The Battle of the Trees - Sword, Ring, and Crown Book Two

Chapter Two

As I closed the door to my room, I slumped against it and slid to the floor. Then I touched my lips, which still felt the memory of the kiss. I was careless. I was unsure of my own feelings towards any of the guys, so I shouldn't have encouraged Dominic who was so obviously interested in me.

What kind of idiot would torture a man by coming to his room in nothing but a nightgown in the middle of the night?

I was that kind of idiot. Me.

Then I'd let him hug and kiss me not just once that night but many times. Of course, he'd want something more when I was giving him a shining green go sign. Heck, if he'd pushed even a little...

"What are you doing, Matt?" I asked myself as I shook my head at how close I'd come to possibly making a mistake.

"That's what I would like to know," someone said. Then a pillow went sailing towards me and collided with my face.

With a startled leap to my feet, I turned my attention to the direction the voice came from. Adrian was sitting at my desk in the moonlight, looking annoyed. Klick was lying on his head, and Klack was nestled into the crook of his neck. He had sprawled his legs forward on the chair, and because he was wearing cut-off sweats, I could faintly make out the shape of the hummingbird on his calf. The shadows cast by the moons obscured his expression, but I saw the slight spikes on his root. I felt annoyance like the prickles of a small cactus against my mind.

"Adrian? What are you doing in here?" I crossed the room and sat down on the bed to face him.

He scrubbed a hand down his face. "Why do you think? You were broadcasting everything at me like a freaking movie - except it was like I was dropped in the middle of it. Dang, Ace, we gotta get this to stop!"

My face flamed, so I covered it with both hands and fell sideways onto the mattress. "Oh, my word..."

"Yeah. I found out some things about this new power I have. It's not only you that I can read like a movie, but it's also many people. I tried it out on a mouse, and I found out that the house has a family of them we need to get rid of. I also found out that Whiskers prefers Camembert over cheddar."

I uncovered my face for a moment. "Who's Whiskers?"

"The mouse, of course."

"Oh, of course." I shook my head in confusion.

"Never mind that, Matt. When are we going to share this with the class? I need to learn how to block stuff out so I'm not pulled into stuff I can't unsee."

I huffed with weariness. "Fine. Sorry you had to see all that."

He made me scoot over and sat on the bed with me. Klick and Klack flew back to the desk, then snapped their beaks in protest at Adrian for disturbing their rest. Adrian rubbed his forehead as he said, "It's not that, exactly. If I'm being honest... the kiss was hot." His soft laughter held a surprising note of seduction, so my attention sharpened. I tried to guess what he meant by that, but he wouldn't face me.

"What is it then?" I pressed.

"I'm dealing with my own feelings about you."

Oh. Right. That had to be awkward since I didn't even remember we'd had a thing. "Yeah, I can understand that... So, did you only come to see me because you wanted to complain about your power?"

He flopped backward onto my mattress. "No."

I waited in silence for his answer. When it didn't come for several minutes, I wondered if he had fallen asleep. "Adrian?"

"It's just... last night was the first night I slept with no nightmares."

Guilt felled me like a tree, and I flopped backward next to him. "I'm so sorry."