Then he pulled away, one hand stroking my cheek, his blue eyes larger than ever as they searched my face. I gazed back at him, but he didn’t move. He just stood there, frozen like an exquisite statue. That’s it, after weeks of build up?
“I don’t think so.” I arched on my toes, pulling him back to my lips.
“Much better,” I murmured against his mouth, relaxing into his arms. This is how kissing was supposed to be, no expectations, just chemistry.
Suddenly the elevator alarm sounded, shattering the best moment of the night. The car halted, mid-air. I jumped back, bumping into the metal rail between me and the glass. Bryan’s hand rested on the red stop button.
“I knew it. I can’t believe this.” His eyes widened, then narrowed into a glare. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Tell you what?” I angled my head to stare past him through the glass window of the car. Hanging in the middle of nowhere, uncertainty thundered in my ears.
He cocked his head at me, blue eyes drilling deep. “Why didn’t you tell me about the visions?”
My heart almost stopped. How did he know I had visions? My eyes darted around the small space. It closed in on me, I couldn’t escape. I blinked hard, but his eyes still bored into me. The air clogged in my throat like I could hyperventilate any second.
I spewed out the first coherent words. “I don’t know, it’s pretty crazy. How could you know about my visions?”
“Hey, Angel. I know you’re not crazy.” He reached for me, wrapping me up in his arms again. With one hand, he nestled my head into his shoulder. It felt good to rest there. “Those things you see are pretty scary.”
“No kidding.” I lifted my head, watching that strong profile. “But how do you know what I’ve seen?”
Those blue eyes seared into me. I could’ve melted into the floor. “Just now, when I kissed you, I saw some pretty strange things.” His fingers toyed with my hair, like it was no big deal.
All the air blasted from my lungs. Relief flooded my body, as if a heavy load magically lifted off my shoulders. Finally, someone who could help me understand my scary visions.
I collapsed into him, letting his strong arms hold me up. “You really saw something when you kissed me, or when I kissed you?”
Laughter rumbled in his chest. He planted a kiss on the top of my head. “I wasn’t expecting that last one, but I saw something both times.”
“Really? What did you see?”
“First, I saw that man with the golden eyes, in a hospital surrounded by white light. He made you feel better. Then I saw that shadow snake slithering up Will’s shirt. Gave me the creeps.” A shudder racked his body. “Now I wish you would’ve listened to me and stayed away from him.”
“Wow, I almost forgot about the man in the hospital. He felt so real.” My mind flew back to those horrible days after the accident—the hospital, the recovery, all of it. Bryan saw the whole thing, or at least part of it. Somehow that felt more intimate than kissing, like he could see into my soul.
“You have quite a gift,” he whispered into my hair. “I’m not sure how I could see what you’ve seen. I’m shocked, in a good way.”
“This is so weird.” I nuzzled into his shoulder and closed my eyes. Finally I could breathe easy, now that someone else knew exactly what I’d been going through. “Funny how you saw two random visions.”
Bryan stepped back, tilting my chin up. When my eyes fluttered open, dazzling blue filled my sight.
“What do you mean, random? How many visions have you seen?” His eyes weren’t angry, just searching.
“I don’t know.” I broke his gaze. Could I be honest with him? After all we’d been through, he might be the only person I could trust. “Maybe five or six actual visions. Sometimes I just see shadows or light around people.”
“Oh, really?” He pushed the stop button again. The elevator rumbled back to life. “Anything around me?”
“Definitely a light.” I smiled up at him. The vision of the fight came back to me. “When Jake showed up at Hard Rock, I saw a man of light. It was so cool. My guy totally punched out Jake’s shadow. It was awesome.”
“What? You saw an angel fighting a demon?” His hands moved to my shoulders. “Are you sure?”
I tried to shrug, but his hands weighed down on me. “Yeah, I think so. It’s not like they tell me what side they’re on. It’s usually obvious. When I thought he was an angel, he nodded at me like I was right on. That was the first time I saw anything remotely human, except for that Noah vision.”
“Noah vision?” Suddenly his face fell, arms drooping to his sides. He paced back and forth, then turned to face me. “This is so much bigger than I thought.”
The elevator dinged, and we split apart.
“Stupid bell.” With my fingers, I combed away the tangles in my hair. What did he mean? What’s so important about the Noah vision? I shouldn’t have mentioned it, but I thought he could handle it.
Bryan’s eyes lingered on me. He swiped his palm across his lips before the doors opened. Good call. My berry lip gloss all over his face would be a dead giveaway.
The doors opened on Brooke and Tony strutting around the elevator lobby. Even Laura and Lenny had beat us to the lobby, and Laura was rolling her eyes at Tony.
He crossed his biceps over his chest, glaring at us. “Where were you guys? You weren’t that far behind.”
“There you are. We won!” Brooke danced around and high-fived Tony. “You know what they say, all’s fair in love and elevator tag.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “Why are you acting weird?”
I bit my lip, peeking sideways at Bryan. Maybe we should just tell them the
