Spellbound - Cara Lynn Shultz [95]
Once we were outside, I impulsively threw my arms around his waist, still reeling that I could touch him whenever I wanted. I had that kind of access to him. It made me a little giddy, I had to admit.
“Thanks for brunch,” I said, my voice muffled by his jacket.
“My pleasure. I want to do more things like that with you.” Brendan tugged on my coat since I still had my arms wrapped around him. “By the way, I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“What’s up?” I asked, resting my cheek against his chest and squeezing him more tightly. I didn’t feel like letting go just yet, thankyouverymuch.
“My family wants to meet you,” he said, tilting my chin up to look at him. “As in, officially meet you. You know, not in the principal’s office. Are you okay with that?”
I froze. Doomed soul mates? Yeah, I can handle that. Piece of cake. Battle rumors and evil cliques at school? I could get that done before lunch. Attempting to win over Laura Salinger, however, set off shrill alarm bells.
“Do they know about us?” I asked apprehensively.
“Emma, of course they know that we’re together,” Brendan said plainly. “Why do you think they want to meet you?” He was avoiding what I really meant.
“That’s not what I’m getting at.” I reluctantly unwound my arms from his waist and faced him. “For all your mom knows, I was just some girl at school that you were defending. What I mean is, do they know about the whole—” I lowered my voice “—curse thing?”
Brendan stopped at the corner and leaned against the frigid brick building behind him.
“Yes, they know what we think. My grandfather called them and told them last night. He thinks we’re right, by the way.”
I buried my face in my hands. “Why did he do that?” I wailed. “I don’t want them to think of me as…curse bait.” I looked up. “How did they treat your other girlfriends?”
Brendan snorted and gave me a dirty look. Clearly, I’d offended him. “Emma, be serious. Do you honestly think I’ve ever brought someone home to meet my parents?” I just shrugged. Even though he dismissed Kendall to me, I wasn’t dumb. At some point, some crafty girl had to have finagled an invite to the Salinger home.
“Emma, I would never bring just anyone home to meet my parents,” he said, his tone a little kinder now. “Anyone before you was merely that—just anyone.”
“Okay, I believe you,” I said, and resumed walking again, hoping he’d forget about the whole meeting-the-parents thing.
“Sweetheart, come on.” Still leaning against the building, Brendan managed to catch the hood on my jacket and gently tugged me back. I melted into him, resting my chin on his chest. He encircled me in his arms and kissed the top of my head.
“They’re going to treat you like you’re my girlfriend, and that’s it. Even though—” he tightened his grip “—you know you’re so much more.
“And by the way, Emma,” he continued, “I want to meet your family, so let’s make that happen, okay? I’d like to do some things the right way.”
“Okay,” I agreed, remembering that Aunt Christine had actually requested to re-meet Brendan.
“So I’m going to pick you up Friday night for the dance, and I hope your aunt is there, ready to give me twenty questions.” Brendan smiled a toothy smile and I laughed as he reluctantly removed me from his embrace.
“We’d better get going, the movie starts in a half hour.” I started walking forward again. The theater was still about twenty blocks away. I stepped off the curb, reaching out for his hand automatically. It wasn’t there, and I looked next to me, confused. It was always there.
My eyes danced around, and I finally saw Brendan behind me. He stood about thirty feet away, checking the internet on his phone.
“If we miss it, there’s another showing in ninety minutes. That’s not too bad,” he mused.
“Come on, slowpoke! We can make this one,” I called. I turned my head to look at him as I began crossing the street, and Brendan’s green eyes crinkled up with a little smile.
Then his eyes changed—they turned dark, panicked.
“Emma, watch out!”
He shouted my name again as he flung his bag down, running forward and lunging for