
She’s going to go in there and steal something of his to make up for him doing something that made her feel like he didn’t care.
Sofia might never admit her crush on Devon, but I’ve been in her room; there are hearts everywhere.
Her obsession is next level, I’m not sure if Devon’s aware of it or not.
She is so obviously in love with him it’s not funny.
We get to the top of the landing. Sebastian’s room is the first door on the right. I stare at it, rethinking this plan completely. We should abort.
“Be right back,” I hear Devon say.
Sofia looks at me with panic. “Run!”
I fly up the hallway, but before I can get to her room, a door opens. I panic and dart into the first room on my left, which is the guest bathroom.
The shower, which has been running, turns off suddenly and alarmingly, alerting me to the fact that I’m not alone. I can smell bodywash, chocolate, chili, and roasted almonds.
I turn, and it’s like the world crawls in slow motion.
Through the foggy glass, I can see all this skin, these muscles that are just starting to define themselves. He’s got an alpha’s body, and he’s only seventeen.
Sebastian.
As if thinking his name alerts him, he turns, and his gaze finds me. He doesn’t yell; he doesn’t say anything. He just cocks his head to the side as if he’s trying to figure me out.
I can’t look away from him. He’s a work of art. I didn’t know boys could be so pretty. What is that smell?
I inhale deeply and realise the smell is coming from me.
Sebastian’s eyes darken, and he opens the door, stepping towards me. Before I can sweep my eyes down, he grabs a towel and hides his dick.
My eyes trace over every shadowed ab, over his brown nipples, the tanned skin stretched tight over bulging muscles, and finally up to his face, which is stark and almost frightening in its rawness.
He grunts, and even that sound melts my brain, rattles something loose, has me losing even more control than I’d lost before. My body shakes as I press myself back up against the door. He moves closer, taking up all that I can see.
“Cordelia,” he murmurs my name almost mockingly. “You shouldn’t be in here yet.”
Yet? What does yet mean?
My eyes lift to his. “Bas.” My voice breaks, all that comes out is his partial name, but he smiles widely.
“You look lost, little lamb.”
I shudder as he moves even closer. I catch his scent; it hits me hard. Chili, chocolate, and roasted almonds. It’s him. He is what smells so delicious. My mouth waters, and I lean towards him, swamped by this heat that flushes up and down my body.
“Are you okay?” he asks, and I realise he’s being kind.
“I don’t feel great.”
I wobble, and he catches me, pulling me over to the sink. A moment later, a cloth is pressed to my forehead, and I’m staring into his eyes again as he sweeps my hair back from my face.
There’s a knock at the door. Loud, terrifying. I feel like I’m about to be busted doing something terribly wrong.
“Cordie?” Sofia whispers.
I glance at Sebastian with wide eyes. He grins and reaches for the door, but I grab his wrist, holding him back, my cheeks burning.
“Please don’t,” I mouth.
He frowns slightly. “Go away, Sofia.”
“Oh. Um, have you seen Cordelia?”
“Are you asking me that right now?”
“You don’t have to be a dick.”
We listen as she walks down the hall. I slip off the cabinet and slide past him, trying to ignore all the man flesh and the fact that this is my best friend’s brother, and he’s virtually naked, and I think I just destroyed myself.
Sebastian places one of his large hands on my lower back and peers out.
“Coast is clear.”
I hesitate. “Thank you.”
He drops a kiss on my hair. “Go get some rest, Cordie.”
I’m frozen in stunned amazement. Sebastian Sol just kissed me. My first kiss from anyone that isn’t a family member or old person, and my heart is racing, and I want him to do it again.
I tingle everywhere.
“Goodnight,” he says and turns away from me.
“Thank you,” I whisper, and then I grab my dignity and run down the stairs, not stopping until I’m under the blankets in the lounge.
“Did you get it?” I ask her.
Sofia pulls out a pair of undies. I stare at them.
“Sofia, what the hell?”
“It was all I could grab.”
“His underwear? Oh, god, they are going to kill us. And also, ew!”
I burn just thinking about Sebastian’s underwear. I bury my face in the pillow. Why do I suddenly want to know what colour his are?
“You have to take it back.”
Sofia looks at me with huge eyes. “No way. This is my trophy.”
“For what? Shit stains?”
“How dare you! Devon would never shit his dacks.”
I glance around, checking the doors before I lean in and yelp as I almost put my face on them.
“Ew, gross. Keep them over there.”
“You know, I kinda expected them to be cooler. Not black cotton.”
“What are you two up to?”
Sofia slams the underwear down under the blanket between us, but I’m too busy staring, my mouth ajar, unable to look away as Sebastian pads into the room in a pair of cotton pajama pants that sits low on his hips.
Oh, gods, he’s got these hip bones that lead right down his pants. Am I burning up? Am I sick?
I lick my lips, and when Sofia looks away, Sebastian winks at me.
My cheeks explode with flames. I drop my eyes, squirming. He passes into the kitchen and disappears.
Devon walks down and doesn’t say a word. He just disappears into the kitchen, where we can hear them talking.
“You need to put them back.”
“No freaking way. They are mine now.”
“What are you going to do with them?” I almost shriek.
“Shhh, keep your voice down.”
I groan and grab her wrist. “Listen, Sofia, I love you, but this is not a good look. You’ll be put in a white jacket or an orange jumpsuit. Just put his gross underwear back.”
Sofia juts her jaw. “Not a chance. This is revenge.”
“For what?” I shout.
“He didn’t say hello.”
I stare at her and blink hard. Her auburn hair glows in the low light, and her eyes sparkle. “I’m sorry, what?”
“He didn’t say hello.”
I sigh heavily. “Girl, you need help.”
She rolls onto her back and smiles at the roof. “I know. But when he’s bitching tomorrow because his underwear is gone, I will have a secret, and it will be mine.”
“You are a strange, strange person, Sofia.”
“I am aware.”
“I can’t believe you raided his underwear.”
Sofia looks at me and smiles widely with more than a little bit of evil. “You need a crush so we can raid his, too.”
“No. Ew. I have a line. That’s a line!”
We burst into giggles, and I try really hard to forget about Sebastian and that kiss, but it becomes impossible. I dream about him and that swath of skin, and the look he gave me, even though I didn’t understand it or how it made me feel.
The next morning, when Devon and Sebastian are arguing about Devon’s missing underwear, we keep our eyes on our plates and pretend we don’t know anything.
Raiders of the Lost D’arc, one night of a million spent with my best friend that changed the course of my life forever.
All that trouble for a pair of Devon’s undies.
But from that morning on…I saw Sebastian Sol first and last, and everywhere.