Tessa has a secret--one that draws the unwanted attention of a hidden world beyond our own. When an innocent game turns deadly, she's guilt-ridden, determined to set things right for the guy she loves. But can she save his soul before time runs out...
Here's the last piece of this chapter. I'm already itching to write more of this story. Enjoy!
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"Is that—?" Jake peered over the edge of the hole to the floor below. "Matt." Jake groaned.
"Great. The invisible sidekick is here too." Matt folded his arms over his chest.
"Jake's here?" Mrs. K's eyes widened, and she scanned the room as if she might actually be able to see him.
"Yeah, he's here, tethered to her like a puppy." Matt's words dripped with disdain.
Jake's hands clenched into fists.
I rubbed his arm. "Hey, don't let him get to you. He's just jealous."
I grabbed hold of an exposed pipe and used it to swing down over the ledge and hang above the second floor. With my arms fully extended, I dropped to the ground and marched up to Matt.
With his shoulders back, his muscular chest was hard not to notice. Damn, he was hot.
"Jealous? Me?" He closed the distance between us until only the plane itself separated us, with me still hidden in the astral realm. "I don't think so. Besides I have so much more to offer than Casper over there does."
Matt ran a hand down his abs, reached across the barrier separating our two worlds and grabbed my hand, with his body grounded on the physical side.
I raised a brow, staring at his fingers. How the heck did he do that? "Neat trick."
His lips turned up into a smile, and he jerked me forward. The world spun before me, making me nauseous. I squinted my eyes shut. The crisp air from the astral plane dissipated and the warmth from the physical realm flushed my skin. It felt like he'd yanked the ground from beneath my feet, causing me to somersault through space until my feet slammed into the floor. My chest collided with Matt's, and I grabbed his shoulder to steady myself.
"Tessa!" Mrs. K jumped taking a step back, holding a hand to her chest.
"Take your hands off my girlfriend," Jake said in a firm tone somewhere behind me.
Without even looking I knew he wasn't close, or Jake would have removed Matt's hand from my waist.
Matt wrapped his other arm around me. "You okay?"
For a moment, his soft tone and concerned expression broke through his unwavering facade of complete control.
"Kindly," Jake said forcing the word, "remove your hands from my girlfriend."
Matt smirked and gazed over my right shoulder. "Just keeping her on her feet. Besides, it's Tessa who has her hands all over me, and I can't say I mind."
"What?" I let go of Matt, but still feeling the effects of being yanked from the astral plane, I stumbled back a step. Matt caught my shoulder, steadied me, then slipped his hand down the back of my arm until his fingers held mine. Without hesitation, he raised my hand to his lips and gently kissed the back of it.
