Frost's Touch (Book One of the Eternal Warmth Trilogy)

XLII. New Beginnings

XLII

New Beginnings

  “Pass the jam Frost?”

  The jelly slid across the countertop into Iana’s open awaiting hand.

  It was seven ten in the morning, with the sun just shining through the trees, lighting up a clear blue sky.

  Iana struggled to open the jar, huffing in annoyance. Jack chuckled at her cute childish antics, and lightly bumped hips with her. He took the jam away from her and twisted the cap open.

  “Thanks Frost,” Iana muttered.

  Jack laughed. Iana had come to call him Frost and Alistair (his middle name). Frost had stuck when she used it while Jack died, and Alistair stuck when he told her what his middle name was. He was surprised when she didn’t comment on how ‘old fashioned’ it was.

  “Any time, my love.” Jack kissed Iana’s cheek quickly, before going back to slathering his toast with strawberry jam.

  At six thirty, Iana had woken them both up. Jack was still too tired to actually get up, so he stayed buried under the warm blankets. By the time Iana got out of the shower, Jack was still in bed, his head under the pillow and his legs lolling off the side of the bed.

  It was when Iana jumped on top of Jack, that he got out of bed and had a shower of his own. He was still half-asleep when he got out of the heavenly bliss of warmth.

  Iana and Jack sat down at the breakfast island, eating their toast in silence.

  Over the week that they’d been absent from the world, they had been on dates every night, curled up together on the couch and watched a bunch of movies, and used a lot of the house’s water.

  It was almost eight when they were finished getting ready. Jack waited by the door as Iana pulled on her leather jacket. Instead of a somber memory of how late she got it for her birthday, it now reminded her that she had an actual family.

  A few minutes later they were flying through the air, oblivious to the pedestrians below them. Iana held onto Jack tightly. Even though he was alive and she wasn’t letting Jack come even close to death again, she was still afraid that something might happen to Jack.

  Might kill him.

  They reached Wyandotte High a few minutes later, landing in the canvas of the trees so nobody would see two people descend from the sky.

  “You ready?” Jack asked, and he took Iana’s hand in his. A warm feeling spread through her. The tingles and shocks and warmth had become more prominent ever since Jack’s… death.

  Iana breathed in slowly, exhaling just as slow, turned to Jack, smiled to him, and nodded her head. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

  With that, they walked out of the woods into the parking lot of the high school, into the evasive stairs of their peers.

  Into the actual start of their lives.

  Cassie and Mia did not hesitate to tackle Iana to the ground the minute her foot stepped into the courtyard.  Dean, Jason, and Brandon laughed at the girls as they fell to the damp earth in a puzzle of limbs.

  Jack stepped over the girls, shaking his head while smiling, and walked up to the guys. Each one gave Jack a manly hug, patting his back awkwardly and expressing how much they missed him over the week.

  The boys fell into a comfortable conversation about random things, but Dean wasn’t paying attention. His gaze was drawn to curly blonde hair blue eyed beauty who was hugging the life out of Iana with her skinny arms.

  It was an unusual thing for Dean to be doing. After all, he just broke up with Allie no more than two weeks ago.

  Well, when she broke up with him.

  He should feel heartbroken, or something. But no, he didn’t feel anything after breaking up with someone you thought you loved. He should be mourning the break up, begging Allie to give him another chance, to take him back. Again, no, he was staring at one of his best friends that he’d known for almost nine years.

  All she’d ever been to him was a good trusting friend that he could talk to that he couldn’t talk about to the guys. She was there for him when he broke his ankle in soccer, knocked his head open on the side of a pool, and when his grandmother died.

  Everything that happened, she was there, as a friend.

  And now Dean was looking at her as if she was the greatest treasure ever.

  Brandon must’ve noticed something, because when Dean looked away from Cassie, he caught the suspicious eyes of his friend.

  He gave Brandon a look as if to say ‘what,’ and Brandon gave Dean a sneaky smile, one that said he knew what was going on.

  Dean shrugged, and hiked his head to a space where there were no people around. Brandon trailed after him, stopping when Dean did.

  “What do you know?” Dean accused.

  “I know that Cassie is someone very important to you now,” Brandon cryptically snickered.

  “Oh cut the bullshit Gayle, and tell me what’s going on.”

  “She’s your soul mate man.”

  The breath in Dean’s lungs was knocked out of him at the simple and concise response.

  Cassie? His soul mate? No way!

  “How do you know?” Dean narrowed his eyes at his good friend. Brandon smiled, and clapped him on the back.

  “In due time Dean, I will tell all of you in due time.”