Page 21 of Infinity Chronicles 1
Our eyes connect, and I feel a tugging sensation in my stomach, almost like a pull, down low. My hand flies to my lower abdomen as a pooling warmth gathers there. Oliver sucks in a deep breath and his eyes widen a fraction.
I break the connection, looking away and noting the way Milo and Dante are watching us with rapt attention.
I dismiss the strange feeling in my body for attraction, which I'm unfamiliar with, and take a bite of my granola bar just to give myself something to do.
Dante takes a step forward and spins like he might try to squeeze into the space between me and the wall. I scoot over instinctively, and my hip and thigh meet Ollie’s. Dante slides down and we're all three smashed together on the step. This is the closest I've ever been to someone, let alone two someones. The warmth in my abdomen doubles and the tingle I've come to expect from touching them is zinging across my thighs.
What is it about these boys that makes my body go haywire? I've never really gotten close to anyone, but there have been times in my life where I've bumped into people or been touched by someone while passing through crowed area, but I've felt nothing close to this.
Dropping the granola bar to my lap, I run my palms over my denim-covered thighs, contemplating how to ask if it's normal and if they feel it too. Milo sits down on the step below us, wedging his back against Ollie’s legs and turning his face up to us.I swallow thickly and shift my knees closer to Dante to allow Milo more room.
“No, that's okay,” he mutters and grabs my ankles by wrapping his arm around them and pulling me back even closer to him.
The moment he touches me a low hum fills my body. It's like a circuit has been fully connected. My body comes alive with sensation.
I know my eyes must be huge as I look at the three of them with questions.
“Is that... what’s happening?” I don't know what to say, but I have to say something. Do they feel this? Is it normal?
Milo’s eyelids are heavy as his head drops back onto Ollie’s knee, his arms still wrapped around my legs. He looks like he's about to fall asleep and I feel like I'm touching a live wire.
Dante’s low gravelly voice comes from right next to my ear, “What we've been waiting for.”
Nine
Beyond confused I start to panic. My breathing becomes labored and my heart rate skyrockets. What does he mean I’m what they've been waiting for? I jump up and step over Milo, severing the connection. Backing away from them feels wrong, but I don't know how else to handle them.
Ollie is the first to stand. His face is kind, his eyes soft with understanding. He licks his lips before speaking, “Laura, I'm sorry we jumped the gun.” He turns back to the others behind him briefly. “I think I can speak for all of us in saying that we find it hard to be around you but not close to you.”
“Why, what's happening? You do feel it don't you?” My last words come out as more of a hiss than a question.
Dante takes the lead by stepping closer to me. “Yes we feel it.” He confirms with a heavy look in my direction.
“What is it you feel exactly?” I question in confusion, but I’m hoping I can make some sense of the craziness that has become my life.
“A connection, a strong connection. One that we've known was going to happen and we've been waiting for.”
“I don't understand what you mean.” My voice is almost shrill.I shake my head unable to accept what he’s saying.
The three of them share a look between themselves, and Dante again takes the lead when he asks in his usual low rumble, “You don’t know anything?” At my blank look he continues almost in a whisper, “Anything about who or what you are?” He seems apprehensive, worried even, but he sounds a little skeptical.
“Of course, I know who I am,” I scoff at him.
Heels clicking on the worn tiles of the school halls stops our conversation in its tracks. Delaney and two friends saunter up the stairs at an unhurried pace. Each of them personifies perfection with their expertly styled hair and clothes.
The guys’ heads, which are already trained in their direction, follow them up the stairwell. Milo takes a step down, bringing himself closer to the girls, but Ollie stops him dead with a hand on his shoulder. After a long second Milo shrugs off the boy’s touch and turns back to face me. He looks angry, his face is red and his lips are tight, I think he might just start yelling any minute.
I take another step away from them. There's no way I want his stormy eyes pointed at me right now.
“Hey,” Delaney purrs without a shred of self-preservation.
“I thought we were meeting at the front lobby, in like five minutes?” Dante sighs with a small shake of his head.
Delaney shrugs a delicate shoulder. “What can I say, I couldn't wait.” Her hand goes to the flare of her narrow hip and she arches her back slightly, pushing her chest out. Everything about her is suggestive, her skirt has to border on a dress code violation, and her painted red lips are turned up in a sultry smirk.
The two girls with her seem a little less bold but are equally alluring.
Dante, whose back seems rigid, pushes up the sleeve of his gray thermal shirt, exposing his toned forearms. The black leather cuff encircling his wrist catches my eye and I can’t seem to look away.
