Luminescence Trilogy: Complete Collection Read online

There was no denying the sparks that crackled over my skin whenever he was near, yet both of us tried to tamp it down.

  I wasn’t sure how long I could go on ignoring the connection between Gavin and I. However, I was no closer to figuring out his angle, and meeting his sister only amplified my inkling that something was different about them, and it had nothing to do with his dark and dangerous looks. I couldn’t pinpoint what it was. Something inside me demanded that there was more to him than he let on.

  I met his sister in the parking lot Wednesday morning on my way into school. She had caught a ride with Gavin, and I got my first glimpse of the youngest Mason as I stepped out of my car. Gavin had whipped his car in beside mine. Each morning the rumble of his engine sent my innards on a roller coaster. I wouldn’t be surprised if I started getting ulcers from the amount of activity my stomach went through around him. It couldn’t possibly be healthy.

  Stepping from the passenger side, she wasn’t at all what I expected. I pictured a hardass with purple hair, raccoon makeup and Goth wear. What I got was an eyeful of an intimidating beauty. She had the shiniest midnight hair that blanketed her shoulders and framed her delicate face. Her eyes were the same piercing blue as Gavin’s, but outlined with thick lush lashes. The floor-length dress she wore had a hippy vibe, and contoured to her perfect body in a way I envied. She was downright stunning and immediately inviting.

  “You must be Brianna.” Her voice sung in the morning air like a hummingbird. “I’ve heard so much about you,” she shared before Gavin jabbed her playfully in the side. “What?” She batted her lashes innocently. “You’re all he’s talked about since we moved here,” she softly added as we walked toward the lockers.

  “Sophie,” he growled low in warning.

  She was unfazed by him. “I’m Sophie.” She smiled with genuine warmth.

  “Wow, you’re really pretty,” I lamely complimented and cringed inside. Sometimes things shot out of my mouth that I could thump myself over the head for. This was one of those times.

  She tossed her head over her shoulder at Gavin. “I like her already.” He trailed behind us. Glancing back at me, she enclosed me in her liveliness. Sophie was such a disparity to Gavin’s dark and brooding looks. I wouldn’t have guessed them brother and sister, if it weren’t for the eyes. “I don’t know how you stand this brute’s company.” Her musical tone was lit with bantering affection.

  “It’s a gift. I’m irresistible.” Gavin smirked.

  We both snorted, and then smiled at each other over our dual action.

  “Please, don’t flatter yourself,” she countered. Their sibling repartee was amusing and reminded me how much I missed out on not having a brother or sister.

  Her hand causally looped my arm with hers, spurring a zing comparable to the one I occasionally felt with Gavin. Yet, not exactly, because with Sophie, it didn’t have the essential tension. It lacked the zeal of intensity. Everything with Gavin was intense. Her familiar eyes quickly sought mine, judging my reaction. I knew the energy, or whatever it was, meant something. I kept my face blank. I didn’t want to let on that I thought something was amiss. We walked side-by-side into the school.

  “I don’t know many people yet, and I know you’re a senior, but…maybe we could hang out sometime? My family would love to meet you.”

  “Sure, I would like that.” And I was being sincere. I initially thought her beauty would intimidate me, but just as quickly, there was a kinship I rarely felt, something in her hummingbird voice I had an affinity with.

  Her smile twinkled in excitement. “See you later.” She gave me a quick hug. Sophie was impossible not to like. I sucked with people, but hopefully, I’d just made an ally and a friend.

  “I’m going to kill her,” Gavin half-heartedly threatened when Sophie was out of reach.

  Walking next to me, his arm brushed mine occasionally. “Why?” I wondered aloud. He smelled like heaven.

  “Why? Because that was embarrassing,” he confessed, grinning.

  I laughed at his uneasiness. “Hardly…she’s amazing.”

  “Amazingly annoying.”

  “She’s your sister. What does that make you?”

  He smirked recovering his insolence. “Dashing.”

  So true. I rolled my eyes as he opened the door to my first class. “See you in Chem.”

  “Wouldn’t miss it,” he assured, and then strolled across the hall to his class.

  Chemistry, for obvious reason became my favorite class, and it had nothing to do with atoms, molecules or particles. I always thought of myself as an English buff, but how quickly that could change. Gavin managed to find a way to finagle his way into becoming my lab partner. I haven’t the slightest idea how. Before he moved to Holly Ridge, my partner had been Adam Joyhart. Gavin should have been added to a group. Instead, Mr. Burke moved Adam to another pair and assigned Gavin as my partner. I was tempted enough to ask Gavin if had bribed Mr. Burke or had resorted to blackmail.

  We walked into class together and took a seat at our table. He made a habit of showing up at my locker each day and walking me to class—a gentleman behind the badass.

  No sooner did my butt hit the seat and Mr. Burke started in on his lesson about Conversion of Mass. I glanced down at my notes for the last week. They were practically non-existent. I had found that with Gavin beside me, my note taking abilities sucked. He clogged my brain cells. Even with the extra studying at my house, I’d be lucky to pass this class. A hard concept for an almost straight-A student.

  “You want to hang out tonight?” he whispered, leaning in close to my ear. His breath tickled the back of my neck, causing the tiny hairs to spike. If I turned my head a fraction in his direction, it would be incredibly simple to press our lips together. Failing this class was proving to be worth the risk.

  Focusing my thoughts on inhaling and exhaling and not on his pleasurable proximity, I softly replied, “Sure.”

  At this point, I’d completely checked out of the lecture, my dilemma clear. Mr. Burke shoved his glasses back up the bridge of his nose and rambled on in monotones about isolated systems. No idea.

  “Better bring your notes,” Gavin smirked, gesturing to the blank page in front of me.

  Groaning, I laid my head on my arms. How had he woven his way so intently in my life?

  Chapter 9

  Chemistry always ended too soon, and it had absolutely nothing to do with the topic. The remainder of my schedule dragged, compared to third period. I should be thankful he was only in one of my classes. I couldn’t imagine how my grades would suffer.

  In the middle of my ninth period French lesson, I started to daydream. I don’t know why Lukas came to mind, yet as in most of my thoughts of Lukas, I couldn’t help smiling and imagining his boyish, charming looks and the sunny warmth I’d always found with him, not like the eruptive feelings Gavin gave me. Lukas was calm, steady, and confident… Everything I wasn’t.

  Our conversation the other night started playing through my head. The way things had ended tugged at my heart as I remembered the hurt and disappointment swimming in his eyes. I’d never in my wildest dreams (no pun intended) thought my day life would compete with my night life, so to speak. The fact that Lukas knew about Gavin, but Gavin didn’t know about Lukas, in some bizarre and misplaced way made me feel dishonest and regretful. Like I was cheating on one of them, or both of them, which was completely insane, since in reality, I wasn’t dating either one of them. Not that I wouldn’t if I was given the opportunity. Maybe that was it? Maybe somewhere deep inside my messed up head, I was holding out for one of them. Again, how any of this made sense was beyond my comprehension. It was inhumanly possible for me to even have a normal relationship with Lukas. Why did I continue to torment myself with possibilities that weren’t there?

  My impractical internal struggle was interrupted by the familiar buzzing of my phone. I carefully snuck it from the front pocket of my jeans. We weren’t allowed to text during class, but that hardly stopped anyon
e. The trick was to not get caught.

  Tori’s name blinked under new messages. Mall on Friday? It was followed by a line of smileys.

  We hadn’t hung out in a millennium. My life lately had been divided between Gavin and the shop. He’d come over on the nights I didn’t work, under the disguise of doing our chemistry assignments. Homework aside, there was always a few tense moments that heated my blood. Our friendship, or whatever we had going, progressed rapidly. I didn’t want Tori to feel ignored. And the blame weighed heavily on my decision.

  I inconspicuously texted back as my French teacher lectured on about our upcoming vocabulary.

  Sure…I’ll pick you up after school.

  Great. I’m in need of some retail therapy.

  I grinned at my phone. Only Tori could think of spending her dad’s money as therapy.

  The mall on Friday night wasn’t exactly my venue of choice. I enjoyed shopping like most girls; I just preferred to do it without crowds. Tori was a shop-a-holic. While I spent most of my time window-shopping, she needed a valet to help her to the car. My part-time check only went so far. But if I had a credit card with daddy’s infinite limit on it, I might enjoy the experience at a whole new level.

  For someone who never had to worry about cash flow, Tori was the least snobbish person I knew. She shopped—I read. Somewhere between quiet time and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches during first grade, we became friends.

  High-end shops lined the shopping center on two floors, the kind where they pumped perfume or cologne throughout the store, so when you walked by, it tempted you with the fragrance of seduction.

  Located at the heart of the mall was the food court. Tonight the overpriced stores were jammed with teenagers causing a ruckus. Guys scoping out desperate girls with too much make-up, wearing clothes two sizes too small. Rianne totally came to mind. I gave up on the whole mall scene while Tori found it mildly amusing. The lack of entertainment was evident in my peers’ choice of hangouts.

  “Check out the buns on Mr. Abercrombie,” she said, nodding to a guy we passed on the escalator.

  I elbowed her in the side. “Focus.”

  “Oh, I get it. Now that you have a hot guy to drool over, the rest of us have to suffer without. Let me at least check out the merchandise.”

  I laughed. She could be so dramatic when she wanted to be. I always felt like I needed to be the responsible one when we were together. She had a careless air about her. “You can look, but no touching.”

  Tori pouted. “What fun is that? Austin wouldn’t mind.”

  I shook my head. She could get me in so much trouble. Trouble should have been her middle name. “Fine,” I conceded. “Let’s look.”

  “That’s more like it,” she purred and had me laughing. “Check out blondie over by Aeropostale. I bet you could eat off his abs.” There was practically drool foaming at the side of her mouth.

  Laughing, I turned to check out the edible abs. Blondie had his back to me, but when he turned to the side, walking to the next store, I choked on air. From this angle, he looked like a spitting image of Lukas. It wasn’t until he got close enough that I could see that his eyes weren’t right, and he lacked Lukas’s carefree smile. Breathing again, I regained my composure.

  “See I told you, but I didn’t expect you to get all choked up about it.”

  “Shut up,” I grinned at her after I hacked up a lung. I was seeing things my subconscious wanted to see. What other explanation was there?

  She smiled back. “Fine, let’s do some damage. Where to first?”

  “You tell me. You’re the one with the bank roll.”

  “Touché…let’s start wherever edible abs is going,” she said, taking after the Lukas look-a-like.

  Tori hauled me to store after store, pillaging through the racks. With an arm loaded with clothes, we made our way into the dressing rooms. I sat on one those chairs they leave outside the changing rooms, waiting for her to try on the first of fifty outfits.

  “What’s up with you and Gavin?” she called from behind the door.

  Tori had one volume. Loud. “Nothing,” I replied, picking at my nails.

  “Really? ‘Cuz it doesn’t seem like a whole lot of nothing,” she retorted.

  “We’re just friends.” There was a defensive edge to my voice.

  “Friends, my ass,” she muffled, pulling on an articles of clothing. “That guy looks at you like he’s afraid you’ll disappear. His eyes are always watching you.”

  “Whatever, you make it sound creepy,” I scoffed.

  “I wouldn’t call it creepy—intense, maybe.” She stepped out with a pair of skinny jeans and an off the shoulder tee. She was taller than me and carried it mostly in her legs. Her brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, emphasizing her chocolate eyes. She was quite pretty, and I didn’t understand why she didn’t attract more guys. Tori surpassed me in the looks department. Her body was pretty killer, too, curvy in all the right places and pencil thin.

  I glared at her in full-pestered disbelief.

  “Fine—don’t believe me, but I’m serious.” She turned in the three-dimensional mirror, checking out her butt. “So have you kissed him yet?”

  A sigh escaped. “No,” I sadly admitted.

  “What are you waiting for, an invitation? Gavin is nuts about you. He even rejected Rianne for you,” she insisted.

  Point well made. There was nothing really standing in the way, which didn’t explain why at that moment Lukas came to mind. Was I so enamored by Mr. Dreamy that I was scared by what was right in front of me? Why the hesitation with Gavin?

  “I don’t know, maybe you’re right,” I agreed.

  “Of course, I’m right. Are you seeing him this weekend?”

  We hadn’t discussed it, but I kind of assumed we were. “I think…” There was skepticism tracing my words.

  “Good, there’s your chance.” Everything in Tori’s mind was so cut and dry. You wanted something—you went for it.

  A part of me was being guarded. He was hiding something from me. I felt it. And until I found out what it was, I couldn’t take the chance. That didn’t mean I didn’t want to. But what was the rush?

  Five outfits later, we made our way back into the mall. Packages in hand, we strolled to the food court for dinner. I ended up ordering a slice of cheese pizza, and Tori got a taco salad. The great thing about food courts was there was a little everything for all taste buds.

  After finishing up our calorie-lavished meal, we hit a few more stores, including Victoria Secret. Being surrounded by underwear and bras made me nervous.

  I was picking through a bin of panties and thongs all priced far more than I was willing to pay for such skimpy material, when Tori’s mind turned to sex. And since she didn’t have a current boyfriend, and Austin didn’t have a boyfriend, I became the closest thing to sex-worthy gossip. Complete shit, because I didn’t have the first clue about sex.

  “I think you need a pair of these,” she declared holding a thong that consisted of three strings and a dangling charm.

  “Why would I need those? They look like floss,” I sneered.

  Swinging them on her finger, she sweet-talked, “Because, I bet Gavin would love them.”

  “I think I should take it a little slower…like maybe getting him to kiss me first.”

  “A girl can never be too prepared. At least, that’s what my step-mom always says.” Tori’s step-mom, Mariah, wasn’t the kind of person I would take advice from. She was twenty-some years younger than Tori’s dad, and this was her third marriage. I was sure Mariah was prepared for all kinds of scenarios.

  “Tori, my sex life isn’t up for discussion. It’s nonexistent.”

  “Look, one of us needs to have sex, and since you have a phenomenally hot guy chasing you, it’s a sure bet that someone is going to be you. I’m just trying to help out a friend.”

  I tossed the butt floss back into the bin. “Thanks for the thought, but no. Besides, if we were going to have s
ex, I’d get these,” I replied, picking up a lacy purple pair.

  She laughed too loud, drawing unwanted attention our way, but it was too hard to resist joining her. “I knew it. You want him.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I’d have to be dead to not want him. I’m just saying, we aren’t even remotely close to being there.”

  “Yeah, I know, but it’s a hell of a lot of fun to talk about.”

  She had me there.

  When I pulled into the driveway, a text message rang in my purse. Unlocking the screen, the message lit the dark interior of the car. It was Gavin. My heart hammered in my chest as I read the text, inviting me to meet his family tomorrow.

  I groaned. The idea of seeing his family was scary, but my curiosity overruled the fear.

  I sent him a quick acceptance reply, before I lost my nerve. My head dropped on the steering well, forehead hitting the horn in a long chorus of honks.

  What did I just do?

  Chapter 10

  Saturday came, and with it the fear. Today was the day I was going to Gavin’s for the first time. This was my weekend off from the shop, and I was currently in panic mode. I had changed my outfit at least a dozen times, the evidence littering the floor of my room.

  I settled on a pair of skinny denim, a back-tie tank and boots. Primping wasn’t my forte. My makeup basic, eyeliner, mascara and lip gloss. I left my auburn hair straight and tumbling down my back. With a quick smack of my lips in the full-length mirror, I was out of time. This was going to have to do.

  The Masons only lived a few blocks down the road from my house, and the short drive did very little for my freaked-out nerves. I don’t know why I felt like a lamb going into the lion’s den. Sophie was incredible and Gavin was…well, I hadn’t figured that out yet. How could his family be anything other than fabulous? Not scary at all, I tried to assure myself.

  My brakes squeezed as I came to a stop outside of the Masons’ new home. It appeared as if the house had recently been repainted in a fresh coat of soft yellow, trimmed in cottage white. A full, wrap-around porch covered the perimeter, with a glider swing on the left. The landscape was alive and vibrant in color; a garden of floral variations weaved about the porch. My aunt would have been in pure heaven. Most impressive was the entryway, which featured two large, etched-glass paneled doors inviting you in. A massive chandelier, visible from the outside, hung in the foyer, sending a rainbow prism glittering on the glass doors.