Rachel Deagan - Caged Moon

"Liam?" I whispered.

He tilted his chin down at me and his irises began to dilate. I dropped his arm and stepped back, almost tripping over Ty. "What are you?"

Had Ty seen it? I needed proof that I wasn't going insane.

"I just want to be near you, Charlotte," Liam said, voice low. "I can't explain it. I know you feel it too. Please let me talk to you. I just want to talk to you."

"And you do this by stalking me?" And how'd we get off the eye thing? I was clearly rattled.

"I'm sorry. I don't know how else to see you. I don't go to school with you. Tell me what to do. I don't want you to be afraid of me. Please, I'd never hurt you. I just want to know you."

"How do I know this isn't some ploy?" Am I actually contemplating this? "I don't know anything about you, Liam."

Understatement of the year.

The gold flecks that had been melting into his irises faded back to normal. A warmth surrounded him, as if the electricity I had felt still burned low under the surface of his skin. Part of me wanted to test it, to touch him. I furiously dissolved the thought.

"Charlotte," he whispered, still leaning his head against the door. "I've ran into you twice alone at night, not to mention in the thick of the woods. Don't you think if I was going to do something, I'd have done it then?"

He had a point.

I needed to think rationally. I had seen things I couldn't explain, things that terrified me, yet I couldn't deny a pull to him. The scent of his warm skin felt so comforting and familiar. Part of me wanted to melt into it. It didn't make sense. "Why are you so interested in me? You don't even know me?"

His head brushed across the doorframe until his breath ignited my cheek on fire. I couldn't move. As angry as it made me, I didn't want to.

"I know," he whispered. "But I want to change that."

Where'd everyone else go? Ty?

He brushed the tips of his fingers down my cheek and closed his eyes. I knew then that I had lost it. Everything in me wanted to touch him. I should have shut the door. I should have done a lot of things, but instead, I unfastened the chain, and let it swing wide.

What was I thinking?

Letting Liam in, signaled an open invitation to his entire crew. They didn't even bother waiting for us to move out of the way. I stood, flabbergasted as they pushed past Liam and me into the front hall, and then down into the kitchen. At least their rude manners knocked me temporarily out of my trance with Liam.

Byron and Steve had made themselves at home, perched on the kitchen counter. They fiddled with Dad's little bird carvings that lined the sink, while the twins disappeared into the house. For all I knew, they had planned to rob the joint.

Steve picked up a pair of binoculars Dad dumped by the flour jar and peered through. "I see you." He chuckled, aiming them at his friend.

"Give me those." I stomped over, swiping them from Steve. "Those are my Dad's."

"What's with all the bird stuff?" Byron asked, as he shook a wooden house finch as if it might release salt.

My cheeks burned, which almost annoyed me more then them being there. I didn't want to care what they thought, but I had to admit, the bird thing embarrassed me a little. "My Dad likes birds, okay? It's his hobby. It's none of your business. Just leave his stuff alone."

"Fine, fine," Byron said, putting it down.

"Alright guys. We're not here to trash Charlotte's house. Don't touch her things." The sound of Liam's voice beside me almost sent me back into that swirling state where everything but him disappeared, but I grounded myself, and focused on the others.

Eldridge immerged from somewhere in the back of the house and plopped himself down on the couch in the connecting open living room. He fumbled with the remote until he flicked the TV on and found a sports channel. Flynt still remained MIA, until his head arose from behind the door of the fridge.

"Anyone want something to eat?"

"What? No. What are you doing?" I said.

Flynt tossed some lunchmeat and a liter of soda across the kitchen to where his twin sat perched on my parent's russet and cream couch. It had been pretty at my old house, but now it clashed terribly against the bright 70's style wallpaper adorning the room. I assumed when Mom got out here, she'd take it down. I hoped. Somehow Eldridge caught the food before it went crashing through the large paned window behind him.

"I said to leave her stuff alone." Liam brushed passed me to the living room, retrieved the food, and then put it on the counter in front of me. "Sorry. They're good guys, just as little rough around the edges."

You don't say.

I began to feel ill. What had I gotten myself into?

"Speak for yourself, Liam," Byron said from where he sat on the kitchen counter. Steve smiled as he swung his legs from the ledge.

"Shut up," Liam said with a grin. He shook his head and then lowered his chin, flicking his eyes up to stare the two guys down. Steve and Byron chuckled and I thought I saw light flicker behind their gazes. Both leaned forward from where they sat on the counter, their hands fisting the smooth granite edge.

A low reverberating sound, startlingly similar to one I heard come from Byron earlier in the cafeteria, rumbled from deep in Liam's chest. I jumped, stumbling back, when Ty scooted her tiny frame through the small opening between Liam and me.

"Dishes," she said, before I could even get my thoughts together. Had she heard that? She loudly collected the small glass bowls with the globs of melted ice cream in them and placed them in the sink. It didn't appear so. Had I imagined it? No. Not twice. I couldn't have. Could I? "Anything else you want washed, Charlotte?"

"Um...no, thanks. I'm good," I said as if speaking through milk.

Byron handed her two spoons sitting next to him. "Thanks." She gave him a sunny smile.

"No problem."

Eldridge stole my attention from Ty and Byron when he called from the other room. "Who wants to order a pizza?" His attention remained fastened to the television, completely oblivious to anything going on in the kitchen. He reminded me of Dad when he watched a game. An explosion could go off and he wouldn't hear it.

"No pizza. You're not staying here. This is not some kind of party. Besides, I don't think they deliver this far out." Maybe living in the middle of nowhere did have its perks. My anxiety level had reached an all-time high. If Dad found out I had boys here, I'd be grounded for a month.

"Ah, come on," Steve said. "I'm starving. We're starving, aren't we Byron?" He elbowed the big guy in the ribs. Byron didn't respond. "Byron?" Steve turned to his friend. "Are you washing dishes?"

"Leave me alone."

"I'll go in on a pizza," Flynt said with a grin.

"Did anybody hear me? No," I said. "No pizza. Liam, tell them no pizza. You guys are just stopping in. You can't stay here."

"You heard Charlotte," Liam said. He stepped towards the counter, but as he did, the edge of his shoulder brushed up against my arm making my breath catch. Glancing down, I saw his fingers reach for my hand.

Focus. Focus. The guy just growled!

His fingers slipped between mine and he squeezed them gently. Despite my protests, my arm felt on fire.

He paused before taking another step. He squeezed his eyes shut and his facial muscles twisted as he appeared to struggle with something. I could feel a low tremor in his fingertips.

"Liam?" I asked. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he said too quickly for me to believe. His fingers stilled inside mine and his composure softened. "No pizza," he said to the others and gave me a wink. "What is it with your stomachs anyway? Is that all you guys think about?"

"Pretty much," Steve said, stretching his arms over his head. "You don't think this buff physique comes from nothing do ya?"